It has been called many names, some worthier than others. Whatever you call it, though, Chicago's 3rd biggest snow storm on record (21 inches in 24 hours) closed school for two days and gave Jenny and me enough time to catch up on some important matters: we learned an enthralling new card game from Kimball and Liz; we caught up on our Netflix instant play queue; we read about the Midwestern lumber trade (me) and uterine fibroids (Jenny). More important, we have had time to update our embarrassingly outdated blog.
The last 9 months (since April in Reedsburg - the last blog posting) have been packed for Jenny and me. In our breaks from work and school we have spent time with friends at home, in Chicago, and elsewhere. I have unloaded my memory card below. The images capture some of the good times we've had since April 2010.
In May, we went to Madison with friends. I ran my first marathon, and we all enjoyed the festivities, including the worlds largest "Bratfest" (as in bratwurst). Aside from great dogs, there were 6 stages of music, and iconic Wisconsin Walrus mustaches.
We ate our food near the jazz stage and enjoyed watching fellow bratfesters dance it up.
This guy is mid-shimmy. It's kind of hard to tell.
All-American.
The marathon was a great time. It was our first trip to Madison, and we agreed that it is one of our favorite places.
In June, my Mom came out to visit. We took her to the essential Chicago sites, including Cloudgate (A.K.A. The Bean).
For one of our lunches, we hit up Hot Doug's, which serves gourmet hot dogs. The options change everyday and include ingredients such as foie gras, saffron rouille, pear mustard, bacon chocolate, and cajun tartar sauce. The best dog I've had there was an apple-pork sausage with brie and sweet mustard curry sauce.
Mom wanted a picture with Doug.
Most visitors, including Mom, enjoy a walk around the University of Chicago campus, which is most pleasant in the early summer.
We took a walk through the Art Institute of Chicago, which is a great way to spend any afternoon. Some of the more well known paintings include:
We went to a flamenco dance show at the North Shore Performing Arts Center in Skokie. When the tickets were purchased without my knowledge, I expressed displeasure. However, once we were there, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Jenny and I have since purchased tickets to see a tango show over the Valentine's Day weekend (her choice).
The summer is a nice time to be in downtown Chicago. As I have been working there full- or part-time for the last 8 months, Jenny and I have been able to hang out or shop after work.
Other times it's nice to just hang out at home.
One of our favorite places in the city is the causeway out to the Adler Planetarium, which has the best view of the skyline.
Summer is a great time to visit the northern suburbs of Chicago. Jenny and I take almost all of our visitors on the drive up Sheridan Road through Evanston, past Northwestern University, through Winnetka and Wilmette with their lavish homes, to the Chicago Botanic Gardens (which is actually in Glencoe). The Baha'i Temple is part of the scenic drive.
The Botanic Gardens is a calming destination on the weekend. The gardeners maintain several islands, gardens, and buildings full of plants, trees, and flowers. One island is devoted to edible plants such as lettuce, berries, apples, and squash. Another island is devoted to Japanese design. A greenhouse is devoted to tropical flowers and cacti. One garden portrays backyard designs, and another is dedicated to roses.
My favorite spots are the English Garden,
and the Japanese Garden.
Jenny's parents, Shelly and Dave, came out over July 4th. We had a great time hitting up some of the staple sites (Botanic Gardens, Campus, Art Institute, and Millennium Park). 
(Jenny is in front of the Crown Fountain at Millennium Park. The artist, from Barcelona, gathered videos of the faces of 1000 Chicagoans, representing the demographics of the City. The faces include no celebrities, and filter through randomly. After about 5 minutes on screen, the face puckers its lips and "spits" water out onto the crowd)
Chicago is known for hosting many summer concert series (second only to Milwaukee perhaps). Shelly and Dave joined us in Grant Park for a free 4th of July weekend Steve Miller Band concert.
The concert brought out folks of all stripes...
At night we walked through downtown, and enjoyed the views along the Chicago River. The Wrigley Building is always good for a picture.
At some point in the summer, Jenny and I went with Kimball and Liz up to Rochester, Minnesota, to visit Mitch and Sarah Henriod. We had a great time in both Rochester and the Twin Cities. Mysteriously, the only photo on my memory card that survived that trip captures a set of escalators at the Mall of America. 
This is unfortunate because, while we enjoyed our game of miniature golf at the mall, Minneapolis and St. Paul had a lot more to offer. Specifically, we enjoyed eating lunch at Punch Pizza, and walking along Summit Avenue from F. Scott Fitzgerald's house, past rows of mansions, to the Cathedral of St. Paul, which was spectacular. We finished the day off with ice cream at the Grand Ole Creamery. It sounds tacky, but it got a 4.5 star review on Yelp, and we were not disappointed. I didn't anticipate that we would have so much fun in the Twin Cities. We will be back.
Views from the kayak
Other summer visitors included my parents (Mom again, Dad for the first time), and my sister Camille and her family. We had a great time with all visitors, especially those who, as bedtime approached, created a "Bear Cave" under our kitchen table (I should probably clarify that this was my niece, not my Dad).
My summer co-workers arranged an afternoon of kayaking down the Chicago River. As recently as a decade ago, the river was unfit for such activities. And, while I admit that I don't envy the guy who fell in during our trip, it seems that the water is getting cleaned up, and will soon be swimmable, if not potable.
Views from the kayak
Other summer visitors included my parents (Mom again, Dad for the first time), and my sister Camille and her family. We had a great time with all visitors, especially those who, as bedtime approached, created a "Bear Cave" under our kitchen table (I should probably clarify that this was my niece, not my Dad).In October, Matt and Erin Anderson, Mitch and Sarah Henriod, and Braden Parker came to town to run the Chicago Marathon. We all had a great time.
My co-workers decided to compete in our office Halloween costume contest. Our team theme was the Great Lakes Watershed. I dressed as a sailboat - the S.S. Spendlove - complete with a boom and the Jolly Roger.
My co-workers decided to compete in our office Halloween costume contest. Our team theme was the Great Lakes Watershed. I dressed as a sailboat - the S.S. Spendlove - complete with a boom and the Jolly Roger.
Jenny's family came to town for the Utah-Notre Dame football game in November. We enjoyed showing the sites to Jenny's brother and sister-in-law, Danny and Ashlee, and their baby Jude. We also hunted down the best pizza in Chicago, and, as I recall, we decided that the award goes to Medici, which is just down the street from our apartment. While I'm confident in our selection, our restaurant sample size was far from exhaustive (3 pizzerias out of 3100), and we are always open to new places.
While the football game was cold, miserable, and disappointing, it was the most enjoyable cold, miserable, disappointing football game I have been to. Notre Dame is to the college football fan what Disneyland is to the six-year-old. We hit up just about everything on the gameday agenda:The Notre Dame team walking from pre-game mass to the stadium;
the band;
the festivities around campus;
and the game itself, with Touchdown Jesus looking on.
Back in Chicago, the Garfield Park Conservatory offered respite from the unfriendly weather.
After the Garfield Park Conservatory, I made my way to Ukrainian Village, to see the impressive Eastern European architecture and get some lunch. I made a poor decision and went with a Ukrainian buffet. I should have second guessed it when I was the only one in the restaurant who wasn't getting paid to be there. Alas, I stayed and sampled ground meats, cold borscht, and cheese blintz. I promised myself that I would give Ukrainian cuisine a second chance...someday.
On Thanksgiving, Jenny got work off at the last minute, and we had dinner at a Brazilian churrascaria. It was different than any thanksgiving I've had before (including two thanksgivings in Brazil), but I'm not complaining. This was a fast before you feast endeavor, and I was eager to get my money's worth. I made Jenny promise that she would stay attracted to me during the meal, despite my alimental binge.
the band;
the festivities around campus;
and the game itself, with Touchdown Jesus looking on.
Back in Chicago, the Garfield Park Conservatory offered respite from the unfriendly weather.
After the Garfield Park Conservatory, I made my way to Ukrainian Village, to see the impressive Eastern European architecture and get some lunch. I made a poor decision and went with a Ukrainian buffet. I should have second guessed it when I was the only one in the restaurant who wasn't getting paid to be there. Alas, I stayed and sampled ground meats, cold borscht, and cheese blintz. I promised myself that I would give Ukrainian cuisine a second chance...someday.
On Thanksgiving, Jenny got work off at the last minute, and we had dinner at a Brazilian churrascaria. It was different than any thanksgiving I've had before (including two thanksgivings in Brazil), but I'm not complaining. This was a fast before you feast endeavor, and I was eager to get my money's worth. I made Jenny promise that she would stay attracted to me during the meal, despite my alimental binge.We spent much of December at home with family. I believe that time has been well documented on other blogs, and unfortunately I have no photos of that time period. Highlights include: Spending time with family at the cabin; winning the elusive $100 bill at Grandma Shirley's Christmas-Eve bingo party; going to Music and the Spoken Word with my sister Lisa; going to St. George and Las Vegas with family; hanging out and playing basketball with friends.
Last Summer, Jenny and I went to a presentation for a rather shady time share company. For our time, we were given a certificate that we could redeem for two flights to Miami and a cruise - we "just had to pay the taxes". After a lengthy process that included dozens of phone calls, contortionist scheduling flexibility, and a refusal to be defrauded, we secured a relaxing trip to the Bahamas.
Our flight, which the company arranged, left at night from Milwaukee, which is about 100 miles from our apartment (Midway Airport is about 6 miles from our apartment and has more daily flights to the Miami area). The only way to look at this situation was: who wouldn't want to spend a day in Milwaukee in January? So, we found a number of fun things to do, including a walk through Milwaukee's Third Ward and public market, lunch at a pretty cool soup house, and an afternoon at the Harley Davidson Museum, which turned out to be awesome.
The Museum had patches from every H.O.G. (Harley Owner's Group) chapter in the world. I was surprised at some of the chapter locations: Kuwait...
...and Gila Valley, Arizona, where my Grandma Calder grew up. I'm not certain, but my guess is that Grandma was never a full member of the Gila Valley chapter.
The oldest Harley in the world. The company was founded in 1903, and the original "chains" were just straps of leather that created friction with the leather wrapped around the wheel. The Museum takes visitors through the development of more sophisticated Harley engines, marketing efforts, and trials that the company faced.
Early Harleys.
During the art deco period (of the 30s-40s?), when research dollars were tight, Harley distinguished its bikes not with new designs, but with new colors and aesthetic features. This wall shows many of the color combinations on Harley gas tanks.
The storage room which houses many of the hundreds of bikes that are rotated onto the showroom floor.
The museum has a room where you can climb onto your favorite bikes:
We flew down to Ft. Lauderdale uneventfully and slept at an America's Best Inn - one of the "more affordable" sleeping options in town. Our Ethiopian taxi driver's comment as we pulled up to the hotel was informative: "They say America's Best...I don't know what they mean by 'best.'"
...and Gila Valley, Arizona, where my Grandma Calder grew up. I'm not certain, but my guess is that Grandma was never a full member of the Gila Valley chapter.
The oldest Harley in the world. The company was founded in 1903, and the original "chains" were just straps of leather that created friction with the leather wrapped around the wheel. The Museum takes visitors through the development of more sophisticated Harley engines, marketing efforts, and trials that the company faced.
Early Harleys.
During the art deco period (of the 30s-40s?), when research dollars were tight, Harley distinguished its bikes not with new designs, but with new colors and aesthetic features. This wall shows many of the color combinations on Harley gas tanks.
The storage room which houses many of the hundreds of bikes that are rotated onto the showroom floor.
The museum has a room where you can climb onto your favorite bikes:
We flew down to Ft. Lauderdale uneventfully and slept at an America's Best Inn - one of the "more affordable" sleeping options in town. Our Ethiopian taxi driver's comment as we pulled up to the hotel was informative: "They say America's Best...I don't know what they mean by 'best.'"Despite our lackluster sleeping arrangements on night 1 (I was tempted to sleep with all of my clothes on), we had a great time for the rest of the trip. In Nassau, we knew that it would be difficult to find "wholesome" activities in town that were also affordable (Powerboating was outside of our budget). So, after a little research, we rented a car and drove to an organic farm on the back of the island.
The farm had a store and restaurant, where we had lunch: marinated steak with fruit and rice and a salad of "micro-greens" that were picked just before the meal. The greens were some of the best I've had. For dessert we had a big piece of chocolate cake.
A woman at the store told us to head down to Jaws Beach, on the back side of the island. It was nice to be away from not only other tourists, but just about everyone. (I know that the "get away from the tourist" talk gets old, but I feel that, if one can point to a specific moment when one was genuinely maligned by a crowd of tourists, one can occasionally invoke such language. My tourist moment came in May 2007, when I went on a "Stingray Adventure" with a group of about 100 other cruisers. After going an hour without seeing anything, we spotted one unfortunate ray who had come over to our beach. Literally every person sprinted into the water wearing a snorkeling mask and flippers. I too, swam to the ray. But the closest I ever came to touching a stingray was getting accosted by the bare, pale thigh of an overweight gal. No more Stingray Adventures for me.)Jenny and I parked our car and walked for about a mile along the beach, passing an extended family and their kids.
I was surprised by how empty the whole beach was. There was an interesting mix of volcanic rock and sand along the beach.
Near the beach, we found some ruins that apparently date back to the 18th or 19th century.
We also built our own castle.
After 3 days on a boat that was a little more carnal than what I'm used to, we were ready to disembark. We rented a car and drove out to the Everglades on the Gulf of Mexico. We joined a 6-person boat tour of the area, and saw birds catching fish, building nests, and swimming underwater.
We quietly drifted into a mangrove forest, looking for alligators and other animals. All we saw were mangroves. It was still pretty cool.
Back in Chicago, we had a sushi night with friends. Kenny and Emelie Young grew up in Japan, and Kenny went on his mission to Japan. We pinched homemade potstickers and experimented with various ingredients to make sushi rolls.
Last weekend, Chicago hosted a snowcarving competition, with teams coming from as far away as Holland, China, and Ekaterinburg, Russia. The Russian team looked distinctively Russian, and they took the event seriously - all wearing the same outfit. My favorite sculptures included:
I was surprised by how empty the whole beach was. There was an interesting mix of volcanic rock and sand along the beach.
Near the beach, we found some ruins that apparently date back to the 18th or 19th century.
We also built our own castle.
After 3 days on a boat that was a little more carnal than what I'm used to, we were ready to disembark. We rented a car and drove out to the Everglades on the Gulf of Mexico. We joined a 6-person boat tour of the area, and saw birds catching fish, building nests, and swimming underwater.
We quietly drifted into a mangrove forest, looking for alligators and other animals. All we saw were mangroves. It was still pretty cool.
Back in Chicago, we had a sushi night with friends. Kenny and Emelie Young grew up in Japan, and Kenny went on his mission to Japan. We pinched homemade potstickers and experimented with various ingredients to make sushi rolls.
Last weekend, Chicago hosted a snowcarving competition, with teams coming from as far away as Holland, China, and Ekaterinburg, Russia. The Russian team looked distinctively Russian, and they took the event seriously - all wearing the same outfit. My favorite sculptures included:Medusa
A Native American Chief
An "Hommage a DuChamp"
Eels and corral
and Bernini's Obelisk.
The storm that canceled school for a couple of days, and gave me time to reflect on all the fun times of 2010 and early 2011 is documented below.
A Native American Chief
An "Hommage a DuChamp"
Eels and corral
and Bernini's Obelisk.
The storm that canceled school for a couple of days, and gave me time to reflect on all the fun times of 2010 and early 2011 is documented below.The street outside our apartment. You know it's a bad thing when the snowplow is stuck.
I know that, in Utah, 21 inches is just 21 inches. The problem here is that, along with 21 inches of snow, you get the wind and the cold. The wind builds huge snowbanks in inconvenient places that literally bury cars and trucks.
A crash during rush hour, together with the snow and ice blocked much of the northbound traffic on Lake Shore Drive, the backbone of the City. It was estimated that as many as 900 cars were stranded on Lake Shore Dr. Some people slept in their cars. Others slept on city buses. People had to be rescued by the fire department. It got nasty, and it's still nasty. This is just one of the cars that got stuck.
Jenny and Liz are falling off the median into the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Dr. You'll notice that there is several feet of snow covering the lanes. The street was completely closed for 36 hours.
Lake Michigan was completely frozen and covered with snow. There were moments when it looked like another planet.
Again, northbound Lake Shore Dr. is completely closed. One lane of southbound Lake Shore Dr. is open to emergency vehicles. The car is stuck. The Sears (or Willis) Tower is in the background.
On top of the pedestrian bridge over Lake Shore Dr.
We spent our 2 snow days inside. As I mentioned, a good period of time was spent playing a new card game with Kimball and Liz. We ate passion-fruit coconut cheesecake with hot chocolate one day, and waffles the next day. Not a bad use of time.
I know that, in Utah, 21 inches is just 21 inches. The problem here is that, along with 21 inches of snow, you get the wind and the cold. The wind builds huge snowbanks in inconvenient places that literally bury cars and trucks.
A crash during rush hour, together with the snow and ice blocked much of the northbound traffic on Lake Shore Drive, the backbone of the City. It was estimated that as many as 900 cars were stranded on Lake Shore Dr. Some people slept in their cars. Others slept on city buses. People had to be rescued by the fire department. It got nasty, and it's still nasty. This is just one of the cars that got stuck.
Jenny and Liz are falling off the median into the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Dr. You'll notice that there is several feet of snow covering the lanes. The street was completely closed for 36 hours.
Lake Michigan was completely frozen and covered with snow. There were moments when it looked like another planet.
Again, northbound Lake Shore Dr. is completely closed. One lane of southbound Lake Shore Dr. is open to emergency vehicles. The car is stuck. The Sears (or Willis) Tower is in the background.
On top of the pedestrian bridge over Lake Shore Dr.
We spent our 2 snow days inside. As I mentioned, a good period of time was spent playing a new card game with Kimball and Liz. We ate passion-fruit coconut cheesecake with hot chocolate one day, and waffles the next day. Not a bad use of time.
