Shortly after leaving my house for a late-afternoon summer walk, I treaded over a swatch of asphalt where the bike path begins. Several different kinds of trees leaned over the surface; their branches not quite touching. The temperature seemed to drop 15-20⁰ here, not twenty yards from Lawrence Avenue.

The experience gave me a new goal. While I continued my walk with no particular destination in mind, I now had an intention. I wanted to locate places in my neighborhood that freely gave off shade.

I asked myself Where can shade be found? I noticed finding shade:

• Behind the playground apparatus right before the end of West River Park
• Under the high wall near the tennis courts
• Behind the stadium bleachers at Holmgren Athletic Complex
• Under the umbrella of Elena’s torta carte where she sells sandwiches and iced bottled water to the boys playing soccer
• Under the viaduct roof near the water sanitation plant
• Behind the wire construction fence around the community garden.
• Under the gazebo trellis at Ravenswood Park.
• Around the covered bus stop bench on Foster near California
• On either side of the station house at the Francisco el train stop
• Under the awning near the sliding glass doors entering Harvestime
• Off the back of the truck where the seriously tattooed eighteen year-old and his uncle sells peaches
• Behind the last garage on my alley, caddy corner from the body shop where no one should be working on a Sunday but often are
• On my deck, sipping iced tea, underneath a couple hanging planters

Then I pondered the question in a bigger way. Where can shade be found? I considered that:

To a sun worshipper – shade can be found behind a wide-brimmed straw hat

To a child — shade can be found in the silhouette of a water fountain

To a pigeon – shade can be found under the discarded cardboard shell of a Budweiser 12-pack

To a leaf – shade can be found on the underside of a wooden bench

There is no absence of shade in my neighborhood.

When you find shade you can comfort yourself. You can find relief from the heat. You can contemplate the approaching sunset. You can pause to listen or to pick up a pen and write. You can take a long sip from that water bottle you always carry around with you.

Having an awareness of your size, the space you occupy in the world, can provide you with clues on where you can find shade for yourself. Knowing the time of day by shadows cast instead of by digital display changes your understanding of time. It can make its passing more real.

Taking a long walk close to home can put the sun in perspective, and that’s no small thing.