Thank God for the distraction of writing but, mostly, reading!
**************************************************
There are two distinct worlds in Chicago’s Lincoln
Park neighborhood; the beautifully maintained brownstones and three flats of
the street fronts, and the alleyways that exist almost secretly behind them.
Alleys have their own eco-system it seems; even
their own terrain with mountains of trash, ruts and potholes big enough to
warrant Jeep Wranglers. ANIMALS, People, Smells.
I’ll bet it’s a different world than most of us
know. Yet, I do because I lived on an alley for eight years.
Things happen daily in alleys.
Then there’s THINGS THAT HAPPEN in alleys.
I’ve seen lovers locked and been that lover. One felt slightly intrusive, the other steamy on a cold winter’s night.
Muggings were seen, and heard, from my bedroom
window; Fights, both domestic and drunken brawls.
People waited for you to empty your dinner’s trash
with hopes of something decent to eat so, most often, you'd bring a full paper
plate out instead.
Cars driven in nearly foot deep ice ruts with no
choice but to do a sliding sideswipe of a passing vehicle. Been there, done
that. Oops!
I’ve witnessed a garbage bag filled with clothes
intended for the Laundromat disappear from the apartment to discover moments
later it was mistakenly dumped in the alley as trash but reconciled
the anger immediately as somebody needier finally had baby clothes.
There was a late night standoff in cars when all I
wanted was to turn into my parking spot and another refused, mid-block, to back
up ten feet. I’m stubborn; we sat for 20 minutes, me signaling him to please
back up and receiving “the finger” in return. Not my brightest moment but DIDN’T
move either!
Have you ever seen rats the size of toddlers (not
quite that big but BIGGER than you could ever imagine) with beady red eyes
staring you down?
But…
The worst thing I ever saw was a boy dressed up as
a girl earning money the only way he knew how because he, surely, was
desperate.
26 comments:
Alleys can be secret passageways to absolute desperation, craziness, want, lust, and sadness, especially if you forget which direction you started from.
Wow, some great and some terrible stuff there. That alley was more full of life than I would have expected.
Remember we only have 333 words. That's just the tip of the iceberg. I've seen plenty more things over 8 years. About a 60/40 split on the bad versus the good.
They are secret because they are ominous and crazy and all the things you mentioned. I've wandered some of them from place to place and you do need to keep track of where you are especially if you've been at a porch party three stories up. A different world than the front of the buildings.
When I was 12 my father took me on a tour of inner city alleys as some sort of rite of passage. The images are burned in my mind, like still shots of a movie. Many things... yes.
Rough ending to an excellent exploration. I love alleys, but yes, they do invite the seedier side of life.
yours is more the alley I talk about in my poem I think ... still, where are some folk to go?
http://uslayme.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/alley-oops-4/
I find the alley life interesting, but scary. We don't have alleys in our area (they have some downtown, but it's best not to go there, so I don't!) I could do without seeing one of those rats you describe up close :).
I still have "snapshots" as well. Will NEVER forget somethings. Wouldn't trade living in the city for anything, either.
Thanks...a lot of great memories mixed with some not so great. I love all kinds of sides to everything so I never minded the encounters. I hardly ever felt a safety issue and I was VERY aware.
Alley,
I just read yours and you're right to think we describe a similar side. People have to be somewhere. Sadly, we had a lot of experience with the homeless while living in the city. We co-existed...unfairly.
It's only ominous at night but its reality of living in a big city, at least Chicago. I never got used to the rats because I'd only see them when I was coming home late from work and not entirely expecting them. I'm not squeamish but they got under my skin.
I'm surprised that no one was eating the rats, if they were that big. I've heard that the meat is pretty tender, but I have never tried it. Don't really want to, either!
I can't confirm what goes on over those metal trash cans stoked with fire. Rat shish kabobs...gross me out! Think opossum just uglier and nastier. You crack me up!
Thanks for bringing back those wonderfully graphic memories of Chicago. All walks of life, on more than two feet...
Thanks for linking up to Trifecta this week. Your descriptions here are vivid. I've seen the alleys. For me, they always felt honest. You know? At the end of the day, good or bad, they just were. Human condition all splayed out before you. There's something to be said for that. Thanks for this.
WOW! What vivid descriptions! You really evoke strong emotions from me today:)
It was fascinating living there for so long. The things you would see and hear...real life. The rats always scared the crappola out of me.
Alleys, to me, are life's reality and very honest. The comparison between the facade, at times, from the street and the life in back could be polar opposites. I never became immune to what I saw but I did become accustom to it. Chicago is the perfect city "to see and be seen" or perfectly anonymous. I enjoyed the anonymity quite often.
Thanks, Jennifer. Things that happened, do happen, there do touch strongly on your emotions.
Chicago alleys... Yep. So narrow cars can barely fit through, and a total nightmare during snow storms. These are great descriptions of them!
You captured something so very important here -- the diversity you get from an urban perspective! I have known people who live in Arlington Hts. and work in Niles and poverty and desperation are abstract notions to them. They never see the Streetwise vendor in front of Neiman Marcus or how quickly Lincoln Park goes from swell to seedy and back again. This was great. I wish everyone could witness what you see (or, perhaps, are sensitive enough to see).
Exactly. Narrow enough without snow or cans or people. Thanks!
Thanks, Gal. I, too, know people who have no conception of true poverty and real desperation. I absolutely love the city BECAUSE of the diversity but am very bothered by the disparity as well. You hit the nail on the head re: Michigan Avenue and my old neighborhood (or any of them, really).
My eyes are VERY open all the time and I spend a lot of time observing. I'm not oblivious to much.
I love how "almost secretly" foreshadows the depth of exposure here. And yes, I have seen rats the size of cats. Shudder.
Lots of big things back there. Scary, too! They're even bigger than cats!
Post a Comment