Unfolding

It’s taken me awhile to learn that some of the most wonderful experiences happen when I take time to not make plans and rather, simple let the day(s) unfold as they may.  Take for example, my weekend stay in Chicago.

I arrived in Chicago at 6 am, last Thursday, took the train home and caught three hours worth of sleep before restarting my day.  A last minute invitation was extended to visit the Richard Nickel Archives.  Richard Nickel was a photographer who essentially founded the architectural preservation movement in Chicago.  For years he photographed the buildings and details of famed American architect Louis Sullivan.  His work is now archived in the basement of a small residential building.

Our host at the archives pulled out a box of documents to demonstrate the details of Nickels work.  The file he pulled was from a Louis Sullivan building that once stood in Salt Lake City, just a few blocks from where I lived.  It’s since been demolished – but all the while I lived in Salt Lake, I was unaware that there had once been a Louis Sullivan building.  Because of my intimate knowledge of the city, I was able to add information about the specific photographs.  It was a delightful surprise.

Temperatures in Chicago were such that sleeping with the windows open pulled a cool and gentle breeze through the apartment.  The sound of the waves of Lake Michigan crashing against the shore lulled me into a deep sleep night after night.

On Saturday I awoke to news from a phone call that our friend Eilesh was at the apartment of Ling, a friend of hers for whom she is house sitting.  Ling and her husband are in China.  Ling’s apartment is in a building that has piqued my interest as a place to buy so it was suggested that I meet up with Eilesh to see how the units were laid out.

Eilesh and I went out for coffee near her new flat, then took a walk past another building  that has caught my eye.

Saturday afternoon I met up with a friend who used to live in Columbus.  Traci is in architecture school and just returned from a three-week visit to China.  I told her about a little coffee shop I’d discovered earlier in the day while out with Eilesh and we determined that we’d meet there.

As Traci told tales of her various adventures while in China she made mention of her tour guide Ling and Ling’s husband.
“Are you speaking of Ling, who lives right around the corner from here?” I asked.
“She lives around here somewhere,” she said.  “On North Sheridan, I believe.”
“I was in her apartment just a few hours ago,” I told her.
“Wait,” she exclaimed.  “Are you telling me that you know Ling?”
“I don’t know Ling, but yes, I was in her apartment.”  I went on to tell her about Eilesh.

Over the course of a few short hours I went from never knowing Ling to interacting with two of Ling’s friends, separately, neither of whom know one another.  I took it as yet another sign that I was meant to be in Chicago on this very day.

Saturday evening Fish and I took in a film at the Gene Siskel Film Center.  Part art piece, part documentary, part memoir, the film – Of Time and the City – portrayed the life of a man who had grown up in Liverpool.

Later that evening I had a conversation with a man who is a producer – TV, books, events.  The topic of my book came up and he asked for more information.  “How have you chosen to monetize this memoir of yours?” he asked.  And so we talked.