driveway moment

after a wonderful Christmas with my family, i made it back to the city last night. there were no delays for my amtrak train and i was looking forward to getting back home at a decent hour.

once i left union station i hailed a cab. my taxi driver was nice and asked me how i was. he was listening to something on wbez which he turned up once i told him my destination. as he pulled away from the curb i expected him to take lower wacker drive so we could quickly get to lake shore drive. when he passed the ramp for lower wacker i thought about speaking up but it was only 9:30pm and i wasn't in a great hurry to get back to my apartment. i let my driver head east on monroe before turning left onto michigan avenue. as we passed millennium park, all lit up with Christmas lights, i began paying attention to the story being told on the radio. something was happening with a hot air balloon and a man named sherwin sleeves.

i smiled when we drove across the river. by now i was grateful this taxi driver decided to take michigan instead of lower wacker drive. i loved how the city was welcoming me back. at a stop light the radio program took a music break. five seconds into the song, i knew i was going to love it. i quickly dug in my bag for a pen and my planner. i wrote down some lyrics. later i found out it was the song "saro" by sam amidon. it put me in a wonderful, melancholy, nostalgic mood.

by now we were zooming down lake shore drive and the story of sherwin sleeves was drawing me in. the closer we got to my apartment the further away i wish it were. i knew i wasn't going to hear the end of the story and that broke my heart a bit. another song break, this time it was radiohead's "exit music," and we were turning onto my street. i so badly wanted to just sit in the taxi with the driver and listen to the end of the story. i wanted to have a driveway moment. when we finally reached my apartment i paid the man, went inside and searched for re: sounds so i could hear the rest of the story.

i'm grateful for little moments like the one i had last night. they seem so random and come from the oddest places. little moments like this make me love chicago more and more.

it's good to be home.