Gone, but definitely NOT forgotten!

"You can accomplish much if you don't care who gets the credit."
--Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States of America

President Reagan throws the first pitch at Wrigley Field in 1988

Is Ronald Reagan's Chicago boyhood home doomed?


Locked up, abandoned and forgotten, the vacant six-flat standing at the northeast corner of 57th and Maryland has no plaques or statues and few clues to its history.

Now, the little-known childhood home of Ronald Reagan in Hyde Park could soon be torn down by the University of Chicago, which has quietly plotted its demolition, the Sun-Times has learned.

The plan has made unlikely allies of conservatives who consider Reagan an icon and liberal Hyde Parkers who say the university’s secrecy is typical of how it has treated its neighbors for decades.

It puts the school that provided the intellectual force behind “Reaganomics” in the awkward spot of attempting to destroy what was until the election of Barack Obama the only home in Chicago where a president has lived.

In fact, the university’s controversial new Milton Friedman Institute — named in tribute to the architect of Reagan’s free market policies — is just a few blocks away from the former Reagan home.

Though Reagan — born 100 years ago Sunday — spent just a year at the home as a 3-to-4 year-old from 1914 to 1915 and most of his youth in western Illinois, he wrote fondly of the gas-lit first-floor apartment at 832 E. 57th St.

In a 1988 letter, he described watching horse-drawn firefighters “come down the street at full gallop . . . the sight made me decide I wanted to be a fireman.”

He described surviving a near-fatal bout of pneumonia, playing with a neighbor’s set of lead soldiers, how his older brother was run over by a beer wagon and how they both panicked while his parents went out for groceries, left the house and got lost across the Midway.

University officials, who bought Reagan’s home in 2004 and ordered tenants out a year ago, refuse to publicly discuss their plans for the building or the surrounding area. Spokesman Jeremy Manier said the university has “no announcements to make.”

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) — whose ward includes the Reagan home — also says she is unaware of any demolition plans and that the school has improved its communication with residents.

But sources inside and outside the university versed in its real estate policy say it is in private talks to demolish the home, and that the university has long considered buying up and razing the entire block and the block to the east as essential to hospital expansion.

The $700 million, 10-story Hospital Pavilion, due to open in 2013, already looms over Reagan’s home across 57th Street.

*********

Take the time today to read the rest here. It's quite interesting and there's a great photo gallery!

And on the third day...

...after our Great Chicago Blizzard, it looks like this:

The bus stop right outside my building

I got out today, thinking the 'going' would be pretty decent. I couldn't climb over the pile at my bus stop, so I walked south to another, which has a shelter and, thankfully, was cleared of snow. You see, I desperately needed to go the library!

Now some might say, "Hey RPFree, get a kindle, read books electronically! Get with the program, old girl!"

I DO read electronically, but I also prefer to read for an hour or so in bed, before I turn out the lights and while I am doing stetching and back exercises so I won't totally stiffen up overnight.

I figured, after reading Ald. Joe Moore's (Incumbent-49th Ward-20 years 'on the job?') e-mail poofs these past few days, that all would be right on Morse Avenue, and I could freely walk down and do some shopping.

I got a block and a half east of Clark Street, and had to negotiate this, which is a huge task when one uses a cane, as I must:

Their house...notice their porch and steps are shovelled

I finished my shopping, and walked the three blocks east to Sheridan Road, where I could catch the bus back home. On the way, I encountered this EXTREME FORM OF CHICAGOAN LAZINESS:

I actually saw an older (than me) woman, walking toward me with a rolling walker, and stopped to watch if anyone would help her.

No one did, so I and my cane walked back up and helped her get the walker over this stupidity.

She is one of the Russians who live in the neighborhood, and does not speak English well at all, but her shock and disgust were very apparent.

You see, this afternoon was the PURR-fect time to go out and clear snow. It was mostly sunny, about 30 degrees, and the snow was softened enough to push around easily.

But, this being 'Super Bowl Saturday', time must be spent planning for tomorrow's game. Chicagoans, I have found during my 12 years of living here, are like that: very LAZY when it comes to clearing snow. They'd rather wait for all this to melt.

An alleyway, which Ald. Joe Moore previously stated were being taken care of by 'one of his guys'

And this treacherous 10 feet or so

So I got off at the same stop where I embarked upon this mini-sojourn and walked into Leone Park-Beach to take a couple of shots.

The huge ice/snow floes are both way out on the lake AND at the snow-filled shoreline

So here I am, back home. I opened a few windows to allow for some fresh are, and sit pondering:

Is Chicago Transit Authority responsible for clearing their bus stops OR does the CTA take the Blanche duBois approach--'depending upon the kindness of strangers'?

From my Window: FROSTY!

I am sooooo sorry that these shots are all I can offer you today. It is 0 degrees Fahrenheit. As much as I would like to go out and shoot on this sunny day in Chicago, I'm thinking it may not be the healthiest thing for me to try to accomplish.

I am, however, once again fascinated by the ice crystals on my window.

That's the Evanston, IL high-rise in the background.

There has been very little traffic along Sheridan Road. I understand Lake Shore Drive has opened again, amid controversy about its closing.

Those who 'took the Drive' after being warned of the perils were 'soooo totally stupid'. And then, they abandoned their cars--and are now being told there will be no tow charge.

Unfortunately, we live in a society which honors 'mediocrity' AND 'stupidity'. Unless we all stand up for ourselves and our families--and yes, I mean GET SOME BALLS--the nation we have known as 'the United States of America' shall cease to be--especially under the governance (?) of this current (and awfully treasonous!) Obama administration.

From my Window: Not going out today

Those taller buildings in the background belong to Evanston--about 4 miles away.

The parking lot below my window

Levy House, which is just across the way

Actually, if I weren't so 'old and decrepit'--and looked better than Betty White (thanks, doped-up troll!), I'd like to go out and build a snowwoman.

There's plenty of snow, so I could give her a really large BUTT...kind of like, well, you know who!

Chicago Blizzard Update: The wind has been roaring...

...around my building here, just a half block off the lake (Michigan). My windows are frozen up and I am unable to see out.

The solution?

Watch Johnny Depp and Al Pacino in "Donnie Brasco"!

Grabbed this frame because of the twin Towers in the background. PLEASE, any and every Moslem...never, ever try to explain to me that Islam is the religion of peace...EVAH!

Depp and Pacino, at their finest!

I truly admire Joe Pistone for all he sacrificed...to do his job...to do it right.

I have seen many disgusting things in my life...

...but Amy Woodruff takes the whole damned CAKE!

Yes, it's long...watch it anyway--and LEARN?



Taxpayer-funded...erm...that would be "We, the People"..

From my Window: Chicago's Blizzard

It was my intent today, when I arrived back home around 3 PM, to set up the camera and tripod at my window and do a shot every hour or so to show the progress of the Great Blizzard of 2011.

The window began to fog (actually, the storm window) around noon. So, all I can show you from the lower, unscreened half is my friend the mannequin, desperately trying to stay afoot during horrendous winds (which are rattling the windows and impacting the building heavily).

I crept the camera up to a place where, through the screen, you can see at least something of Sheridan Road, the Farcroft building, and how little snow there seems to be at about 5:45 CST.

BTW...that "egg-stremely bright light" just right of center is courtesy of the Shambhalah Center, at the corner of Sheridan Road and Sherwin Avenue here in Rogers Park. It is "ON" 24/7, shining right into my window, making my apartment very bright at night.

It is an irritant.

Jeesh...you'd think these psuedo-Buddhists would have more manners, huh?

But, then again...it's Rogers Park, the most northerly neighborhood of Chicago, where some of the most liberal "hippies" and "wanna-be hippies" live--sorry for the redundancy.

I hope to get out tomorrow, if the wind dies down a bit, in order to show you some more of out Great Chicago Blizzard (?)

A Walk along the Lake Michigan shore

It was a whole 32 degrees today!

Leone Park playground, and one of many people who come to sit by the lake and contemplate.

Looking northeast to Leone Beach. When the icy snow melts, the lake is about 30 feet closer.

Looking to the east. The snow/ice mounds are due to wave spray. The area can be quite treacherous when the North and East winds cause non-stop waves.

Looking to the southeast at Farwell Beach pier, about a half-mile downshore.

A local restaurant, closed until we get warmer days (maybe in June?).

The Loyola Park playground, at the lake end of Greenleaf Avenue.

Spring is scheduled to arrive in about 7 and a half weeks, isn't it?

From My Window:

Today is very gray

Through the wet window I see only the abstract

Evanston is not there today

So perhaps I will contemplate the wonders of glass