We've started conserving film, and yet we're photographing this on general principle. It is, of course, the cardinal's house, home to the archbishop of Chicago, something that one wouldn't want to leave out of the tour, just because of its significance in the life of the community. But lining up an angle that shows it to advantage? The park is brightly lit and the house is in shadow, and marching up his eminence's driveway for a better shot of that entrance does seem a little crass, especially as the best point is right behind the sign reading "private property". Oops. We settle for this architectural element for now, turning around to find ourselves face to face with a group of tourists who've gathered behind, one of whom has just asked "are you the archbishop". "Yes, sir, and I'm wearing the usual clerical cut-off jeans. I think that those came in during Vatican II, just like that star of david that you see around my neck." But why obsess? I bless them and send them on their way.

A block later, we find ourselves back on Dearborn.

We remember a building there, an attractive vintage structure on the east side of Dearborn, just south of Burton - was that 1447 North? no, must be another building, we're sure of it - that got a lot of attention from the neighbors one year. It seems that, allegedly, a storm gutter blew down from the alleged side of the alleged building back during the allegedly late 1990s, and for the next few years, allegedly just sort of hung there. Eventually, the weight of the gutter allegedly started to tear at the ornamental frieze, which allegedly started coming off as well. Eventually, the allegations go, a whole stretch of both simply had to be cut off the building, leaving an unattractive gap in the facade in need of mending. We wonder how the repairs are coming along on that structure, because as we know, all Chicago landlords are responsible and conscientious. We don't even know why the city council bothered to pass those superfluous slumlord ordinances, when everybody knows that market discipline will always force a businessman to do the right thing.

Oh, my! That doesn't look good at all. Must be a misunderstanding. Oh, and if somebody should suggest that there were no permits on display on the site, or no signs of equipment in use or workmen arriving on the scene or anything one would expect to see during a legal demolition or renovation, and that the building has just been sort of eroding over the last few weeks, as if it were slowly being taken down a little each night on the sly - ignore the scalawag. We are appalled, simply appalled at the rumor mongering that goes on in some parts of this town, where the law is always shown the greatest respect by those working in its real estate and development sectors, as it must be in a city where the local government is as incorruptable as it has long been renowned for being, here in Chicago.

We quickly rush down Dearborn, and take some small pleasure in noticing that the Three Arts Club hasn't been knocked down during the 45 minutes that we've been away from it. And thus ends today's tour.

This page is part of "Joe Dunphy's Page O' ... yeah, which is itself now part of Stumbling into the Void. Would you like to see some of the pictures I took during a trip to Louisiana? Or maybe return to your ring?