the armenian church of hidden police

this small church is next door to my work. every day a thin old man would stand in front of the steps, folding his hands, bowing his head and praying. i haven't seen him since summer. i hope he's okay.

the police hide alongside this church and catch speeders. don't ever speed past this church. waukegan police don't play. i once got a ticket for going 5 miles over the limit. that's pretty ridiculous. maybe my 125 dollar fine will go toward making sidewalks for the kids, but i doubt it.

the waukegan bus stop

roof top view of milwaukee, wisconsin

tools for happiness here in oak creek

shopping carts lead a clean, easy, troublefree life here in oak creek. after use patrons push them correctly into their stalls.

that white wave-like look is salt dryed on the neatly painted pavement, not water. the stores around here keep the parking lot completely salted down to melt the ice and snow. nice and clean. slipping on ice does not send you into your happy place-shopping does. so then shopping carts and their stalls are a tool for complete happiness.

waukegan, illinois

this city is despicable. people wait for buses on the muddy icy banks next to the road.

kids, kids, walk in the along busy four lane roads because what sidewalks there are do not get shoveled or plowed. the trailer park has a thin muddy walking trail runny alongside the road.

it's sad, sad. when i come to work every day here at Catholic Charities there is a line. people wait for food, shelter, rental assistance, job coaching, bus tickets, or some sort of help. we call that "help" case management. a year ago the county (without telling anyone) plowed a homeless camp down where they had set up tents. that was only a few blocks from here.

it's pretty dangerous for me to really walk around alone in this neighborhood especially carrying a camera and a purse.

sometimes people dump garbage bags full of old clothes and a lot of stuffed animals and dirty toys for the poor where the staff goes in to work. we have no where to store it and most of the time no one who wants it. good try though.

so this is where i pull up to every morning in my shiny blazer that i can barely make the payments much less my own rent. i buy new socks and underware and really think it's something. rent in this city is so high i can't believe anyone can live here. that's why i don't. i think they are stuck. the waiting list to get on Section 8 is 10,000 people long. (Section 8 is where the government gives you a percentage of your rent). most people i hear from the other agencies around tell me residents don't bother to sign up.

waukegan, though, is building up their lake front. condominiums that will face the lake will go up and sell for $800,000. although the condos facing the jail will be discounted to $600,000. i'm waiting for the blog machine to pick up the word 'condo' and decide to sell a bit of space here. hey, i'm all for progress. how will this help the other again?

brandywood apartments, oak creek

cold day in chicago

city street in downtown milwaukee

a city street in milwaukee, wisconsin-doesn't the architecture remind you of a german city? although the flag on the right lets you know it's not. there is a skywalk about a block down-can you see it? it looks like an enclosed bridge. skywalks are popular in northern cities because it gets bitter cold up here. today, again, it's zero degrees.

the boy

today the temperature is zero but you'ld never know it looking at my son. i don't think he feels the cold...ahhhh...youth.

downtown chicago, illinois

the restaurants were all up and down this street right off of wells street.
i only wish i could take a picture of the great smells, pizza, burgers, fries, gyros...

through the church gates, milwaukee

the milwaukee river

this is a view of the milwaukee river. if you look to the east it's water, water, and more water. i'll wait until i can catch a sunrise or something with more color to photograph lake michigan.

the milwaukee public library