Above Adams and Wabash by Chipka
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Description
Rain is the weekend’s promise and the sky—in keeping with what the weathermen have predicted—is indolent, gray, and spotted with sporadic bursts of turbulence. Rain—the weekend’s promise—has come, but in sputters and half-hearted gusts of exceptionally wet wind. The sun has shown his face: Phoebus-Apollo, displaced from some ancient myth, but today’s Chicago has no need for mythology, and so ancient gods (once so intimate in their links with human life) show their faces, and vanish like dreams upon awakening.
Warmth has arrived. It will soon grow uncomfortable. Chicagoans—like many people—enjoy sitting in metaphorical deserts, praying for metaphorical rain. This—as everyone knows—does nothing but invite the metaphorical deluge. And so while Chicagoans pray for the summer heat that will soon cook them, I take advantage of the cooler days, reveling in their indistinction. I like these quieter times, and today—as I rode the el northward, to meet Corey at a favorite coffee house—I saw something I’d forgotten. The day, gray with the promise of rain, provided poor light and hazy shadows; I see such days, such poor lighting conditions as a particular challenge, and as I reveled in the heady smack of such a challenge—waiting for the Ravenswood train—I saw something that marked my younger days. I saw railroad ties and long, lines of iron. I heard trains, and the occasional, thumping crack of electricity arced from third rails: trains will spark and sputter when their power-deriving “shoes” caress an imperfection in the third rails from which they derive their environmentally-friendly power. Pigeon drops will do it. Errant insects will render the same, high-voltage effect. As a train sparked behind me, I turned in the opposite direction and saw something I didn’t expect: an elevated walkway for passengers departing one train and in need for another. Such walkways were once common. Most have been torn down and replaced with sleek, modern conveniences stretching beneath the tracks rather than over them. They are cleaner, sturdier, but they don’t offer the grand views once enjoyed while crossing their older, rickety predecessors.
I had time to kill. The northbound Ravenswood was nowhere near, and so I climbed the steps to the over-hanging walkway, and enjoyed the vibrations of traffic far below. I noticed the light: that indistinct, South Loop light that never changes. I saw dirty metal, flaking paint, rust—and—yes!—pigeon drops. It was a good moment. As I climbed the walkway steps, I paused for a long moment to take in the urban vibe. For ten glorious minutes (or maybe more) I had the entire walkway to myself. The city’s South Loop Pigeons, it would seem, were interested in pooping on the Art Institute or something equally pigeion-ish.
The clouds have thickened now, and I’m in a café with Corey, writing these words as the cute counter-guy does whatever cute counterboys do when customers aren’t demanding their attention. It’s a good day. It’s quite fun to make a post from a swanky café with old Jazz bouncing from the speakers. It isn’t coffee-house Jazz. It isn’t smooth and gelatinous, or like the slimy output of an exuberant slug. It’s a good day. Cloudy. Gray. (Phoebus-Apollo is long gone) And the music isn’t half bad; it’s got something going on in it. Best yet, I’ve seen an ugly walkway.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re having a fantastic weekend.
Comments (30)
jmb007
bonne photo!
myrrhluz
I love this! Who is somewhere (with someones ex?) but not Chicago? Wonderful descriptions and image! The worn and stained planks of wood and vestiges of paint on the bars, speak of a utilitarian space left to decay. So many people have traveled across these boards, held on to the bars for support after a long day, sometimes picked up germs from fellow travelers and made their way to another space. Excellent light, detail and atmosphere. I love the building across the walkway, with its fancy trim, bricks and stains of age. Very enjoyable read! You had me right there with you!
RodS
You know, there's something to be said for those cloudy, dismal days. For all my whining and complaining when they follow me around on vacations, I've been rewarded with some wonderful photos - once I shut up and started shooting! I love photos like this. The old, the dilapidated, the forgotten. Even with the pidgeon poo. Wonderfully moody. Excellent!!
jocko500
wonderful space here. walk the walk i think of when i saw this
Bothellite
Rain, an ugly walkway, wet wind, gloom, I envy your ability to find gems in it all. The sun broke through endless gloom here today. We rushed out. I'm totally sore from the garden now and gloom returns tomorrow. Such is life. I also love how you drag the great comments out of people.
MrsRatbag
Chip, I love reading your little meanders and insights!
KatesFriend
An 'el' is a form of transit which I have (regrettably) never experienced. Toronto has an elevated highway - the Gardener Expressway. Aka the highway named "Fred". Though it is now well on its way earthward, not all by design. There are subways, streetcars and oh so many fume belching buses but nothing like an 'el'. This scene looks like an era of the city left to fallow. Once a vital artery of people traffic, now left to let nature (with her pigeons) to do its work. Items left exactly as they were when the bridge was closed, a political poster to boost civic pride maybe but from when? Wooden planks from an even earlier era perhaps when metal needed to be conserved. An odd sort of time capsule, one never intended to be opened again. I like photos from the so called forbidden places of the world. Places that were suppost to be forgotten but yet quietly endure.
beachzz
Cafes, cute counterboys, coffee--one of my favorite ways to spend some time. The rain you can keep--we've had way more than enough. You could, however, send me a few of those degrees that will soon make your weather not so nice. Another great shot--amazing that there are not other people!!
Sepiasiren
wonderful perspective and capture--you are a whiz at post work--the treatment here really brings out the character of the shot--bravo.
whaleman
I couldn't help but notice the juxtaposition of inshaala's "Canary Wharf III" which was uploaded just before yours. I like to think your walkway is really underneath the more modern one in his post, the underworld of walkways! Spending some time in a good coffee house listening to jazz would be a nice day for me, if I could do it here, which I can't.
durleybeachbum
Coffe,jazz, company..marvellous! I really like your treatment of this pic.
minos_6
Every city has little pockets of space that are actually nowhere, and it's good that you are drawn to record them. Beautifully post worked, too.
helanker
Yeah! Once again you made me feel like I was walking with you. Amazing and such a beautiful narrative. This is fabulous writing, Chip. I love it. I like the image alot too.
meinen
Interesting point of view, and well composed. It goes to show that it is often worth to take another look from or in a different direction to find such gems.
auntietk
Oh man, this is totally cool! It reminds me of the ramps at the ferry dock in Bremerton ... the way they were 40 years ago ... at least the way I REMEMBER them being 40 years ago! LOL! I can hear the distinctive sound of people walking up (or down) those ramps, all the wood and metal, but with the damp salt air permeating everything. Ahhh ... associations ... ain't life grand? :)
lucindawind
this is excellent ! I love architectural compositions !
flavia49
fantastic capture!! your text is superb!
sandra46
i love the special flavor of your photos, the postwork adds to the mood nicely! this one is pefect for my urban heart... even a rusty gangway can sing a poem!
CoreyBlack
Ah yes, Addama and Wabash! How many times have I been in that station in the last 30 years? You capture the grit, grime and great Old Chicago feel here. Ilove the vibes these old stations give off. In addition to the wonderfully "distressed" look of the structure itself--so evocative of the early 20th Century--there's that vaguely musty-rusty smell to go with it.I also love these stations with the walk ways that look down on everything. It's always given me a sort of "urban treehouse" sensation. Great capture.
kgb224
Wonderful capture my friend.
jac204
Corey above says it so well. Great capture.
romanceworks
It ain't pretty, but it gets you where you need to go. Kind of like many paths in life we must travel. And only you could find the romance in pigeon droppings. CC
Meisiekind
Ooeee - I like this!!! The textures, lines, angles - all speak to every inch of my artistic side! Very well seen and captured Chip with wonderful depth! Great work!
marybelgium
excellent !
bmac62
Wonderful words filling my late night or early morning brain with images. Elevated railways are elevated railways whether in Chicago or New York. Well done Chip.
danapommet
The EL is getting old and it shows. Lots of nice textures. Dana
mermaid
great work again, Chip, and it reminds me somehow of a shot I took at night here in our village at the main station...I will search for it and post it for you, if I find it.. and perhaps you will see what I mean...smile
anahata.c
In your words, you captured the essence of the el & its speech, its rickety old feeling (even the newer cars can't obliterate that feeling, at least not yet), it's beast-eat-all presence as it roars past, and the amazing sight of those sparks, caused (as you say) by just about anything that comes into play with the 3d rail. And the feeling of that new found freedom when you can mount one of those high crossways and find it all to yourself. They speak a separate language when you're on them alone, they seem to exist only for you. And you caught the feeling of looking out over the city from there, how the south side has its own hue (many sides do, when you leave the center), and even musing on where the pigeons will leave their indiscriminate excrement. (The Art Institute. Critics! I love it.) And the image captures those old walkways all over again: It's got that greenish rusted feel, the old moldered boards, the decay next to the floorboards (on the metal), and the inside-of-a-plane-hangar feeling of those godawful rafters and old rag-tag roof. What urban charm they have. You got 'm. (Even the buildings that go flush with these walkways---with that window with the old window air conditioner in it). You caught all of it. And it does feel like an early june moist rain-will-come day. Brilliant capture, in word & image, of a difficult-to-capture moment, and of the dank & decayed charm of those old El structures. I lived up on Fargo near the Jarvis el for some years, and those sparks---esp in winter---were primal. Freakin' dinosaurs. And the older steps to the platform (this was way back) had that entry into an old rickety world feel. And you caught it all here. Brilliant & poetic. A really fine post.
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freeman2
I like the amazing picture of your home as this metaphorical desert. You have a creative way of doing your content jobs. A place of warmth and tranquility, where you can escape the storms of life and find solace in the quiet moments spent alone or with loved ones. There is a certain beauty in embracing the simplicity of just being, without the constant noise and distractions of the outside world.