Pounding Sand in Rogers Park

Rogers Park, Chicago - Some clown recently spent a couple of hours on Loyola Park's beach front shoveling sand away from the benches that line the lake front foot path. He claimed he did this a few days ago, and trumpeted it as some kind of big victory. Let's call him "Sand Man."

The self deluded often see themselves as valiant crusaders, I suppose. But the work he did - if indeed he did any - was all for naught.

The Bench took photos of the beach front today, and the sand in front of the benches looks no different than it has for months now.

But then, Sand Man also trumpeted as a great victory a crooked little trench he dug without permission in the park, which drain a shallow puddle.

The saddest aspect of this story is not the apparent dementia of Sand Man, but the fact that the Park District's own unwillingness or inability to care for the park has driven Sand Man to take it upon himself to maintain the park, no matter how pitiful his attempts may be.