Comforting thought: as far as weathermen are concerned, spring has begun. “Meteorological spring,” as they call it, began March 1.
Polar plungers
Sunday morning, thousands of Chicagoans gathered at North Avenue Beach for the Polar Plunge. I couldn’t resist making the scene. I had to see the polar plungers, the people bold and crazy enough to submerge themselves in Lake Michigan’s wintry waters.
Ellen’s Oscar selfie in the making
I take a lot of photographs while watching television, whether it’s the Olympics, the Academy Awards, or the State of the Union. I took over a hundred pictures while watching the Oscars on Sunday. This was my best photograph. I love how Ellen DeGeneres tapped into the zeitgeist of our time, creating a popular photographic…
Imperial Eataly
The opening of Eataly Chicago has generated considerable buzz. When I visited on a recent weekend, the cavernous store was filled with curious shoppers checking it out.
Winter bikers
Winter bikers are a special breed. The diehards continue to bike, even on the most frigid days. I see them in the Loop as night is falling, mounting their rented Divvy bikes, or pedaling along on bikes that they own. Their teeth are clenched, faces drawn, their eyes have a wild, unseeing look to…
‘We resolved to winter there’
I am waiting at the bus stop on the way to the dentist. I am directly opposite the old Marquette Building, with its amazing brickwork (if can you call it that when all the bricks are unique to the building itself) and its distinguished old bronze story-boards, with their glorious patina of greenish-grey.
Museum-goers
In the lobby of the Art Institute, April 2013.
She visited
Last Saturday, when I was out in Michigan, I looked up from my paper and saw I had a visitor. A deer was peering into the living room. Hello!
Saying yes to each other
Marriage is a many-sided union that, in modern times, requires two people to make zillions of decisions together, ranging from what to have for dinner to whether to have kids to where to retire.
Because we need a spot of color today
On the ephemeral
On Presidents Day, snow fell heavily into the evening. The yard of the country house filled with it, the lanterns illuminating its dimpled surface, peace radiating from its untouched beauty. In the morning we left without looking into the courtyard again. The roads had been plowed, and, as we drove, we marveled at how quickly…
The dunes in February
A true winter turns Lake Michigan into territory, with solid surfaces and expanses that are appealingly alien.
