It rained last night in Chicago. A misty kind of rain infused with fog that the French call 'bruine'. If you glanced at the streetlights, you could’ve guessed it was snowing. I felt alone on a Friday, so I walked. Block by block, I gazed at gorgeous residential homes and commercial towers. Diverse architectural styles, only infrequently repeating, glittered my eye. Radiant, warm interiors contrasted with the chilly and shadowy exterior. Block by block, I saw ruin. Much of the area had been destroyed during the Great Chicago Fire. According to legend, a cow knocked over a lantern. My father was born one hundred years later to the day. Individuals, couples, and groups passed by in varying phases of travel. They were either going to or coming from. They were either proceeding or waiting. I lowered my umbrella after about 15 minutes. I gradually got wet. The umbrella was not necessary.
The traffic lights cycled then as they are doing now. Automobiles and omnibuses traversed the intersections in every which direction. Subway trains rumbled underground, noise steaming through vents. Sectioned squares of big-box skyscrapers flashed on and off or continually glowed. The same daily routine of sight and sound from the same perpetual decor. The mutual rhythm between the distinct lifespans of man and material. We breathe as the city breathes as the earth breathes as the universe breathes. Inhale, exhale. The carousels spun. The marquees dazzled. The suits and dresses wowed. The drinks poured. I observed. I was just not there. All along the way, I whispered to myself, “like roses...”
Invisibility is a currency like any other. In particular, it is the currency which exchanges for our own perception. [1] If and when it is gone, we are lost within ourselves. We lose everything. I returned home sopping, thankfully as hidden inside four walls as outside. I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. [2] Don’t you forget it.
[1] I am reminded, of course, of Emily:
How dreary - to be - Somebody!
How public - like a Frog -
[2] The title of this post as well as the relevant line here are excerpted from Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell speech.