I just got home from a short getaway to Milwaukee, where I have family... that was a mini-vacation that I so needed! Yesterday was wonderful; it really kicked off summer! Yes, it might sound a little late for that, but around here, summer didn't begin until July ... June was cold, rainy, and gloomy. However long it lasts, this is the real summer kick-off!
So we went to the beach on Lake Michigan... just across from, well, here! We have beaches, beautiful ones actually, right here in Chicago, on- you guessed it -- Lake Michigan too. But I couldn't help but notice the vast differences. I thought I'd put the question to readers of this blog; because my friends in places like Facebook or Twitter are people who live here, grew up here with me, or are in some way too close to "here" to give a good answer. I'm wondering ... what is the general impression you have of CHICAGO? The people? The racial atmosphere? The crime? The culture? Fashion? Like, if you have ever visited, or if you imagine yourself visiting, what do you expect you'd find, in either good ways or bad? PLEASE don't hold back or worry about offending me!!! I definitely won't be offended on behalf of a city; I'm not that type, please believe. I'm really curious about how what I see living here for so long matches up with what others think, based on perhaps movies, rumors, or whatever else plants an image of a distant, unvisited place in our minds...
I started to wonder about this, because Milwaukee is a completely different world, despite being another big city, with a diverse population, on the same lake, etc. At the beach, what stood out the most to me, immediately, was that every color of person was there, all mixing together, all in line at the snack bar, all laying out on towels, etc. In my experience, I don't see this at the beach in Chicago or the surrounding area. The beaches I've been to have always been predominantly white white white! Woo! I mean, the glare from the sun, sand, water, and all those white people will hurt your eyes!!! Hahaha... If you live in the area of the beach, then you have upper-class money, so that might be part of it. I have no idea. Without delving into the differences and the divides, which are always infinitely complex, it's just an observation. If you know me at all through my writing, then you know I prefer the Milwaukee beach.
So I'm putting the question out there; because I'm a passionate, if amateur, anthropologist, to the end. No matter what I'm doing or where I go, I can't help but want to know how people are interacting and why and what influences their bonds and their conflicts. Sometimes I wish I could turn it off, but I usually can't. If I can't go directly to the source of something I'm wondering about, then I try to get my information from as direct a source as possible. I'm a nerd in so many ways, always in pursuit of some (pseudo)intellectual study or curiosity, despite not holding a degree in it or getting paid. Speaking of that, I should try to find a way to parlay all of this into SOME kind of job ... hmmm...
Well, moving on ... the day at the beach was so great... I really need the sun, the activity, the exercise: my brother and I were paddling for our lives by the last leg of our Paddle Boat tour... sweat was pouring down my neck and my temples (the sweat pattern I usually think of a MAN having, ugh!!!), my brother was saying his legs hurt ... Oh it was very sad really. For me, it was so pathetic. I was an athlete growing up, always keeping to a strict regimen of workouts and "right" eating, etc. I was a 3-sport letter (wo)man, etc., you know the type. Honestly, only a little of my decline can be owed to lack of self-discipline or "laziness" or whatever. It has all fallen apart as my Disorder(s) have had to become my priority. I was thinking about that even before the paddle-boat experience; how I would really like to have my symptoms controlled, or better yet, gone ... to the point where I could do things like work and exercise regularly, routinely... Those two words have become impossibilities for me over the last few years, and it shows. Worse almost was having to learn to accept the fact that this was so.
Ever since my last treatment plan went into effect, July 2, I've been at least 50% improved in terms of pain, concentration, fatigue, and other major symptoms. That is wonderful, for sure! I am hoping so much that it lasts, that I can work with the doc to really fine-tune it over the next few visits, next few months, to build a trend of improvement. But I just never know. Two weeks is two weeks, no more and no less. It doesn't mean it can't back-slide, but it also doesn't mean it can't get even better. I have to do everything I can to support my body in healing. I am so excited for the day that I really can LIVE again. I haven't given up on that goal. Last fall, I lived that for about 4 months, my longest run of good health ever in my adult life. So I hope to get that goin again...
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