Springtime!

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.

CVH 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

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“Chicago Bluebonnets” – 2026

We touristed downtown today and got the traditional spring photos of the tulips:

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Life in the Big City

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.

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Happy Easter

After church, CVH and I went out for an Easter buffet.

CVH & the Easter Bunny

Our Lyft driver was decked out for the holiday, too: rabbits and eggs all over the headliner

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Field Museum

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.

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Rabbit Valentine

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.

Fraggle

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.

CVH & Rex

Here CVH has gotten the attention of Rex, a huge Continental Giant, with some fresh cilantro.

Jacques and Sweetie

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.

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Vacation

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.

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.

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The Woman of Torlonia

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.

marble bust of a roman 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.

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Not quite Spring

But things are starting to look up here. While out on my tricycle ride today, I saw some boats tooling around in the harbor.

Early season boats

Last week I was out on the lakefront trail in shorts. It snowed two days later.

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St Lucy’s Day

13 December is Saint Lucy’s Day, and we joined the Santa Lucia procession through the neighborhood.

Sponsored by our local Swedish American Museum, this event features a group of young girls leading the procession while singing carols. One of them is honored to wear the wreath of candles on her head (barely visible in the photo above). Candles are lit, and a song is sung about the return of light and longer days; it seems that 13 December was the shortest day of the year in Sweden under the old Julian calendar.

It was a festive occasion, with over a hundred people joining in the walk, although it was pretty dang cold.

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