By Mark Dawson [Bio]
Mark Dawson is a technical writer with the software firm Datalogics in Chicago. His wife Susan, of 31 years, is a clinical nurse specialist. They have lived in their home in Lincoln Square for 26 years, and have two grown sons, John, a nurse, and David, a network administrator. Besides biking, Mark is passionate about the music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, and plays recorder and sings with a madrigal group. He deleted his Facebook page a few years ago, preferring to write personal letters by hand and send them by US Mail.
I might argue with WalkScore.com.
The Walk Score for the north Pittsburgh suburb where I grew up was 8; in fact I managed tolerably well on my bike there, though it was a boring place to live. The tedium might have had as much to do with the 1970’s, the Great Stupid Moment in American History, as it did with a lack of interesting places to walk to, and the sterility of suburban life in just about any zip code or era.
My Lincoln Square neighborhood today features a Walk Score of 97, one more part of the community that I can brag about, but only 68 for transit? When I can walk to an L stop, to a Metra stop, to three bus lines? And bike score of 76? I’ve been biking downtown, biking to the Lake, biking to Oak Park to meet friends for music on Tuesday nights, biking everywhere, for over 20 years.
Well, I still brag. And I still walk.
(more…)
By Jennifer Roche [Bio]
Jennifer Roche does a lot of different things and is showing some faith that they will sooner or later morph into an arrow-like direction. In the meantime, this is one of her poems. She is also a writer, blogger, and mommer. She lives on the north side of Chicago with her husband, two kids, and a puppy. She can be found online at BowerbirdCommunications.com or via Twitter @BowerbirdComm.
A child
wearing an unzipped raincoat
one-foots her scooter
around the corner
into a gust
and transforms
into a pink bat.
