Chicago, like most cities, reveals itself from its alleys, its causeways, its underground, and through any of the areas not reserved for a tourist’s eyes. Chicago reveals its true nature in its alleys, and this is probably because the alleyways of Chicago are as ancient and venerable as the rebuilt city that they represent. The Great Chicago Fire is the reason why such back-ways exist, and as the city rose like a gaudy, somewhat cheap phoenix from its own ashes, it rose, bearing alleys. Firebreaks. Since the early days, Chicago’s firebreaks have taken on a life of their own. They are places closer to the real city. They are the domain of child’s play and criminal activity. They are the regions of commercial deliveries, garbage disposal and pickup, and the occasionally illicit assignation. Chicago’s alleys are also intriguingly boring by day and completely beguiling in night-time areas. Not all alleys are like this, however; but a few—only a few—will offer something brooding, mysterious, or at least evocative on occasion. I can’t remember exactly where this alley is, nor can I remember what the front of the building shown here might look like. I don’t even know what sort of building this may be, but what you see here is the back end of it. What you see here is the last gasp of a particular flavor of Chicago. The streetlight revealed in this photograph is a member of an endangered species. The pressurized sodium vapor streetlamp has had its day, and now (slowly) such streetlights are finding themselves consigned to the scrap heap. Actually, only the bulbs are going the way of the dinosaur. The lamp assemblies are quite accepting of the change sweeping the city very, very slowly. In the years ahead, metal halide lights will replace the almost hepatic sodium vapor. Alleys are the first places in which these new lights are appearing. Apparently metal halide lights provide more natural colors, less light migration, and the sort of diffusion that makes spooky, criminal-friendly shadows harder to come by. I rather like the new lights, though I can’t see too huge a difference. They are less orange in color and they allow for crisp tripod-less night-time photographs (and, depending on camera sensitivity, they still appear somewhat orange-ish…sort of.) I discovered this particular alley and this particular backside while walking with Corey. It was a warm night: comfortable. Corey was bored and I was in the mood to take a picture of something, and this image is a part of what occurred that night. If I’m not mistaken, episodes of The Twilight Zone were involved as well, along with at least one liter of Dr. Pepper. How typical! I rather like this particular marker of that night, especially since I have no actual clue what the front of this building looks like. As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week.