it's we we we who build community--boom boom boom

i'm in chicago this week with my sister and brother-in-law. last night we went downtown to the 'taste of chicago.' a bunch of area restaurants set up booths and sell their specialities. it's a great street carnival of food. you buy tickets and then crawl from booth to booth, eating. you can buy whole meals or just a bunch of 'taste portions.' the booths take up three or four city blocks.

sarah and nate live outside of the city, so we drove in and parked. it was raining a bit, but there were still a lot of people--not so many that it was claustrophobic, but enough that it felt alive and buzzing. it was one of the most beautiful things i've ever done in a city. we walked with the crowd (or against it) and sampled food. the food was from all over: mexico, jamaica, thailand, puerto rico, china, italy, germany, india, ireland. the people were from every imaginable walk of life. and everyone was there to eat and enjoy. it wasn't overly commercialized. there were booths for cell phones and army recruitment and (my personal favorite) maalox... but they weren't an overwhelming presence. it was about the food.

and because everyone was there for the food, it was about community as well. it was a celebration of chicago. it was a feast on the best the city had to offer.

at one end, we took an extra loop that took us through a new park that the city just built. in the park, right across the street from some towering examples of chicago-style architecture, there are two identical, rectangular brick structures. they're set apart maybe 40 ft, and they're about 20 ft tall. water falls in sheets on all four sides of each. periodically, huge digital faces appear on the sides and look at each other and smile and blink. then, suddenly, they purse their lips and blow and jets of water, like 10-ft-high fire hydrants, shoot out of their mouths. it creates a half-inch pool in between the pillars--an open invitation to come and splash and cool off. last night there were kids and adults laughing and screaming and splashing. we joined the crowd standing around the edges. we started laughing, too. it was something you wanted to be part of--this city enjoyment of life, the shrieks of joy as the water came streaming down. there was a grown man sitting in the water, splashing it over his back. it was refreshing just to watch.

i always love the city. it always reminds me that i'm part of something larger. last night was a taste of heaven. a bunch of dappled people, eating together, enjoying together. it was like a great city worship service.