30 Degrees Less, 2011 Commences in Chicago
From 50 to 20. And so the new year commences with a capricious if not pernicious drop in temperature in Chicago.
Shocking!
After two weeks in Paris where the mercury rarely approached the upper 30s and typically wavered at or below freezing, yesterday’s venture into spring-like territory was beyond welcome. And like anything delightful, I just assumed that it would persist.
Imagine my surprise as I and my kin readied ourselves this morning to maintain the daily diet we sustained while abroad. Namely, a long walk there followed by a long walk back. Our destination would be triangular, first Clark Street in Andersonville followed by a legging over to flourish bakery on Bryn Mawr to nab a dessert for dinner tonight, and then a return to our Edgewater home.
But a quick glance online at Tom Skilling’s weather forecast painted a picture that suggested that maybe today was not the day for long walks. Especially with both boys on the mend from colds triggered by the uncharacteristically cold days we endured during our Parisian journey.
And while today we threw in the towel, we did anything but as we carried on like the United States Postal Service while in France. Meaning that we did not allow rain, sleet, snow or cold to daunt us from our appointed rounds of traipsing around the magnificence that simply is Paris.
Perhaps our diligence came at a cost as we zigged and zagged past Notre Dame (the cathedral, not the university), the Eiffel Tower, Le Louvre, the Hotel de Ville, the quick-flowing Seine and down various boulevards and rues each marked by as much beauty as they were with history.
The cost? Sniffles and coughs and dermal striations caused by too many layers. But the flavors that washed over us in what we ingested, what we viewed, and what brushed against our souls was well more than enough to offset our colds.
I suppose the hallmark of any great trip is the sense at its end that it is time to return home. And so it is today, two days back from Paris, it is good to be back to Chicago!
Of course it was even better yesterday when an overcoat was an afterthought.
But it is good to be back in Chicago.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment