No – we’re not talking about the Chicago pro soccer team or the NBC TV Show. This week is the 147th anniversary of the great Chicago fire. According to legend, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow knocked over a lantern and started the blaze that killed over 200 people, leveled over 17,000 buildings and left over 100,000 people homeless. Over 3 square miles of Chicago was devastated whether it was a cow or human that started the blaze at an estimated cost of $200 million 1871 dollars.
Fortunately, most of the city’s infrastructure was untouched – in fact, the Water Tower on Michigan Avenue is one of the structures the fire left standing.  Reconstruction began quickly and here’s a fun Chicago fire fact – much of the rubble of the fire was pushed into the lake creating the land that is now known as Grant Park or Chicago’s Front Yard. 22 years after the fire in 1893, the city was chosen to host the World’s Columbian Exhibition – a tourist attraction that brought over 27 million people to visit Chicago. Second fun fact of this post? 27 million people was HALF of the US population at the time!
At the time of the fire, Chicago’s population was around 324,000, within 10 years of the fire it had grown to 500,000 – and within 20 years of the fire, the population was up to 1.5 million. The city was a magnet for transportation, industry and modern thinking as many of the countries first skyscrapers rose here.
So Chicago is a perfect case study proving that amazing things can come in the aftermath of great tragedy. Want to know more about the Great Chicago Fire? Check out these articles:
Over the weekend, I read an article promoting keeping a journal to write your worries down in. According to the article, you can alleviate stress from worries by writing them down each evening – or whenever they get overwhelming.
Think back to your grammar school history lessons and you’ll remember that Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 – so this year we celebrate the 526th anniversary of his landfall in San Salvador. Columbus Day isn’t as big a deal here in Chicago as it was when I lived in New York City – but did you know it is also celebrated all over Latin America as well as in Italy and Spain?  I’m guessing the large numbers of Italians in NYC have something to do with the popularity of the holiday there.
Essential Oils seem to be promoted everywhere these days. Have you gotten on the bandwagon? I love my diffuser and carry a little vial of Aveda Blue Oil with me for headaches. Research has proven there are positive effects to using essential oils – but remember, don’t over do them with the diffuser. The rule of thumb I’ve been told is to run the diffuser for 30 minutes and then turn it off for thirty minutes and so on. And if you’re using oils topically, remember to dilute them to avoid skin irritation.
I’m going to check out alternative routes suggested by the Waze App – if you haven’t tried Waze, it compiles traffic information based on the cellular signals of your fellow drivers as well as their reports of road conditions. I can tell you that although the reports of congestion can sometimes be slightly out of whack with my own opinions, the time it reports for you to get to your destination is generally spot on.
I am currently suffering from my first cold of the fall season. Weird – I haven’t had a cold forever but this one has sure made its unpleasant symptoms known. I used almost a full box of tissues on Saturday!
Learn Or Do 