Searching for Chicagohenge

I set my alarm for 4:30 am on a Sunday in March. It was 9:30 pm on a Saturday and I was already in bed, praying that insomnia didn’t pay me a visit.  I was meeting a new photography friend downtown the next morning at 6:00 am to photograph Chicagohenge.

Chicagohenge is a phenomenom that happens twice a year. During the days before and after the spring and fall equinoxes, when the sun rises and sets, it lines up perfectly with the east-west streets in the Loop and you can see it framed between the buildings.

When my alarm went off at 4:30 am, I reluctantly pulled myself out of my warm bed and asked Alexa for the weather report. It was 19 degrees and windy.  I must have still been asleep when I got dressed. It’s the only explanation I can come up with for choosing a thin pair of leggings, my running shoes and a long sleeve shirt.

By the time my friend and I picked our location I was quite cold.  The wait for sunrise felt interminable.  We took pictures as we waited and chatted about our mutual love of street photography. 6:25 am came and went. It was still pretty dark out, but we were pleasantly surprised that there were cars, buses, trains and people around so early on a Sunday morning. Surely in another 15-20 minutes, we’d see the sun, take our photographs and I could go home and crawl back into my warm bed.  I was uncomfortably cold.  My legs stung from the cold and my toes were numb. I wondered how long it would take for my toes to get frostbite and if they’d have to be amputated. Can a person walk without toes?

Twenty-five minutes passes and we can see a little bit of light appearing over the horizon, but I’m getting impatient and my anxiety of the possible amputation of my toes is nearing panic attack levels. I start pacing and walking on my tip toes hoping that will keep the frostbite at bay.  I can’t remember ever being this cold.

By 7:20 am, we should definitely have seen the sun. I’m disappointed.  Did we pick a bad spot?  We decided wander a few blocks to see if there’s a better spot.  It hurt to walk and I mentally berated myself for not wearing my boots and warmer pants. The wind has died down a bit so the walk helped to warm my legs a little. I was positive my toes were going to be amputated and I made peace with it. I couldn’t feel them anyway.

We made it one block south to Monroe Street and my fears were confirmed. We were not going to see Chicagohenge.  The light from the sun was bouncing off the south facing side of the buildings. I could see the glow of the sun hiding behind the buildings on the south side of Monroe Street.

We weren’t alone in our disappointment. We had run into a few others who were downtown to photograph the event as well.  After comparing notes, I suspected we were a few days too early. I’ll try again in September. It’ll be warmer then too.

Cheers,
Bec

P.S. I’m happy to report I still have all of my toes.