One of the great things I have experienced while working to save Sophia Garden is hearing stories about the different ways people use the space. Please take a moment to tell your story in the comments section of this post.
I will get the ball rolling by telling you mine...
I moved a block away from the garden three years ago. At the time, I was beginning graduate school at Columbia College in the photography department. I was immediately drawn to the garden as a peaceful spot to both relax and photograph in. Since then, I have spent many summer days laying on the benches towards the back of the garden and reading or sitting in the sun. If you visit the garden frequently, you may have seen me photographing there (even in the dead of winter).
I cannot imagine starting my day without passing Sophia Garden on my way to the EL. In the summer, sunflowers warm my heart and bunnies cross my path. In the winter, the beautiful layers of dead brown plants poetically reflect the dormancy of the season. Where else in Chicago can you experience that on a daily basis?
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Sometimes on my way to and from the train, I'll pass by Sophia Garden, look inside and if I have a minute to spare, I'll go in and sit amongst the plants, just enjoying a few moments away from the din of the city.
A small pleasure, sure, but it certainly means so much to me. Chicago has its multitudes of beautiful groomed, maintained parks, but I know of no other space where one can simply be alone. And the fact that this space is only just seconds from my door and is maintained with such care, makes it all the more valuable to me, and by extension, the neighborhood and the city, too.
It would be truly heartbreaking to see such a beautiful tranquil space be destroyed. So much of this town has been forced to make way for the steamroller of progression – why should not a small sliver be forgiven and be allowed to exist?
As a neighbor living in very close proximity to the garden, I also enjoyed the garden on my walk to and from the train. It is unbelievable to walk past the garden in the summer and smell what seems to be the first breath of fresh air you have ever taken, coming off of the garden. After a very stressful day at work, I would walk through and just try to name all of the various plants that I recognize. In the early spring, the garden was one of the few things that gave me hope that winter really was relinquishing it's grip on the area. I would watch for the tree buds and plants pushing themselves through the soil.
Besides the peace of mind that the garden gives some many people, it is also a wonderful learning space. The food and other plants that are grown are so different than anything that is seen in such an urban environment otherwise. I think the garden is a place that many different ideas come together. I think the neighborhood would take a huge loss if the garden was constructed on.
I think the garden is a symbol of possibility and potential. It was an empty lot and has become a thriving center of activity for so many creatures! (including people). I spend a lot of time in there with my kids and they are at their happiest running around in that garden. They notice the grasshoppers with so much excitement and we watch for bunnies and butterflies, and pretty much just feel the peacefulness of the place. Being in the garden shows me how important it is to get a healing dose of nature as much as possible.
I wish the garden could be spared. I know so many people value it deeply. It has been so wonderful that Loyola allowed it to become this true-green-space-haven. It seems to me that their campus would be enhanced more by a place like this than buildings. (I am thinking the building that is being torn down just east of it could be added as greenspace/park land!!) I realize that progress and development is a reality but I also think it would be so amazing to have a huge park/green space right there visible from the El! Who knows? Maybe anything is possible.
This is a story from my blog... Viva la Sophia's Garden!!!
Since we have started at the Chicago Waldorf School, I have or I should say, we have fallen in love with Sophia's garden. knowing it won't be long until the garden will be gone from this space...so sad...so we are taking in as much as time here as we can.
Slowing down and not just hustling by...
taking a moment to walk threw,
balance on the bed logs,
sitting in the grass,
scream after a big grass hopper we were watching jumps to show us how high he can go,
a busy bee won't leave us alone while we are slurping an orange,
soaking up the rays of the sun,
swaying in the wind,
stomping in the mud wearing our Wellies (Maxx calls them puddle boots),
playing hide and seek,
Believing for a moment we are in the country running through the fields, and not downtown Chicago
The empty lot and space was so graciously open to Maxx's school and the surrounding community many years ago...knowing that the University would expand and use this piece of land. As you walk around the garden, you see how much love has been put in to this amazing oasis in the city. Art work has been etched & painted, wooden gazebos and fences have been built by the older children in the school, flower, herbs, vegetables, fruit, trees, shrubs, and grasses are all growing so happily. There are bees, grasshoppers, lady bugs and worms that are in living out their fairy tale and helping to create fairy tales for Maxx.
November 1st is the said day of construction starting. We just have 2 more weeks and we will continue our moments until the restricted signs go up. I am going to try and capture as many photos as I can to remember these short moments that an amazing garden entered our lives.
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