High Rise Living

 

If you follow my Phoenix Daily Photo blog, you might remember that I've mentioned before that I did some contract work for about 10 years.  During that time, I worked in several different cities.  One of the longest contracts was in Chicago.  Growing up in Quincy Illinois, a little over 300 miles to the south, I always thought of Chicago as the ultimate big city.  So having to live right in the heart of the city was almost like a dream come true.  I had a wonderful apartment on the 14th floor of a 40 story building and I had some fabulous views.  The photo above is looking to the south.  Just behind that tall building was the then developing Millennium Park and past that, Grant Park.

Looking out the windows to the east, I could see the Chicago River and out past that to Lake Michigan.  It was a wonderful view.  I loved seeing the lights in all the high-rise buildings around me and I loved watching the fog roll in from the lake.  I even learned a phrase I had never heard before, "lake effect snow".  Sometimes in the winter, I'd see dark clouds building up over the lake and they would slowing start to move in toward the city and then suddenly it would be snowing like crazy.  

The bedroom had that same eastern view with a little better view of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.  I loved watching what went on in that office building that you see out the window in the photo directly above.  One time, I saw a movie being filmed in that building.  I saw all the studio trucks parked in the street below and the name of the movie being shot was taped to side of one of the trucks.  I made note of it so I could watch for its release.  It never made it to the theaters.  It went directly to video.  The movie was called "Unconditional Love" starring Jonathan Pryce,  Kathy Bates, Rupert Everett and Dan Aykroyd.  I own a digital copy of the movie and after writing this post, I think I might have to watch it again sometime soon.

The dining area was next to the living room and the kitchen.  I had the refrigerator covered with photos of some of the many escapades from times spent working away from home.  We had a great team of people and not only did we work together during the week, but often went on trips together over the weekends.  

I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to do this kind of work.  All those years of envying the term "jet-setter," and I finally became one and I loved every minute of it.

I recently found these photos and scanned them. It was certainly the best apartment I had in all the cities I worked in.  You can see a photo of the outside of this building in this post.  It's the last photo.