Month: May 2024

Fort Sheridan In May

Even in May, you can still see that Fort Sheridan is further to the North than Rogers Park – although everything is green, the prairie flowers are just starting to bloom, and in most cases, I can only guess what is about to bloom in a couple of weeks.

… And More Summer!

May 15 Reset (WBEZ newsletter) started with the following paragraph:

As a Chicagoan, taking a summer vacation is risky. You might enjoy yourself in Michigan or California or somewhere else, but is it worth missing a time when Chicago shines? 

And that’s exactly how I feel – each summer!!!

… And Other Signs Of Summer!

I can do long bike rides on weekdays before work!
Blooming peonies by the train station
Sweet Home Gelato is open!
The fountains on the River Walk are operating
Nothing to do with summer I just wanted to brag. We had Chef’s avocado toasts last Wednesday, and we could choose as many toppings as we wanted (yes, including caviar)

The First Summer Accord

Of course, I mean going to the beach for the first time!

It was beach weather last weekend, but I didn’t have time to go, and today, although I had many different things on my list, I found an hour to spend lying down on the beach and listening to the waves.

The water was still cold, and although I walked into it, I did not want to immerse myself in it. It was after 6 PM, and the warmest part of the day was already over. Still, I was at the beach, by the lake. And as it always happens when I am at the beach, I was doing absolutely nothing. I didn’t bring anything to read with me. I didn’t even look at my phone. I was there at that moment, and that was the best thing.

On the way home, I looked at the weather forecast on my phone. I already knew that Sunday’s weather was going to be cooler, but I saw that it would be in the eighties again on Monday. I thought that if I went to work a little bit earlier and returned a little bit earlier, I would be able to spend an hour on the beach (and still visit Mom and do yoga). OMG, how blessed I am to live ten minutes from the Lake! And I have the whole summer ahead of me! 

I returned home and smelled the smell of warm weather on my body, the smell of skin touched by the sun. The sweet fatigue of being out in the warm weather and finally coming back inside. The cool floor under my bare feet. All of it distinctly and unmistakably joined in one happy cord: it’s summer! Summer! Summer!

Educational

Igor’s recent article discusses a now-high school principal who is a former immigrant student. As such, Julie Lam experienced firsthand the difficulties of navigating the American school system and is forever grateful to educators who helped her along the way.

A couple of days after Igor sent me his article, I caught the ending of an episode on BBC, where they talked about Finnish schools and Finland’s leadership in education. One statement specifically caught my attention. They said that if we compare the highest students’ achievements in Finland and the rest of the world, there is no significant difference. What is different is the average student’s achievement level.

Here is why I think these two are related. I often observe that recent (and not so recent) Russian immigrants, as well as immigrants from other authoritarian countries, judge American education based on the level of difficulty of the school courses offered to gifted students (because all of their kids are obviously gifted). I haven’t heard this kind of opinion for a while, but there are a lot of such parents in my current company. I hear a lot of conversations that are very critical of American education in general and Chicago Public Schools in particular, to the extent that “if they will close the selective enrollment schools, we are moving out of here.” Many of my co-workers enroll their children in the private school so that “they could have a proper education.”

I would be the last person to say that CPS does not have any problems. However, the American school system, with all its deficiencies and varieties that are sometimes difficult to grasp, is incredible. I want to say that it is a great equalizer, but there is much more than that. No other institution in this country is close to “equal opportunities for all.” Even schools that are severely underfunded teach their students important civic values, collaboration, and acceptance.

American schools make American citizens. Good American schools make good American citizens. People who scream, “Why do I have to pay taxes to fund schools that are not good enough for my children” are the same people who are upset with homeless people sleeping in their parking lots, panhandlers on the street corners, and unruly teenagers breaking the shop windows. And why don’t they see any connection?

My audience is slowly but surely becoming more diverse…

May Chicago PUG

Summer

I know it’s not summer yet, and no matter what your views on that subject are, the earliest you can think about the start of summer is the Memorial Day weekend. Still, I tend to think that Mother’s Day marks the turn of the seasons. Before Mother’s Day, the 50s feel “warm,” and after Mother’s Day, the 50s feel “cold.”

It was beach weather on Mother’s Day, and after that, a couple of days of cooler weather felt like “give me my summer back!”

TIME Magazine: Ways to stay hydrated if you hate drinking water

This article is for me! I am one of those people who hate drinking water, and I do not know what is so bad about not drinking it! I am perfectly fine with my coffee, tea, and fruits :), so I do not think I will try al this methodology they suggest, but – who knows!

Continue reading “TIME Magazine: Ways to stay hydrated if you hate drinking water” →

TIME Magazine: How to talk about weight loss

Very good article, I have nothing to add.

Continue reading “TIME Magazine: How to talk about weight loss” →

Mother’s Day Weekend

It was the busiest Mother’s Day weekend I ever had, and I worried that it would be too hectic, but it was great! On Saturday, Nadia and I went to the CSO matinee concert “for big kids.”

It was great as always. The concert was called “The Sound Waves,” and all the pieces that were performed had something to do with water and its symbolism. The program included music by Saint-Saens, Wagner, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and Mendelssohn, and at the end, the orchestra played Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird.

After the concert, there was a kid-friendly reception at Forte. Anna was skeptical about how “kids-friendly” it was going to be, but it was amazing! They had both adult’s and kids’ food (even peanut butter/jelly sandwiches :)) and lots of fruits and vegetables.

Then, we all went to Milwaukee because Nadia had a recital later the same day. That was the part I was unsure about: obviously, we didn’t plan on the concert and recital on the same day! However, everything went perfectly, Nadia was the first to perform at the recital, and she did great. Anna accompanied her, which was especially enjoyable.

In the evening, we had one more adventure. Somehow, we all missed the news about the Northern Lights (and even if we knew, there was no time to go anywhere after the Field Museum Night). Then, we became jealous of all the people posting amazing photos, and since there were more chances for the Northern Lights to reappear the next night, Anna suggested we go away from the city lights pollution and try to catch them.

We didn’t get a chance to see them; as it turned out, they appeared after 11:30PM, and we left at about 10:30, but we didn’t regret that we went on this adventure. I can’t recall when was the last time I saw a clear night sky away from the city. All the constellations, and the Milky Way, and a shiny half-moon – everything was up there above us! The parking lot of the forest preserve was full of cars: many people had an idea similar to ours. We asked for the way to the beach and followed the stone steps down to the lake. We stood there together with other people, staring into the sky. Then, we saw the lights of the police car. We were sure they would kick us out: the park closing time was 10 PM, but the officer got out of the car, approached us, and asked sympathetically: nothing yet?

He said that the night before, there was a huge crowd at the beach, but the police didn’t kick the people out: it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event; how could we! We were just making sure everybody’s fine.

We stayed there for a little bit longer, but since we were unsure whether anything was going to happen, we left. It was still amazing :).

Then, there was an actual Mother’s Day, and Anna cooked the most delicious breakfast (and I didn’t take pictures!), and then I went back to Chicago. The weather was gorgeous, I could actually go to the beach, but I decided in favor of biking – I didn’t have a chance to go biking for several days. Then I went to see my mom, and there was a little bit of disaster, but that’s a separate story. The most important thing is that my Mother’s Day was amazing, and I also got a new Dunes t-shirt from Igor and also my friend mailed me this very special gift: