Close to Home

Campus is clearing out for the oh-so-wonderful 2 week spring break.
I have to admit though, I have to strain to taste a sense of that freedom, a sense of that elation that so many are feeling right now.
Probably because this spring break, husband and I are once again staying close to home.
Right now I so miss that high of packing up the car and heading to the airport or taking off on a road trip, in pursuit of warmer places.

But the reason we're staying close to home is a very, very good one.

On Monday, I start my new job!

In other news about "close to home," there was an incident surprisingly close to home (as in on the corner of our building) that happened recently and made the news.
The typical "close to home" nouns are for our corner of the street are
 
Lake Michigan

Starbucks 

Paper Source

Anthropologie

Michigan Avenue

Washington Park

Sprinkles

Yolk

and more Starbucks.

But one Wednesday afternoon, the noun "gunshots" entered the vocabulary, for the first time since I've lived here.

Nine gunshots.

There was definitely a scene, and after the chaos was sorted out amidst tons of red tape, ambulances, and cop cars, the story stands that two police men in an unmarked car had picked up a panhandler for aggressive behavior.

 From the backseat, the panhandler pulled out a concealed gun and shot the policemen, who returned fire and killed the passenger.

Later that night, we got a pounding knock on our door from a detective, trying to gather information from those who might have witnessed the event.

Never a dull moment.

Here's a few pictures I snapped from our 18th floor apartment of the aftermath.
"Close to home" was pretty interesting that day.