This is Grant Park's Hutchinson Field, the site of Barack Obama's historic victory rally, one week after the rally. It was hard to believe that this cold, muddy field so familiar to me was so recently the site of such a momentous event. Gone are the tents, the lights, the satellite trucks. Tracks from heavy equipment, a lone forgotten barricade section, and fenced-off sections of turf under restoration are the only clues.

Hutchinson Field is preparing for a long winter's sleep, as it does each year. What dreams it will have this year.