Cruising, Visiting, Enjoying

I found the coolest soon-to-be site yesterday while reading Franklin's blog. It is called Ravelry and it is (will be) the internet equivalent of being in a knitting shop, in a library, in a chat room, where you can track your stash and get patterns, ideas and/or help or encouragement. They are still in beta testing but are accepting wanna joins. As of today, I am number 22,093 with 14,299 knitters in front of me and 239 behind me. No cutting please, one third of those wanting to join have been issued invitations. Hey, one in 22,332 is better than one in a million!

Last Friday my brother came to Chicago. Fred, Gene and I took the Chicago Architecture Foundation's Architecture River Cruise. A wonderful hour and a half on the Chicago river, viewing the beautiful buildings, learning their history and the history of Chicago. I recommend it to everyone. After the cruise, we strolled down to Millennium Park and took in the Bean and the spewing fountains. Photos to follow. We feasted on Chicago-style hot dogs and enjoyed a lovely day in the park.

Another snap of under the Bean.

Gene & Fred Under the Bean

We retreived the car, picked up Abe and drove to Naperville for the Cavalcade of Brass, a Drum Corps contest sponsored by The Rosemont Cavaliers. In fact, that is why Fred was in town. It was the 50th reunion of the 1957 Chicago Cavaliers. A good time was had by all.

As an added benefit, I delivered eight pair of earrings to the fellow in charge of the Cavaliers souvenir booth. They sold two pair that evening. A good thing for all involved.

An Evening at Ravinia

Last night we had a delightful (a word I seldom use) evening at Ravinia. (Ravinia?? think Tanglewood, but outside Chicago.)

The weather was perfect, the music beautiful, the company inspiring and the food delicious. What more does a girl need?

This was the monthly gathering of our Mensa Gourmet Group. We brought the appetizers and the dessert. Sir James Galway and Lady Galway and the CSO provided the music. The cicadas were thankfully silent. (But just you wait another 17 years.)

Another Bird Photo

A week or so ago, we were having dinner outdoors at Moody's Pub. The patio is tree-shaded, a pleasant place for a burger. There are house sparrows who drop by to see what they can get from co-operative diners. We always co-operate.

We were seated near the fence, beyond which is old ivy. I put some scraps on the top of the fence and a few sparrows gathered there. One even landed on my arm. We both startled each other!

My camera has a long lag time, especially when the batteries are getting old. I was trying to get a snap of the birds checking out the food, instead I got what I call "An In-Flight Meal".

The Saga of the Pigeon

Saturday night, late, the phone rang, starting an avian adventure.

I am apparently known as the bird lady in our condo, so when a beautiful banded pigeon was found in the front yard a neighbor called me. The bird had no interest in flying away and was almost caught by a curious BIG dog.

It is a lovely bird and has a bright green band on its right leg that only seems to say "1 11".

My brother is a former vet and suggested that I let it rest for the night with plenty of food and water and try to release it in the morning.

Sunday morning I tried to release the pigeon, but it does not seem to want to leave. I took a picture of it standing in one of my flower boxes, enjoying the view.

There does seem to be an injury at the vent. Fred said to check if she is egg bound. Did not seem to be.

The band is the sort that a breeder would use to identify his own birds, not a registration. No help there. I had reached someone from the racing pigeon assoc. but because it was not a racer, he could offer no assistance.

On Monday the pigeon was released. We kept it one more day for rest and recuperation.

Before going to work we put the cage and a dish of food in the bathtub and the bird on the window sill. We watched for a while while it looked out the open window. We closed the door and let it decide. When we came home from work, it had "flown the coop" so to say.


It was a strong flyer and had a few days of gentle care.

The sweet bird cheered our world for a few days and it left in better shape than it arrived.

Newsy News

A lot has been happening, so I don't know where to begin.

The biggest news is that I am planning to retire at the end of the year. February, 1981 through December, 2007, is not a bad run.

But that will not be the only big change. We are planning on moving. We're just getting started on that. We have 35 years of accumulated lives in our condo, so sorting it out is a major job. We plan to stay in Chicago and maybe even (with his blessing) move into Abraham's building.

On the more day-to-day front, knitting continues. I need to put a few more inches onto another recycled sari silk scarf. Jewelry continues. I am building up a good stock and keep selling it. I have to spend more time getting a real web-site up and running. I have had several people ask if they can buy something off my web-site and i cringe and say "not yet, but soon." Soon is now.

The Bean

Thursday I really did intend to go to the office after my dentist appointment.

The weather was perfect, I was early and "The Bean" (OK it is really "Cloud Gate" but that is like Mrs. Cleaver calling Beaver "Theodore") was between my parking space and the dentist.

This picture is taken from underneath looking up. I'm the yellow and red figure repeated many times.

Very cool.

After the appointment (everything was good, just a cleaning) I checked out a bead shop and latched onto a tour going through the store formerly known as Marshall Field's. I audited their viewing of the Tiffany ceiling. Let's hope that Macy's recognizes a legacy when they own it.

Lunch with Gene and Garnet at the Daley Center followed by accompanying Gene on a wild goose chase for old case files.

A stop at the Clerk of Cook County Vital Records may help to unravel a mystery recently discovered. Several months ago I was doing family tree stuff and checked the 1920 US Census for my mother's family. I found them easily. There was Sidney Zittenfield, Irene, his wife, and their children, Milton (14), Raymond (8), Barbara (4) and John (2). JOHN?? Who was John? Good old uncle John? I requested a search for his birth certificate. It takes about six weeks for an answer.

A Visit with Old Friends

Wednesday evening I had a most enjoyable dinner with three friend from high school. Much catching up was done. There was a lot of time to cover. While the other three had been getting together in past years, but I hadn't seen Barbara since graduation, Ellen at the 25th reunion and Michael a few years ago.

Barbara lives in Oregon and has been happily and busily retired for several years, Michael is writing and editing in New York, Ellen continues to court report and I'm still computing but looking forward to retiring soon. A good time was had by all.

Next year in New York!