Thursday

Right about now you have to find ways to love winter. Days like this -- gray, short, cold, snowless and on top of it all, pretty early on in the season, so you know it's just the beginning -- don't make it easy, so you have to do some work.

Many people start leafing through catalogues of spring plantings. I think that's not helpful. It's the now that has to have beauty and meaning, not just the tomorrow.

So I come back to the routine of a lovely breakfast. In the summer, it's on the porch of course, but right now it's in a warm farmhouse with plenty of greenery inside and today, I have an impish Ed across the table -- all this is just wonderful!






My morning has me in the car quite a bit -- I need to pick up a replacement hinge for one of our cabinets before Snowdrop comes over (it's the one used most frequently -- under the sink) and I need to make a run to the library and the grocery store. I do not mind that the container of soda water cans rips open and they spill all over the parking lot. No, I do not mind. Soon I'll be inside, where it's warm. Soon I'll make myself a cup of infusion (that beloved winter drink that I have so often in Poland -- where you mix in lots of fruits with just a bit of fruited tea, maybe some spices and hot water). All good!

And then I pick up Snowdrop who is happy to put on her boots for a trip to the farmhouse.






It's been a while since she has been here and so things feel a little new for her again. It's familiar stuff, but she has to remind herself how to plunge into play. We start by building a city of towers -- like Chicago! (She steps over it all with such grace...)






Ed comes over from the sheep shed ("is that ahah?!")...






....and makes her a melted cheese and mushroom sandwich. If it comes from him, it has to be good. (She finds a stray rubber band on the floor and, shockingly, asks me if I would make a pony tail for her!)






I put on familiar music, but again, it's a change because just a week ago we were listening to Christmas stuff.  (Oh, how she loves this particular record cover!)






To Snowdrop, seasons are still irrelevant. Indeed, a gray cold day isn't a burden. Especially when she is still on vacation from having to go to school. I follow her lead on that.






The Christmas "tree" is now undecorated and returned to its rightful spot by the window, but I string the tree lights around the banister of the farmhouse stairs, just to bring a little more color inside at night. Outside, too, the porch lights remain lit, giving just that much more sparkle to a day where the clouds refuse to let a blue sky take hold.






Early evening. Snowdrop is now rested and full of ideas. Trains! She is always happy as anything to play with trains. We weave the track (made of extra pieces from her set at home) around and under furniture.






("Wait, who just climbed on my back?!")






Ed puts on a youtube of a train, toot toots and all. She is mesmerized by it.






She is really into trains... -- Ed muses.


Snowdrop is sleeping over today.  and so, as is our habit, we make pizza together for supper.






As always, she eats every last bit of it.






And of course, this gives her a very strong second wind. She suggests a game of "peekaboo I see you."






She is delighted with the fact that she can actually hide from me.






And then, much to my surprise, she goes right to the balance bike, the much neglected balance bike, and insists on riding it, helmet and all. Where did this new burst of confidence come from?






It's hard to get her to think sleepy bedtime thoughts. Even the act of putting on pajamas does little to bring out her dozy state.






That's okay. Play late sleep late. Right, little one? Remember to sleep late tomorrow!

Good night, good night. Tomorrow is another beautiful day.

Wednesday

I have to admit it: these kinds of days are, theoretically,  not my favorite. Gray, cold, snowless. I know we could do worse and of course it's too early to hope for spring (some 80 days away, though who's counting), but still, we could do better...

And yet, as I sit down to a very late breakfast, I think -- this is so good! We are so lucky!






In the afternoon, Ed and I go for a walk in a city park. You'll see it in the photos - the colorless palate, the icy trail...






And still, it's a lovely little jaunt. We come to the lake...






... and the skies clear just a little bit. I see skaters! This is unbelievable! You could not pay me any amount of money to go out in the middle of the lake right now! I'm sure it's not solid! And yet the kids always assume the best. Is that a good thing? I don't know...






Ed claims that you don't need s sled to enjoy a slide down an incline.






I laugh, because it turns out that you do.


Later, I go to Snowdrop's home to help them with the post holiday tidying. It's a lovely time to be there, because the little girl is at once delighted to play with new toys, and, too, adjusting to the demands placed by life itself.






(Goldie the cat is just such a demand.)






(Family, working together.)






There is a lot of sweeping to do and Snowdrop wants to be the leader in this effort. Small brooms, big brooms -- she takes charge of them all.






This then is our day. A take charge kind of day. Don't let it slide! Take charge! And we do. Yes we do.

going north

Three days ago, a city view out my window was only to be imagined. And now -- it's the new normal. And yet even in these handful of days, each time I look outside, that same set of buildings is completely different, depending on the time of the day and the weather.

One last set of photos then: the skyline just before dawn...






... and then again, just after sunrise.






My Chicago daughter and her husband return to work today and me -- I return to Madison. Originally I was going to travel back in the afternoon, but in the end, I decide to leave earlier. I've had my great fill of the city. I'm anxious to unpack and set things in order back home.

Breakfast: again, I'm the first one down and again, it looks like a morning straight out of Paris.






I glance out the hotel lounge window. There's the El that I should be catching back to the airport. Of course, the more popular traffic pattern right now is toward Chicago's downtown.






I'm packed. I head out. One last glance up this neighborhood's main commercial artery...






... and now I'm at the El station. Not in a hurry. Not glancing nervously to check on the time. I've given myself plenty of time. For once, I have it  -- time.






And then puff! I'm on the bus, going north.

The snow has melted substantially since I left on Saturday. Ed picks me up at the bus stop and as we drive to the farmette, I think how quickly something can change for you. In a rural landscape, you notice this constantly: raise the temperature a handful of degrees and everything looks different.






And of course, it is so good to be home. Even as I have wisps of longing to be there with the city people. Never mind. The distances, by American standards are small. They'll be up here soon and I'll be down there again, and so it continues. And that's such a good thing!

the day after

When Christmas falls on a Sunday, Monday becomes an extension of the holiday. Workplaces close. There is no mail delivery. It is a time to sit back. Do nothing much. Put away, tidy up, exhale.

I'm in my hotel and I see that the winds have pushed the fog away. The Chicago skyline is sharply beautiful before me.






Looking down, I note that the streets have the shine of freshness. It rained last night and things haven't quite dried yet.






My sister sweetly asked me for a photo of me in the skirt we bought together in Warsaw. I find a corner mirror in my room and snap this:






Out of my holiday finery now, I go down to breakfast - this time it's in the hotel lounge.  Same feeling of being in Paris...






Outside now. Yes, it's going to be a sunny and warm day -- just beautiful really! It begs for a walk.






I'm out and about a number of times. To my daughter's home. Back to the hotel. Brief shopping. To my daughter's home again where we study her collection of cookbooks.





But we're not total couch potatoes! We all meet up downtown and Snowdrop is so excited with the reunion at this most fascinating place!






... so excited!






We walk along Michigan Avenue...





... where the lights, for a little girl, are over the top!

(My daughters and I recall all the numerous trips we made to Chicago as they were growing up... Yes, I wanted them to have an urban perspective onto the world... And they did... and they do...)











We return to my daughter's home... It's so late and still,  Snowdrop is just so happy!  So in love with those around her that she needs no toy, no distraction... A hug. Nothing more.












I'll end with a pic of my two daughters. Snowdrop was somewhere playing with her uncle and there we were -- my two daughters and myself and I felt this sigh of relief that all parents must feel when their children are before them and all is right with the world.





Yeah... All is right... May it stay just so...

Christmas Day

Morning

A misty sky hangs over Chicago. On a crisp day, I'd see the downtown skyline from my twelfth floor hotel window. Today, very early, before the city lights have been switched off, I see only wisps of fog.






My younger girl has asked me to come over for breakfast, but in my special hotel promo package, I have a free meal here as well. I can't pass on that! And so my Christmas breakfast number one reminds me very much of Paris.






And my hosts are a lovely and lively crew -- serving attentively the only person (at 8:30 a.m.) in the hotel restaurant -- me.






I walk then to my girl's home. Along familiar blocks...






...stopping at times to read unfamiliar posts and placards. This one made me pause. What's Team Edward? Surely no reference to the Ed I know!





Of course not. It's about vampires and werewolves. Movie stuff. Not something I'd every pick off a library shelf. Here, for your info, taken from the internet:

In reference to Edward Cullen, of the Twilight Saga. People on Team Edward prefer him over Jacob Black (see Team Jacob). People on Team Edward ... prefer vampires over werewolves (Edward is a vampire, Jacob is a werewolf).Team Edward fans are very devoted, and are a force to be reckoned with. 


All stores are of course closed, but displays are well lit. Funky urban, pretty, and of course Christmasy. Except for one place that gives a nod to another holiday that coincidently this year, also began last night.







My daughter and her husband have been up and working hard. She is baking cake number two, he's keeping the place in order.






We pause over my second breakfast -- a delicious, gifted Italian panettone. So aromatic and yummy!






Her baking project is done (a cranberry upside down cake).






They pack up to travel to her dad's. I'll join them a bit later. For now, I set out to walk back to the hotel, except I don't immediately go there. I'm right by a church where a Polish Christmas Mass is taking place. I go inside...






I know this is Chicago, but the association of this town with Poland isn't as strong as it once was. Yet here I am on Christmas Day, listening to a beautiful rendition of a Polish carol...

I resume my walk. I'm up on the 606 trail that weaves its way through this neighborhood. As I stop to admire the street scenes, a woman comes up and tells me -- if you look that way, you'll see straight into the garden of Rick Bayless (the famous Chicago chef).  I take a peek. It's lovely, though of course utterly frozen now.

Chicago is an unusual place: it's a city of countless neighborhoods. As I tell my fellow walker that my daughter has just moved to this area, the woman smiles and says -- welcome to you all. Her words feel rather small townish and sweet.

There, I'm within sight of my hotel -- the tall building of this area.






...right by the El (where there is more of a sense of activity now that the morning is drawing to a close).







Afternoon

 I watch Chicago come into view. Sure, the tallest of the tall buildings stay hidden, as if they aren't ready for a public showing just yet, but the skyline is definitely taking shape.






It's time to pack a suitcase (and a bag, or two, or three) with gifts and meet up with my family at my daughters' dad's place. Snowdrop and her parents are just arriving and the little one embarks on her second round of gift opening (having had her first round at home, exhausting herself in the joy of it all, but luckily, giving herself a solid rest on the drive down to Chicago).

Everyone is at the top of the top today, and this surely includes the littlest one of the bunch.






Snowdrop distributes, unwraps, smiles, and generally behaves as if she were trying her darnedest. Which perhaps she is...











(A penguin raincoat? Cool!)












Of course, not all the presents are about her, or for her.






But kids do tend to take  center stage during the holidays. This is no surprise! We watch them play and we remind ourselves of out own playfulness, sometimes hidden, sometimes percolating to the surface. Yes, we are small in the scheme of things. Tell me otherwise!


Evening

Toward dusk, we switch venues. My younger girl will be hosting us (and her husband's family) for a Christmas feast and it is indeed a feast! Sure, I try to help, but she'd done all the prep work in advance and so my contribution is to stir things that are ready to be stirred.

Her husband's family cheers on.











And the thing is, my girls are so lucky, because their husbands' families are so good at cheering on! Life is precious -- let's be sure to hold it tight and close!






















(Come play now!)












The food is beyond magnificent. There are dips and home made crackers and meatballs and shrimp. There's a roast with baked mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. There are the cakes, the pies...

It's hours past her bedtime, but Snowdrop pushes away tiredness and settles in between the big guys to watch Norwegians try to catch salmon on television.






The evening of great food (and I mean great food -- you could not begin to describe the labor of love that went into dish preparation here) draws to a close.






One reminds the girl to say "thank you" as she leaves, but how can we hope to express our gratitude in this small way at the end of the day?

Still, it's worth a shot -- thank you. Thank you thank you thank you to all who made this holiday so very beautiful!





Good night.