Going home to Northwest, Indiana sometimes feels like I'm going back into another world. Everything looks entirely different, feels different, sounds different, even smells different... (that can be both good and bad).
The South Shore Line takes me from Chicago to Indiana; a small, dingy, dated train that I have come to find almost as comforting as home itself. Perhaps it's because I know where it's taking me.
Within a few minutes of chugging along, the city begins to shrink...
HOME
When I go home to visit it's to get away from the shuffle and the buses and the taxis and the shouting as people hail cabs, and the sirens and the chaos that is living in a metropolis.
When I look out the windows at home, this is what I see:
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| My Backyard in Indiana |
And I can also see:
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| A few of the 21 trees in my yard |
If I drive just a few minutes up the road I can sit here and actually hear the water ripple and the wind skip through the wild grasses:
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| Sandy Beach, in a nearby neighborhood |
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| Sandy Beach, and my beautiful dog Lucy |
Everything is peaceful. I can hear my own thoughts and I feel like I can breathe for a moment. As boring and lame as most people think Indiana is, it may be the only place I can really call home, no matter where I live.
CHICAGO
And then I come back to the city. And right away I can feel things pick up pace. I walk faster, I talk faster, I think faster. You have to if you want to keep up. And mostly, I don't mind because I get to see places like this:
And these are just glances from where I live in Chicago. You can see something magnificent around almost every corner, on every street, at any time.
Both places are beautiful in their own way. Luckily, I can have both... for now.
