Category: everyday life

Lyric Opera Season Preview

That was the event where I lost my phone for 20 minutes! As a subscriber, I had an invitation to the Lyric season preview, to which I planned to go with one of my friends, who canceled at the last minute. I thought I would still go, although I already knew what would be performed during the season, and I had already renewed my subscription. Still, I thought it would not be bad to attend; after all, the Lyric Opera House is just two blocks away from my office.

Then I looked at the email with the event details and saw that they would have a reception from six to seven, and decided to come earlier to get some fine bites.

I was glad I went, because everything looked very festive, and the snacks and desserts were delicious, and then I found that there was not only complimentary wine, but complimentary tea and coffee as well. And five minutes later, I realized that I didn’t have my phone on me, which meant that I had nothing literally!

During the next twenty minutes, I deeply regretted going, and was trying to figure out how I could restore my life (I have my State ID and my physical card in the phone case, and I wouldn’t be even able to get home!

Fortunately, the phone was found and returned to me twenty minutes later, but those were very miserable and scary 20 minutes!

Another Concert With Mom

I think I will stop taking my mom to the concerts :). On Sunday, I took her for another one, this one was at the CheckOut, a new venue relatively close to where I live. I’ve been there several times, both on my own and with my mom. She is always complaining that the sound is not good enough, and the venue allows her to be super-close to the performer, and see and hear everything.

To be quite honest, this concert was a disappointment for me. To put it politely, it looked like the performer used to be an excellent piano player many years ago, and now is rapidly losing it.

I know that this can happen even with the most outsatnding musicians. I will never forget how I went to listen to Van Clyborn concert at Ravinia many years ago, and he was not even that old, but it was a micerable experience.

My mom didn’t get what was going on, but she was saying that “the movements of his hands were not in sync with the sound,” which was totally her imagination and that “it was bum-bum-all the same over and over,” which was also not exactly the case.

I have another pair of tickets for both of us for the concert on May 3, but I looked at the program and at the performers and realized that it wil be another “what is his national origin,” situation, so most likely I will return these tickets. Actually, than was a replacement for the concert which I could not attend because of my travels, and I knew it won’t be an adequate one, so I do not have big regrets!

Sunday

I will be honest, there are multiple stress factors in my life these days, and I am not always in my usual calm mode, so I can’t always enjoy my weekend mornings. On Sunday, I knew that there was no way for me to finish everything I planned, or rather, I wished I could accomplish (since I knew there was not enough time, those were wishes, not plans).

Still, the early morning sun was there, and this morning light is so perfect – it blows my mind eash and single time! Blessed mornings!

A new sculptural composition in place of the previous bronze horseman
As much as I love my Charmers Cafe, since I learned how to make cappuccino at home, more often than not, I have Sunday breakfast at home (partially because they are not open on Sundays until 8 AM, and I can’t wait that long!)

Just 30 minutes ago…

I lost my phone, and, as Boris says, I entrusted everything to it. And I had horrible 20 minutes until it was found, and now I am trying to get back to enjoying the event where I lost it!

I am happy that it was found before the program started!!!!

Signs Of Spring

1.

I saw people at all the beaches last Sunday while my mom and I were in an Uber on our way to the CSO concert. Not only were each beach we passed filled with people, but I swear that each piece of concrete which was close enough to the lake had at least one person sitting on it :).

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to go to the beach on Sunday, but on Monday, when I was walking from my mom’s house to my house, I stopped at Loyola Leone beach and touched the water for the first time this season 🙂

2.

Everything is on bloom along the Lakefront Trial

3.

Peach blossoms delivered with my CSA box

4.

Also, today was Earth Day. Last year, the weather on this day was very gloomy and wet, and also, it was too close to the conference, so I ended up not doing any community cleanup. This year, I saw a workday at the Leone Beach Nature Area. Sensing that it might be one of the very few opportunities for me to do something nature-related, I signed up.

We put new mulch over the pedestrian paths. I didn’t have time to take a picture while we were working, but I took one when I walked to my mom’s house later today.

Seen On The Lake Red Line Station

A middle-aged white man with a ponytail was playing a guitar and singing on the platform. I always appreciate it when street performers do not use amplifiers or recorded accompaniment, so I reached into my backpack for a dollar bill.

Only then did I read a sign attached to his bag: No Tips Please.

***

Yesterday, I stopped by my mom’s to tell you about my second cousin’s death. I sort of expected the reaction that followed, but still, given how she always tells us how nervous she gets when she doesn’t hear from someone and how we should keep her informed, it’s a bit inconsistent.

She made sure she understood me correctly, asking me to repeat who died. I told her that yes, David Raskin had passed away, and we were not informed. She said: Well, Alla (his widow) could have sent me an email! I told her that Alla was found unconscious on the floor and was taken to a hospital, to a cardio clinic, and she didn’t even ask how Alla was. Neither did she ask when exactly David passed away, nor what the cause of death was. She was just very sad, he was the last relative, but oh well, what happened can’t be changed. Now, can you look at this message on my phone?

The situation in Russia is pretty hopeless because there are people whose only goal is to find out how each situation could benefit them, and they do not care about other people, other people’s feelings, preserving memories, or pretty much anything except their own gains. The only thing I was able to negotiate was “putting aside papers that look old.” I will try to put together a list of things that I want to keep, if possible, but I have no idea whether I will be able to take anything away.

Sunday

There was one more CSO concert on Sunday, the one where I took my mom. I used to purchase a separate matinee subscription for her, but I know that no matter what she says, it is becoming difficult for her to attend the events often. Besides, to be completely honest, going with her is not more entertainment for me, but a difficult job.

She used to enjoy the music, but now she always says that she was looking at the musician’s hands rather than listening, and I feel a little bit resentful spending money on the tickets when she is not really engaging in the show. That would be OK, as long as she’s saying she enjoys time with me, but also, she keeps saying unpleasant things about everyone: a conductor, musicians, patrons, and staff. She recognizes many musicians, and she has some opinions on their character, which I have no idea how she got. Most frequently it’s “he always thinks too high of himself, he likes to show off: look at me, I am so great!” I think that most likely it’s because when she sees people on the stage smiling, she does not understand why 🤷🏻‍♀️. She also comments on everyone clothing, body sizes, hairstyles, etc, and always asks “what is the nationality of this artist,” and get upset when I tell her I have no idea.

The concert was very good, and I hoped that the program which contained several smaller pieces will be better for her to stay focused. Unfortunatley, the seats I got where on the side, rather than in the center, so she had trouble capturing the sound, and also she could not see the musicians hands, so she didn’t like it that much. She could see the conductor, which partially compensated for the rest 🙂 .

Nadia And Kira In Chicago

On Friday, I left work earlier to take a train to Milwaukee to pick up Nadia and Kira. I planned to work on the train and at Anna’s house so that I wouldn’t miss more work, but when I walked out of the office and looked at my phone, I saw the email notifying me about the death of my second cousin, and then I had to make calls, send emails, and just process what had happened. And then I had to switch gears completely and be present for the girls.

It was a very good visit. I am glad that I left early and we could take Borealis back; this way, the girls were not super tired when we arrived home, and there were no unnecessary fights.

We had ice cream before bed, breakfast sandwiches in the morning, and then went to the CSO for Kids concert. This time, it was “The Bremen Town Musicians.” I hope that they record these kids’ shows, where the 45 minutes are packed with classical pieces in an amazingly dense manner. The music from the recording below is played in the beginning of each concert, and after a couple of repetitions, the kids know it by heart.

Anna arrived and met us after the concert. We went to Lea Cafe for lunch (I am so glad everyone likes it the way I do!).

Then we headed back to Rogers Park. The girls and I went straight to the beach, and Anna went to my mom’s house, and then they met us there.

Going to the beach playground was a great idea! The girls took all the sand toys from my house and built sand castles.

Being by the lake felt so good, and it felt like summer would actually happen (you might start to doubt the latter one!). Nadia went close to the water almost immediately and stayed there looking at the horizon. Then both of the girls took their boots off and said that they wanted to feel the sand with their feet. It was far from being warm on Saturday, and I could not imagine how one could feel “good” being barefoot in this weather, but they apparently enjoyed it!

That was the highligh of my weekend, the rest was my endless community work and coming to terms with a loss.

Everything Happens For A Reason

When I go to early morning escorting shifts, I leave the house at 5:50 – 5:55, so that I am on the train at 6 AM, but on Friday, I left the house just five minutes later and had to wait for the next train.

Also, my pro-choice buttons are always pinned to my escorting vest, because otherwise, I often forget them. On Friday, I just pulled my pink vest out of the closet to tuck it into my backpack when I remembered that we are now supposed to wear rainbow vests on weekdays, and the pink ones – only on Saturdays. I unpinned my buttons from the pink vest and almost put them in the pocket, but since I wore a hoodie with very wide-open pockets, I thought they could fall out, so I decided to pin them to the front of my hoodie (just until I get to a clinic).

So I walked on the CTA platform with my buttons pinned at my breast, and with the train just left, and slowly walked to the front. There was a young woman, also staying at the front, who passed me to throw away a can, then passed me again and asked, “Excuse me, can I ask you something?” I saw your buttons. Do you have anything to do with clinic escorts? And I replied: Yes, I am one of them! And I am going to the escort shift right now. And then she asked: ” How can I join clinic escorts? I wanted to do this for years, but I didn’t know how!” I told her: You need to go through the training, and then you can sign up for shifts. But before I connect you to our team leader, let’s talk!

She was a teacher, and she taught in Chinatown, so until I got off at Lake, we talked non-stop. She kept saying: I am so glad I asked! And I kept saying: I am so glad I had my buttons on, once in a year! We’ve exchanged emails, and I introduced her to our team lead, and she signed up for training. I hope she will be a good addition to our team!

But what were the odds?!!