SOFA King Chicago

11/4/2007
Aimee, Laura, and I meandered about the SOFA Expo at Navy Pier. Although the sheer number of sculpture and functional art objects left me feeling saturated, there were many beautiful pieces. "Soleil D'Hiver" is one that comes to mind, a three-dimensional wall hanging made of natural cotton.

I'd suffered a back strain earlier that morning - yeah, maybe walking around SOFA for four hours wasn't the smartest move. I took this photo in the lobby of the WBEZ/Riva carport while I waited for Aimee and Laura to retrieve the car from several blocks away.



Punkin pie!


11/10/2007
HMart!!! We made the trip there to shop for sushi supplies - Andrea Wells and friends were invited over 11/12 in honor of her birthday. Laura rolls 'em gudenteit! Tight or not, dinner was tasty: salmon, tuna, goat-cheesey mashed pumpkin (you heard me - a stroke of Aimee's creativity), seaweed salad, gomae (made by Laura, our fantasy daughter), scallions, asparagus, Hakushika sake, and some truffle oil. For dessert we had a sweet potato cake from Bini Bakery at HMart.

Pineapples for a buck ninety-nine. According to Betsey, one can test for a pineapple's ripeness by pulling on a leaf - the fruit is ripe if the leaf pulls out easily. Aimee and I yanked on several and they were all firmly anchored.


I wonder what dragon fruit tastes like?


Eel. Good eating in my experience. I hear they continue squirming post-decapitation.


At Meg's boyfriend Tom's surprise birthday party. I think Meg, bless her heart, worked very hard in orchestrating and executing the details of the shindig. We were all quite impressed. Aimee and I met some good people: Naima and Karl, Mike and Leslie, Alex and Liz...I might have Liz and Leslie transposed, Meg's parents... At one point early on in the night, I sidled up behind a woman who I believed to be Meg, and I said into her ear at close range in a seductive voice, Hey beautiful. Turns out the backs of Meg's and Leslie's heads are very similar. Leslie turned an adorable shade of pink - I was pretty embarrassed, too, but it was all very funny.

Meg.


Eric giving Puck a scratch.


11/11/2007
Aimee had a tough time keeping her sensitive baby blues open for this flash photo at our celebration dinner at North Pond.

Beaubien Preservation

Ok, my cynicism prompted me to google Beaubien again for more info--and I found this uplifting paragraph from The Nature Conservancy on a monthly stewardship event at Beaubien, restoration and stories of the underground railroad. This sounds like fun and a potential jewel!

Jewels that stay hidden

The exit off 94 looks so inviting, "Beaubien Woods Exit". The trees full of autumn color, calling me to exit and explore and be a bit late for my 7:15 am appointment with chiropractor Jerry in Harvey.

But it became obvious why no one is raving about Beaubien Woods online--the place is next to pretty dilapidated housing projects. Though the main parking lot was still closed at that time of day, a cop car was parked there, not a great sign. And the road leading to the entrances is full of big potholes. Frustrating.

Gems recently uncovered

Aimee and I have renewed our resolve to find the jewels in the rough, amid the sprawl of Chicagoland, including beautiful wild spaces. Sunday afternoon we drove down to Waterfall Glen, the forest preserve that circumscribes Argonne National Laboratory.

There is a particular maple tree growing from the bank of a stream, orange, yellow, and red levitating strokes of color, luminous in contrast to the dark bank.

What's the other gem? We got a ring!