Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Before and After

I had the day off of school since it was Lincoln's birthday, but I had a lot of running around to do. My free time is very limited these days, and I was rushing around. Something made me stop for a moment and smell the roses; as I turned the corner on my block, it occurred to me how pretty it is. I parked my truck, walked back and snapped a picture of it, and later I snapped another shot after a little snow had fallen.





When I was a kid, my family moved from Albany Park, a neighborhood not too far from where I live now, to Streamwood, a suburb that had been farm fields just months before. Up until then, I'd lived in apartments in Chicago with hardwood floors, in neighborhoods with tall trees and character. I lost all of those things when my family left the city. I enjoyed having them again when I moved back to the city when I graduated college in 1985, and am still enjoying them.

We lost a few trees to Asian Long-Horned Beetles a few years ago, and we lost the big old maple in front of our home to the city water department, but our block still has most of it's big beautiful trees, which are handsome even in winter.

4 comments:

Tenacious S said...

Mr. Ten S calls it Stickland and laughs about the fact that I actually really like bare trees. I like them even better with snow. Yesterday's snow was so fluffy and sparkly. Did you notice? Thank goodness for snow. It makes winter tolerable. Said like a good midwestern girl.

Unknown said...

Yesterday, everytime anybody asked me the date I replied, "February 12th, Lincoln's Birthday." They wondered how I knew.

So, you lived in Albany Park as a kid? Me, too. My mother lived there until she died.

When ever we got those annoying crank phone calls (usually one of my sister former boyfriends), my dad answered the phone, "Albany Park Police Station."

Mnmom said...

Snow in trees is really a pretty sight, have to admit. I've lived in the Upper Midwest all my life and I'm starting to lose my patience with late winter.
I graduated college in 1985 too.

lulu said...

My mom grew up in Albany Park.

I miss snow.