Linaewen's Lake of Small Birds

Hugs to those of you who have inquired about how I was faring as a result of the recent blizzard here in the Midwest.  <3

I think we had something like 20 inches dumped on us in our part of Chicago.  We closed the Center in advance of the storm, and are still closed today for the benefit of our volunteers who will have a difficult time getting up here -- and it's unlikely any South Asians will dare to venture out (if they can even open their doors for the drifts).  Folks from countries where snow is a novelty only seen in the mountains are not adventurous at this time of year -- and I don't blame them.  ;-)  I don't expect we'll see too many ladies wanting to learn English for awhile, even when we open again!

We enjoyed the blizzard (because we like snow) and relished the thunder snow (don't get to have that too often, even in Wisconsin).  And we appreciated being able to serve as the go-to people for dealing with Center-related issues that came up because of the snow, since we live only a block away and can get there on foot no matter how high the drifts happen to be,.  ;-)  Even with the place closed, we can still get over there and get caught up on some of the work that needs doing that doesn't involve opening it up to the public -- if we want to.

But those snow drifts I mentioned are still a barrier in other ways, and are contributing to our current frustration and irritation.  We have at least 3 feet of snow (that's aside from the drifted snow) on the street where we live -- not to mention all the other side streets in the vicinity -- and more in the alleys due to the wind, and even if we dug our car out, we wouldn't be able to drive anywhere.  We have heard that they will be plowing the side streets for a change (they normally never do, you just drive on top of the snow until it gets flattened), but when that will happen is anybody's guess.  We have a shovel, and we know how to use it, but I'm not sure we are up to shoveling a path several city blocks long...

The frustration is that we have plans to leave town on the weekend for a 5 day vacation from the work here.  (We're just coming off of a long bit of being indispensable due to staffing shortages, and another time like that is approaching when we'll pretty much be in charge and won't be able to get away until next month.)  But will we be able to get our car out and to a main street that will take us to the interstate by Saturday evening?  Who knows?  And if we get out, will we have a place to come back to when we return?

The DS up in Wisconsin fared pretty well -- he was plowed out by the city by 8 am on Wednesday and once he used the snow blower on the driveway, he was able to get to work on time.  Everyone knows that McDonald's doesn't close during blizzards, since that's when everyone decides they need to get out and buy burgers, so he had to get to work.  ;-)  He also kept a dentist appointment and was able to drive around without too much trouble, though he did have a wee fender bender that thankfully no one even cared about, it was so tiny.  They know how to do blizzards in Wisconsin!

I just heard on the news that they have begun plowing the side streets, so here's hoping they get to ours in the near future, so we can escape to Wisconsin in time to be on Cheesehead soil for the watching of the Super Bowl, the intended "kick off" of our vacation week!  \o/

Speaking of which, Go Pack Go!  ;-)

Watch this space for more snow and Packer-related updates, as well as some major catching up on my part (as I notice that the last time I posted here was in November....)

Since some folks have come looking for me, I thought I'd better update and let you all know I'm here and doing fine.  Life is good here in Chicago, albeit a bit snowy and cold these days.  And getting colder.  We are going to have fun with Wind Chill Factors in the coming days -- even more so up in Wisconsin, where we will be spending the weekend.

Chicago is an interesting place to live in the wintertime.  They only plow the main streets, so the side streets have to fend for themselves.  This makes it very interesting when you have to park your car on the street.  People have begun setting chairs out in the street by the curb to mark the spots they have shoveled out -- it's understood that if you park somewhere where a chair or a cardboard box has been placed you are in Big Trouble.  So far, we have been able to find parking amidst the snow piles and have managed to get in and out, in spite of the piled up snow, and we haven't had to move our car much, either.  It's great not having to drive to work every day -- all we have to do is put on our boots and walk a block and we are there.

So after having a lovely long holiday with the family, we got back to Chicago and have been busy, busy ever since.  Nice busy, though.  Except for the year-end reports I've been working on.  That's more like boring busy, and they've taken up a lot of my time, too.

This weekend the DH and I are heading up to Wisconsin.  I'll leave him with the DS and go on to stay with my dad for a night while my brother is out of town.  I'll be crossing paths with my sister who is also helping out while Brother is away, so that will be fun.  I don't get to see her enough.

( A pretty neat dream... )

There's probably other things I could share about what I'm up to but for the life of me I can't think of anything else!  I'll have to update more often, so I don't forget what it is I do all day.

ETA

I was saddened today to hear of the death of Ricardo Montalban.  I've been a fan of his for like forever!  I had the privilege of seeing him perform in person, back in the early '70's, when he was touring in something, I think it was Don Juan in Hell.  I've never forgotten the experience, even if I'm not so sure what the play was!  I'll have to see if I can dig up the program I almost certainly saved from it.

Here's one of the many good obituaries written about him today:

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_MONTALBAN?SITE=WIMAD&SECTION=HOME