Sunday, August 19, 2007

Birthday


Many thanks to those who sent along birthday wishes. It was a good day by any measure: I had a healthy appetite, the love of family and friends, and my beautiful/ugly city under my feet and in my gaze.

At 7:30 in the morning, I met with a friend to walk around the neighborhood and take photographs. Less than six blocks from my home, the north branch of the Chicago river curls under the Belmont Avenue bridge. A sliver of a park lies along the banks, and under the cover of dense trees and brush, two men were there fishing. "They're really biting like crazy!" one said. I asked him what he was catching. "The one I just threw back was a carp, but I've been getting bluegill, bass.."



Later, another friend treated me to a hamburger and ice cream at Margie's Candies. My rootbeer float with chocolate ice cream left me with that wonderful gut-busting fullness of childhood birthdays past.



I gave myself a few hours to recover, and then my husband and I went out for sushi and a movie. My bald head will be swathed in luxury, thanks to his gift of a beautiful Hermès scarf.

Now, onward.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Root Beer float with Chocolate Ice Cream...Yummmmm!! Bluegill and Bass in the Chicago River...Amazing....Must be a tad cleaner than the Cuyahoga River. Come to think of it,I never heard of the Chicago River ever catching fire. This is my belated Birthday wish to you....sounds like you had a good one. Yo Cuz, JD

The Fifty Foot Blogger said...

Thanks, John! Yes, the river has been cleaned up quite a bit, but I doubt it would be safe to eat too much of what you catch.