This extended holiday period has given me some time to relax a
little and wander around our neighborhood with my eyes open rather than
being on a specific mission. So I went for a little jaunt on this
extremely cold afternoon - much colder than yesterday even. Those
crazy swimmers from yesterday would surely have had second thoughts.....
The creativity (and probably desperation these days) of the retail
industry is infinite - so our local ice cream parlor, Bobtail, had this
rather forlorn injunction on their window above this afternoon. Didn't
work for me - didn't try.
We have the delightful original Pastoral (left) near by as well. This has been a runaway success and they just opened their third outlet before Christmas, in the West Loop. They had the courtesy to open their second just opposite the COT offices two years ago and are kind enough to provide auction items for our annual fundraiser. So they are good friends and you will not regret it if you patronize them.
My day had begun with a terrific brunch with my first greatly respected Board president Dotty Walton. She served in this position for ten years, was responsible for inviting me to Chicago in 1999, and did a fantastic job during those days of transition as we became of age and moved into the Harris Theater in 2004. She is a Vice President at Northern Trust and we still have our Board meetings there thanks to their considerable generosity. We went with her dear friend Bud Dobbins to the excellent Wilde (yes, as in Oscar) a couple of blocks north on Broadway. Bud had an enormous Irish breakfast identical (including the black pudding) to the one my Dublin landlady produced for me every morning during my first year at Trinity College Dublin 50 years ago!
I eventually wandered home as the light was fading at which point Broadway's illuminations come on. Below you see the corner at Oakdale where there is a colorful group of commercial outlets......
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