Multiconstruct

For our summer trip we went to Chicago. I have a lot of memories, most of them great, of visiting the Windy City. Like just about everywhere I went there with my dad on his truck and when I was 19 I spent a week with him there while he trained with his last employer ATS. He managed to find a red neck bar and we went there and drank and shot pool pretty much every night.

Fondest memories were church youth group trips to Christmas shop. That was the first time I rode the train. It was often cold and I never really had money to shop but I lived the whole experience.

We drove into KCMO and parked at a cheaper lot with a healthy walk.  There was a 2 hour delay so I walked over to the World War 1 park and walked around.

The River Runner is a decent route and I especially liked the Mississippi River crossing.

The family was less enamored with train travel than I am and it made for a long day. We found our place and went to a gyros place. Excellent Mediterranean food let me know I was home in the upper Midwest as much as the flatlands of corn we’d passed along the way.

We figured out public transit and the L was mostly fun and the buses did what they were supposed to. $20 for a weeks pass is a good deal.

We did family stuff and that was all new to me. We did a crime tour and I was thrilled to see the Biograph Theater and the alley where Dillinger died for our sins. Lots of other cool stories and artifacts on the tour.

The other attraction I really enjoyed was the Architectural Boat Tour. 90 minutes on the water with great downtown views and a nice lesson on architecture, development, and Chicago history can’t be beat.

The train back is longer. We went through St Louis but it’s been a lot prettier. Travels along the Big Muddy in its prettiest Missouri parts. We played some chess and had dinner.

As we crossed Missouri I found a pen in the bottom of my bag and started my next book. I think this one I’m going to write the first draft in longhand. Being part of a family with teenage boys has me thinking about my own dad and all he taught me.

There is a crisis around boys and young men. Unless we find a way to reach these folks, Andrew Tates and Ben Shapiros will continue to poison our youth, trapping them in a box of ineffective and dangerous stereotypes.

My dad had his issues but he taught me timeless lessons I think will be useful for the next generation. As an author I’m excited to be on to my sophomore offering. I am hoping an 80 pager with an emphasis on accessibility and saliency can come to completed draft this summer.

Next stop, Kansas City. Time to wrap this up, pack up my things and get  ready to drive home.