City Pittie Parade

As I don't drive, Billy and I are usually constrained to walks around our neighborhood. We miss a lot of Chicago Sociabulls walks as a result so I sneaked off downtown without him this weekend to join a walk.



We started off at Museum Campus and walked north along the lake shore before taking a water break.



Some of the pups took the opportunity to sneak a good roll in the dirt or engage in some serious stick-deathing.



After a quick break we swung westward towards Michigan Avenue.



It was so fun seeing everybody's reactions to our impromptu parade.



All twenty-eight were amazing ambassadors for the power of responsible dog ownership. I was so impressed by how well-behaved our pack was, even with all the different idiosyncrasies of the dogs.

It was certainly a different experience for me to go to a walk without Mr Excita-Bill, and we have much to live up to on our next Sociabulls walk. We've done a lot of work recently so fingers crossed some of that pays off!

A Sociabulls dog is a happy dog!

Not a water dog

The weather in Chicago continues to be gorgeous so the little waterways at the park aren't frozen as usual. Billy dipped his paws into one of them and then remembered that he's not terribly keen on getting wet. When given half the chance, he likes to do zoomie butt-tucks to recover from the shock of getting wet (after baths, after rainy walks...). Unfortunately, on the end of a leash there wasn't much scope to zoom but he gave it a good try and whirled round and round in circles until we were both dizzy and sat down in the warm sunshine to recover.

He might be pretending to be all calm and serene but you can see his ear is still flopped over from his exertions.

A chilly walk

This easy winter has turned me into a bit of a wimp so when the temperature dropped to 16F on Saturday I wasn't in the mood for much of a walk. I needed some kind of goal if I was going to do more than walk Billy round the block for 10 minutes so we headed off to the next section of the Bloomingdale Trail.

Halfway there I realized that not only would all the art in the area we were headed to be in shadow, but that Bill and I were going to have a particularly chilly walk if we didn't get to the sunny side of the street. To keep from turning around and heading straight back to the warm couch I decided we'd try to find a mural I keep spotting from the train, walking in the sunshine as much as we could along the way.

I clearly miscalculated the angle of the sun as the weasels and their accompanying mural were also in shadow!

However, most of our walk was in the bright sunshine and I managed to strip off my top layer of mittens long enough to snap a few photos of the art we found along the way.

Usually he doesn't notice the winter weather much (unless it's rainy) but it was definitely cold enough for me to bundle up Billy in his coat and scarf.

You can tell he's just not impressed by having to wear the same old Petco coat he's had since he first arrived. He gets pretty jealous of the fancy duds the other dogs sport on sociabulls walks. Unfortunately for Billy's style aspirations, it does the job just fine for now and if momma can't afford new clothes, he isn't getting any either.

All in all, we managed to have a brisk trot around the neighborhood for an hour or so, at which point I no longer felt guilty about returning to my warm apartment and tackling a pile of sewing. What helps you to go that (literal) extra mile when you're just not in the mood for a walk?

Bloomingdale Trail Murals: Part 2

Here in Chicago we are being absolutely spoiled by this easy winter. Thursday's weather was so beautiful that a quick 20 minute lunchtime walk soon turned into an hour and a half ramble around the neighborhood.

As I'm more familiar with the murals to the east of my street I made a point to start our westward exploration along the Bloomingdale line.

"Mi pasion esta fresca" - Bloomingdale mural

"I stayed in the front yard all my life

I want a peek at the back where it's rough and untended

and hungry weeds grow

a girl gets sick of a rose"

Bloomingdale mural - from "A song in the front yard" by Gwendolyn Brooks

Bloomingdale Trail Murals

Built in 1872, the Bloomingdale Ave rail track was initially laid at street level. As Chicago grew more congested, the city passed an ordinance requiring the railroads to elevate all rail tracks within the city and the Bloomingdale track was elevated between Ashland and Lawndale.

The track fell into disuse by trains in the 1990s but if you live on the west side you may well have seen the occasional runner, zipping along at roof-height. Although there are plans afoot to open up the three-mile track to the public, for now the trail remains private property, with just a few daring souls clambering through fences and up embankments to enjoy the views.

Luckily for the less nimble and more law abiding among us, there is plenty to enjoy at street level along the Bloomingdale trail, in a series of giant murals. The track bisects my street just a block south of where I live so we get to enjoy the local art every day.

It can be easy to get stuck in a dog walking rut, so, as weather allows, I plan on taking the pooches to explore all the murals in our area and snapping some photos. Billy has kindly agreed to model, though he clearly didn't get the memo that we were photographing the art today and not the gang tags so he put on his tough guy face.

It's fascinating what a variety of styles are found within just a block of each other.

I wonder what we'll discover as we venture further afield?