BYOF

We have settled into our Summer Chicago Adventure.  The true measure that we are really living here is that Thursday I got a haircut locally and did the laundry in the Laundromat on the first floor of our apartment building.  The jury is still out on how the haircut turned out, but the laundry is mostly dried, folded and put away.  I say mostly because some items are hanging on door knobs and a few hooks in the apartment because I didn’t want to pay another dollar for the dryer.  There was no way to put them in for another 10-minute, 25¢ cycle.  It was $1 or nothing.  Thus, the clothes are draped around the apartment.

But I really shouldn’t start out telling you the woes, because we really do love our 800 square-foot, 19^th floor apartment.  I didn’t realize until yesterday when I got a glance into another apartment in the building how blessed we are to have a corner space with an almost panoramic view of the surrounding city of Edgewater, Rogers Park to the North, and West Ridge and Lincoln Square to the West. 

Green spaces with lofty trees dot and soften the cityscape of brick and blacktop. Between a few apartment buildings we have a glimpse of Lake Michigan, its beach and an occasional sailboat.  A few apartment buildings nearby have lush rooftop gardens, others have decks for outdoor living and some buildings have balconies off the apartments.  We thought we would enjoy a balcony, but at nineteen floors up my knees get rubbery opening and closing the windows.  The rooftop of our building is unadorned but has patio chairs and lounges.

Two things enhance the views.  Clean windows and binoculars.  Gratefully, we moved in during the window washing season. Our binoculars are part of our living room décor, so they are always handy.  And I’m of the mind that people intend for you to look into their apartments, that is why they keep their drapes open.

Creating a cozy welcoming place to come home to is part of the summer adventure.  It is true that we could live with less for the three months we’re here, but equipping and decorating is part of the fun.  We started off well with the furniture left by the graduate student who sub-leased to us.  She left a sofa, coffee table, end-table, TV stand, book shelf, bedroom furniture, a cute Chinese-red cabinet, a dining table and four not-so-well-painted chairs. One of the first things Wayne and I do in any new residence is cover the walls.  Usually I hardly have pictures and wall hangings unpacked and Wayne is hammering nails into the walls. We brought a few familiar items with us for this purpose. 

One item is an antique Middle Eastern baby cradle.  It’s not like any cradle you’ve ever seen.  It is a 44”X33” piece of leather with a 33”X 23” fabric inset.  Around the inset are leather appliques. The leather and fabric attach to a decoratively painted pole at each end. We bought this while we lived in Iran.  For the last forty years it has been in every basement we’ve owned.  Last fall we tried to sell it at our garage sale for a price no one would pay for the tattered item it is.  But one Iranian woman came through the sale and told Wayne that the price was too low because this item is very valuable.  The baby cradle came off the garage wall, went back into the basement and is now the piece-de-résistance in our apartment.  Now that I take more time to look at it, it really is quite exquisite.

 

The first night in the apartment we started hanging our stuff and then realized that we share walls with neighbors so we stopped the hammering until the next day.  Hanging the baby cradle was a challenge, but Wayne has MacGyver-type skills and using coax cable, the window-blind opening and closing handle and twine, we got it ready to hang.  We cheered the accomplishment.

An area rug that has been with us in every house we’ve lived in adds warmth to the lovely hardwood floors and gives a sense of home.  Another small carpet hangs on the wall and two Egyptian prints pull it all together.

The bedroom is simpler, two burlap coffee bean bags purchased in Saugatuck at a coffee shop adorn the walls and our bikes help fill up the room.

The kitchen was updated a couple of years ago, so the tiny space is sleek and modernized.  The dishwasher was broken when we moved in.  The management replaced it.  It was the fastest and easiest “repair” we’ve ever experienced. When I opened the dishwasher for the first time after using it, I saw the dishes were still wet.  The dishwasher brand is one we’ve never heard of, but Wayne found a phone number and called customer service.  From them we discovered there is no dryer on the dishwasher.  When the washing is done, we must open the door a bit and let the air dry the hot dishes.  Uh-huh. The next time that is what we did and it worked.  Energy saver for sure. However we have to run the dishwasher when we will be home or awake to open the door.

Actually I usually choose to wash the dishes in the sink because there are so few of them and I can’t wait until the dishwasher runs to have clean ones. Not wanting to bring too much stuff to have to move out after three months, I’ve left the kitchen understocked just enough to make food preparation mental gymnastics.   We have four forks, four spoons and four knives.  Somehow I failed to bring measuring spoons and I need a few more storage containers.  Often by the time I’ve prepared a meal, every utensil and dish in the kitchen is dirty. Cooking requires some improvisation, kitchen juggling and a list for the thrift store, but then that is all part of the adventure. 

We really are settled in and our apartment is the cozy, comfortable and familiar place we hoped it would be.  It is simple, but our life here in Chicago this summer is simple.  This is all such a gift from God to us.  So when we are riding the express bus 147 returning from a Grant Park Summer Symphony Concert or the Chicago History Museum, the thrift store, Park Church Near North Campus, Chicago Tabernacle’s Tuesday night prayer meeting or on bike riding from Navy Pier or Jewel Osco, we look forward to unlocking the multiple locks on our apartment door and being home.

We’d love to have you come by and see our place.  Just Bring Your Own Fork.