Remember?

Spotted this on the walk home. Though it was written in chalk on the sidewalk, the hand suggests an adult wrote this.

On either side of the message, there were two small arrows pointing outward. I think they were meant to indicate the current neighborhood block, but in my head I thought of them as “comments” in code.

In HTML, one uses brackets and dashes to denote a comment (something that does not render as code, but remains within the code as a note for future developers). Try viewing the source on this page, and you’ll see what I mean.

Seeing this note on the sidewalk made me feel like someone inserted a comment into the world. It made me stop in my tracks, step back, and really think about what they were saying. It felt like a note, and even a warning.

The words read:

Though this message makes me think about the different types of birds (the Starling, the Cardinal, the Robin)… it’s the last word that gets me.

The question: “Remember?” is a mystery to me. It’s a reminder, in almost an accusatory way. As though there was some deal or consensus in the past that I’d forgotten about. I may end up posting this on Everyblock, to see if anyone knows what this is all about.

Seeing this message was a fun thing to encounter. But that final line… it just turns the whole thing a little darker, and makes me really curious to know the backstory.

Related:
A Bird’s Eye View of Chicago in Winter
Illinois Centennial Monument: That’s A Lot of Birds
The Early Bird
Small Bird