City of Big Shovels.

This spot is currently reserved.

As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm a lifelong Chicago resident and I love the city with all my heart. Along with that love comes a fondness for its eccentric traditions. The one that's most visible this time of year--the time of snowdrifts and endless slush--is the practice of saving one's parking space once one has shoveled it out for the first time after a big snow. These parking space "reservations" are marked with combinations of castoff lawn furniture, milk crates, cones, two-by-fours, or other bizarre medium-to-large objects. This results in an impressive exhibit of found-object sculpture lining the side streets all over the city. In most neighborhoods, it is perfectly acceptable to "save" the spot for yourself in this way for indeterminate amounts of time. Seriously, it's kind of unbelievable, even for someone like me who's seen it for years. I've never done it, but I have respected it in most cases (there may be a small fear of tire-slashing involved), but after about two weeks, at least in my neighborhood, those spots tend to be fair game and the claimers are just trying to see how long the tactic will work. This practice of saving, of course, isn't allowed in other cities, but our city government and mayor just sort of look the other way.

When it comes to snow parking, anything goes here, in the City of Big Shoulders, Hog Butcher of the World, Stacker of Wheat and Milk Crates and a Wooden Board over a Nasty Lawn Chair...