Email

31.JULY.00

Little Apartment on the Prairie

I live in a two flat in the city of Chicago. 

A little over two years ago, I moved here from the north shore burbs, where we had rented a house for the past twenty three years. We had a yard and for a while I kept a pretty poor excuse for a garden, never having the proper enthusiasm because it was a rental and I could not justify spending more and more money on improving someone else's property. 

When we moved, either having access to a yard or being really close to any open space in the city was something I wanted. One of the reasons I liked this apartment was that it is situated right across from one of the city parks. When we first moved in, it was just a rather ordinary park with a football field used by the high schools, a couple of baseball diamonds and two smaller than regulation tennis courts filled with pot holes. 

But we soon heard that there were plans to do some renovation over there. I watched out my front window as they bulldozed the tennis courts and the existing paths, tuck pointed and repaired the buildings, added new bleachers and fences, reconstructed the tennis court into one regulation sized court, spiffed up the baseball diamonds, and put up new fences and benches. It was a typical city of Chicago project. In true Chicago style...they worked one hour took three hour breaks, then one more hour of work, calling it quits at three. It took forever, and I never thought they would finish before late fall last year. But they did and they finally planted trees and shrubbery and plowed up the grass to re-sod, and plant and seed the areas.

This summer all the plants came up and what they have done is to recreate the prairie in large areas of the park. It is really lovely. They did such a nice job. Walking though the recreated prairie is pleasant and relaxing. I feel as if I have a garden which the city planted and manages. Here are a few pictures taken with my not-so-great digital camera to share this great little bit of my Chicago neighborhood with you.