Rachel Evans: Three Days Three Ways

Day 1: Walking

     After learning about the assignment, I decided to use my walk back to Kenilworth as my chosen route.  I walked from Brady Street to Farwell to get back to KSE.  On my trek back, I was paying more attention to the sounds and the people that were around me more than anything.  I am more familiar with the night life of Brady Street than I am with how it is in the mornings and afternoons.  So for me, it was interesting to see who now occupied the streets and shops.  The air smelled fresh and crisp, it made me sad to know that summer was coming to an end, but anxious for the fall weather.  The people outside of the storefronts were friendly, enjoying the weather.  What I also noticed about Brady Street was the cleanliness of it.  The buildings are kept nice, the sidewalks were litter free, and there was little to no graffiti.  Once I turned onto Farwell however, that changed.  One building that stuck out to me was a rundown looking East Side Cycle Shop.

It just looks sad, old, overgrown, and is clearly falling apart.  I can't help but think of what it looked like in its prime.

Day 2: Driving

     On this trip I was the driver.  I was already anticipating that I would not be able to take as many observations and drive at the same time.  I took this trip around 5:30-6pm, after my last class of the day.  Since I commute to campus, I just took a roundabout way to get back home.  While I was driving the route I paid more attention to other cars as well as pedestrians (because I'm an attentive driver like that) than I did to the buildings.  Farwell is always busy traffic wise.  I found myself turning down my music and driving slower.  Which I suppose I do whenever I drive downtown since it's not a familiar place and there are way more people out and about than there are in Oak Creek.  There were more people out walking either back from class or on their way to work, many people walking with a purpose rather than walking for something to do.  Lots of joggers and bikers too.  The shops on Brady had more people walking in and out of them at this time also.  It's interesting to see how occupied the sidewalks become once class lets out for the day.  What I also that was interesting is that all of the neat little details that I had found on my previous walk I was not able to pick out while driving.  I know major points and buildings and don't seem to pay attention to anything else if it isn't necessary.

Day 3: Passenger

  

     The final day I went to Thai-Namite with my friend for lunch.  It was gloomy and rainy outside.  I don't know why, but the smell of rain and the sound of passing cars on wet roads are two of my favorite things about rainy days.  In the passenger seat, I was able to observe more of the surroundings than I was able to when I was the driver.  Since it was raining there were very few people out on the streets.  It was a big change from the first route where everyone was outside talking to one another.  Also, I found that since it was crappy weather that I tended to not be as attracted to certain places like I was earlier in the week.  I felt like there was no color, it felt monochromatic and therefore I wasn't seeing anything that, in sense, would be inspiring to me.  Since that was the mood I was in, it was kind of a challenge to find things that spoke to me as how I would describe Milwaukee.  One thing did stick out though, a woman biker traveling down Brady in a skirt and blouse, in the misting rain.  Not dressed for the elements at all, but I related that back to the carefree vibe I get while in Milwaukee.  Just roll with the punches.