A View From... by Chipka
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Description
When I first met my friend Beth, we both lived in Prague. She’d been there a bit longer than me; she’d just returned from a trip to Italy. We lived in the same apartment building, and often spent weekends wandering around the city, eating chocolate things, finding nice Chinese Restaurants with menus printed in Universal Chinese Restaurant Menu format: Chinese restaurant menus look exactly the same in Czech as they do in English, and so the need to actually read Czech doesn’t really exist. Just point and tell the waitress the number corresponding to the dish you want. More often than not, a simple point-and-smile gesture will suffice. In Prague, however, you’re given free brandy while you wait for your order.
While living in Prague, and eating chocolate, Chinese Food, and candied almonds at various winter markets, I never imagined that I’d be standing with Beth in Chicago, looking out over Lake Michagan. Prague was, after all, where I needed to be and Chicago was just some flat spot over by that lake. Since my return to Chicago, the city is still a largely flat spot, on the southwestern tip of that lake, and Prague remains a pronounced presence in my life. (Getting email and chat messages from there keeps the memory fresh, especially the more-intriguingly-spelled messages I get from Štépán, Tomas, Pavel, Kača, and others. I’m sure I’ll return there, but until then…there are other places to see.)
I stood beside Beth (recalling Prague) when I took this photo. Beth stood beside me, (recalling Prague, and thinking of cheesecake, if I remember correctly) when I took this photo, and I suspect she has a photo of me taking this photo. I'm also quite sure that she giggled a couple of times. Beth is quite generous with giggles and small jokes. It was a good day: one of many, and many more to come. It was a day shortly after the acquisition of my current job, and so it was a day charged with at least two breeds of giddy energy. There will be other such days. 2013 has just begun, after all, and only Fate and Circumstance might say when and where such days occur…I look forward to them, however: especially of the Russian language (spoken by one particular individual) also happens to figure prominently in those days.
Until then, there is this photo.
Of Chicago. On a cloudy day. With Beth. And with cheesecake.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week.
Comments (27)
Faemike55
and a very cool and wonderful capture Great narrative as well
beachzz
And just WHERE were you when you took this shot; it's just awesome (I know how much you love that word, but sometimes, it's..well, awesome!! lol).
auntietk
A view from ... the Hancock? And what is that down there on the spit? A beached vessel? How come nobody from Chicago every posts pictures of that? It looks very interesting. Cool shot! Next time we come, we'll have to look out a really high window. :)
kgb224
Superb capture my friend. God Bless.
blinkings
LOL I have this exact photo, taken in the early 1990's!
ragouc
Really cool......
whaleman
I think you were standing beside Beth on an aircraft when you took this, LOL! That is pretty high up!
durleybeachbum
Fascinating!!!
tofi
A fine little prelude to your image, Chip! Not sure if I'd be thinking of cheesecake while looking at this image, although now that I'm thinking about it... strawberry would do just fine :) It's really nice to have a friend as the way you describe Beth to be. It really changes one's entire mood when around happy, and positive people. Then again, I do believe we are drawn to people for a certain reason, since we mirror something or other in them. A really stunning view, my friend. It seems sublime from this perfect POV... I could stand here from above and look down and observe for hours... never getting bored. There's always the C.N Tower, but even that doesn't seem to reveal such calmness and quiet, and instead one is left to observe the business hustle and bustle of the every day. Hmmm.... lovely insight and perspective, my Dear Friend!
MrsRatbag
What a great aerial view of the shoreline! You must have been up quite high...excellent capture!
vis151
really Nice!
flavia49
outstanding picture
sandra46
EXCELLENT WORK! TERRIFIC POV
jeroni
Excellent shot, fantastic colors and details
morningglory
Chicago must be a most fascinating city.
netot
Great POV. From what place have you this wonderful view?.
wysiwig
A great vantage point and a brilliant image. Shared memories really are the best. I remember a Chinese friend once took a bunch of us to a really Chinese restaurant where she ordered from the Chinese language menu, the one the gway low never see. What a difference!
aksirp
what a view, so many houses and a beach- great mood with the dust over the town! (or smog??) there is so much space!- we always have hills, mounts or mountains in front of the lens and or head;) i hear through your words how much you miss Prague - Europe, an other lifestyle. Its always a chance to life for some time free, away from usual society or family force, that experience can feed for years...
RodS
A fantastic shot of Chicago, Chip - and as always, a great read!
KatesFriend
Free Brandy? I like that tradition. It seems far better than the "unlimited" salad and bread sticks of The Olive Garden. This is a wonderful shot. The city still very much in daylight with its green space vibrant and visible. But the metropolis is starkly contrasted with those dark and foreboding clouds. I guess over any great city such shadows hang. Be it due to weather or corruption or some social tension that has been allowed to fester for far too long. Some claim that "distance sweetens" (Night Gallery - 'Camara Obscura') but some how these shots can be more honest. Laying bare the city in all its good and bad in one image. Curiously, when I see aerial shots of a city I always think of a small town in Manitoba called Pinawa and the good times I experienced there. Long ago now.
nikolais
It's always a great pleasure reading your travelogs, Chip. They do add an extra dimension to your captures, especially made through the bird's eye.
helanker
WOW This awesome view over the cost of Chicago with its spit and the park, the zoo and the Lagoon. And almost the building where Mark (anahata.c) lives. It is a beautiful view and a pretty cozy story about you and your friend. :-)
JuliSonne
** W O W *** this view ist GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck with Beth and cheesecake. Let's give you the recipe - then you can bake it myself!
moochagoo
I have that kind of photo too,in Chicago. How nice atmosphere !
FredNunes
Gorgeous. What a mood!
jendellas
What a fantastic view & wonderful memories for you!!
danapommet
WOW! That is a view that we don't normally see. Nice shot on a cloudy day!