Number Twenty

This last weekend was our 20th Labor Day in Oak Park. And it will be our last. We moved into our house on Wisconsin Ave on August 26, 1989, just days before I started work at UIC. Of course, around here, 20 years of service as a faculty member, is not recognized-- I guess its typical of how faculty are generally treated at UIC. But that is another diatribe. It was a long and eventful Labor Day holiday, starting off in style with the Rat Dog and Allman Brothers concert at Northerly Island on Chicago's lakefront-- a very nice concert venue on the site of old Meig's Field where Da Mayor famously bulldozed in the middle of the night. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field.

It was a perfect night and both bands delivered. I felt at home with my contemporaries and happy to celebrate the music with so many young folk too. Seeing several rasta skate girls in dreads and all their natural glory added to festive feeling of the show. The Allman brothers reprised Jessica with Waren Haynes and Duane Trucks playing the dual guitar lead, so reminiscent of Duane Allman and Dicky Betts-- an electric lyric quality to the guitar line. A real crowd favorite. And crowded it was. While its fun and exciting to have the communal music experience, it is also challenging to be among so many revelers.

I took Friday off to work at home, and had a very productive day mitering trim and fitting moldings to match the original circa 1913 trim that needed replacing. One good thing about getting the house ready to sell is I am now forced to finish all the projects left undone for so many years. The end result of this carpentry task was immensely satisfying. It is gratifying to see work in equal finished project out. Quite a contrast to my work-a-day world. I labored away in the house all day until 4 PM when I picked up Ryder at school-- and then it was off to the pool; the last weekend for the pool for the year and it was hot enough to really enjoy it. And it was crowded too! We went to the pool Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and though it was open on Monday, we managed not to go that day too. And so, the pool closes for the season, our last summer in Oak Park. To cap it off, we visited the carnival at the Cermack Plaza in Berwyn, the site of the famous Berwyn Spike, immortalized in Wayne's World. Alas, the spike is now gone and they are building a new Walgreens in its place. Talk about classing up the joint. We rode our bikes to the carnival and arrived in the late afternoon when it was none to crowded and very hot, sunny and exposed. We rode the Pharoah's Slipper, the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Ferris Wheel. From the top of the wheel there was a great view of the Chicago skyline, and to the the south, you could imagine seeing the first Ferris wheel at the Colombian Exposition of 1893. I felt nostalgic for the view and just a bit of melancholy knowing how much different my horizon will be next Labor Day. It was the hottest Labor Day weekend since we've been in Chicago, not a cloud in the sky all weekend long.

The political theater taking place in the presidential campaign offered some amusement, the unexpected announcement that Sarah Barracuda would be McCain's running mate and then all the RNC attendees who took of their Republican hats and put on their American hats to help the poor people of New Orleans who were about to be washed away by Gustav. So much compassion! This time they were going to be there and also avoid having Bush and Cheney speak at their convention. They are having their convention in the Twin Cities for a reason, to celebrate the twins-- McCain and Bush. And the chicanery-- the thoroughly vetted, or so they say, Sarah Pilan as Veep-- like my friend said, if they get elected, they can park her trailer right there on the White House lawn.