Over the years, I have commuted to work in a variety of ways: on foot, short drive, very long drive, and commuter train. Oh, and walking into my home office to do freelance work.
My current commute is a combo platter. I drive to the Homewood Post Office and park the car, leaving it for Bob to drive home (he walks the entire distance in the morning). Then I walk two short blocks to the Homewood train station to board the Metra Electric line north to downtown Chicago. From Millennium Station (Randolph and Michigan), I walk a very short block to the Randolph and Wabash stop of the CTA Brown Line, which I take to the Merchandise Mart. My favorite part of the whole commute is when my "L" train crosses the Chicago River to my stop at the Mart, seen in the first photo here. The view is wonderful; the water, soothing.
I walk through the Mart on the second floor, over the walkway and into the River North Point building, which is in the center of the second photo. Then a space-age elevator to the 11th floor and the offices of Ogilvy & Mather.
This may be my favorite commute of my entire working life (or at least right up there with walking into my home office in my slippers). Other than the very steep and numerous stairs up to the "L" platform, it is easy and relatively stress free. (The stress comes at the end of the day, when the Brown Line is sometimes stopped on the tracks "momentarily," causing me to worry that I'll miss my Metra train and have to wait a while till the next one.)
I enjoy the early part of my morning commute as well, when I have the opportunity to have a quiet time of reading and prayer, in what has turned out to be the designated "quiet car"! The trip is a joy in itself, en route to a job I thoroughly enjoy.
My current commute is a combo platter. I drive to the Homewood Post Office and park the car, leaving it for Bob to drive home (he walks the entire distance in the morning). Then I walk two short blocks to the Homewood train station to board the Metra Electric line north to downtown Chicago. From Millennium Station (Randolph and Michigan), I walk a very short block to the Randolph and Wabash stop of the CTA Brown Line, which I take to the Merchandise Mart. My favorite part of the whole commute is when my "L" train crosses the Chicago River to my stop at the Mart, seen in the first photo here. The view is wonderful; the water, soothing.
I walk through the Mart on the second floor, over the walkway and into the River North Point building, which is in the center of the second photo. Then a space-age elevator to the 11th floor and the offices of Ogilvy & Mather.
This may be my favorite commute of my entire working life (or at least right up there with walking into my home office in my slippers). Other than the very steep and numerous stairs up to the "L" platform, it is easy and relatively stress free. (The stress comes at the end of the day, when the Brown Line is sometimes stopped on the tracks "momentarily," causing me to worry that I'll miss my Metra train and have to wait a while till the next one.)
I enjoy the early part of my morning commute as well, when I have the opportunity to have a quiet time of reading and prayer, in what has turned out to be the designated "quiet car"! The trip is a joy in itself, en route to a job I thoroughly enjoy.
