Not the same and yet....

 I have traversed familar terraine over the last week or so. I mean, places I most recently lived in for 12 years. But also Chicago and it nearby suburbs, where I lived for over 40 years. Chicago really is home for me. Even though it is no longer where I live.

Enjoying a meal at La Pita, Dearborn. 

Enjoying a Yemeni coffee (cardamon and heavy cream in delicious coffee)

The train trip from Dearborn to Chicago, on Amtrak, was uneventful. We even arrived about 15 minutes early. The Metra commuter train trip from Chicago to Evanston was also uneventful. I arrived at my hotel a little after noon and had to wait a bit for a room to be ready. The person staffing the check-in desk was new and not particularly helpful. This person was clearly following the "rules".  I was told I couldn't check in until 3pm, a three hour wait. I was told I could leave my luggage and go wandering - something I was not inclinded to do, in part because I was in jeans and needed to change into shorts. I was directed to sit in the lounge and wait for 3 hours. After a few minutes I went back to the desk and asked if there was some place I could get an iced tea and set up my computer and work. The person said, no. Then said, let me see if a room is ready. And thankfully, a room was ready. (seriously, one was ready about 5 minutes after my first effor to check in). So I got a room and quickly settled in. Then I went out for a walk.

I lived in Evanston for five years, during three of my four years in seminary and social work graduate school. Then, I lived here for another 18 months as a newly ordained priest before I moved to the NW suburbs for my first call as a rector. In Evanston, I walked the streets, ate in restaurants, and raised my kids. I adopted two of my dogs here. My spiritual director lived in Evanston and I saw her here for 12 years, and then remarkably, for another two years in Arizona. It is a significant place for me, and being here is so familiar. And also so much has changed. 

After checking in I went for a long walk. I wanted to get the lay of the land and sort out where I was and what as near-by. I walked north, east, west. I picked up some items from Target since I''ll be here for three days and nights and have a fridge and microwave. I walked south and east and found some familiar places. i purchased gelato in a cone and continued my walk. I walked all the way to Northwestern University, around a pond that we used to walk around and feed carp and ducks when our kids were small. I walked and walked. Over 15,000 steps. I ended the day with a much needed shower. Then I ordered carry-out from Giordano's deep dish pizza (with enough left over to feed me for a few more days). 

A pond on the campus of Northwestern U.

Lake Michigan from NWU

Chicago as viewed from NWU

Giordano's in Evanston

This day is over. I'm fully sated from walking, traveling, reminiscing, and eating delicious food. Now, I'm drinking tea and watching highlights from the Olympics. 

I keep thinking about how this trip has been a return to places I've lived. How so much is the same. And yet, how much has changed. The biggest change is me. I am really not the same person I was 30 years ago. Who is? Well maybe some of us are. But, I am not. 

And yet. In some ways I am exactly the same. 

And so it is with everything I've seen. A lot the same. And a lot that has changed.