To continue the topic of the beach-going: the best thing about my current location is that the lake (and the beach) are a ten-minute walk away, and I can go there any time I want, and if I only have thirty minutes, I still go. I love that “the lakefront is Rogers Park backyard.” Once again, you can live in a mansion, or you can be unhoused and live in a tent – the lake is for everyone. With all of this being said (and appreciated), sometimes, a “backyard” analogy is a little bit too direct.
As I mentioned, there was hardly any space anywhere around the beach on Friday, and I thought that my vague idea of going to Fort Sheridan on Saturday is not so bad, because I could also swim at the place where swimming is strictly prohibited. I was looking at the train schedule and going back and forth with this idea, and saying to myself that with all of the amont of work-non-work I have, I absolutely can’t afford to waste half a day; and in any case, I have a beach ten minutes away, and I wanted to go for a long bike ride… But I already figure out the only combination of trains both way that would work for me, and even though I went for a long bike ride, the idea was still there. Then I funny thing happened: I thought that I am still deciding, and realized that I am already packing my backpack for a trip!
If was an amazing outing! It was cooler there than in Rogers Park; the water in that part of the lake was also a little bit cooler, and insanely clear… and there were less than ten people as far as I could see!
Documenting my attempt to go to the beach yesterday :). In reality, it was even worse because people were barbecuing on every inch of the grass. Also, lifeguards were unusually vigilant, so there was no way to get into the water higher than the waste level 🙂
Unlike some people (whose decision I respect), I didn’t treat this year’s Independence Day as a day of mourning, nor did I complain that our independence is taken away or compromised. Same way as always, I refuse to let Trump claim ownership over America, over our independence, and our way of living. Nobody can take it away, and I am ready to fight. Retrospectively, I should have planned this day differently, for example, by attending the Evanston 4th of July parade to support people who are doing it the right way. And possibly finding some legal fireworks around, because there were too many illegal ones, including the one in our courtyard! We will plan it better next year! This year, I am still recovering from the stress of the previous several months, so I hope I can be forgiven :).
I went to the Independence Day Salute concert in Millennium Park (I have a subscription again, and I had really nice seats). I took my mom to this concert; fortunately, this time, there was no rain in the middle of the concert (like two years ago), and she liked everything, and didn’t even complain about not understanding what Christopher Bell was saying. I consider it a success 🙂
I went for long bike rides both yesterday morning and today, while the sunrise is still relatively early, and it’s warm in the morning. Actually, it is so warm that many people try to do their biking/running in the early hours, so by 6 AM, it is already pretty crowded on the Lake Front Trail.
Yesterday:
Bird sanctuary at Montrose HarborBreakfast at home for a change
Today: that’s me going out of my way to capture the stunning beauty of the view from the Aquarium terrace
It is believed that the day before the long weekend is always quiet and uneventful, because nobody wants to start a new project, and half of the people are taking a day off, and the other half want to leave earlier. It could not be further from the truth for me!
First, I had my month-after post-op for the Lasik. It was scheduled for 10-30, and since it takes me no more than 30 minutes to get to the Rush Medical Center from my office, I agreed to do “something” for our UK team at 12-30. It took them a while to agree with this “something,” so I was happy we could wrap it up before the holidays, and I thought I would be back in time. Unfortunately, I was waiting and waiting, and nothing happened! I started to suspect that I might be late, but as it often happens in the medical building, my hotspot barely worked. I sent a WhatsApp message to my UK co-worker to tell the team what the situation was, and that very moment, I was called to the exam room. They took all the measurements, and then… dilated my eyes! I screamed that I needed to go to work, but they didn’t listen. That also meant it would be a while before the doctor saw me. My coworker asked whether we should postpone the “something” until 1 PM, and I said – yes, but I became doubtful. Finally, the surgeon dashed into the room, started talking to me, but then slapped his forehead: Sorry – I forgot something! One moment! And he disappeared from the room! When he finally appeared, and we discussed my concerns and next steps, I knew I had a very slim chance of being on time. I practically ran out of the building (as fast as I could, having patients in wheelchairs all over the place), and ran to the Polk station, only to see the train leaving! The next train would be in 11 minutes, so I went down and called Uber. It was the most expensive 10-minute ride of my life (which also ended up being 15 minutes because of the insane lunch hour traffic). In the car, I was able to slack the team that I was on my way, and was at my desk three minutes to 1PM, which also allowed me to grab lunch (they stop service on our floor at 1 PM, and I would have no time to go to another floor).
Anyway, everything was great until after “something” was completed, the team stated that they experienced some problems. It took another 2.5 hours to check that it was a false alarm, and I was tired beyond anything imaginable.
Then, I went to LensCrafters. Although I can go without glasses or contacts most of the time now, I still encounter situations where my eyes do not work well together, and I also do not see the stage in the theater with the precision I would like to. We discussed options, and I ordered new glasses. We then tried several combinations with contacts and agreed on the best one. By that time, it was a perfect pre-holiday traffic situation, so I walked to the Red Line, fearing that bus 147 might take forever. When I was at home, it was almost 7 pm. My CSA order had been sitting downstairs for over three hours, but everything except the strawberries had survived! Still, I needed a moment of tranquility, so I pulled on a new (just-delivered!) swimsuit and headed to the beach. It was one of those days when I was especially thankful for living by the beach, just a ten-minute walk away from the sand, and the sounds of the waves, along with a mild, descending sun.
I can’t say that “that was it,” because earlier in the morning, I promised one of our Singapore team members to get online at 9 PM, which I did!
Pride Month is over. I saw a little bit of the Pride Parade in Helsinki (it happened despite the rain, but I didn’t want to stay around for long in the rain).
It looks like Chicago’s Pride parade was great, and as many commentators mentioned, “more defensive.”
All the right people were there and calling for resistance:
While I was away, my Immigration Equality t-shirt had arrived, and when I came to work on Monday, I found a Pride t-shirt from our Pride Employee Resource Group. I like them both and hope to wear them next summer, but I am especially proud of my firm, which supports LGBTQ+ employees.
When you live in Chicago, you never stop discovering new cultural institutions and new activities. I don’t remember where I learned about the Haymarket Opera Company, but when I read about them, I knew immediately that I wanted to see their performance at least once.
Today it finally happened – I attended the last performance of Artaserse – an opera written by Leonardo Vinci (no, the other one!) In today’s performance, all roles except for one (Mandane) were cast by male singers. The opera was four hours long! (Good thing it started at 6 PM!)
The venue is very close to where I live (on the Fullerton Campus of DePaul), so it’s just over 30 minutes door-to-door.
The concert hall is small and extremely convenient, with a perfect view of the stage from any seat.
The production was very true to history in terms of acting, set, and costumes – everything was like the operas were produced in the 18th century, and that’s what Haymarket Opera is famous for.
Another thing I noticed was that the audience felt like a very close community, with “their usual seats” and such, and people were greeting each other before taking their places. Still, I was not miserable about being an outsider (and I survived a four-hour opera – some patrons left during the second intermission!)
Hettie's Reflections 