Regal. That’s what folks would say. Like a queen, sitting on her throne. She sits, silently, in the right-hand corner of room 2139E in the nursing home. Sitting as always in her blue satiny upholstered recliner. She rarely reclines anymore, though, because she hasn’t got the strength to pull the lever to lift the footrest. …
Continue reading In Memory of My Mother on Our Mutual Birthday
An unusually solid bank of clouds greeted me this morning. Ominous! I ran to get my camera, and seconds later the sun, which had been trying to rise, managed to emerge above the clouds. Beautiful! And then I had to go out. News warned to stay in. Wind chills up to minus 30. Call it …
Continue reading Sunrise in Chicago at Five Degrees and Cloudy
Many surprises await walkers on Michigan Avenue. After having cows and sofas in the past, you will now find horses. Not live ones, but sculptures, tributes to Chicago Police Department officers killed or disabled in the line of duty since 1853. Gold: Silver: Multicolor: And more. Plus, fall flora shouts from the median strips: And …
Continue reading Fall Brings Horses of Honor to Michigan Ave – 2014
Yes, I know we feel like summer has passed us by, but it is time to enjoy this season of change. Fall is on its way. The Chicago Marathon yesterday. The nippier temperatures. The leaves changing outside our window. I didn't know that leaves on top of trees change color first until we moved into …
They spent the weekend at Disney and today they are back in school. But for a magical few weeks in late summer, the Jackie Robinson West Little League team brought joy to this city. People from the far north to the far south to the far west (the east is Lake Michigan) sat glued to …
“Listen actively with respect,” said the speaker, adding “Be succinct and to the point.” Last week, I attended this orientation session to the OLLI program at Northwestern University in Chicago. OLLI stands for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Across the country, 120 such programs exist, all associated with colleges. Having taught group dynamics and observed many …
Continue reading Aging in Chicago: A New Adventure for Fall 2014
Eight years ago this month, I was putting away my crutches after surgery for a broken hip. During the six weeks I hobbled around downtown Chicago, I early on discovered that I needed a purse I didn’t have to carry. Cross bodies have never worked for me. And, being a perpetual student, I’ve always liked …
Last week, one of my sisters came for her annual visit. As we amble through our seventies, these visits become almost sacred. Some day, hopefully not soon, our knees or our hips or our whole bodies may say, "No more travel." So while she can still hoist a suitcase onto Amtrak, and while I still …
Last Saturday, a few friends and I visited Historic Pullman in Chicago, Pullman, as in George Pullman, the inventor of the Pullman Palace (railway) Car. Even though I've lived in the Chicago area for nearly fifty years, I'm sorry I've never visited before. The brochure from the Visitors' Center notes that now the area is …
Living in the city, we have lots of interesting neighbors. But the latest newcomers, at 21 to 39 feet, are the tallest. From my living room window, I recently spotted a large white oval resembling the top half of a gigantic egg. So we took a trip across the street, and this is what we …
Write Along with Me 