My American Landscape

After reading Stilgoe's article, particularly the section about how keepsakes take on new modern functions, I am reminded of the neighborhood I left behind in Chicago and how the keepsakes I know very well have fared.  Much of my neighborhood, Norwood Park, was once used as orchards.  While the trees are all gone, some vestiges remain.  An old farmhouse from 1833 now serves as a museum.  The houses near mine all have huge yards compared to most in the city, because the land was divided into plots originally intended for farming rather than living.  This connects straight to Stilgoe's piece about how suburban lots seek to recreate farms, since in my neighborhood's case, actual functional farms were converted to the sort of miniature farms he describes.  The local railroad station now sells coffee and sandwiches rather than train tickets.  An old hotel is now a retirement home (coincidentally, a Norwegian retirement home).  The landscape pieces of the past evolve to fit the needs of the present, or they disappear.