and back again

A day there... and back again. Cold there, colder here. January weather. With no snow.

My room at the Hotel Robey in Chicago offers a dramatic view of the city. Look! The clouds are receding. It's going to be sunny and bitter cold.

(predawn)





(yep, sunny and cold)






But the cold hasn't defined the past days for me. When I am with Snowdrop, it is crucially important: can she play outside?? No? What a shame! But as I go down to my Chicago hotel cafe to munch on yogurt and granola, and sip a steaming cappuccino, I am filled with that good feeling that comes from a warm room and a warm coffee and a good view out onto the world. It's single digits outside? So what!






Afterwards, I catch the "L" train, from this familiar stop...





... to the airport. From there, a bus to Madison. Where it is even colder. No matter. I have grocery shopping to do and then a few hours to set the farmhouse straight again, readying it for a Snowdrop overnight visit.

As she comes in, she spies Ed on the couch. Can we go put the chickens in the coop?
Snowdrop, they're long asleep already!
Can I go see them?
But it's so dark and cold!
Ahah will take me. He has a flashlight in his pocket.





She has such hope!

Off they trot.


Later, after supper, Snowdrop goes straight for her characters. Arrange, tell stories. I hear her saying -- it's a beautiful sunny day! Like me, she appreciates the warming rays of a winter sun.






A quiet evening of play, much of it on her own. Ed comments how incredibly self sufficient she is.
Yes, to a point. As she explained to me coming in from her walk to the barn, when I asked if she ran into any of the tree's branches (they hang low in places): No, grandma, I'm a big girl, but I'm not a super big girl.

Straddling the big and little. Doing such a beautiful job of it!