Jan Smith's blog

My walk home usually takes 15 minutes or so, based on how I hit the lights. Last night I walked a bit faster than usual, eying the lightning in the northwest sky and hoping to get home before the rain started.

I wish I knew what the Preservation Commission is trying to preserve. Like others on the list of candidates, the Bennison bakery is not, in itself, a particularly interesting building and doesn't deserve landmark status (terra cotta tiles notwithstanding).

I love watching other people work. More specifically, I love watching things get made.

A job I had once at a state employment agency required me to make occasional factory visits. One factory made chain from six-foot diameter spools of wire. A machine cut a length of wire, bent it into a link, welded it, turned it 90 degrees, then cut, bent, and welded a new link around the previous one. Fascinating. I also visited a meat packing plant – what they say about watching sausage being made is true. I didn’t eat hot dogs for years afterwards.

A surprise box of vegetables arrived yesterday – the first of about 20 that will arrive every Tuesday until late October. It felt like Christmas, in an organic sort of way.

Yesterday’s box contained fennel, chard, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, sunflower sprouts, green garlic, and rhubarb. After splitting the contents with the neighbors, I stared at the array of vegetables on the counter. Now what? I cracked open one of my favorite cookbooks, How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman, and started searching.

Each day, I walk across downtown Evanston to work and back – between Wesley and Chicago, along Church or Davis. I cross a lot of intersections and wait for a lot of lights.

Evanston should be pedestrian-friendly. Kids walk to school; commuters rush for train and bus; dogs take their owners on a twice-daily tour of their neighborhood. On nice days, everyone heads to the park or the lakefront.

I prefer riding the bus to taking the train to get around Evanston. Partly it’s practical – three steps onto the bus is easier on my knees than three flights up to the El platform. And for some trips, the bus is more convenient.

I work in Research Park, at 1840 Oak Avenue. My office is moving to 500 Davis in a few weeks. When told of the move, a co-worker said, “oh good, we’re moving to downtown.”

From my perspective as a newcomer, Oak Avenue and University Place IS downtown Evanston. It’s a block from the Hilton, two blocks from a huge city parking lot, three blocks from the movie theatre, Wolfgang Puck, both train stations, etc.