Girls’ Trip to Chicago- Days 2 and 3

Maybe because Chicago is on Central Time, I woke up early at 7 AM on Saturday morning.  Paula and I decided to go on a morning walk, leaving the girls sleeping.  We headed the 5 or 6 blocks to the Lake and walked along the jogging walking trail that runs for miles at the edge of Lake Michigan.  The only other people out were a few joggers and some people walking their dogs.  It was incredibly beautiful along the path with amazing views of the Chicago skyline.  The temperature was brisk, probably 34 or 35 degrees, not as cold as the day before unless the wind blew which made it feel much colder.  It was good to stretch our legs, enjoy the beauty and just talk.  We returned to the hotel walking on Michigan Avenue to check out where the stores the girls might like were.  When we got back, the girls were up and hungry.  We all went down to breakfast.  This hotel gave each of us a $25 chit so we could have anything on the menu.  My breakfast of Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon and sautéed kale was amazing.  The other gourmet breakfasts were delicious as well.  Erika likes museums and had suggested the Van Gogh interactive exhibit at the Chicago Art Institute, but it was sold out (and besides the tickets were $60 each).  So we headed to the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art which was cheap and available.  On the 4th floor, there was an exhibit about Women, addressing many hot button issues such as getting the vote, abortion, genital mutilation, destruction of old growth forest and more.  It was intense, too intense for the girls.  I’ve never seen any exhibit like it.  After less than a half hour, Paula and Sonja bailed.  We lasted only a bit longer and somehow caught up with them and went to the museum gift store together.  The girls were hungry again so we headed into a big mall and searched for the food court.  Paula got the girls Bao (Chinese steamed dumplings) and they hungrily ate the delicious buns.  I wasn’t hungry yet, nevertheless Paula brought me a cup of “bone broth”.  It was delicious, chicken broth with a strong ginger flavor.  Over lunch, we decided to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo next.  Sonja wasn’t excited about the zoo, but once we got there, loved the Africa House, an indoor exhibit.  We all did.  I saw things I’d never seen before: Macaque monkeys sitting in a family group like they were posing for a photo nit-picking, a super long black giraffe tongue, daintily stripping leaves off a tree,  a fluffy tail of a cute Pygmy hippo and a display full of hissing cockroaches under intense red light.  There were group of female lions lounging on a hill with the Chicago skyline behind them.  It was a lovely respite from the Black Friday crowds on the Miracle Mile.  But we headed back to seriously shop.  Each of us got something to wear for our big night out.  I got a lovely soft pale green sweater with dotted with pearls for $17.  It is made out of recycled polyester.  After many trips to try on clothes, we headed back to the hotel to get changed into our  beautiful new clothes for our dinner in the fancy restaurant. They have a dress code:  no athletic apparel.  I was concerned because the only shoes I brought were my black sneakers.  Paula said they would get in me saying the shoes are necessary for safety because of my age.  Nobody looked at our feet.  Paula made reservations for 5:15 at the Signature Restaurant on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Tower only a couple of blocks from our hotel.  We were seated at a prime table right at the window with a spectacular full view of Chicago at night.  The sparkling lights and colored lights, red, green, blue, delighted us all.  We loved our dinners and all appreciated it was a very special occasion.  We toasted Paula’s mom who couldn’t be with us and also each other on our Girls’ Weekend.  It was only 6:30 when we were finished so we had lots of time before our Cirque de Soleil show began at the Chicago theater.  We decided to walk there.  It was a magical walk, one I won’t forget.  Strolling down crowded Michigan Avenue with my girls, we enjoyed brightly decorated store windows and all the beautiful trees wrapped with many tiny white lights.  We stopped at the bridge over the Chicago River and looked at the Chicago Tribune building and the Wrigley Building admiring their architecture.  We arrived at the theater with time to spare.  The show was exuberant, fast paced with outstanding acrobatics and gymnastics, juggling, dramatic and clever rope acts and even a girl doing gymnastics while riding a bicycle.  Afterwards we asked each other what our favorite parts were?  There was something to please everyone.  Saturday was a most special day none of us will forget, made even more special doing it with “my beloved girls.” 

Sunday was a quieter day, which was a good thing as I was beginning to get tired.  It started out with another early morning walk with Paula.  This time we went north exploring some of the different neighborhoods:  the Gold Coast, Old Town and Lincoln Park.  Our goal was Oz Park suggested by the Concierge at the hotel.  We walked and walked, more than 5 1/2 miles.  As we walked, we enjoyed photographing  and just admiring the beautiful houses.  This reminded me of our French friend Martine who loves to walk neighborhoods and photograph beautiful houses.  We didn’t get back to the hotel until 9:45 and we were concerned about the girls, but they were still sleeping.  So we got them up and had another delicious breakfast before setting off once again.   So much to see, so much to do.   After waiting in a line to get into the big Nike store for Sonja, Erika and I decided we’d had enough shopping.  We left Paula and Sonja to their shopping and went to the Chicago Historical Museum.  There was a very well done exhibit about the Big Chicago Fire in 1871.  We all met again at the Museum cafe before heading to the train station.  It was sad that our wonderful weekend was nearly over.  All we had left was the 4 hour sold out train ride back to E.Lansing. 

 It’s hard to put into words how much fun this special weekend was.  Amazing and wonderful Paula organized it all.  We got to make memories together with them, memories that will make me smile for years to come.  

 

The Girls’ Trip to Chicago: Day 1

 About a month ago, Paula suggested a “Girls” Trip to Chicago” after Thanksgiving.  It was discussed at the dining room table one night, deciding whether we might do this and if the “Boys” could come too.  Sonja suggested ironically if they stayed the guys could go to Home Depot.  The boys decided to stay home, play pickleball and tennis and eat leftovers. Paula masterfully planned a trip for the girls. 

It was 28 degrees with snow spitting from the sky when we got on the Amtrak train to Chicago Friday morning after Thanksgiving.  The train ride took us through Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, to the shores of Lake Michigan, past the rusting dystopian factories of Gary, Indiana into Chicago.  It took a bit more than 4 hours.  We got a cab to our hotel, the Sofitel, where we were able to check in ahead of schedule.  Our room is at corner on the 20th floor of this triangular shaped hotel surrounded with beautiful views of taller buildings and even a tiny view of Lake Michigan between them.  After our trip, we all wanted a bit of down time so Paula ordered room service for our lunches.  This place has a really good kitchen because all our meals were fresh and delicious.  We clinked our glasses in a toast to the girls.  Refreshed we took a cab to the Christmas Market.  The line to get into the place went around three sides of the block.  We couldn’t believe it was so long.  What this meant was that the Market was unbelievably crowded.  I hadn’t been in such a crowd, shoulder to shoulder with folks, for over two years and it made me a bit nervous.  The stalls sold overpriced Christmas ornaments, German food and drink and assorted little schoskis.  It was a scene and made me appreciate all my German travels.  Erika and Sonja each got a souvenir cup of hot apple cider and a small carved animal.  I pushed Erika to speak German with the young fellow selling the cider and she said “Oh Grandma,” but she did it.  I was glad to leave the crowded market.  Next Paula had planned for us all to ice skate in Millennium Park. Erika and I decided we didn’t want to ice skate so we happily walked around the big Park.  It was cold, but walking and seeing the “Bean” and the wonderful curvy bridge over LakeShore Dr. was fun.  When we went back to find Paula and Sonja they had already had enough skating and were on their way to Macys.  We joined them, thanks to texting and all went bravely into the store on Black Friday.  It was crowded.  We looked at merchandise, gawked at the eight or so story open space with a grand ceiling.  We tried on a few things in a hard to find dressing room, but didn’t buy anything.  We went across the street to Primark, a lower priced store, where there were more things to our taste.  Tired out by the crowds and the cold, we took a cab back to the hotel where we reconnoitered and soon headed to our Chicago pizza restaurant nearby.  Paula had made reservations but they didn’t seem to matter as the place was jammed.  Everything in Chicago has seemed jammed with many people.  At our table, we ordered two pizzas, one thin crust and one deep dish.  The menu touted the thin crust as voted by Oprah’s staff the best pizza in Chicago.  When the sausage and cheese thin crust pizza came and I took my first bite, Wow!!!! it was amazing.  It was the best pizza I’d ever eaten and I’ve eaten a lot of pizza in my 80 years.  I must have had 4 pieces!!  We were all too tired to do another thing, so we came back to the hotel room and watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”  Well, I watched a bit and then decided it was enough.  The first wonderful day of our weekend ended.  It is so very special to create and share adventures with Paula and my granddaughters.  I do think this is the first “Girls Weekend” I’ve ever had.  I feel incredibly fortunate.  Exhausted, I was the first to fall asleep with tummy very full of pizza.  

Thanksgiving Day in Michigan

 We set the alarm on Thursday morning so as to be up and ready in time to go to the Turkey Trot 5K run in downtown Lansing.  It was cold and raining, just a drippy rain not one that nterfered with the action.  As we walked to the starting line, the first runners bolted by us, looking intent and serious, then masses of walkers all crowded together hurried by us.  By the time we had paused near the gate to get a group photo, the race had been going on for 8 minutes.   Erika walked with me, Paula and Sonja set off running and Bob and his sons walked together.  Erika and I power walked the whole way, just runners or joggers passed us.  We caught up with costumed groups we’d seen starting..  We passed a group of women in colorful tutus and turkey headpieces having a lot of fun.  We passed lots of moms pushing strollers and the man with a pumpkin pie hat.  The race is a real family event with everyone having a very good time.  Erika and I finished in 46 minutes and believe it or not I got a bronze metal in my category, the women over 80.  We had to wait 11 minutes for Bob and the guys to stroll in with great big smiles.  Home again, Bob searched the Internet for race results and learned he too had placed, getting a silver metal!!!!  It turns out that out of 2900 participants in the race only 8 were in the over 80 category-4 men and 4 women.  So just entering and finishing the race was the big story for us.

All afternoon, it was wonderful to have the girls popping into to our house, helping with my few tasks for the big Thanksgiving dinner.  Erika and I made the traditional Honey Crusted Whirlygig potato rolls.  Both girls both helped kneading the dough and are excellent kneaders of bread dough..  Then Erika decorated the table place cards and Sonja helped me with the fruit skewers for the turkey modeled off a photo Paul gave me from the Internet.  As it got dark, I put the rolls in the oven and rushed them over just in time to sit down at the long table in Paul and Paula’s living room.  I am thrilled to be a bit player and to enjoy the wonderful feast that Paul and Paula made.  It was a day to remember all the many blessings of family, far and near and friends and the good Earth that provides for us and sustains us.  

Resting in Gratitude

 Temperatures here in Michigan have dropped into the 30’s.  But this afternoon, the skies cleared and the temperature started to rise, so what does one do on a Sunday afternoon when the weather looks good?  One goes for a walk.  Bob went with me and we decided to walk to Hidden Lakes and find the loop around the lake.  It’s a 4 mile loop Paula recommended to us a while ago.  Bob with his trusty GPS app on his Apple Watch navigated. We try to go on streets where we haven’t been before.  Walking was a pleasure and easy because it’s totally flat here.  We walked to an upscale subdivision situated around a series of lakes.  We found our way to a path around Bear Lake and weren’t intimidated by the “No Trespassing” signs.  We smiled and greeted everyone we passed with a “Nice day” greeting.  It reminded me of walking in Germany.  At one point we came upon a bench situated with a stunning view out over the lake.  There was an elderly gentleman sitting on the bench and we stopped to ask him directions.  He was confused and couldn’t say which way it was to Burcham Road (turned out it was less than a long block away).  Then we asked if he knew which way it was to Park Lake Road  but he didn’t know this either.  Then he began to talk about how grateful he is: grateful for his life, grateful for having the right wife, grateful to live in this neighborhood,  grateful for his education, grateful for his job and for being retired, grateful to live in this great country.  He went on and on and as he did, I marveled at his attitude of resting in gratitude.  He might not know exactly where he is but I think he was in a really good place.  “You’re in a good place for Thanksgiving”, I said.  And he smiled the loveliest smile, a smile I want to remember.

In today’s sermon at church, the pastor also spoke of gratitude.  She mentioned that some people have Gratitude Journals where each day they write down  things for which they are grateful.  I resonated with this as  I’ve done this practice from time to time.  But then she said something new and important.  She asked us what we’re going to do with these gratitudes?  How are we going to incorporate this knowledge into our lives and look at our lives differently?   She said “gratitude is the gateway to joy.”  How, I wonder, would my life vow different if I rested in gratitude?   It is a whole different thing to take a gratitude, say gratitude for one’s family, and then consider how might I respond to that?  Is it enough to just rest in my joy of being with family?  Do they even know how I feel?  I like the idea of resting in gratitude, but also of acting on my gratitudes.  Who knows what a small change might make in my life?

Small Things

 Recently in a reflective mood, I’ve been criticizing myself for thinking too small in my life.  I know I do tend to pay attention to little things focusing on one beautiful flower instead of the wide whole field of them.  I remember one time in the outskirts of Rapid City, South Dakota at a radiator repair shop, we were getting our blue Chevy van’s radiator fixed.  Bob laughed at their sign and has always remembered it - “Rapid Repair: A Good Place to Take a Leak.”  All the family milled about the shop’s parking lot waiting for the repair to be done.   I distinctly remember seeing one single purple flower in a junk yard behind the shop.  The flower was amazingly beautiful in the ugliest possible place.  I’ve tried to see beauty wherever I am in my life.   When I’d succeed at something in my ministry, I thought, I’d don’t need to do that over and over, once is enough.  I thought it would be greedy to want more.  I don’t want the whole world or a huge gift, something small has  been enough.   A single small act of kindness, a thing of beauty, can make my entire day.  I think of my nephew Ryan who is a big player in the world’s financial market.  He thinks big.  He has a big house, many cars, a big job.  He’s a really nice guy.  For me, even imagining big things is hard.  I wonder if I’d imagined and looked for bigger things in my life, demanded more, if my life would be different now?  Or would I have just been unhappy?  

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The First Snowfall

 This morning, we had the first snowfall of the season.  The grass and roofs turned white, but the sidewalks and street just got wet.  It wasn’t much, just a tease, a taste of what is to come here.  Our beautiful red leafed Japanese maple, just outside our living room window, lost all her leaves overnight.  We drove to church,  the 34 degree weather and snow encouraged us to do that instead of our usual walk.  As I went from the parking lot, I loved the snowflakes that landed on my nose and eyelashes, but only if I turned my face to the sky.  I could hear Julie Andrews singing in my head.  For me, the snow announces a change to the long cold and dark season of winter.  Some people said the snow was early, others said it was late.  The long range weather predicts a snowy December here.  I’m grateful to be snug and warm inside.  I’ve been cooking hearty wintery food all afternoon for our dinner guests.  It is wonderful to have a real dining room with a real dining room table.   The table is set with Paul’s wood-fired earth tone dinner plates, his gray and blue water mugs and decorated with colorful little gourds we picked at an apple farm in September.  Winter brings lots of joyful times.  I look forward to Thanksgiving and the Turkey Trot 5K here,  to Christmas in Berkeley with everyone and to a family ski trip between Christmas and New Year’s Day at Palisades Tahoe.  Plus as an amazing bonus treat, all “the girls” are really looking forward to a 3 day trip to Chicago after Thanksgiving.  There is much to look forward to, that’s for sure!

Dow Gardens

 Yesterday Bob and I had a little adventure going to Midland, Michigan, about 75 miles due north of us for the day.  It started out cold, 28 degrees, but warmed up by the time we got to our destination, Dow Gardens.  The 110 acre Garden started out in 1899 as the family estate of Herbert and Grace Dow.  Herbert, a chemist, started Dow Chemicals in Midland in 1897.  It is still situated in Midland Michigan and is one of the biggest chemical companies in the world.  Herbert also loved gardening, especially planting trees.  He was greatly influenced by a Japanese landscape architect,  Paul Tono, whom he met on a trip to Japan in 1925.  They struck up a friendship and Tono was invited to Midland to work in the family gardens.   Throughout, a Japanese influence can be seen, in the red bridges, the rock placement and the variety of shrubs and trees perfectly balanced for color and size to delight the eye.  

The first thing I noticed walking into the gardens was many birds flitting about.  Bob and I found the gardens enchanting.  There were so many windows of beauty.  We’d turn a corner and there was another amazing view to soak in and to photograph..  First, we found the Birch Grove and loved the white barked trees.  Then, down a path with amazing foliage contrasts, red Japanese maples in their glory against dark green conifers.  One particular red Japanese maple so caught my attention,  I had to stand in front of it for a while  just to admire it and follow it’s curving trunk with my eyes.  A left turn and over a little hill called the Boulder Gorge, we found a little waterfall..  Then we came upon a green meadow with a winding path along a meandering little stream that ended in a pond with a red painted Japanese bridge.  Everything delighted our artistic sensibilities.  We then discovered “The Pines,” a modest house with a sign inviting us to please come on the porch and sit a while.  It was the home of Herbert and Grace.  I was impressed by the wide welcoming porch and comfortable rocking chairs as well as how extremely well kept up it was.  A bit later, we came upon their son Alden’s creative house.  The view was framed by golden leaves, across a dark pond.  It was a vision to behold.  The house shone white with a blue copper roof flowing out over patios.  It was incredibly beautiful.  He was an architect and worked on the house from 1934 for four decades.  

The wide open green lawns and colorful red, orange and golden shrubbery and trees continued to delight us as well as the Japanese bridges over the ponds and streams.  The foliage all seemed to be in blazes of glory, on this wonderful sunny autumn day as though they somehow knew the coming days with rain, snow and cold temperatures predicted would cause their leaves to fall.  Our wandering came to an end eventually and we focused on how to get to the Canopy Walk.  It is the longest Canopy Walk in the US and probably the biggest attraction of the Garden.  Along the way, we spotted a cafe and took a break for a snack and lattes.  We finally arrived at the Canopy Walk and I was totally entranced by the golden leaves with sunlight shining through them making their color even more vivid.  Bob loved the the first class workmanship and paused over the artistic hardwood railings and the stainless steel bolts.  There were macrame rope walkways and net over the 40 foot drop in one of the pods.  I loved being up in the trees surrounded by beautiful close up color.  All in all we were surprised and delighted by the beauty, the quality of everything and the variety of beautiful outlooks in this garden.  There must be a very generous endowment for this Garden.  It was an amazing day and we’ll be back to visit the two houses and the nearby Art Museum which were all closed.

Michigan Nature Observations

 Since we arrived in Michigan in late September, I’ve seen and photographed some amazing mushroom and insects.  The birds seem to have mostly left or at least I haven’t seen many birds.  Locals tell me there are so many different mushrooms because of all the rain.  From a giant 9-10 inch in diameter puffball in our yard to tiny little scruffy stalks growing in the mulch layering our flower beds, so many mushrooms.  Mushrooms grow everywhere, on lawns, on sand dunes, in forests and fields.  I love fungi.  They are so mysterious, so ubiquitous.  The mushrooms are really reproductive organs producing numerous spores.  Otherwise the fungi grow as thread-like hairs called hyphae in the soil, covering enormous distances measured in miles, not inches or feet.  We couldn’t live without them, they are essential decomposers of organic matter.  

Many large and wonderful insects have crossed my path.  From the late migrating Monarch butterfly lingering appropriately on the butterfly bush at the local nursery, to the large Skipper butterfly on zinnias in one of the most beautiful gardens in our neighborhood, the insects delight me.  Way up North in Cross Village, there was a bush of what looked like miniature Shasta daisies covered with insects.  Every blossom had insects of many different kinds.  My favorite was an orange and white winged beetle I thought.  I sent the photo to INaturalist and it was identified by two folks in Canada as the Ailanthus Webworm moth.  The biggest insect I’ve spotted by far was a praying mantis on the floor of the tent for painting pumpkins at the ramshackle pumpkin farm we visited.  It was 3 inches long and so fierce and other worldly looking, I was glad it wasn’t bigger.  Insects live everywhere.  One kind I’m glad we didn’t see this trip is the mosquitoes.  Thank goodness the cool weather seemed to have killed them off.  Michigan is really a swampy place so it buzzes with multitudes of mosquitoes all summer long.  And last but not least are the numerous squirrels which populate all the trees in the neighborhood and on campus.  There are two colors, the black ones and the gray ones.  I think they are the same species, just color variants.  My favorite was a squirrel with a black and white skunk like tail.  How’d that happen?  

Halloween

 One of the reasons we like to come this time of year to visit the family in Michigan is that Halloween is such a spectacular celebration here.  Paula outdoes herself every year in decorating the houses, celebrating Halloween with great enthusiasm.  She always says it is her favorite holiday!  This year our new house has the most incredible decorations, purple lights on the bushes, orange lights on the eves of the roof and cute flying ghosts and Halloween themed figures, plus a wreath on the door with pumpkins and a Halloween doormat!  Nothing has been spared for us.  I have so many memories from years past.  The celebrations would start weeks before the actual day.  I remember a wonderful event at the Potter’s Park Zoo where as children all dressed up in their costumes strolled through the zoo, costumed teens would hand out candy.  I remember a lovely event put on at Pump House in the park across the street where a librarian read scary stories and then the children had crafts and treats.  I remember the Halloween Stroll downtown where hundreds and hundreds of kids all in costumes and their parents came to stroll downtown where most of the merchants gave out candy.  Along with that the local B and B in cooperation with the drama department at the high school put on a fabulous costumed play with characters from the Wizard of Oz.  I remember numerous Halloween recitals with Ms. Deb at the music school.  All the kids playing spooky Halloween pieces and dressed in costumes.  Ms. Deb handing out Halloween candy.  I remember a costume parade at the school.  I remember Paula signing me up to do 2nd grade Halloween crafts in Sonja’s class.  Things change.  This year because of Covid and the ages of our granddaughters, none of these happened.  How precious are my memories.

This is not to say we didn’t have Halloween celebrations.  We did!  We had a wonderful time at Greenfield Village.   We took the girls on the day before Halloween to pick pumpkins from a huge field of pumpkins and go in the corn maze as they like to do.  There was even a place to paint small pumpkins which the girls enjoyed very much.  Carving pumpkins was done late in the afternoon on Halloween.   Erika  decided what her costume would be at the last minute and rushed around gathering items for her “tacky tourist” costume.  Funny, she found most of what she needed in her mother’s closet.  Sonja put together her devil costume.  The girls went out trick or treating with their friends this year.  The parents sat home and handed out candy.  I bought the most candy I had ever done (20 pounds of it). because I figured with all of the decorations there would be lots of trick or treaters.  I was not wrong.  We must have had 70-100 children come.  I was very impressed by the politeness of all the children, by their neatness and just how wonderful it was to see all the excited beautiful faces as children and teens (our granddaughters did come by our house) rang our doorbell.   All in all, although Halloween celebrations have changed, it is still wonderful!