Shootings in Chicago make national news. Snow kindness does not. It rarely even makes local news, except for the occasional gratitude letter to the editor about someone returning home to find his or her walkway shoveled. But my friend and I experienced a heartwarming degree of snow kindness last week, the day we had six …
Category: chicago
Tidbits for Writers from the 10th Annual Creative Chicago Expo
Creative. I love the sound of this word. As a child in the forties and fifties, I don't think I ever heard it. In fact, the first emphasis on being creative that I encountered was in the late nineties when I read, then taught, Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. Reading Cameron opened my eyes to …
Continue reading Tidbits for Writers from the 10th Annual Creative Chicago Expo
Aging Gracefully at Seventy
When I first read Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique in 1970, I cried with relief. Friedan had interviewed suburban housewives and found many were not fulfilled as homemakers. That was me. And like others in these first waves of feminism, I, after some painful soul-searching (chapters 5 and 6 in Caring Lessons), ventured out of …
The Christmas Story, from The Message
Luke 2 (From The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language / Eugene Peterson / 2002.) The Birth of Jesus About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be …
BSN to Doctoral Degree Programs
As a retired nurse educator, I’m excited about the trend in nursing to prepare nurses at a younger age for research and, particularly, academic careers. As we older nurses like to say, “in my day” as a new diploma grad in 1962, I never thought about a full-time career in academia. In fact, in those …
Chicago’s Walnut Room – 2012
Macy's Walnut Room is sparkling ready for your annual family gathering around the tree. They've even rolled out the red carpet for you... and created a store-wide festive atmosphere. There was no line today at the Walnut Room. Wait a few days and you'll be waiting a few hours in line. My first year downtown, …
“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…”
Oh, how I loved hearing Mr. Rogers sing his song. It meant peace and quiet for a half hour as my two toddlers settled down to spend time with this gentle psychologist-turned-TV neighbor. Today, as I was walking back from a Metra ride to a northern suburb for a writing class, the phrase started singing …
Continue reading “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…”
Teachers’ Strike – Chicago – 9-13-12
Walking south in the north bound lane of Michigan Avenue across Randolph Street Traffic backing up on East Randolph during rush hour Walking south, in front of Millennium Park, the American flag unfurling in the wind above them No matter how I feel about the issues at stake, scenes like this remind me to be …
Navy Pier – Labor Day Weekend – 2012
Marv and I walked along the Chicago River today to Navy Pier. I missed my grandkids! (And their parents!) When they're in town, they always like the ice cream, the hotdogs, the hamburgs, the popcorn, the crowds. And they tolerate my excitement at seeing building cranes on our walk home. This is a find Waldo …
Write Along with Me 