The tall, foot-poised creature had a life, a place of its own in the manifold, fragile system that is this coastline; a place of its own in the universe. Its place, and mine, I believe,… Read More »The Great Blue Herons of Humboldt Park
Was Humboldt Park’s Pioneer Trust & Savings Bank Built to Last? “It was magnificent…To me it’s like stepping into a cathedral that you would see in some other part of the world, but in your… Read More »A Community Anchor in a Story Sea?
June’s full moon reached its peak at 6:51 AM this morning. Historically, Algonquin tribes would celebrate this Strawberry Moon as the time to gather ripening strawberries. But perhaps the alternate name, Hot Moon, is more… Read More »The Literary Adventures of Humboldt Park
Tonight is the Full Flower Moon on the Algonquin lunar calendar. This marks the time of the year when flowers rise up from the earth in abundance. Nearly a century ago but long after European settlers… Read More »A Brief History of Pioneer Savings & Trust
“We have to be willing to be vulnerable, sometimes get hurt in the process, and willing to be grounded and focused in our intention. Sometimes we think we’re helping, and we are just trying to… Read More »The Bold and Uncomfortable Organizer Next Door
Inside a former upholstery shop on North Avenue, a half dozen bystanders bundled in heavy winter coats jam haphazardly into narrow spaces between tables stacked with used pants, shirts, and socks. Coat racks hanging dress… Read More »From Survival to Solidarity: People Helping People in Humboldt Park
Winter is a quieter time in Humboldt Park, but it’s still full of life. The park is a place where the trees, jibarito trucks, and bronze von Humboldt come together. It’s where life goes on… Read More »Life in the Park Goes On in Winter
“One night at our home, my family and I were hungry,” writes Jorge Muñoz of Plátano Loco in Aguada, Puerto Rico. “It was late and everything was closed, they wanted sandwiches but there was no… Read More »Survival of the Tastiest: Kitchen Evolution in Humboldt Park
“Without a diversity of opinions, the discovery of truth is impossible.”-Alexander von Humboldt, 1828 Alexander von Humboldt crawled on all fours along a sharp ridge that ascends like a black stripe above the snow towards… Read More »Creation and Destruction in the Americas of Alexander von Humboldt
The word “Blast!” captions the boarded-up entrance of a vacant commercial building at Division and Central Park. The letters are bold orange, but the broken-off exclamation mark dulls the interjection to plainly, “Blast.” Seven contrails… Read More »Wooden UFOs and Nylon Homes in the Zone of Silence