Putting on the leprechaun in Chicago

Hancock Building puts on a green stripe for St. Patty's Day

It's March 17th and in Chicago the weather is balmy -- Richmond, Virginia balmy. It's been 70s for days and we are all choosing to enjoy it. I mean, whatever you think in the back of your mind -- waiting for shoe to drop, end of the world/climate change, or simply 'this is weird') it's still nice weather. So why not enjoy it? That's what I've been doing.

And St. Patty's Day is a BIG holiday here in Chicago. I know you know this from the movies: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (I think). And isn't there a scene in The Fugitive? I can see Harrison Ford trying to dodge someone by getting into the parade. But maybe I've made this up...

Anyway, the river turns green and the flow is reversed (haven't checked this yet today, but will), everybody puts on their leprechaun, and the party begins. Right now, at 10:15am, my neighborhood, which likes a good party, is about 50% green. By noon I expect it'll be up to at least 75%. 

Walking home from this morning's farmers market was an absolute hoot. I love to watch people. There were t-shirts, suspenders, green cat-in-the-hat hats and the sidewalk is literally beginning to sparkle with dropped sparkles and sparkly necklaces and big shamrock ear rings. Lots of people carrying beer: college students schlepping cases of Guiness and microbrews like Flying Dog. By 9am this morning one backyard party had already begun in earnest. Saw about 20 people in green surrounding a table covered with glasses. 

What I am going to do to celebrate St. Patty's Day? Hunker down with some homemade spaghetti and meatballs and watch a movie. While I like to observe all sorts of behavior, I'm not a crowd person. If you add endurance-drinking to the equation, well, I'll leave you to it. But in honor of the occasion, our movie will be Willy Wonka. I don't know why exactly, but it feels right somehow.  

Here's a photo of what I got from the Green City Market today. It's going strong this year. Every Saturday! Which means you can get the best greens EVER all winter long. With the stuff I canned and froze last summer, this is by far our best year of winter eating. Yum!  

You should go. You really should!

 

What's in my stocking?

Remember this?

My little brother -- way back when.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Amy

Remembering the Fourth

Hi everyone -- 

You better not be reading this inside today -- the fourth is an outside day. It's the day for brats, hammocks, a swim in a lake, laughter, awkward pauses, conversation, more laughter, bonfires, bottle rockets (if you don't live in the tinder-box south and west United States) and coming back to family.

I hope you're experiencing some of that today. I'll be seeing my brother this fourth, and that'll be nice because this year I can't make my way up to the lake and my family.   

This photo is from "the lake." That's my dad and brother and me. We're dressed that way because of the Fourth of July Parade, which was a boat parade, decreed by the lake "association." (As a kid, the lake association seemed as remote and as powerful as Norse gods. Whatever they said, you had to do. I'd never seen one. I wondered who they were, who made them all powerful. I figured they were the types to wear white socks with sandals. Still, I wished somebody would make me King.)  

Anyway, everybody who was at the lake that weekend could decorate a boat and motor around the outskirts of the lake. We'd get to wave at the people on folding loungers half-dozing on the ends of the docks (and check out their cabins -- which is, come on, what you do when you motor around the edges of the lake) and they'd get to be entertained by us.

I think we were pretty entertaining. Really. Yes, in that hometown kind of way, but still. I remember us placing, winning some sort of prize. Didn't we win? Somebody correct me here.

One year we went all out. As we puttered around the lake we kids danced and sang. We sang a lot -- patriotic tunes, show tunes, anything we knew really. I lost my voice, and it takes a lot for a kid to lose their voice. But people were yelling at us to be louder. (If you were there, who WERE those people telling us to sing out? Was it really people on the docks? Or was it our parents telling us to stand up and sing louder, sing LOUDER, belt it out for heavens sakes?) There was a problem with volume -- we hadn't taken into consideration the significant decibel-age of a boat motor. 

I do remember that my brother had a solo. He had to step forward and sing the lyric (slightly altered): "I'm a yankee doodle boy."Afterward, he had to wave. He hated that, but he was a trooper and the moms loved him. 

I also remember that one of my aunts agreed to be the Statute of Liberty. She sat in an inner tube and was tethered to our pontoon show boat by a waterski rope that kept her tugged along, bobbling in the wake about 100 feet behind us. She was magnificent in her bikini, a tinfoil covered liberty crown on her head, holding high a beer in one hand. Turned out, she had tethered a floating cooler full of more "torches" to the back of her inner tube which explained why my aunt grew more and more magnanimous as her ride went on. 

Remembering that day always brings a smile to my face. It's not particularly the beer, but the spirit of that day. This wasn't a collars buttoned, parts straight, shoes shined kind of day (and we had lots of those). This was just us -- creative, feisty, loud laughers (but not loud enough singers) and when we let our hair down, my family had fun.

Hope you guys had a good fourth! 

Amy

Chicago photos: abandoned cars, skiing and snowshoes

Hi everyone! 

So, first, the book news. Great, great news! (Thank you for your prayers.) My editor at Knopf was extremely gracious and gave me an extension. It's all going to be fine. (Yes, I had a couple of sleepless nights.) Right now, I'm continuing to work hard on the book. I'll let you know the moment I turn it in...

And now, to tell you about one of the best days of this winter. I tell you, Phil and I had a blast going on a big, long hike during the Chicago blizzard. All it takes is the right clothing, not having to drive in the stuff, and winter can be fun. Plus, we discovered all sorts of people out having a good time too. And it was so neighborly -- everybody talking, sharing stories, telling each other what we discovered. Yet another time when it's fun to live in a big city. (Don't let anyone tell you that the only thing Chicago has going for it are its gangster tours...)

So for this week's letter -- a photo-essay.

Here's a bit of description: You might have heard of the blizzard we had in Chicago over Ground Hog Day. (You may have experienced it yourself since it was an enormous storm.) 

Phil's university cancelled classes Tuesday afternoon, then Wednesday and then Friday (Feb 1-3). Phil and I decided to go out, hike around and take photos. We went out as the storm started on Wednesday night. Those are the first photos.

Then the storm came roaring in. It mostly happened in the night. The wind was incredible. Up to 60MPH. Our place creaked. I'd heard that Wrigley Field had lost part of its roof, so that made me nervous about us losing something in the storm.

Okay, and here's something wild: There was thunder and lightening. I guess it's called "Thundersnow."  The whole sky lit up and then you'd hear the crack of thunder. I never saw any lightening strike, but it was wild. I grew up in the midwest. Snowstorms aren't new to me and yet, I'd never seen "thundersnow" before.

Anyway, we slept through the storm. Well, fitfully. I was a bit worried about the roof blowing off -- my Wrigley fears...

And when we woke up in the morning, we had breakfast and went on a hike to see the new world. (We walked about 4 miles.) The sight to be seen were the abandoned cars on Lake Shore Drive. Phil and I walked out there -- at first to see what the lake look liked, but then we saw the cars on the drive. We had assumed they'd be towed by then, but they weren't. (It took them 2 days.) So we walked up onto the Drive. 100s of cars. Two buses. Two guys talking in one of the cars. (These guys had become friends. They'd returned in the morning so they could drive their cars off the drive, instead of having crews just drag cars off the drive -- which is what they were doing.)

Abandoned cars on a major street (a near highway really) -- that was something I thought I'd never see. Not in Chicago. Not in a place that gets snowstorms and has lots and lots of plows.   

And there were lots of people out having fun. Lots of picture taking. Lots of winter sports. You'll see those in the photos too. 

And here's a plug for Steiger Mukluks. Those mukluks are the best boots for this type of walking. They're light, keep your feet ultra-warm (b/c you move your toes). Phil and I were walking where no one else was going, and I wasn't tired afterward. I highly recommend for snow walking -- forget snowshoes, wear mukluks. (They don't work for cement or salted roads -- they're only for snow but man, are they great!)

So anyway, here are the photos. I hope you enjoy them!

Amy