It was my pleasure to have dinner with Jeff Bean (aka @BikeCrave) a couple weeks ago when he was in Chicago. Over shared plates of savory mushroom pâté, delectable shumai, and amazing flatbread with tomato jam we shared great conversation.
Yes, there was talk of bikes and riding and people we both know, but also stories about creativity and finding inspiration…inspiration not only to do our jobs but to pursue our own creative outlets… writing, photography…
It’s no surprise that riding bikes and inspiration are closely intertwined for both of us.
I awoke early this morning and headed out on my bike. I had a destination this morning: a HUGE eyeball sculpture near the Harold Washington Museum that I had seen while giving Jeff a ride back to his hotel after dinner. We both commented that it would be a great ride picture.
The temperature wasn’t bad for Chicago at this time of year – in the 40s – but it was early yet, and damp and a little windy in the direction I needed to go. Soon my fingers were cold. Really cold. I wanted to turn around and head home, but I kept going. Not surprisingly, my mood improved and my mind started to wander – in a good way — as it usually does when I’m out riding alone. Plus the thought of “seeing” that eyeball up close was intriguing enough to keep me going.
Along the way, a small sign in an abandoned storefront on Milwaukee Avenue caught my eye, and I circled back and snapped a self-portrait. Then back on the bike, heading to the eyeball. Soon, I reached the corner where it had been. Yes, “had been.” The eyeball was gone, but right in front of where it was was this amazing line of text by Lewis Carroll: “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
I propped my bike up against a small tree, sat right down on the State Street sidewalk, and amid weird looks by those hurrying to catch the subway, snapped a picture. I can only hope that one day I get to experience that looking-glass world with the same wonder that Carroll did. How incredible would that be?
Back to easy riding, this time heading north down State Street as you can only do on a Sunday morning. I passed one of my favorite buildings on the way, and circled back two blocks later to take a picture. The Louis Sullivan building at State and Monroe is an amazing example of art and architecture. I love the warmth of the wood doorways against the patina of the intricate scrollwork facade that is classic Sullivan. Many, many years ago I was lucky enough to work in that building and pass through those doors every day.
I returned home energized – and a little cold, especially my fingers. But nothing that a really, really (did I say really?) long, hot shower didn’t fix.
No, I didn’t get to see that giant eyeball up close today, but what I got today was so much better. Jeff said something over dinner that night that has played over and over in my mind like a tape recording: “I’ve never found inspiration sitting in a desk chair.”
I know exactly what he meant by that.