Ailana’s Journal—2026-09-07 (Patreon)

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GOOD MORNING by Ailana Geven Keller

Happy Labor Day to all of you who are celebrating. It’s somewhat appropriate that we are celebrating the role of labor today with regard to doing Chicago’s history as my good-morning chapters.

We left off yesterday around 1893.

Chicago in the years after the Columbian Exposition was still growing at an astonishing pace, but it was also becoming a place where the tensions of modern urban life were hard to ignore. Factories, railroads, warehouses, stockyards, and mills created enormous wealth, but they depended on huge numbers of workers doing difficult and often dangerous labor.

That is part of why Chicago matters so much in labor history. The city had already been marked by the Haymarket tragedy in 1886, and in 1894 the Pullman Strike erupted just south of downtown. What began as a protest over wage cuts turned into a major national railroad crisis. It reminded the country that industrial growth came with very real human costs.

Chicago also kept reinventing itself physically. In 1900, engineers reversed the flow of the Chicago River, which still sounds unbelievable every time I read about it. In 1909, Daniel Burnham’s Plan of Chicago laid out a bigger civic vision with parks, boulevards, better transportation, and protected lakefront access.

Meanwhile, the people of the city kept changing too. Immigrants from Europe continued arriving, and in the early twentieth century Black families moving north during the Great Migration reshaped neighborhoods, churches, businesses, and politics.

By the 1920s, Chicago had become famous around the world—some of it glamorous, some of it infamous. It was a powerhouse of trade, architecture, music, food, and publishing, but it was also associated with corruption, organized crime, and deep inequality.

So that is Chicago after 1893 in a nutshell: a city of labor and ambition, conflict and reinvention, growth and growing pains. Tomorrow I’ll finish the back half of the story.

Right now, I need to finish my shower. See you soon.

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BIG MARSH PARK by Ailana Geven Keller

Hello from Big Marsh Park on Chicago’s southeast side. This is one of those places where the story is almost as interesting as the scenery.

Big Marsh is about 300 acres, and what makes it special is that this used to be heavily impacted industrial land. For decades, waste and slag from nearby industry were dumped here. Now, the site is being restored as a mix of wetlands, wildlife habitat, education, and recreation.

The conservation work is the part I find most interesting. Big Marsh is the largest Chicago Park District wetland complex in the Calumet region. Water levels are managed to support marsh habitat, invasive plants have been removed, and bird populations have returned. Some species that had disappeared from the area for years have been seen here again.

And this isn’t a park where conservation means “stay out.” The whole idea is to combine habitat restoration with responsible public use. There are walking and biking trails, BMX and mountain-bike features, pump tracks that can also be used by skateboards and scooters, picnic areas, birding, and nature observation. A lot of the active recreation is concentrated on former slag areas where restoring high-quality habitat would be much harder.

The building behind me is the Ford Calumet Environmental Center. It has classrooms and exhibits about the ecology and history of Chicago’s southeast side, plus bird-safe design and even a wetland system that helps handle wastewater on site.

I’m here with Geoni, Emily, and Kel. Josh, Clay, and Jason are off gathering notes and images for other articles. Sasha and Jasmine are working on SwimFit and planning for Thursday’s photo session, so everybody has an assignment today.

We’re going to wander a little more and see what we can find. I’ll check back with you later!

CRUISE CONTROL by Vanessa Lenen

I have Labor Day off. That does not mean I don’t work today, according to the time clock. I work tonight at the clinic.

David, my boyfriend, works today. Often, we have crossed schedules, but honestly, that’s fine with us. We see each other way more than many at our stage of the relationship do.

If you asked how I think our relationship is going, I’d say that it’s on cruise control. In the best possible way. The way that lets you sit back and enjoy the ride. Maybe we've even got auto navigation going.

When we moved here, he bought a two-unit home. I live in one of the units with my bed, a desk and chair for my computer, a Keurig and a few mugs. I also have a washer and dryer on my side that I use—so far, we’ve not mingled our laundry.

David’s side is fully furnished. And I have a key. I go there to make breakfast, either for us both or by myself. If I’m home for lunch, I make it—here’s the mind-bend—in what we consider our kitchen. I watch TV in our living room. I nap on the sofa there, too.

We’ve agreed my unit is privately mine. His bedroom and the attached bath are privately his. The rest is ours? That’s how we feel about it. In practice, I spend most of my time in his unit except for showers, laundry, sleeping, and an occasional morning cup of coffee.

Since getting here, for both of us, work has been where our energy has gone. Our relationship has been the oasis we return to that helps keep us going.

With him working, I came over to the island and headed as far north as my car would take me. I’ve done this before—I’m thinking about getting a Wrangler set up for sand driving so I can go farther.

I occasionally talk to Ailana Geven, and maybe her love for the beach is contagious. Or maybe it's something inside all of us wishing to be expressed.

I prefer getting away from the crowds, though. I come for the space, the sound, and the smell of the sea as it drifts on the breeze.

This is another way to recharge and get ready for…

…an overnight walk-in clinic shift.

We do what we do, right?

GOOD NIGHT by Ailana Geven Keller

Time to call it a day and say good night. I hope you all had a great Monday. And Happy Labor Day to those celebrating.

We’ve come to Tobey Prinz Beach Park to wrap up the day. It’s located adjacent to Loyola Beach. We’re going to make our way along Loyola Beach and grab some dinner before going back to Ryan’s home for the night.

Sasha said to let you know not to get your expectations too high for the Thursday photo shoot. This one isn’t a rush job, but it is pretty huge. And equally simple.

In short, it’s Christmas socks.

I’ll share something just to prove we did it.

Tomorrow is our last day in the Windy City. Wednesday, we fly home and get ready for the shoot on Thursday.

I don’t have a plan for tomorrow’s content, but I’m leaning toward sharing one more conservation idea. You’ll have to check back to see what I come up with.

That’s it for today. Let me close out.

May you pass each day prosperous and at peace, finding ways to share your blessings with others and likewise being blessed by them in return.

Good night.

Be your best you!

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