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6 a.m. in Chicago.

Of course the shot starts at the lake.

Camera pans over the water

and the magnificent buildings rise from the shoreline,

twinkling in the dawn light.

We continue across the city, still bird's eye view,

over the grid, over the elevated tracks and wide highways,

coming to rest in a western suburb,

drop down to a brick bungalow where, inside, a woman, late 30s,

moves softly past the bedrooms where her children sleep

and steps out the front door to meet the morning.

Winchell of 20 below.

She hurries to a minivan,

and as she pulls away from the curb,

we see the streets frosted with salt,

the moon shining high and hard,

...