Chicago and the Chocolate Factory

The Blommer chocolate factory sits exactly between my apartment and my school. I can never smell the chocolate from home, but I can count on smelling it as I leave school in the evening. I wish I could tell you that the smell of the chocolate fills my soul, warms my heart, etc etc etc. No such luck... the consequence of the chocolate factory in the city, is unfortunately quite opposite. You see, by the time the smell of the semi sweet cocoa hits my nose, the hearty, thick scent that I have come to expect from chocolate has been replaced by a metallic tin-like situation. The scent takes a journey through the city streets, all the while, picking up more undesirable scents on it's way: trash, wet sidewalk, more trash, exhaust. So by the time I can smell it, it no longer offers me the soul filling, heart warming benefits of all-things-that-include-sugar-and-butter. It's like falling asleep knowing there is a snowstorm outside, and by the time you get around to playing in it, it's already dirty with soot and yellow with dog pee.