It is officially spring. But official spring never feels like the spring that exists in my imagination. The mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful spring with green shoots and sun peaking through rain and warm breezes and new beginnings. Official spring in Chicago is something altogether different. It is one day in a series of false starts. It is …
Ginger
January has been a month of getting back into the ordinary and the routine. Since we packed up our old apartment, moved into our new condo in October, travelled to both ends of the country in November, and enjoyed the usual rumble of holiday frivolity in December and the beginning of the new year, we …
Winter arrived here with a vengeance last week. The temperature dipped below zero, the winds blustered, the schools closed for a couple of days. Snow came a few days ago and covered the sidewalks and rooftops along with the cars parked on the street. As I look out my window now, the wind blows disintegrating …
It’s been a rainy couple of days. We put off getting our Christmas tree because we didn’t want to end up with a puddle of water on the hardwood floors. I don’t mind the milder weather, but I quickly tire of the gray skies. Luckily, I had something of a pick-me-up stuck in a container …
It turned cold with a vengeance here last week. My heart went out to the hardy trick-or-treaters who braved the wind, rain, snow flurries, and hail last Friday night. It’s been getting dark earlier. In the subsequent days the temperatures have rebounded a bit but it’s been cloudy and overcast. Our new place has windows …
For much of my life, I was largely indifferent to cauliflower. It was something I might pick from a veggie tray if the carrots and cucumbers were gone. Raw, it was Bunnicula’s broccoli, sort of crunchy and faintly bitter. It was, I guess, okay. I felt similarly about steamed cauliflower. It was milder and softer. It was fine. …