NASA named their latest race-to-the-moon project after the Greek goddess Artemis because she was the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the moon.
That’s OK, so far as it goes. But Artemis is probably best known for not letting Agamemnon sail his ships from Greece to Troy until he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia.
Although the arrival of Spring is not a big deal to people living below the thirtieth parallel – Houstonians might even ask ‘You mean before you get to Conroe?’ – it is a big deal here.
Finally the leaves start to show again. Cyclists take off their bar mitts, and the down jackets are moved to the back of the closet.
And people casually appear in the park
And the lakefront loses its stark, barren look
Taking advantage of the agreeable weather Saturday, we went shopping at Marshall Field’s (Macy’s) downtown. Macy’s has done their best to keep up the place in this twilight era of department stores and the store is still nicely appointed. But I don’t know how they afford to keep the doors open.
We engaged in the traditional Chicago tradition of lunch at the Walnut Room.
Today it was such a beautiful day that we went to go see the new baby rhinoceros at the zoo. It was super cute; unfortunately, I did not realize that my camera phone was set on ‘wide aperture emulation’ (or whatever they call it) and so I only have a very fuzzy photo of the cute little critter and its mom.
Here’s an official picture from the zoo
We touristed downtown today and got the traditional spring photos of the tulips:
80°F this afternoon. There are many advantages to warm weather in Chicago.
For example, you don’t want to stand next to anyone wearing a hoodie.
After church, CVH and I went out for an Easter buffet.
Our Lyft driver was decked out for the holiday, too: rabbits and eggs all over the headliner
Son and GC2 came to visit Chicago this week. We went to the Field Museum of Natural History.
Here is son contemplating one of his fellow creatures.
For Valentine’s Day, CVH took me to Cuddle Bunny.
At Cuddle Bunny, you get to spend time with rabbits. They don’t do a lot, mostly you just pet them while they wait for you to hand out some rabbit treats or fresh cilantro.
We sat with Fraggle, an English Angora with fur that has to be felt to be believed.
Every few weeks, Fraggle is shorn, and the fur donated to students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, who eagerly turn it into yarn.
Here CVH has gotten the attention of Rex, a huge Continental Giant, with some fresh cilantro.
My favorite was the little Himalayan Sweetie. She was shy until she figured out I had treats.
A very nice way to pass some time with our long eared friends.
It has never been clear to me how retired people can take a ‘vacation’. Nevertheless, we chose to celebrate an important anniversary with a short vacation. We took a vacation in Chicago! Well, it was our favorite vacation spot before we moved here, so why not?
A short ride on the 147 bus got us downtown, where we stayed at a nice Michigan Avenue hotel.
We visited Cloud Gate:
Me at the Bean with all the other tourists.
We enjoyed Maggie Daley Park.
Me enjoying the play of light through the shimmering leaves in the “Enchanted Forest”
We listened to the orchestra practicing in the band shell:
We attended a concert at the lovely St James Cathedral
And we strolled down Michigan Avenue.
Me stopping in front of the Harry Potter store.
We had pizza at Pizano’s.
In the morning, we had breakfast outside at the base of the still impressive old Prudential Building.
We visited the Art Institute.
It was really a great time.
The Art Institute of Chicago is displaying some of the treasures of sculpture from the Torlonia collection. Included is this mid-first century BCE bust of a young woman.
This woman could have heard the news of Julius Caesar’s assassination. She could have heard that Marc Antony gave a stirring speech at the funeral, and might even have seen first hand the riots and, eventually, civil war.
This sort of thing just fascinates me.
But things are starting to look up here. While out on my tricycle ride today, I saw some boats tooling around in the harbor.
Last week I was out on the lakefront trail in shorts. It snowed two days later.
