frequency

things that have been occurring more frequently as the city dethaws from its winter self:

- squished dog poop.  due to the lack of yard space, dogs often defecate on sidewalks and their owners then pick up the excrement and dispose of it.  what is often the case, though, is that the owners don't do this and some unaware, unlucky pedestrian steps in it and squishes it all over their shoe and the surrounding sidewalk.  yuck.

- bikers (not of the motorized kind)!  i have been told that my enjoyment of summer in chicago will be greatly enhanced by getting a bike.  i am currently evaluating the ethics of buying a bike at a pawn shop (it's most likely a stolen bike), the money-saving-ness of a used bike or the worthy investment of a newer one.  hm... and then i would need to get a helmet and a lock... and biking tights, a basket for my stuff, streamers for the handles... how do to this cheaply?!

- sidewalk vendors.  sometimes it feels like mexico to see the people pulling their carts/coolers of food.  i hope i'm not being stereotypical when i say that.  a lot of the vendors are latino... not that all of them are or that is a defining "thing" about their people group.  i wonder if they sell the corn, mayo, ketchup and pepper combo that was common in reynosa...?

- gang violence.  yeah, i know.  i've not witnessed this.  but heard about it.  it makes me sad.

- flowering trees!!! my favorites are the ones with very white flowers and very dark trunks.

- people wearing tights and shirts that don't cover their bottoms (and they haven't just gotten off of their bicycle).  seriously girls.  tights are not pants.  stop it.  bleah.

i have been saddened a bit by spring... i know, sounds strange!  but i am so used to the lush blooming of rural iowa that chicago's spring emergence hasn't quite held a candle to my experience.  maybe this is because i have been listening to the band "the weepies" lately (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4sa2HoXpsE&feature=fvst) and it makes me a bit more melancholy.  or maybe because spring hasn't quite sprung and we are tricked into walking outside underclothed because the sky is beautifully blue, the sun gloriously shining and it's still 50 degrees with biting winds.

:)

the past few days have also harbored some heavier events: a play called trust (phenomenal), discussions about racial justice, immigration and the evangelical's place in justice (raises a mix of emotions/responses in me) and some family health issues.

but...
but... i am thankful for god's graciousness.  for his immediate acceptance of my heart prone to wander and my incredible amounts of faith-lessness.  i am more convinced about the costly necessity of hope.  and though sometimes i feel so far off from what god wants, i believe he is delighted in the ways that i am so close.

. . .

a final reflective piece... a year from thursday (my birthday :)), i was in chicago for a willow creek conference.  i don't remember if i had decided to apply for grad school yet... but i was definitely in the midst of major discernment.  and look where i am now :).  so... SO much has changed.