Musings From Windy City II

Here I am back agian,

The City of Chicago is great, an old city with all the myths and urban legends...

The name Windy City for instance, was given as an insult, but the Chicagoans have taken it as a pride to call their own city as the Windy one, attributing it to the strong wind that blows all the time from the lake Michigan. Even though the origin is still debated, it must be from the bragging nature of Chicago politicians which caused a New York Editor to give the name, or the bragging of the people about the sports teams from the city which made a Cincinnati ( A long time rival city) journalist to coin the name. But now it is a compliment.

Also, the way people around here pronounce Chicago is different from people outside Chicago... when the whole America calls it 'Chi- ca - go', the Chicagoans, as epitomised by our Maor Richard Daley, pronounce it as 'Chi - CAW - Go' with a ringing reverberating tone.

Another speciality is the Chicago Style hotdogs, which is normal hotdog plus mustard, pickled veggies, tomatoes, chillies and what else.... but no ketchup.

When I came to Chicago first, i could get a Chocolaty smell whenever i walk through the streets of the city, whether it is in downtown or at my University campus. All I could place of the smell was chocolates, even though I knew that was not possible. I thought that was the smell of some flower or tree which is found only in America, and not in my native, India. Then lasst week, the mystery was revealed when my cousin told that it is chocolate smell indeed. There is a factory at the West Loop called the Blommer Chocolate Co. which has a 150 year old factory, from which fine chocolate dust escapes and causing the aroma to waft all around the city. Sad part is that recently someone complained against the company accusing air pollution and the Depeartment of Pollution has made the company install new filtering systems which will trap these fine particles. From what I hear, these filters will be in place in a couple of months and a hundred and fifty year old legacy is going to be dead. For long the motorists returning to the city after a long trip knew that it was home when they get the aroma in their noses.

Then there are unending legends about the two baseball teams in the city namely the White Sox and the Cubs. Then there is the Bears Football team. I do not have to tell anyone about the Chicago Bulls though.

Then there is the media mogul Oprah Winfrey lives in the Water Tower Place, less than a mile from where I am.

The stories go on and I will be back with more