u s e y o u r h a n d s

about working from home is that on the first Tuesday morning of the month, the City tests the tornado sirens. It still freaks me out.

Now that I work out of my house, I’ve gotten really into staring out the window and checking out what’s going on in my street in Albany Park.

So much happened this morning! My really elderly across-the-street neighbor was once again taken to the hospital. My next-door neighbors got a delivery of what’s probably bogarted landscape flower flats. And this dude keeps riding down my block on a bike with a hand-truck strapped to the back like a makeshift trailer. All in half an hour!

And I wrote a tsk-tsk note to my alderman about the half-ass requirement placed on some retailers to accept plastic-bag recycling.

I am the nosy neighbor. The neighborhood busybody. And, hopefully, after I finish ripping out my front lawn, the local weirdo.

One of the goals for this freelance journey I’m on is to get more civically engaged. I just have to make sure my outlook doesn’t get terribly small.

So, for the past six or so months, I’ve been taking these very long walks around the city. It started with an eight-nine mile walk home from my office downtown. It’s actually fairly easy to do with good shoes, an iPod and a camera.

I do it to feel independent. To keep off the 75 lbs I lost last year. To find interesting parts of the city. I’ve taken ridiculous amounts of streetart photos this way. I’ve come to rely on Starbucks for clean potties and hot coffee during the walks. I’ve started noticing and researching landmark districts around the city. I’ve walked Milwaukee Ave from the Loop to Devon, from my house to Evanston, and home from downtown numerous times. And it’s something I highly recommend, if you’re looking to fall in love with your city and engender respect for the power of your own feet.

But mainly, I’ve learned that you don’t have to walk the whole way home, as long as you’re headed in the right direction.