Dusk in the Chicago Loop, when most everyone has left for home and the crawl of traffic has dissipated. Even in May, the temperatures are still at the edges of cool and warm, so a light jacket is apropos. Enter, Mr. Sax Man. You could hear his music a mile away. Sometimes street musicians have a way of shifting your mood, and they do so unknowingly. I asked him if I could video him, and he nodded. We shook hands, and he graciously gave me his name. Joe.
I love downtown Chicago. When I moved back here in late 2011, and my family and I spent a day at the Museum of Science and Industry, we passed through the Loop. I realized how much I missed it.
People are not exactly warm and friendly, in the ways I've found them to be in the Middle East. Downtown is where they work, and their public mind and demeanor are merely in transit between office and home.
Still, Chicagoans have an energy and vibrancy that I feel at home with, and it's the commerce and culture of the city that drive them.
One such people are the street musicians. I was thankful that Joe let me video him, as he edges out a small living with his anonymous music, which is less so now.
