Yesterday after work I went to Millenium Park and wandered around for about 45 minutes. I hadn’t been there since last summer. The Grant Park Orchestra was rehearsing at the new bandshell, sounded like Mozart arias (there was a soprano with the orchestra), and so I got to hear the sound system for the first time. In a word: phenominal. The lattice-like gridwork which extends to the very back of the pavillion is trellised with loudspeakers, all arranged just so. They didn’t feel cranked up by any means, yet the balance and positioning were so precise that it literally felt like I was standing in the midst of the musicians. Fantastic. There were scores of people just lying on the grass. The seating at the front was open (which was in the shade) so I sat for several minutes and just listened, watching everything all around me.

Then I walked over the Gehry bridge and back, and took a look at the Bean. Pretty pathetic at the moment, sad to say. Even the “finished” portion they have on display looks scratched and dull. The rest is all covered with a huge white tent. The constant sound of the polishing machines. Well, the great cathedrals of Europe took generations to complete …

It was also very cool just to stand and watch all the people playing in the video fountains. The whole thing is just ingenious.

The park is right there, barely east of the Loop, yet going there yesterday felt like taking a field trip. Like a tourist, but in a good way. Some civic pride welling up inside me. Damn proud to live here. And crossing the street, walking south on Michigan Avenue past scores of people sitting in the shade at the sidewalk cafes. Hard to describe. First off, it’s summer, and when it’s not too hot it really is delightful; secondly, it is an amazing feeling after being at work all day to walk leisurely down a busy boulevard through the masses of people. You can feel part of them all, a little bit, but still feel solitary, and for me it’s refreshing.

I went for a coffee in the wonderfully air-conditioned oasis of the Marquette Inn, across the street from the Post Office on Monroe. From my booth I had the perfect view of “Flamingo” by Alexander Calder, my favorite sculpture in Chicago.