We’re just finishing up the holiday weekend, which all felt a bit freeform this year. But I’m hugely grateful to have had 4 days off work in a row, it was very restorative! I didn’t post last week so I’ll start with some photos from then.
Our animal sightings have been less about new animals and more about slightly different animal behavior. These ducks were pretty funny when we saw them by the lagoon – mom duck with the ducklings, then right around the corner this group of dude ducks hanging out!
We had some restrictions ease about 2 weeks ago that have been pretty fun. First, the 606 and the lakefront trails are opened back up for recreation purposes (no hanging around allowed!) and a measure went through that allows bars and restaurants to sell takeout cocktails. We got right on these developments by taking “walktails” or walking to a bar, getting the takeout cocktail and then walking home on the 606 with it. Very pleasant! Our favorite place so far has been the Chef’s Special on Western.
Another real treat this summer has been the firefly population. It seems bigger than usual? Or are we just spending more time outdoors and noticing things like this? We’ve also noticed a lot of dragonflies, in fact today we saw the barn swallows in Humboldt Park really chasing the dragonflies around. More animals with some new (to us) behavior! Here’s a video of fireflies in the park as we walked home from a walktails evening: https://youtu.be/EJFvZYzHd_s. You kinda have to look close but there are so many lights turning on then off in the dark grass.
Our farmer’s markets didn’t open as early as usual this year, but we’ve been able to place orders online then go to a pickup place and get the order from the truck. We’ve done this a few times, including last weekend when I got a bit overconfident about how many greens we could eat in a week and ordered a “small greens box.” You can see all the produce that arrived – it was a challenge alright! We had a lot of salads and some Aussie style corn fritters with a salsa.
John and his friend Curt took advantage of the lakefront trail being open and cycled to Whiting, Indiana, this weekend.
As mentioned, I am finishing up 4 days off work – I took Thursday off work and Friday was the official day the 4th of July was celebrated on, since the 4th fell on a Saturday this year. “Celebrate” doesn’t feel like the right word – while I’m sure there is exuberance out there (?) about freedom etc., the reality was that the big city firework displays were all cancelled and it isn’t safe for large gatherings. And then there’s the headier question of what exactly are we celebrating? But if you forget the celebrate part and just focus on having a good bank holiday weekend, it was really nice. We went over to our friend Cary’s rooftop on Thursday night for drinks, then to friends Lisa and Glenn’s rooftop for an amazing dinner on Saturday night. Both nights had amateur but amazing fireworks everywhere and a full moon! Forgive the lameness of the photos… moon, view and fireworks were much more up close in real life. Oh and it’s really funny after getting used to fireworks being held at a certain time, to see an evening when they are just going off whenever. You never know where in the evening you are!
On our way to Lisa and Glenn’s, we walked through Wicker Park and saw that Charles Wicker himself is wearing a mask. Actually it’s a Cubs scarf, but well done, Charles.
Today is pretty warm but we decided to take a walk over to the park anyway. There are so many monarch butterflies around, both at our house and at the park, and this one posed for us while drinking from a milkweed plant. Also below, a buttonbush plant (thought it would be a good companion to the bottle brush tree in Sydney!) and a couple of pics from our front garden area. I’m really impressed at how well our plants are doing with very little care needed. That was the goal!
But the real attraction at the park today was the music set up. There’s often a few musicians playing Caribbean music, with an audience sitting spread all around in the nearby shade. I took a video from right there, where you can (kinda) see the musicians, and also from the boathouse, where you can hear but not see them. Enjoy!
The walktails; rooftop catch ups and music in the park all seem like great activities for a long weekend! Glad you enjoyed the break from work!
Nice holiday weekend in Chicago! It looks like such a great place to be, with walktails, nature observations, and a full moon seen from a rooftop.