Two cop incidents last night:
I was walking down Marshfield after the NHS board meeting and saw a couple of cop cars sitting north of the viaduct. Our sergeant was out of his car, parked on 48th, and was standing talking to an officer in his car, parked on Marshfield.
I went by and said hello, thinking, "How nice to see a cop I know out on the beat and not harassing anybody."
About 90 minutes later, around 8:30, Dawn called me and asked if she could come over. I went out and opened the front gate. It turned out Julian and his buddy Chava had been stopped by the cops just a few minutes earlier. There was a report of a shooting on Paulina, I think--we weren't sure--and the cops went out stopping every young man within a few blocks of the incident. They made a mess out of Julian's bike--knocked the tire and tube off his back wheel and we don't know why. At least they didn't rough up the boys or take them to jail.
Which reminds me--Tony stopped by Sunday night while we were eating hamburgers, and told me he had been picked up by cops and held for 72 hours because he doesn't have any ID. They can hold someone that long while checking their fingerprints to see if they have any outstanding warrants. He didn't. He says the last thing on him was the order of protection, which expired a year ago and which his "baby mama" (for lack of a better description) did not renew.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Burgers & Back Yard
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a back yard. About ten days ago, Fernando and Rosa and their boys showed up on my doorstep--I think it was Thursday night before last--and announced, "We're doing your yard this weekend."
"OK," I said. "I'm going out of town, but you go for it."
We went out back, and I explained that we needed to take out the big rocks, level the ground and roll sod. Sr. asked if I wanted to leave a couple of strips open to garden in and I said yes. So we left open the area where I planted sunflowers last year and a strip alongside the house to the north, where I'll plant sunflowers this year. I'm also getting containers from a friend so I can grow vegetables this summer in lead-free soil.
So I went away for Easter weekend, and when I got back Monday night my yard was level but the sod hadn't been rolled. It went down last Tuesday night. We've been watering like crazy ever since. Dawn and her brother and his friend Chava have been pitching in when I worked late and was too tired to do it myself. I did water Saturday morning and saw three guys staring at me from across the street. I kept wondering if they thought it was weird to see me water my own grass, or if they thought it was too late in the morning (around 11) or if they were just bored and I was their entertainment. Oh, well.
By Sunday night Fernando Sr. said it was OK for people to walk on the grass. So I let Joey and School Lady and her daughters come over. I made hamburgers (on the stove, not the grill--I was too tired to drag the grill out of the cellar), and Joey and the girls played soccer and chased each other around on the grass. Joey rolled around on it a little--I think maybe Sophie did too--the other girls probably thought they were too old and would look unladylike.
I think School Lady has finally decided I'm OK. We're still on a usted basis--though I forget and call her tu (informal you--it's a big deal among Mexicans when they tell you 'call me tu,' which she hasn't done yet. But I mostly talk with people who say call me tu, and I'm an estadounidensa/United Statesian, so I forget the formal distinction a lot). But at the end of the hamburger/lawn party, she came up and touched my elbow and told me if I need help putting my birthday party together to let her know.
The yard feels great--it's so nice to be able to walk around back there and not worry about breaking an ankle in a hole or tripping on a rock! And walking on new sod is like stepping on plush carpet--so fun to run around on. I haven't had time to lie down in the grass in my backyard, but I'm looking forward to doing it before it gets matted down or dries out. Whoopee!
"OK," I said. "I'm going out of town, but you go for it."
We went out back, and I explained that we needed to take out the big rocks, level the ground and roll sod. Sr. asked if I wanted to leave a couple of strips open to garden in and I said yes. So we left open the area where I planted sunflowers last year and a strip alongside the house to the north, where I'll plant sunflowers this year. I'm also getting containers from a friend so I can grow vegetables this summer in lead-free soil.
So I went away for Easter weekend, and when I got back Monday night my yard was level but the sod hadn't been rolled. It went down last Tuesday night. We've been watering like crazy ever since. Dawn and her brother and his friend Chava have been pitching in when I worked late and was too tired to do it myself. I did water Saturday morning and saw three guys staring at me from across the street. I kept wondering if they thought it was weird to see me water my own grass, or if they thought it was too late in the morning (around 11) or if they were just bored and I was their entertainment. Oh, well.
By Sunday night Fernando Sr. said it was OK for people to walk on the grass. So I let Joey and School Lady and her daughters come over. I made hamburgers (on the stove, not the grill--I was too tired to drag the grill out of the cellar), and Joey and the girls played soccer and chased each other around on the grass. Joey rolled around on it a little--I think maybe Sophie did too--the other girls probably thought they were too old and would look unladylike.
I think School Lady has finally decided I'm OK. We're still on a usted basis--though I forget and call her tu (informal you--it's a big deal among Mexicans when they tell you 'call me tu,' which she hasn't done yet. But I mostly talk with people who say call me tu, and I'm an estadounidensa/United Statesian, so I forget the formal distinction a lot). But at the end of the hamburger/lawn party, she came up and touched my elbow and told me if I need help putting my birthday party together to let her know.
The yard feels great--it's so nice to be able to walk around back there and not worry about breaking an ankle in a hole or tripping on a rock! And walking on new sod is like stepping on plush carpet--so fun to run around on. I haven't had time to lie down in the grass in my backyard, but I'm looking forward to doing it before it gets matted down or dries out. Whoopee!
Friday, April 21, 2006
Report Cards
Last night I got home about 9 p.m. and hadn't eaten dinner. Marisol and Daya were on the step next door and said hi. I said hi and went in the house. I had barely washed my hands and was about to eat a piece of gefilte fish straight out of the jar from starvation when the doorbell rang.
I figured it was one of the Tonys looking for a thinly disguised handout, and I was mad. The bell rang again. "Hold on!" I shouted grumpily.
But when I got to the door, it was Marisol, holding a styrofoam plate with two tacos on it. "Oh wow, Marisol, that's so nice!" I said. "I'm so hungry--I haven't had dinner yet. Thank you!"
I think I must have scared her with the initial shout, because she just said good night and vanished immediately. I was so happy not to have to fix dinner I broke into Alberto's brand-new six-pack of ale and took a beer out with me on the step for dinner. (Alberto has apparently swigged most of a large bottle of rum left over from my Christmas party, so I feel pretty justified in swiping a brewski.)
Anyway, they waved from next door but went in to bed pretty soon afterwards. Meanwhile, Dawn and Joey came by while I was still eating. We started talking about report cards and Joey went home to get their and their big brother Julian's.
Let's start with the good news. Dawn's GPA looks like it's about a 2.5 or a little higher. She only has a D in algebra, and she had a C in something else, and the rest were Bs with one A. However, given that the Consortium on Chicago School Research released a report yesterday that says a kid in CPS needs a 3.0 to have any real hope of going to college and making it through, we've got work to do.
The bad news is Julian is not looking like a candidate to beat the stats. Only about 3 percent of the African American and Latino boys who start high school in CPS ever make it to their college diplomas. And an older Consortium study indicates kids who flunk more than two core courses in their first semester are very likely to drop out of high school. Julian had three core Fs and five Fs overall. I knew it would be bad but I didn't think it would be that bad.
Julian and I hung out watering the lawn at 10:30 last night, talking about his grades and what he might be able to do to make up at least some of the work before summer, among other things. He's a nice boy, not sullen or hard, and not stupid-he got a C in algebra without trying-but getting him to do schoolwork is like pulling teeth. He says the after school study period they've forced him to attend is helping him make up some of his first semester work.
Meanwhile, Joey's grades have slipped, too. I don't have the time and energy to do the work all three of them need. We have to get Joey into a more responsive school and that is 18 months away at the soonest.
I figured it was one of the Tonys looking for a thinly disguised handout, and I was mad. The bell rang again. "Hold on!" I shouted grumpily.
But when I got to the door, it was Marisol, holding a styrofoam plate with two tacos on it. "Oh wow, Marisol, that's so nice!" I said. "I'm so hungry--I haven't had dinner yet. Thank you!"
I think I must have scared her with the initial shout, because she just said good night and vanished immediately. I was so happy not to have to fix dinner I broke into Alberto's brand-new six-pack of ale and took a beer out with me on the step for dinner. (Alberto has apparently swigged most of a large bottle of rum left over from my Christmas party, so I feel pretty justified in swiping a brewski.)
Anyway, they waved from next door but went in to bed pretty soon afterwards. Meanwhile, Dawn and Joey came by while I was still eating. We started talking about report cards and Joey went home to get their and their big brother Julian's.
Let's start with the good news. Dawn's GPA looks like it's about a 2.5 or a little higher. She only has a D in algebra, and she had a C in something else, and the rest were Bs with one A. However, given that the Consortium on Chicago School Research released a report yesterday that says a kid in CPS needs a 3.0 to have any real hope of going to college and making it through, we've got work to do.
The bad news is Julian is not looking like a candidate to beat the stats. Only about 3 percent of the African American and Latino boys who start high school in CPS ever make it to their college diplomas. And an older Consortium study indicates kids who flunk more than two core courses in their first semester are very likely to drop out of high school. Julian had three core Fs and five Fs overall. I knew it would be bad but I didn't think it would be that bad.
Julian and I hung out watering the lawn at 10:30 last night, talking about his grades and what he might be able to do to make up at least some of the work before summer, among other things. He's a nice boy, not sullen or hard, and not stupid-he got a C in algebra without trying-but getting him to do schoolwork is like pulling teeth. He says the after school study period they've forced him to attend is helping him make up some of his first semester work.
Meanwhile, Joey's grades have slipped, too. I don't have the time and energy to do the work all three of them need. We have to get Joey into a more responsive school and that is 18 months away at the soonest.
LSC Election Results
I rode my bike to work this morning, and rode up to the front window at Chavez, where the LSC election results were posted. I did vote in that election, but I missed the high school election at Richards yesterday.
The candidates at Chavez were roughly divided into two slates. The incumbents basically beat out the challengers, including School Lady and her friend who calls me "maestra" on the street.
From talking with people on both sides, I gathered that the challengers weren't too happy with the guy who has been selected to succeed retiring principal Sandy Traback. A big concern, they say, is that he isn't tough enough on discipline. (I'm guessing his youthful appearance might be part of the issue--I remember when I taught desperately wishing I looked older in hopes that would give me a little edge.) Meanwhile, the incumbents and school administration perceived the challengers as just a bunch of nay-sayers who don't really understand the issues invovled in running a school.
To tell you the truth, I split my ticket and voted in favor of two incumbents and two challengers, mostly on the basis of how much I liked them personally. However, as is often the case, the people have spoken in favor of the status quo. Let's hope that was a good thing.
The candidates at Chavez were roughly divided into two slates. The incumbents basically beat out the challengers, including School Lady and her friend who calls me "maestra" on the street.
From talking with people on both sides, I gathered that the challengers weren't too happy with the guy who has been selected to succeed retiring principal Sandy Traback. A big concern, they say, is that he isn't tough enough on discipline. (I'm guessing his youthful appearance might be part of the issue--I remember when I taught desperately wishing I looked older in hopes that would give me a little edge.) Meanwhile, the incumbents and school administration perceived the challengers as just a bunch of nay-sayers who don't really understand the issues invovled in running a school.
To tell you the truth, I split my ticket and voted in favor of two incumbents and two challengers, mostly on the basis of how much I liked them personally. However, as is often the case, the people have spoken in favor of the status quo. Let's hope that was a good thing.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Spring Break Party
My neighbors to the south had a party on Monday night to celebrate spring break and the first really warm night of 2006. I got home around 9 and there were lots of little kids swarming around in the front yard next door and a few grownups settled around the card table with the remains of dinner on it.
"Sorry. We ate already," Herman from the second floor told me. I was sorry to miss the food but I wasn't hungry.
While we were chatting, Tony from Logan Square came by. "You're hard to find," he told me.
"Looking for work?" I asked.
"Looking for my girlfriend," he teased me. But he was willing to settle for a job. He cleaned out my backyard and along the sidewalk.
Alicia and Santiago on the first floor have a passel of kids--I can't always remember how many they have, let alone all their names. There are at least four, maybe even five or six. But little Luis remembers me and so does his big sister. It's bugging me that I can't remember her name. They took me out back to play catch. Luis's big brother (whose name I also forgot) wanted to sing songs for me. He learned a song about English vowels in school that was very good. I should make him teach me it.
His sister taught me a sing and clap game in Spanish and I taught her "Miss Mary Mack" in English. Of course I have totally forgotten the Spanish one. She'll have to play it with me about a hundred times before it sticks.
Then Big Sister wanted to read stories. She went in the house and found a book of stories in Spanish and English. I wondered if it was from school or if Alicia got it somewhere. We read "La Oruga Muy Hambriente" together. That's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" for those of you who have read it in English. Big Sister and I took turns reading every other page. She is a very good reader in both Spanish and English.
The grownups were pretty surprised that I could read Spanish. (I can read and pronounce it decently but frankly I don't always know what I'm saying. With "La Oruga," though, I did, between the pictures and my vague memories of reading it in English as a kid.) I heard a couple of them saying, "hey, she's pretty good!"
The funniest part was when Santiago came up to me and asked me in Spanish, "How come you talk to me in English if you know Spanish?" I answered in Spansih, "Because you always talk to me in English. If you talk to me in English, I'll talk English to you. If you talk to me in Spanish, I'll talk Spanish." We laughed.
"Sorry. We ate already," Herman from the second floor told me. I was sorry to miss the food but I wasn't hungry.
While we were chatting, Tony from Logan Square came by. "You're hard to find," he told me.
"Looking for work?" I asked.
"Looking for my girlfriend," he teased me. But he was willing to settle for a job. He cleaned out my backyard and along the sidewalk.
Alicia and Santiago on the first floor have a passel of kids--I can't always remember how many they have, let alone all their names. There are at least four, maybe even five or six. But little Luis remembers me and so does his big sister. It's bugging me that I can't remember her name. They took me out back to play catch. Luis's big brother (whose name I also forgot) wanted to sing songs for me. He learned a song about English vowels in school that was very good. I should make him teach me it.
His sister taught me a sing and clap game in Spanish and I taught her "Miss Mary Mack" in English. Of course I have totally forgotten the Spanish one. She'll have to play it with me about a hundred times before it sticks.
Then Big Sister wanted to read stories. She went in the house and found a book of stories in Spanish and English. I wondered if it was from school or if Alicia got it somewhere. We read "La Oruga Muy Hambriente" together. That's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" for those of you who have read it in English. Big Sister and I took turns reading every other page. She is a very good reader in both Spanish and English.
The grownups were pretty surprised that I could read Spanish. (I can read and pronounce it decently but frankly I don't always know what I'm saying. With "La Oruga," though, I did, between the pictures and my vague memories of reading it in English as a kid.) I heard a couple of them saying, "hey, she's pretty good!"
The funniest part was when Santiago came up to me and asked me in Spanish, "How come you talk to me in English if you know Spanish?" I answered in Spansih, "Because you always talk to me in English. If you talk to me in English, I'll talk English to you. If you talk to me in Spanish, I'll talk Spanish." We laughed.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Clandestine CAPS meeting
Apparently some folks showed up at the last CAPS meeting who may have come to get information to feed back to local gangbangers about who is giving the police information. I wasn't there. Someone called me and asked if I would come to a special meeting with the sergeant to give him the real poop. I went.
I'm not going to give any details, except to say the sergeant said, "It was really weird when you all stopped talking at the other meeting. I thought, 'I've been coming to these meetings for two years and they never run out of things to say.'"
We may have to continue holding parallel meetings until the nefarious element quits coming, I've been advised. The sergeant suggested writing stuff down.
I'm glad I wasn't at the meeting where everyone shut up. I might have been too naive to take the hint. Yikes.
I'm not going to give any details, except to say the sergeant said, "It was really weird when you all stopped talking at the other meeting. I thought, 'I've been coming to these meetings for two years and they never run out of things to say.'"
We may have to continue holding parallel meetings until the nefarious element quits coming, I've been advised. The sergeant suggested writing stuff down.
I'm glad I wasn't at the meeting where everyone shut up. I might have been too naive to take the hint. Yikes.
Dawn's Exhibtion
Well, after all the storm und drang, Dawn's exhibition went remarkably well yesterday. She held her poise, even when she couldn't find a document or when we pressed her about points of math she didn't know very well. She could just say, "I don't know," and move on. She also managed to talk about all the things she went through this quarter with the house and how that dampened her motivation to get through her school work. She said she is learning the difference between saying you're going to do something and really doing it.
She really knew her stuff in talking about colonization and why Europeans became the colonizers and what weapons they used, including germ warfare (smallpox), to kill off indigenous Americans. She also managed to translate almost her entire report on Madagascar, which she had prepared in English, into Spanish for the presentation. She was translating her power point text on the fly and doing a very good job of it, from what I could tell and from what the bilingual teacher roped into the panel said afterwards.
The only big bummer was she didn't invite her mom. I feel guilty because I knew the night before that she hadn't invited her. I encouraged her to reconsider and asked why she hadn't. She said she didn't invite her because she knew the exhibition wouldn't be as good as it should be and she didn't want her mom riding her back any more than she already it. (Dawn feels very put-upon these days. I'm not sure whether any of it has any legitimacy or if it's all teen angst.)
Anyway, I double-checked if she wanted me to come and she said yes. Then I said, "I really think you should ask your mom." But it didn't even occur to me that I could say something to her myself. The thing is, I do feel like it's Dawn's exhibiton and I wouldn't have the right to invite someone on her behalf. So I didn't. I just hoped that my speech to her about inviting her mom would take.
It didn't. I got there and her advisor told me she literally had just found out five minutes before that Dawn hadn't asked her. I said I knew she hadn't at 10:30 last night but I told her she should and then went to bed and went to work and hadn't followed through to see if she did. Well, her advisor didn't call then. I don't know if she should have or not.
Last night I went to the house--I thought Dawn might at least have said something to her mom about it, so I said, "Muy bien hecho" (Very good work) and pointed at Dawn as soon as I walked in the door. So, the cat was out of the bag. Dawn looked surprised but not too upset. Her mom called her dad at work and told him. I got parts of the conversation but not everything. We were watching a sad TV show about two pregnant women with cancer. Both survived, but one delivered a stillborn baby because they had to give the woman chemo to keep her alive. Anyway, I spotted tears running down Dawn's mom's face and I just didn't know if it was from the show or from finding out Dawn hadn't invited her. So I felt pretty crappy, and of course I don't even know if Dawn noticed. I guess I'll have to talk to her about it.
She really knew her stuff in talking about colonization and why Europeans became the colonizers and what weapons they used, including germ warfare (smallpox), to kill off indigenous Americans. She also managed to translate almost her entire report on Madagascar, which she had prepared in English, into Spanish for the presentation. She was translating her power point text on the fly and doing a very good job of it, from what I could tell and from what the bilingual teacher roped into the panel said afterwards.
The only big bummer was she didn't invite her mom. I feel guilty because I knew the night before that she hadn't invited her. I encouraged her to reconsider and asked why she hadn't. She said she didn't invite her because she knew the exhibition wouldn't be as good as it should be and she didn't want her mom riding her back any more than she already it. (Dawn feels very put-upon these days. I'm not sure whether any of it has any legitimacy or if it's all teen angst.)
Anyway, I double-checked if she wanted me to come and she said yes. Then I said, "I really think you should ask your mom." But it didn't even occur to me that I could say something to her myself. The thing is, I do feel like it's Dawn's exhibiton and I wouldn't have the right to invite someone on her behalf. So I didn't. I just hoped that my speech to her about inviting her mom would take.
It didn't. I got there and her advisor told me she literally had just found out five minutes before that Dawn hadn't asked her. I said I knew she hadn't at 10:30 last night but I told her she should and then went to bed and went to work and hadn't followed through to see if she did. Well, her advisor didn't call then. I don't know if she should have or not.
Last night I went to the house--I thought Dawn might at least have said something to her mom about it, so I said, "Muy bien hecho" (Very good work) and pointed at Dawn as soon as I walked in the door. So, the cat was out of the bag. Dawn looked surprised but not too upset. Her mom called her dad at work and told him. I got parts of the conversation but not everything. We were watching a sad TV show about two pregnant women with cancer. Both survived, but one delivered a stillborn baby because they had to give the woman chemo to keep her alive. Anyway, I spotted tears running down Dawn's mom's face and I just didn't know if it was from the show or from finding out Dawn hadn't invited her. So I felt pretty crappy, and of course I don't even know if Dawn noticed. I guess I'll have to talk to her about it.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Library Trip Scores a Foul
The good news: Dawn came over today and we got her a book on Madagascar and a book on hurricanes, so she might be able to salvage her exhibition on Thursday.
The bad news: Dawn told her boss at her internship and told me where she was going, but she didn't tell her parents or her advisor. In a move worthy of Romeo & Juliet, I called her parents looking for her this morning, thinking she had her mom's cell phone, so her parents found out she hauled off to the library without telling them. Oops.
But not totally oops, either. I was expecting Dawn this afternoon, not this morning, and I didn't really think it was a great idea for her to blow off her internship to do this. She also missed one of the exhibitions she was supposed to attend in the process.
Here's what happened. Just as I was about to do my most important interview of the day, the phone rang. It was Dawn, saying she was on her way here to go to the library. I didn't expect to hear that but I didn't have time to argue, so I said OK, come here first and we'll go over and I hung up. Then I got on the phone with my interview subject. The phone rang, and the number calling in flashed but I didn't see it. I thought it was Dawn so after I finished interviewing, I called her mom's cell phone. Her dad answered the phone. I asked if he knew where Aurora was and we had a not very clear conversation in Spanish in which I said I understood she was coming here to get books and I thought she had permission from school, which I did think at that point.
Anyway, she arrived by about 11:30 or so. I told her what happened and she started crying. She said she hadn't told her parents because they were angry at her yesterday for staying at school until 5 p.m. and not telling them where she was. She figured they wouldn't believe her if she told them her plan and they wouldn't let her. I told her I really thought more communication, not less, was the answer in this situation. Then I found out she hadn't spoken with Carolina either. I asked if she wanted to call Carolina and she said, no, she's probably in an exhibition anwyay, which I thought was probably true. Plus, Dawn was going back to school to watch a 2 p.m. exhibition.
We called her mom and told her that Dawn had been here to get books and was going back to school for her 2 p.m. exhibition that ends at 3. I hope everything went OK from here. Whew!
As we were walking back to the office from the library, I said, "Well, if you're grounded for life, at least you can do your reports."
"Yeah," she said. "Now I have somthing to read." (She did have some stuff prior to this, but I think not enough to get a good grade.) Stay tuned. Her exhibition is Thursday afternoon.
The bad news: Dawn told her boss at her internship and told me where she was going, but she didn't tell her parents or her advisor. In a move worthy of Romeo & Juliet, I called her parents looking for her this morning, thinking she had her mom's cell phone, so her parents found out she hauled off to the library without telling them. Oops.
But not totally oops, either. I was expecting Dawn this afternoon, not this morning, and I didn't really think it was a great idea for her to blow off her internship to do this. She also missed one of the exhibitions she was supposed to attend in the process.
Here's what happened. Just as I was about to do my most important interview of the day, the phone rang. It was Dawn, saying she was on her way here to go to the library. I didn't expect to hear that but I didn't have time to argue, so I said OK, come here first and we'll go over and I hung up. Then I got on the phone with my interview subject. The phone rang, and the number calling in flashed but I didn't see it. I thought it was Dawn so after I finished interviewing, I called her mom's cell phone. Her dad answered the phone. I asked if he knew where Aurora was and we had a not very clear conversation in Spanish in which I said I understood she was coming here to get books and I thought she had permission from school, which I did think at that point.
Anyway, she arrived by about 11:30 or so. I told her what happened and she started crying. She said she hadn't told her parents because they were angry at her yesterday for staying at school until 5 p.m. and not telling them where she was. She figured they wouldn't believe her if she told them her plan and they wouldn't let her. I told her I really thought more communication, not less, was the answer in this situation. Then I found out she hadn't spoken with Carolina either. I asked if she wanted to call Carolina and she said, no, she's probably in an exhibition anwyay, which I thought was probably true. Plus, Dawn was going back to school to watch a 2 p.m. exhibition.
We called her mom and told her that Dawn had been here to get books and was going back to school for her 2 p.m. exhibition that ends at 3. I hope everything went OK from here. Whew!
As we were walking back to the office from the library, I said, "Well, if you're grounded for life, at least you can do your reports."
"Yeah," she said. "Now I have somthing to read." (She did have some stuff prior to this, but I think not enough to get a good grade.) Stay tuned. Her exhibition is Thursday afternoon.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Why I hate spring
More reasons to hate spring--there were two shootings in the neighborhood last week.
I heard this from the two neighborhood principals on Friday afternoon. One of them was feeling bad because he thought at least one of them might have been prevented with better adult presence in the vicinity, I gather.
And a last hated vestige of winter--if you live in Chicago you probably saw footage last week of the fire that killed four young kids. It happened at 54th and Honore, within a mile radius of my house. I woke up Wednesday morning and saw helicopters circling overhead. We were all wondering why they were there. I thought it was another big drug bust or something.
I heard this from the two neighborhood principals on Friday afternoon. One of them was feeling bad because he thought at least one of them might have been prevented with better adult presence in the vicinity, I gather.
And a last hated vestige of winter--if you live in Chicago you probably saw footage last week of the fire that killed four young kids. It happened at 54th and Honore, within a mile radius of my house. I woke up Wednesday morning and saw helicopters circling overhead. We were all wondering why they were there. I thought it was another big drug bust or something.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
School News
My block of South Marshfield Avenue had a lot to brag about this morning at the Chavez LSC meeting. We can boast two Students of the Month--Junior was one of them!!--and a candidate in the hotly contested election for parents on the LSC. There are 15 candidates running for 6 spots, in a city where not every school has enough parents running to fill all the seats, let alone give people choices.
Our community race, by contrast, is lackluster--as comm rep Veronica Lopez put it this morning (via my attempt at translation), "If I vote, I win." She and Fr. Ed, the current reps, are the only folks on the community ballot. I'll go vote for them just to show that there are community people paying attention. (Even if I wanted to run, I can't due to conflicts of interest with my job.)
Anyway, School Lady from down the block is running. I was surprised to see this because she spends so much time over there I thought she was a paid employee. (School employees can't run for LSC at the school where they work, even if they have children enrolled there.) So perhaps she is a volunteer. Wow.
There are clearly some factions involved and I am trying to get a feel for the landscape as quickly as possible. I will be asking the comm reps and School Lady for their opinions as to who the best parent candidates are, even though I can't vote for them.
School Lady's youngest daughter also earned Student of the Month this month. Whoo-hoo! Meanwhile, her oldest daughter is making out OK at Richards, no bad news to report, she tells me. She also tells me there is a contested race for community rep at Richards, so I'll have to go find out who's running and find out who to vote for.
Our community race, by contrast, is lackluster--as comm rep Veronica Lopez put it this morning (via my attempt at translation), "If I vote, I win." She and Fr. Ed, the current reps, are the only folks on the community ballot. I'll go vote for them just to show that there are community people paying attention. (Even if I wanted to run, I can't due to conflicts of interest with my job.)
Anyway, School Lady from down the block is running. I was surprised to see this because she spends so much time over there I thought she was a paid employee. (School employees can't run for LSC at the school where they work, even if they have children enrolled there.) So perhaps she is a volunteer. Wow.
There are clearly some factions involved and I am trying to get a feel for the landscape as quickly as possible. I will be asking the comm reps and School Lady for their opinions as to who the best parent candidates are, even though I can't vote for them.
School Lady's youngest daughter also earned Student of the Month this month. Whoo-hoo! Meanwhile, her oldest daughter is making out OK at Richards, no bad news to report, she tells me. She also tells me there is a contested race for community rep at Richards, so I'll have to go find out who's running and find out who to vote for.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Whose Homework To Do?
I'm busted. My Spanish teacher gave me a ton of homework on Monday night and I have accomplished almost none of it. (I think I wrote no more than two sentences in one of the exercises he assigned to practice the subjunctive. Not too spectacular.) I called and excused myself from class today, pleading an event I "have to" cover tonight. I'll probably stop by, but I really need to go home and help Dawn with her homework.
Last night I got a message from Dawn's teacher at Big Picture saying she had tried to find out what Aurora has to do for her science project, but she hadn't gotten farther than hearing Dawn's friend Gladys did all the work, so Dawn's not getting any credit. Dawn also has a project to do on Madagascar.
Dawn's family moved over the weekend. Someone broke in their old place while they were moving. The thief or thieves got Joey's gold necklace, a couple of cameras, the little TV Julian watches in their van, other stuff like that. Ouch. Aurora says she doesn't feel safe in the new house now, either. I know what she means. Last night they were cleaning the old place and now they are really done being there. I can hardly believe it.
This morning I went to school with Dawn and talked with her advisor and her science teacher. Her advisor scheduled her exhibition for next Thursday so we have a week to get her caught up. Thank goodness! Her teacher was very stern with her: "I did that this time because I knew the circumstances, but next time you have to be prepared. I'm not going to do this again."
I met her science teacher and got a list of all her missing assigments. I think she has only turned in one assignment this quarter, and that is one more than Julian has managed to scrape in. Great.
The science teacher is OK with Dawn doing a project on hurricanes on her own, since Gladys already finished the one they were supposedly doing together. Since Dawn already learned something about hurricanes she doesn't want to start all over this late in the game. I can see we have our work cut out for us this weekend. My poor Spanish homework may or may not get done between taxes, Dawn's quarter of missing work and anything I can do to get Julian to pull it together. Whew.
Last night I got a message from Dawn's teacher at Big Picture saying she had tried to find out what Aurora has to do for her science project, but she hadn't gotten farther than hearing Dawn's friend Gladys did all the work, so Dawn's not getting any credit. Dawn also has a project to do on Madagascar.
Dawn's family moved over the weekend. Someone broke in their old place while they were moving. The thief or thieves got Joey's gold necklace, a couple of cameras, the little TV Julian watches in their van, other stuff like that. Ouch. Aurora says she doesn't feel safe in the new house now, either. I know what she means. Last night they were cleaning the old place and now they are really done being there. I can hardly believe it.
This morning I went to school with Dawn and talked with her advisor and her science teacher. Her advisor scheduled her exhibition for next Thursday so we have a week to get her caught up. Thank goodness! Her teacher was very stern with her: "I did that this time because I knew the circumstances, but next time you have to be prepared. I'm not going to do this again."
I met her science teacher and got a list of all her missing assigments. I think she has only turned in one assignment this quarter, and that is one more than Julian has managed to scrape in. Great.
The science teacher is OK with Dawn doing a project on hurricanes on her own, since Gladys already finished the one they were supposedly doing together. Since Dawn already learned something about hurricanes she doesn't want to start all over this late in the game. I can see we have our work cut out for us this weekend. My poor Spanish homework may or may not get done between taxes, Dawn's quarter of missing work and anything I can do to get Julian to pull it together. Whew.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
How I learned to stop worrying and love the Machine
Late last week I called one of Esther's campaign people. "What's going on?" I asked. He assured me everything was OK. I asked which precincts hadn't come in yet, and he said they were in a friendly ward (I'm sorry to say I'm unclear whether they were 3rd or 11th ward precincts). But I got off the phone with the general impression that they were precincts that would put Esther over the top.
And with one precinct left to go, here's what the Board of Election Commissioners has to say:
DEM - Rep. In Gen. Assembly, 6th
113 of 114 precincts counted
99.12%
Samuel T. Bunville 1688 15.85%
Keith B. Kysel 760 7.13%
Esther Golar 4238 39.79%
Darryl Smith 3966 37.23%
Total 10652 100.00%
And with one precinct left to go, here's what the Board of Election Commissioners has to say:
DEM - Rep. In Gen. Assembly, 6th
113 of 114 precincts counted
99.12%
Samuel T. Bunville 1688 15.85%
Keith B. Kysel 760 7.13%
Esther Golar 4238 39.79%
Darryl Smith 3966 37.23%
Total 10652 100.00%
Spring, my lost love
No, I'm not going to quote Eliot's opening line to The Waste Land. It's not even April yet, for starters. Besides, this less-famous line hits the mark: "Winter kept us warm, covering/Earth in forgetful snow."
Now we have the gray chilling wetness of March air above the naked earth. The bare ground reveals all the trash that stayed planted under snow for the last three months, and the March wind blows it all over the streets, sidewalks and yards.
I bet I pick up more trash in March and April than any other time of the year. And it's all sodden, muddy and prone to fall apart into soggy shards at the first touch.
When I was a little girl in Wilmington, Delaware, there would always be a day in March that was warm and wet. You could smell the earth warming up and the promise of flowers, soon, soon. Back then, I loved spring. This weekend I remembered why. I went home to visit and there were five grape hyacinths and two daffodils in my mother's front yard.
This morning, the traffic circle at Marshfield and 50th has some bulbs peeping out of the ground, but it will be weeks before they flower. Even at 48 degrees there's no promise of spring in the air. Nothing but the gray chill that lasts until May.
It's the worst season of Chicago, bar none. And nothing makes an ugly Chicago neighborhood look uglier than spring.
Now we have the gray chilling wetness of March air above the naked earth. The bare ground reveals all the trash that stayed planted under snow for the last three months, and the March wind blows it all over the streets, sidewalks and yards.
I bet I pick up more trash in March and April than any other time of the year. And it's all sodden, muddy and prone to fall apart into soggy shards at the first touch.
When I was a little girl in Wilmington, Delaware, there would always be a day in March that was warm and wet. You could smell the earth warming up and the promise of flowers, soon, soon. Back then, I loved spring. This weekend I remembered why. I went home to visit and there were five grape hyacinths and two daffodils in my mother's front yard.
This morning, the traffic circle at Marshfield and 50th has some bulbs peeping out of the ground, but it will be weeks before they flower. Even at 48 degrees there's no promise of spring in the air. Nothing but the gray chill that lasts until May.
It's the worst season of Chicago, bar none. And nothing makes an ugly Chicago neighborhood look uglier than spring.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
One Big Win, One Still in Doubt
First, not on the electoral front--Dawn's dad got his job back! He went back to work yesterday. They also won back pay for the week they were suspended from their jobs. Whoo-hoo!
And, I'm sorry to say the jury is still out on whether my pal Esther Golar gets to keep her seat.
Here's what the Sun-Times had to say a few minutes ago:
District 6 Updated: 3:38 p.m.
78.9% of precincts reporting
Darryl Smith 3,245 38.6%
Esther Golar 3,240 38.6%
Samuel Bunville 1,332 15.9%
Keith Kysel 583 6.9%
So I take it that purchasing the services of Joe from Coleman's office was too expensive. And I take it I must have misheard his turnout for Pat Bailey. Maybe he said 4400. Maybe I was high from the glue on the envelopes.
Esther's campaign manager, a nice Irish guy, assured us last night that she had it in the bag when John Daley called to tell us the 11th ward results, where she picked up over 1000 votes and trounced the opposition. The CM opined that even if the other wards were close contests, this would be enough to take her over the top. Well, there's still about a quarter of the precincts yet to come in and the 11th has failed to keep her on top. Ouch. Stay tuned.
And, I'm sorry to say the jury is still out on whether my pal Esther Golar gets to keep her seat.
Here's what the Sun-Times had to say a few minutes ago:
District 6 Updated: 3:38 p.m.
78.9% of precincts reporting
Darryl Smith 3,245 38.6%
Esther Golar 3,240 38.6%
Samuel Bunville 1,332 15.9%
Keith Kysel 583 6.9%
So I take it that purchasing the services of Joe from Coleman's office was too expensive. And I take it I must have misheard his turnout for Pat Bailey. Maybe he said 4400. Maybe I was high from the glue on the envelopes.
Esther's campaign manager, a nice Irish guy, assured us last night that she had it in the bag when John Daley called to tell us the 11th ward results, where she picked up over 1000 votes and trounced the opposition. The CM opined that even if the other wards were close contests, this would be enough to take her over the top. Well, there's still about a quarter of the precincts yet to come in and the 11th has failed to keep her on top. Ouch. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Primary Day
Well, when I went to Richards High to vote this morning, my friend the Democratic judge told me I was about the 10th person to vote. He said about 50 percent of the eligible voters turned out in the 04 general election (that's comparable to national, right??), but as usual with a primary they expect a low turnout today. Polls close in less than half an hour.
I've decided somewhat against my better judgment to go ahead and tell you all about my experiences with Esther Golar's run to get elected to her currently appointed seat as state representative in Illinois' 6th District. Esther has been active on the Neighborhood Housing Services board, which is how I know her. When our previous state rep. Patricia Bailey, was found not to be living in the district, she was forced out and Esther was appointed to replace her. That happened since the new year, I believe. So now Esther is running for the seat.
In a boring primary, her race has been pretty live. Originally there were seven candidates, but at least three dropped out. The only ones I've heard much about besides Esther are Darryl Smith and Sam Bunville. The buzz I heard (if I recall right, so this is rumor) is that Smith is allied with Englewood activist Hal Baskin, who has run for alderman unsuccessfully a couple of times. Rumor also has it that he has ties to some less than savory groups in the hood but I think everybody slings those allegations around at election time and I don't know the truth or falsity of it at all.
Esther is the only candidate I'm aware of who has personally made an appearance in our part of the neighborhood. This is something I'm pretty concerned about because I feel like our part of the world is neglected by most of the aldermen who have pieces of it, since their main bases are to the east in Englewood, Woodlawn, etc. Esther, who doesn't speak Spanish, put in time at two Spanish-language Masses this month to be introduced to congregations where we have no idea how many voters there are. (That's true in the black churches, too, but for different reasons.) Anyway, it was clear to me from the git-go that she was my candidate in this race.
So I've been doing some volunteer work for her in my spare time--mostly stuffing and addressing envelopes. I was in the office the weekend before last during an interesting strategy session with the get-out-the-vote guy from Alderman Shirley Coleman's office. He explained that he's interested in making sure there's as high a turnout as possible in this election, even though aldermen aren't in the race this year, because high turnout means a challenger would need more signatures to get on the ballot the next time she has to run. He apparently delivered over 44,000 votes for Bailey in the previous election and was confident he could pull off the same level of support for Esther.
"Let's see how much they charge us," said one of Esther's advisors after he left. I have no idea what the price tag was for that. Esther had some backing from other pols--from being around the office I know state Senator Rickey Hendon sent some cash her way from his war chest--and a friend who checked the campaign finance database informs me she had the big bucks in this race, which didn't surprise me. For once I'm not fighting the machine.
In fact, I'll be at the campaign office tonight to watch the returns. My buddy the Dem judge, who put in more time for Esther than I did, may not be there, though. He's been up since 3 a.m. and there were some snafus getting the new balloting system to work, so he's not sure how long he'll have to stay after the polls close. Gotta say I'm not too fond of the new ballots--no privacy since they are so big and the judge watches you scan it into the machine. I just hope it read properly.
Now that I live in a ward with low turnout, I wonder how closely the alderman's office looks at the returns. Will they be able to tell a north lakefront independent moved into the ward and didn't follow the alderman's sample ballot? Probably. I wonder if that will exacerbate the trouble with getting the streetlights, garbage,, etc. It's like living in a time warp down here. But at least I don't think anybody was voting often...
I've decided somewhat against my better judgment to go ahead and tell you all about my experiences with Esther Golar's run to get elected to her currently appointed seat as state representative in Illinois' 6th District. Esther has been active on the Neighborhood Housing Services board, which is how I know her. When our previous state rep. Patricia Bailey, was found not to be living in the district, she was forced out and Esther was appointed to replace her. That happened since the new year, I believe. So now Esther is running for the seat.
In a boring primary, her race has been pretty live. Originally there were seven candidates, but at least three dropped out. The only ones I've heard much about besides Esther are Darryl Smith and Sam Bunville. The buzz I heard (if I recall right, so this is rumor) is that Smith is allied with Englewood activist Hal Baskin, who has run for alderman unsuccessfully a couple of times. Rumor also has it that he has ties to some less than savory groups in the hood but I think everybody slings those allegations around at election time and I don't know the truth or falsity of it at all.
Esther is the only candidate I'm aware of who has personally made an appearance in our part of the neighborhood. This is something I'm pretty concerned about because I feel like our part of the world is neglected by most of the aldermen who have pieces of it, since their main bases are to the east in Englewood, Woodlawn, etc. Esther, who doesn't speak Spanish, put in time at two Spanish-language Masses this month to be introduced to congregations where we have no idea how many voters there are. (That's true in the black churches, too, but for different reasons.) Anyway, it was clear to me from the git-go that she was my candidate in this race.
So I've been doing some volunteer work for her in my spare time--mostly stuffing and addressing envelopes. I was in the office the weekend before last during an interesting strategy session with the get-out-the-vote guy from Alderman Shirley Coleman's office. He explained that he's interested in making sure there's as high a turnout as possible in this election, even though aldermen aren't in the race this year, because high turnout means a challenger would need more signatures to get on the ballot the next time she has to run. He apparently delivered over 44,000 votes for Bailey in the previous election and was confident he could pull off the same level of support for Esther.
"Let's see how much they charge us," said one of Esther's advisors after he left. I have no idea what the price tag was for that. Esther had some backing from other pols--from being around the office I know state Senator Rickey Hendon sent some cash her way from his war chest--and a friend who checked the campaign finance database informs me she had the big bucks in this race, which didn't surprise me. For once I'm not fighting the machine.
In fact, I'll be at the campaign office tonight to watch the returns. My buddy the Dem judge, who put in more time for Esther than I did, may not be there, though. He's been up since 3 a.m. and there were some snafus getting the new balloting system to work, so he's not sure how long he'll have to stay after the polls close. Gotta say I'm not too fond of the new ballots--no privacy since they are so big and the judge watches you scan it into the machine. I just hope it read properly.
Now that I live in a ward with low turnout, I wonder how closely the alderman's office looks at the returns. Will they be able to tell a north lakefront independent moved into the ward and didn't follow the alderman's sample ballot? Probably. I wonder if that will exacerbate the trouble with getting the streetlights, garbage,, etc. It's like living in a time warp down here. But at least I don't think anybody was voting often...
Monday, March 20, 2006
Slam Dancing for Jesus
That's what we were doing at Su Casa last night. Every Sunday around 8 p.m., workers and the occasional visitor (like yours truly) get together for prayer and reflection. Sometimes it's quiet and candle-y, but last night was basically a sing-a-long.
We sang a bunch of spirituals. Stephanie has a great voice for them. Mark knows quite a repertoire and had us all going. We did a few Taize chants because they're easy. One person was rather wedded to a hymnal and the rest of us were trying to pry us out of that into whatever common songs we all knew by heart or could pick up quickly.
I learned three new ways to sing "Amazing Grace," including to the tune of "Gilligan's Island." I dare you to try it yourself. I think it also works with that great 70s hit, "Peaceful Easy Feeling," which is truly hilarious!
Former St. Francis worker Mary Kay Brennan, who was visiting (yeah!) requested "Finlandia," highly appropriate the night after the peace march in Chicago.
And we wrapped up with the big finish of "Lord of the Dance" which got Mark on his feet doing something between Irish and Russian dancing, which rapidly evolved into Mark and Stephanie slamming with the occasional assist from me, despite the tendonitis in my left foot. Hey, you can always hop on the other one!
We sang a bunch of spirituals. Stephanie has a great voice for them. Mark knows quite a repertoire and had us all going. We did a few Taize chants because they're easy. One person was rather wedded to a hymnal and the rest of us were trying to pry us out of that into whatever common songs we all knew by heart or could pick up quickly.
I learned three new ways to sing "Amazing Grace," including to the tune of "Gilligan's Island." I dare you to try it yourself. I think it also works with that great 70s hit, "Peaceful Easy Feeling," which is truly hilarious!
Former St. Francis worker Mary Kay Brennan, who was visiting (yeah!) requested "Finlandia," highly appropriate the night after the peace march in Chicago.
And we wrapped up with the big finish of "Lord of the Dance" which got Mark on his feet doing something between Irish and Russian dancing, which rapidly evolved into Mark and Stephanie slamming with the occasional assist from me, despite the tendonitis in my left foot. Hey, you can always hop on the other one!
Friday, March 17, 2006
Dawn's Dad on TV
Well, given that Dawn's dad got interviewed on cable TV yesterday (Azteca, a Spanish-language cable channel), I guess I'll out him. Juan Garcia spoke on Azteca yesterday and had his mug splashed all over Univision and the front page of this morning's Hoy (the Tribune's Spanish-language daily paper). If you see Hoy today, he's the guy on the left in the back wearing a green t-shirt and jacket and helping to hold up the banner.
Juan and his coworkers have found themselves a kick-ass lawyer, Jose Oliva, from the Interfaith Workers' Rights Center, and they held a press conference yesterday. They have a meeting with company management today, who were quoted in this morning's Hoy saying this all came from "a misunderstaning between supervisors and employees" ('un malentiendo entre supervisores y empleados." They have a meeting with management right now (started at 12:30 p.m.). Let's hope this all gets settled and everybody goes back to work.
Last night I went by the Garcia's old place (the apartment) and sat down to watch the telenovela Alborada with the missis. Juan came in later with a 12-pack of Corona and two bags of Mexican baked goodies to celebrate. They had taped the Univision afternoon broadcast so I got to see him standing in the back.
We're having dinner at my house on Saturday night, featuring Mexican-Irish chili. That would be chili with green, red and orange peppers in it! Let's hope it's a "you got your job back" celebration. Stay tuned.
Juan and his coworkers have found themselves a kick-ass lawyer, Jose Oliva, from the Interfaith Workers' Rights Center, and they held a press conference yesterday. They have a meeting with company management today, who were quoted in this morning's Hoy saying this all came from "a misunderstaning between supervisors and employees" ('un malentiendo entre supervisores y empleados." They have a meeting with management right now (started at 12:30 p.m.). Let's hope this all gets settled and everybody goes back to work.
Last night I went by the Garcia's old place (the apartment) and sat down to watch the telenovela Alborada with the missis. Juan came in later with a 12-pack of Corona and two bags of Mexican baked goodies to celebrate. They had taped the Univision afternoon broadcast so I got to see him standing in the back.
We're having dinner at my house on Saturday night, featuring Mexican-Irish chili. That would be chili with green, red and orange peppers in it! Let's hope it's a "you got your job back" celebration. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
More March & Fallout
The good news about the march was that somewhere between 100,000 and 500,000 people showed up. That's the police and the organizers' estimates, respectively. Usually splitting it down the middle gives you something about right, so let's say 300,000 folks showed up.
Now here's the bad news. Dawn's dad may be getting fired over it. He and all the other folks working at the factory went Friday, despite being told Thursday night that anyone who went would get the axe. No one has received official termination letters yet. It sounds like the official company staff, including Dawn's dad, may be able to stay on, but the company wants to dump the day labor folks who were working there and chose to march. The company employees are saying they won't stay unless everyone gets their jobs back. I don't know how this will shake out, but it was pretty rough sitting with Dawn and her parents on folding chairs and large buckets in their new house, with dust all over the floor and white paint drying on the walls, wondering whether they're going to be able to make the mortgage payments.
I pitched the story to a reporter friend of mine (won't say which one yet) and am trying to get to a labor lawyer. I think if the company really wants to fire them they can, but I'm hopeful that a bilingual lawyer could put the fear of God in the management and shelve the whole dispute. If any of you readers have any leads on advocates who could help, please post. I've sent an email to a buddy at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, but you can imagine they are swamped with organizing stuff now and who knows when I'll get a response. Thanks for any tips.
Now here's the bad news. Dawn's dad may be getting fired over it. He and all the other folks working at the factory went Friday, despite being told Thursday night that anyone who went would get the axe. No one has received official termination letters yet. It sounds like the official company staff, including Dawn's dad, may be able to stay on, but the company wants to dump the day labor folks who were working there and chose to march. The company employees are saying they won't stay unless everyone gets their jobs back. I don't know how this will shake out, but it was pretty rough sitting with Dawn and her parents on folding chairs and large buckets in their new house, with dust all over the floor and white paint drying on the walls, wondering whether they're going to be able to make the mortgage payments.
I pitched the story to a reporter friend of mine (won't say which one yet) and am trying to get to a labor lawyer. I think if the company really wants to fire them they can, but I'm hopeful that a bilingual lawyer could put the fear of God in the management and shelve the whole dispute. If any of you readers have any leads on advocates who could help, please post. I've sent an email to a buddy at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, but you can imagine they are swamped with organizing stuff now and who knows when I'll get a response. Thanks for any tips.
Friday, March 10, 2006
March Update
The English language news media in Chicago is finally catching on that this will be a big deal. My colleage and I went to the gym this morning and she saw a spot on the local news showing the route--from Union Park at Ashland and Lake, down to Jackson, then across Jackson Boulevard eastbound to Federal Plaza.
Buses are coming in from all over the Midwest. Organizers have no idea how many people will show--estimates are ranging from 50,000 to 500,000. It's a warm, sunny day, so I'd bet high.
Rosa called this morning. They're going. Junior and his bro are calling in sick to school. I bet half the kids at Chavez call in sick today. Big Picture students are allowed to leave early to go if they have a note from their parents. Dawn is supposed to call me at the office when she gets to Federal Plaza. I may jump on the Green Line at lunchtime to ride past the park and get a look at the crowd from above.
Whee!!
Buses are coming in from all over the Midwest. Organizers have no idea how many people will show--estimates are ranging from 50,000 to 500,000. It's a warm, sunny day, so I'd bet high.
Rosa called this morning. They're going. Junior and his bro are calling in sick to school. I bet half the kids at Chavez call in sick today. Big Picture students are allowed to leave early to go if they have a note from their parents. Dawn is supposed to call me at the office when she gets to Federal Plaza. I may jump on the Green Line at lunchtime to ride past the park and get a look at the crowd from above.
Whee!!
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