Beautiful day……

July 4th weekend. We run up the stairs to the platform. The el train driver slows and stops so we can get on the train, and we say, oh he’s nice, isn’t that nice of him? It is.

We stop in at Loehmann’s (why, I’m not sure, entirely), but the big picture windows which run from floor to ceiling are an enticement. The untidy racks of clothes lure us into the store, and out of the sun and unusually mild air of a July day, here in the city of big shoulders.

We shop. A woman in the dressing room tells us we can get an extra 10 percent off for a birthday, in addition to the 15 you get if you join up and get a card. She tells this to us matter-of-factly, in a spirit of inclusiveness and belonging, or so it seems. The theme carries on to the cash register where a different woman rings up our purchases and repeats the information, speaking softly and shyly. Who knew there could be such sweetness in everyday interactions?

We walk. Past the ‘bean’ to the underground washrooms. We emerge, we people watch, we walk to the gardens in Millineum Park and I do my favorite ‘look’, meaning, I screw up my eyes and tilt my head upward, just so, so that I can see sky, flowers, grass, skyscrapers, and giant cranes next to half-built glass towers. I take a picture with my cell phone. “I’ll put this on my blog later,” I say. How banal.

How wonderful.

At home, later, after a hot dog in the park, after walking back to the train, after a rattle-y train ride, we make a cup of tea with milk and sugar, hot and ‘clearing’ – clearing away the tiredness of our busy day. It feels good to be home.