Monday, 23 December 2002

Locusts! In the ten years that I lived there, the southwest Chicago suburbs consumed nearby farmland like a starving man at a pie-eating contest. Armies of houses marched across the plain, marking off new subdivisions as fast as the bulldozers and pavers could build streets; for a while my friend Tim lived in a cul-de-sac whose street names all started with "J", to distinguish it from the cookie-cutter "H" and "K" enclaves on either side.

When I last visited two years ago, Tim and family had just moved into a development so new that it didn't have paved roads yet. Now this "new" area has everything short of its own monorail: Schools, supermarkets, restaurants and shopping malls have all sprung fully formed out of the prairie, serving up fast food and 24-hour grocery shopping to the voracious suburban horde.

I did notice that the American flag is flying a lot more often than it was two years ago—it isn't like there's red-white-and-blue bunting on every doorstep, but it's definitely a change from when I last visited (July 2001). Call me sentimental, but I like it, especially coming back from overseas where seeing your own country's flag is a rarity.

- Posted by Scott Forbes at 9:44 pm. comments.