the dark side...

What better way to celebrate one's fourteenth wedding anniversary than to go to the downtown W with a stack of yarn and my new smartphone? Peter suggested that I might want to borrow his laptop. Hah! I've got my android!

Remembering...and endings....

photo credit: addie, ca 2008

all around us.  I guess it's that way all the time, but sometimes we feel it more intensely.  Every moment, every friend, every workout, every song, every creation, every meal, every sunset.  Remember the first time you heard The Message? I do.

The coldest day of the year in Chicagoland

Yes, that's what Peter told me, but i'm not buying it.  The sun was out, there was no wind, no precipitation, and perfect snow for skiing after lunchtime.  Around here, it doesn't get any better than this.  You might wonder where all the other people are. Maybe they were huddling around space heaters in their cubicles, stuck in traffic, or picking new color schemes for their bathrooms.
As usual in the land of Cook County Forest Preserves, I saw a few creepy looking early model sedans and some really fancy looking town cars that just don't fit into the whole "active outdoors" subculture.  Maybe some mucky-mucks in the county government driving around surveying the pristine wilderness.

have minivan, will travel.

who said IL is ugly, moi?

Natural waterway, unobstructed beauty.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I do not want this to become a sort of referendum on life in Chicagoland, but really, how can people be so cruel as to walk right across many kilometers of ski tracks?  I know we have many novice outdoorsfolk in the land, but really. Who hasn't played with matchbox cars and those long rubbery tracks that we all had in the '70s?  It's like going over the nice  smooth track with a pizza cutter. The other day in Hinsdale I actually saw the perpetrators and they had the nerve to smile and say hello to me from their stance in the middle of the ski path.  They really don't know, I suppose.

Peter and I noticed a similar problem when we moved to IL from VT on sledding hills.

 But then, who am I kidding?  This is the mighty state of Illinois, and, after all, a terrifically lawless place.  My idyll is interrupted by the roar of the overpass and the decision of whether to cross the county line beneath this aging cement behemoth or turn back and loop around to the car.

In The Road the skies are dark and the water is black...well...blacker...

View from the other side.

And we move forward, to our destination, whatever that is.

Austin Boulevard, almost home.

Only 30 minutes home, so that's a good thing.  The gift of Nan allowed me to squeeze extra snow time and less carpool time.  Nice to see some concerned voters putting up a sign for their candidate in the ever exciting mayoral race.  Who might possibly pull this one off?  It is Chicago, after all.

Starts with SN....

Ashby's pic, from kitchen window

The Chairs.

It snowed this week in our town.  At first I was enlivened by the prospect of skiing, but, really, we weren't supposed to drive anywhere and the kids were home from school for two whole days.  By the end of day number two we were digging tunnels in the snow and I was inside ferociously knitting socks for Ashby.  There is photographic evidence, however:

One last time...to the Elks before I leave.

Last night in Florence. Mom makes the break again...Elks again. Today it's just the three of us and that's just fine. We have an extra drink, enjoy the music, I break out and learn a few line dances.  Mom stands up at her wheelchair and does a little two step to the music. It's all good on a Friday night.  Maybe this night and this feeling will last forever, or at least, maybe we'll remember it forever.  What's the best we can hope for?

For Peter...

Tammy Wynette

click on the link above for an explanation.

for my friend Mary Margaret....

Operator
Oh could you help me
place this call?
'Cause I can't read the number
that you just gave me

There's something in my eyes
You know it happens every time
I think about the love
That I thought would save me

(chorus)

No, no, no, no
That's not the way it feels

Operator
Oh let's forget
about this call
There's no one there
I really wanted to talk to

Thank you for your time
Oh you've been so much
more than kind
You can keep the dime
from Jim Croce, Operator