Oh What a Lovely Bus Ride

I, when I have the luxury of time, will sometimes take a slightly longer route to work. The most expedient bus barrels down typical suburban streets lined with midcentury mass produced homes, each sporting an identical floor plan.. But there is an alternative route that winds, almost meanders, through Chicago's neighbor to the north, Evanston. This city's diversity can be almost shocking. Wealth in some areas, near poverty in others. The home of Northwestern University, there are historical zones of great beauty. Some of these streets I enjoy on my ride to or from work. Shaded by massive, venerable trees, homes, large, historical, stand on oversized lots. Yards range from tidy, manicured lawns to flower filled flights of fancy. A customer related to me that her gay brother in law, in his southern drawl, remarked "I guess you can tell that homo's live here" while surveying the colorful yard in front of their home. I pass the Northwestern University campus. Victorian homes, now used as administrative offices, grace one side of the street, the hulking, gothic architecture of the university rises on the other.

 Upon his first look a friend quipped "I guess ivy covered walls never truly go out of style".