Category: everyday life

Horseflies And How To Fight Them

When Lake Michigan water suddenly became cold for several days, another unpleasant effect was an increased number of horseflies! These creatures are usually very successful in making me leave the beach because their bites are really painful, and once they are around you, nothing can stop them.

On the third day of this cold water period, the horseflies started to attack me immediately when I got out of the water, not even letting me dry myself with the towel (in fact, there were multiple horseflies on the towel and on the beach mat), so I had to run away, trying to dry myself while I was running!

I thought I should look for anti-horsefly spray, but when I typed it into the Amazon search bar, I saw that most anti-mosquito sprays work on horseflies too. I checked my supplies – it had been a while since I needed mosquito spray, but I found one and decided to take it to the beach next time.

For a couple of days, nobody bothered me on the beach, but I kept putting the spray into my beach bag. Two days later, the horseflies were back, so as a precaution, I sprayed myself with anti-mosquito spray after applying sunscreen.

Then I sat down on my beach mat and saw something black on it. My first thought was that those were some unknown sand beetles, but the next moment I realized that those were dead bodies of the horseflies! They didn’t even fly away – they just dropped dead!

I guess problem solved, although in a more dramatic way than I planned!

Biking North

Anna wanted to try to bike from my home in Rogers Park to her house in Milwaukee, which would be the longest distance she had ever covered in one day, and she asked me whether Boris and I would like to follow her for a portion of this route and then take a train back. We enthusiastically agreed. Originally, we were thinking about going with her all the way to Kenosha, but it turned out that there were no trains from Kenosha in the middle of the day, so we would have to wait for hours to go back. So, instead of making 45 miles to Kenosha, we only did 30 miles to Waukeegan.

We would never be able to do it without Anna, because the maps are not accurate, some directions are confusing, and it’s not always obvious where the path ends. Also, there is no safe biking path from Rogers Park to Evanston, which is a shame. Biking on Sheridan is not a safe option except for a very early morning on the weekend, and things are still confusing. There are great bike lanes in Evanston itself, including multiple protected lanes, but you still need to get there!

I took notes on Metra stations where I will be able to get to the bike path straight from the train, and I might try to go on a shorter ride later, although I will still need to consult Google extensively.

Oh, and this French cafè in Highland Park where we had breakfast was something!!! I almost want to go there just for breakfast!

One last note: it always feels that you are going North, and it always surprises me. The climate is more “livable,” although I still won’t trade it for the lake 🙂

Bahai Temple in Evanston
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Milky Way

I saw it on Monday!!! I’ve seen it only a handful of times in my life, and Monday was one of them! I got out on the balcony around 5 AM to water the flowers (otherwise I forget to do it before the day’s heat), and I noticed the stars were very bright, the sky was clear, and I could see way more constellations than usual. And then I thought: how come I see this strange white cloud? Then I realized the “cloud” formed a circle, and it wasn’t a cloud!

The pictures make the sky look dark blue and make the Milky Way look like a cloud, which was not the case. It was almost black, and the Milky Way looked magical.

That’s how many stars I saw!
Milky Way

Art Institute: Mary Cassatt Exhibit

This new exhibit just opened at the Art Institute on Friday for members’ preview, and I marked my calendar to be sure to attend on Saturday, like in the old days, when I was always the first to see the newly opened exhibit.

As it often happens, it was a new discovery. Although I saw “The Child’s Bath” in the permanent exhibit as many times as I visited the Art Institute, it was “one of many Impressionist paintings”, and I was absolutely sure that Mary Cassatt was French!

Not only was she American, but she lived in Chicago before moving to France, and she witnessed the Great Chicago Fire!

She painted women and children, what could be so revolutionary in these subjects? But this “Woman reading” is reading a newspaper, not a novel, showing that a women can be interested in the world affairs, not just in her domestic life
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And Suddenly, The Lake Got Cold!

That’s the worst that could happen to the lake!!! At the very end of summer, no matter what the weather is, the Lake is consistently warm, often warmer than the air, and I could already feel it in the second half of August.

And then, just when I created one extra extended weekend with one extra day off, there were three days of winds and starting-and-stopping rains, and by Monday evening, the lake water was ice cold! I knew nothing about it and plunged in Tuesday morning. I boldly walked into the water, and suddenly felt something not right! It felt like mid-May, and I couldn’t stay in the water for more than 30 seconds.

When I walked back home down the alley, a car slowed down beside me, and a dad with the kid in the back seat asked me: Excuse me, I am just wondering, is the water the same frigid cold as yesterday evening? I replied that I was not there last evening, but the water is frigid indeed. He said: OK, at least I am not crazy! I couldn’t believe it – it’s not right! I agreed, but unfortunately, nothing could be done.

The next morning, the situation was the same. I asked Grandfather Google what the matter was, and he replied that the winds pushed the warm water away from the beaches, and the cold water from the depth of the lake had risen. That was understandable, but excruciating, since the days are already getting shorter, and I couldn’t believe it was possible, even with the current heat wave, to warm up this vast body of water for a second time within one season.

Still, I kept coming. On Thursday, it was not only cold, but also the unimaginable number of horseflies didn’t let me even dry myself! There were so many, latching at my legs, my sandals, and my towel, that I had to run from the beach, all wet, pulling on my beach tarp on the way.

Today, I resolved to give it one more attempt. And the miracle happened! There was a moderate wind in the direction of the shore, and nice waves were coming. First, when I stepped into the water, I immediately felt it wasn’t as cold as it had been for the past several days, though it was still cold. Then, when I walked deeper and turned my face to the waves, I suddenly felt the movement of the warmer water!!! It was coming back, not on the surface, but beneath it!

Miigwech aapiji, Michigami! Chi-miigwechwi, Gisis!

Mom’s Doctor

I had to do it all over again and switch my mom’s doctor one more time. After her doctor made us wait for over an hour, I decided we needed to look for an alternative. I thought that since I needed to take an Uber to get my mom to a doctor anyway, the distance didn’t matter, and I could expand my search to find a Russian-speaking doctor. I thought that since she doesn’t follow advice anyway, it might be important for her to be able to communicate directly with the doctor. Also, I was hoping she could be administered a memory test in Russian.

We switched from one doctor to a Russian-speaking one and scheduled an appointment. My mom didn’t like the new doctor, and if you ask me, she was not wrong. It’s funny that she has been complaining about the doctors not doing the same things as Russian doctors, like not listening to her chest at each visit or not giving her a better prescription for constipation. But now, speaking to a very traditional Russian doctor, she was upset that the doctor didn’t give her a visit summary, didn’t speak directly to her, and sent her to way too many tests. As for me, I didn’t like all these things either, plus the fact that she was saying all the time that she is the only good Russian doctor left in this area, and that only Russian doctors are any good.

Since my mom has already forgotten that she didn’t like her “one before last” doctor (who, I think, was the best she ever had) and told me that she never ever complained about her, I told her that I am going to switch her back, which I did, since we were still in the open enrollment period. I still need to wait before we see that new/old one, and I am not ruling out that my mom will be complaining again, but at least in that case, I have access to the patient portal and can message the doctor!

I am slightly upset because of the time wasted, but at least I tried, and there are no “what-ifs” left.

The South Trailhead

And finally, we achieved our goal of getting to the official end of the Lakefront Trail. If I hadn’t consulted Google Maps beforehand, I would never have reached it, because at the end, it becomes a tiny path and goes onto a busy sidewalk that goes around the Southshore Cultural Center.

The south trailhead looks even less glamorous than the north one which we pass each time we go biking, and it took me time to find the actual”end” sign.

Since I was busy navigating on our way to the endpoint, I only took some pictures on our way back. The view of lake was stunning!

That was probably the first time on our long trips that we took some snacks with us, because we knew we would be away from any breakfast places (at least the ones we know), and we didn’t have time for exploration; also, since it was a very hot day, we tried to get back home fast.

There was a bench with a beautiful view of the harbor, which Boris noticed on our way forward, and we stopped there for a snack.

Mission accomplished!

Also, it’s worth mentioning that the situation with the public restrooms- availability, opening hours, and cleanliness is tons better in the south portion of the train than on the north one!

Long Bike Ride South

With Boris in town, we are making the most of these last days of summer and this God-given weather. I took Friday off, and we did the thing we’ve wanted to do forever – going on the South end of the Lakefront Trail and, while going, crossing all the bridges over the Lake Shore Drive!

We did it, and it was breathtaking!

Model Yacht Basin
Buckingham Fountain
Back to Rogers Park!

Mom’s Internet Saga

After my mom’s Xfinity internet was fixed, I was still determined to change her provider because I didn’t want to go through the same experience again. I ordered Astound service for her address, even before her Xfinity was fixed. This ended up being a very stressful half-day because I didn’t realize that the technician would call me about 30 minutes before arrival, and I went to my mom’s at 1 PM. The technician ended up coming at 5:40 (past the appointment window), and he couldn’t find where to disconnect my mom’s Xfinity, and we ended up working together (me looking at the meter while he tried to unplug different connections outside). He worked till 7:30, and between 1 and 4, I had constant calls from work, while the internet at my mom’s house was far from perfect.

Not to mention that I sat on her bed for all six hours, surrounded by two computers, two phones, and without any support for my back. And not to mention that I started working at six that day to make sure I was mostly done by 1 PM, and I notified everyone about that.

But the good part is that my mom finally has reliable internet for a very modest price, and I also got $200 credit on my account for sign-on. Canceling Xfinity was relatively painless, because they already had my record of dissatisfaction :). Now, the only thing left if to ship their modem back, and it’s sitting here at my home ready for shipping.

Conversation

Talking with my former neighbor R.

– My granddaughter met a couple of European girls in college and became friends with them. You know – now it’s cool to be European! People are saying: Awww, she is European! And in the past, it was the opposite, and everyone wanted to be American. I didn’t want to be Hungarian or Austrian. All my parents’ friends were from Austria, and I didn’t even want to stay at home when they had people over! I wanted to be American, and I would get out of the house and go out with my American friends. And it’s so different now!

Talking about her divorced son and his interactions with his children:

— He is so frustrated that he doesn’t see them enough and isn’t building relationships with them. When we were young, there was no such thing. You were not supposed to be friends with your kids. Now, my daughter and her daughter are friends. And when we were young, it was not even a question. Kids were supposed to do what their parents tell them, have good grades, and stay out of trouble. And nobody even thought of building relationships!

Just to be clear, she doesn’t think it’s a bad thing that kids are friends with their parents nowadays. She likes it, but she sees this difference, and I think it’s commendable that she sees it as a positive thing.

***

Talking with my other friend, whose daughter went to college in one of the Southern States.

— She is telling me: mom, the other girls arrived, and they all look the same! Like twins! All the same white blondes. You know how she’s used to seeing all different faces at her high school, and now she is: where is diversity?!

***

Having a conversation at work in the cafeteria. One of my co-workers wants to downsize after the last child departs for college, and reasons that he has very few options since he lives by the lake. I nod energetically, but two of our other co-workers who do not live by the lake are mildly puzzled.

— What do you mean? You mean, you have a good view?

— No, he means “living by the lake!”

— So the air? The climate? Is it better?

— No, it’s not about it. It’s “living by the lake.” It’s a thing!

My co-worker nods:

— Yes, once you lived by the lake, it’s non-negotiable.