Saturday, January 13, 2018

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)

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(yep, sunny and cold)


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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!


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


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... 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.


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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.


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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!