When the Q began I did not enjoy working at home. I liked my home separate from my job. However, I have grown to like it. I like not having to commute for over an hour one way. I enjoy that I get to step outside and get fresh air, which I never did while working at the office. I barely felt the sun in 16 years and I was pining for it. I would leave for work at 8am and not return home until after 10pm and after commuting through the city for so many years this Q break made my life better. I bring all this up because, I had more time added to my life plus I got to go outside more.
The Tunnel: backtrack to 2017; I had jogged through a tunnel in my hood many times and I kept thinking it was like being in the belly of a caterpillar. In 2017 I started a secret graffiti project. I started painting it with friends the colors of a Monarch caterpillar. One day, dad with his family came biking through the tunnel while I was painting. He knocked me down because, well, I was doing graffiti, but, that should not have mattered. I was a woman (just 5ft tall; I must have been a terrifying threat), he did it in front of his small kids and maybe the Grandmother. I was upset with anger and wanted to find him to knock him down. I went to the alderman's office hoping I get city permission to paint this caterpillar. Nothing happened. No one at the office could help me. I gave up for a while, sporadically painting the tunnel. One day on Instagram I saw a post based on location and it was a girl posing in my caterpillar in front of the colors I painted. That was it! I' decided to paint again. I started graffiti again. I went back to the alderman's office and a miracle happened I got permission.
Going back to having more time added to my life and taking vacation days from work I was able to paint the caterpillar consistently. I met nice people in the tunnel who rallied and gave me paint and joined in on painting part of the wall. My painting gig evolved into a tunnel and four extra walls. I cannot believe I did this...take a look and I hope you will plan a visit to walk through the Ogallah Caterpillar Tunnel in Edison Park neighborhood of Chicago.
