Since landing in Chicago I have noticed a big push to go outside and enjoy summer as much as possible. Here in Chicago, summer ends on Labor Day. There are signs everywhere alerting you to the end of summer. Buses stop going to the beach, community pools shut down, and local stores stop selling sunscreen. I had no idea that summer just ends. In California, I'm not really sure when summer is over. Maybe near Thanksgiving?
I thought all this was ridiculous. Summer just ends, huh? Then suddenly it is fall? Yeah, right. Silly city.
Well, this morning I needed to go to the library and the post office. I stepped outside, and the wind was almost...brisk. There were leaves swirling around the streets. August wind was not like this. August leaves were firmly on the trees. This was weird. I should never have doubted an entire city.
As I started walking, I sensed a bit of festivity in the air. It was the same feeling I get when I walk to my hometown Colony Days celebration. In October. And even in October, I sometimes wish I was wearing shorts and a light t-shirt. So I was walking along, leaves and wind brisking around me when I start to hear music, and see people in jackets and long pants all heading in one direction. I look around, and see tents! OHHHH!!!! It was totally a festival! I simply adore festivals!!
I finish up my business at the post office and library, where I read a sign that I didn't understand. Sometimes, when I read signs around here, I wonder what language they were translated from. Anyway, I found a group of people and followed them to the Polish Festival!!! I was very excited! Unfortunately, it cost 6 bucks to get in, and I really wasn't ready to shell out the dough. I did, however, look through the fences, and it appears that the festival had multiple live bands, food (it looked like sausage and beer), handmade jewelry, Polish flags, t-shirts with the Polish flag on it, and if I saw correctly, a Polish flag beer cozy. It all looked pretty good, but seeing how I'm not in the market for Polish items, beer, or sausage, I decided to make my way back home. I think my favorite part of the Polish Festival was the music, which is good, because I could hear it from my house. It all worked out perfectly.
1 comment:
My brother served his mission in South Korea, and he said they have a specified day where the seasons end and you are not allowed to put down the windows in the bus until THE DAY (he said he got more than a few disapproving looks before he knew about THE DAY), and no one wears a jacket until THE DAY that fall begins. It was even more funny because he couldn't figure out how EVERYONE knew it was THE DAY. It wasn't like, the first of July, or the meteorologic first day of Summer... just some magical time that everyone knew about but him. No in South Korea believes in helpful signs like they do in Chicago, I guess.
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