all things go

Tuesday I took the train to Chicago to visit Jess -- not without some trepidation; I hate trains (they harken me back to the Longest Train Ride Ever with John in college, when we spent twelve hours from Pittsburgh to New Jersey with nothing but unaccepted credit cards and a scant bag of molasses cookies, which I have never been able to eat since), and am unsure of myself in any form of transportation that is not my Henrietta; call me a suburbs girl, or a country mouse, if you will. And my last visit to Chicago was exhausting, strained, and not much fun. But I went with the anticipation of seeing a new yet already good friend, and renewing my appreciation of my second favorite city next to Pittsburgh.

The train was packed due to Taste of Chicago, but I had anticipated the possibility of unsavory seatmates, and to that end brought along a Scary Feminist Book which I placidly read the whole way, and which guaranteed my uninterrupted solitude. There's nothing like a girl calmly turning the pages of A History of Women to rebuff a guy's potential advances, especially when the essay titles, written on the side of every page, run along the lines of "Feminine Models of the Ancient World," "What is a Goddess?" and "The Sexual Philosophies of Plato and Aristotle." Very handy.

The trip was a blast. Aside from my bad ankle deciding to act up, in a city where walking is the easiest means of getting from A to B, there were no hitches or hang ups, and all of Jess's friends are splendid and hospitable. We had a massive picnic with enough food to feed half the city in Millenium Park, where we hung out, laughed, talked (the girls exchanged stories of dating disappointments and howled our heads off), set off sparklers, and then headed to the river to watch the marvelous fireworks display.

July 4th was a day of wandering around the city, riding the El, sampling some of the cafes (one of them, the Bourgeois Pig, has sandwiches named after literary works), and talking, talking, talking. Fantastic. About men, the church, the faith, growing up, family, hopes for the future, friends, life, movies, favorite actors. Jess is hilarious, and a great conversationalist. We were joined for dinner by her friend Taylor, and spent the evening at his apartment introducing Jess to the wonders of Buffy.

All in all, a great visit. Exactly what I needed -- time away, a refreshing couple of days somewhere new yet a little familiar, with a sister in Christ.