Greetings from bitter cold Chicago – home of snowed in cars, impassible streets and the bundled masses. It was actually a treat to watch the Blizzard from my 15th floor apt. last week – of course, I was home bound for 2 days, but had all my necessities, (warm apt, internet connection, full fridge & Red Box) so I was set for the long haul.Of course, Chicago had to make news with its 700+ abandoned snowed in cars on Lake Shore Drive in (which fronts Lake Michigan and is prone to more wind/snow) after an accident left the drivers in dire straights unable to get past the accident ahead. The snow was coming down so fast, that it basically snowed those cars in after the accident was cleared. People eventually just got out of their cars and caught a nearby bus or train home. Now you couldn’t do that in Detroit unless you have a lifetime to wait for a bus.
Sooo driving around after the 20 inches of snow is quite the obstacle course. There are literally cars still buried that no one has seen for days. Everyone whose car is parked on the street, needs to have a spare shovel in their boot. After they have cleared their car, they replace the empty space with a ch
air, walker, something to save it for future use (only in Chicago:-) I’m just SOOO very grateful I have a garage for my car - it makes my laziness easier to manage.Life has been getting more interesting here in Chi-town (the city’s lust wears thin when its winter here). I realized the older one gets, the tougher it is to make friends in a new town – simply because people my age are busy with work/young kids/driving kids/husband/home/etc and they have less time for a social life. It doesn’t help that I work from home, by myself. So finding a place where one ‘fits- in’, does take some time & investment. In overcoming this challenge, I try to be more forward and initiate more often than I normally would – fortunately, as you all know, I’m not shy so that does help matters. To get out there and mingle, I try to attend gathering - which there is heaps of here. The other week I attended a
'Vegan' gathering and last week I attended a Chicago organ donor organization mtg and signed on as a volunteer - places that introduced me to some new faces.I’ve always found it important to get a good ‘church friend base’ here as that is where I usually go to get encouragement.
Fortunately, a lovely couple, who moved here from Michigan, (there’s are heaps of Michiganders here) started a Friday evening vespers at their home which includes a delicopis home cooked Indian meal, almost weekly. We have a good small group that mainly hails from one of the SDA churches I attend – LakeView SDA. The other church I attend is the Polish SDA church. Their members have kindly and most graciously reached out to me and each time I attend, I’m invited to a Polish potluck, which not only provides needed sustenance but allows me opportunity to practice my Polish – bad grammar and all. It's most frustrating though as I feel like I can’t fully express my personality in Polish. I feel like a 5yr old talking. So few of them speak English, so the onus is on me to be understood. Fortunately there are heaps of opportunities to learn Polish in this city as everyone knows Chicago was colonized by the Poles so it's everywhere – grocery sto
res, radio, church etc. Its up to me, though, to put the effort in and actually better my Polish (I never learnt to read & write so I didn't learn proper grammar)As I find it necessary to include photos in every blog I post (to break up the type), here's a few. #1: Kim, Bridget & I at ‘ladies night out to the theater’ to see ‘Mary Poppins’ (yes, thats right, Mary Poppins), back in December. #2: long anticipated high school reunion with 2 of my favorite girls from high school – Arlene & Robbie And finally, Pele, my ward for a week in December. He's a blind snoodle (poodle n Schnauzer mix). My dog sitting him was my attempt to showcase to the world that I CAN keep a breathing being alive for a week (or even more) .
