Twittering

Standing Tall in ELF

We’ve been living in East Lake Forest (ELF) for about a month now. You won’t find ELF on a map as a prettily colored political boundary. Nor will you find it listed as a neighborhood. Google doesn’t generate anything either. Unless you count the map that illustrates East Lake County, and lists East Lake Forest/Waukegan/Zion. But in this situation, it references a general direction, as in the East-side of Lake Forest.

ELF is more of a mindset, that exists east of Sheridan Road, which runs roughly parallel to Lake Michigan’s Shore, and in Lake Forest, is about a half-mile from the bluff that looks out over this Great Lake’s waters. It is a place that is bordered by a ravine on the south, a graveyard on the north, the lake on the east, and Sheridan Road on the west. And within this area exists an enchanted forest of grand estates and mansions that sprung up from the industrial fortunes that made the City of Chicago the heart of the Midwest and this nation.

Estate taxes and rising costs of labor and maintenance have diluted the quaintness of ELF through the years. Estates have been subdivided, and Starter Castles have gone up, populated by the vigilant soccer moms gripping the steering wheel of their high-end sports-utility vehicles that will never see an off-road environment, as they speed down the street, cell phones attached to their ear.

Since this area is rather remote by design, I’m beginning to recognize the cars driving by. I’m anticipating the staring glares that say, “You don’t belong here.” And to a certain extent, I don’t belong here. I have self-esteem, am not defined by my possessions, and pay attention to where I’m going and not my conversation when I’m driving my low-end S.U.V. down the street.

Walking the dog in my pajamas this morning, I realized there is nothing I can do to change the mindset of ELF. There is no way I can force it to see the shallowness it wallows in, where conversation never gets deeper than the backyard pool. However, I can change how I respond. I have the power to be my own person, regardless of the looks.

And so, this morning, in my pajamas, a dachshund and a mutt dog on leashes, as they dropped their morning constitutions, I stood on the sidewalk and… waved a hearty wave with a smile.