There and back again. It’s always where I’m going. And going is something I’ve been doing a lot of lately. Frankly, I’m getting sick of it. For the past three weeks I’ve been homeless, kicked out of my summer housing and not yet allowed in my fall housing. I stayed with a family from church and was able to keep working at my summer job. This week I finally moved into my fall housing, and then left again for home. I haven’t been home since Christmas. In a few short days I’ll be on the move again, but hopefully by this time next week I’ll have settled down.

In a cryptic nutshell, that’s my excuse for not posting my thoughts here for the past few weeks. It’s also my excuse for any haphazard postings in the next few days. But I haven’t completely stopped writing. In fact, I’ve probably been writing more. And I love it.

Tonight I think I’ll be completely random. The first pondering after a dry spell usually is. That’s the way it goes. You know you’re a child of affluence when you come home and see that a Ferrari dealership has moved in to your hometown. I’m not sure what that says, I just know that it confirms my suspicions.

Have I mentioned lately that I hate Chicago? Well I do. Now I have nothing against the people who live there, or the people who visit, or the attractions, or the climate, or anything like that. It’s the traffic. I have labeled Chicago a cursed city in my book of traveling–assuming you’re going by car. If you choose any method of alternative transportation, it’s a great city. Just park your car on the city limits, or better yet, the state line. I used to think it was Illinois drivers who are nuts. Now I realize it’s just driving with the state. Apparently there’s an unwritten law that says the actual speed limit is 30 mph higher than the posted limited. At least that’s what I think.

And from where does this hatred come? When I drive home from the Twin Cities to Detroit I inevitably have to go through Chicago. 75% of the time I go through Chicago I get in stuck in traffic. Usually for half an hour or more. I usually plan my trips so I’m not there during rush hour. But it doesn’t matter. It could be 9:00 at night and you’d still get stuck in traffic. And not just slow, pokey moving traffic. Dead stopped traffic. The toll roads don’t help, but you would think a city with such traffic problems would really work on some alternatives. And Chicago does have a few. They have a bus system and a few different train systems that serve both the downtown and the outer communities. But apparently nobody takes advantage of the alternatives. I can’t imagine accepting gridlock traffic as a way of life. No thanks, I’ll take the bus.

And I did. While I was homeless and staying with a family from church I experimented with alternative transportation (how’s that for a segue?). Their home was a lot closer to where I worked this summer in downtown St. Paul, and they were also right on the bus line. So for a couple days I tried biking to work. When I didn’t get lost it took about half an hour for the five mile trip. I would usually get to work and change in the bathroom, taking a few minutes to clean up and make myself presentable. It’s amazing how much more energy you have when you exercise like that. It’s also cool to know that your method of transportation isn’t costing you anything (insurance, gas, parking), isn’t harming the environment in anyway, and is actually making you a more healthy person. That’s what I call a commute.

I also experimented with the bus. After two days of biking my chain fell off and I had to find a new way to work (biking to work helps when you have a real bike, not one somebody left behind when they left the country). So I tried the bus. It turns out the bus picked me up right in front of the house I was staying. It dropped me off three blocks from work, allowing me a leisurely stroll and some fresh air before plopping myself in front of the computer. Riding the bus was slightly more expensive ($1.50 one way), but it allowed me to vegetate. Unlike other bus riders, I found that reading and the constant stop-and-go motion of the bus don’t mix. So I would usually just stare out the window, like I used to do as an elementary school kid. You might think it sounds boring, but it I really liked just sitting there and doing nothing. Sometimes you need to stop. After a few days of vegetating I took my notebook with me and wrote a few pages (don’t ask me how reading on the bus made me sick, but writing had no effect). Thus I was accomplishing something on the way to work. No fighting traffic, nobody cutting you off, no looking for parking spots. What a brilliant idea–actually doing something on your way to work besides just going to work. It’s kind of funny that our over-productive society hasn’t figured that out yet.

So wherever I work I’m hoping to be able to take the bus or ride a bike. At least having the option would be nice. Sure there’s all the pessimists out there who will ask about when it rains or snows or all those annoyances. But they’re just missing the point.

There’s a few other random things I could go off about, but at this point my coherence is fading. I’ll do them justice and save them for another day. This is probably enough rambling for one day, even though it doesn’t make up for the past three weeks. Ah, it’s good to be back. Did you miss me?