We usually keep focused on the bigger picture here but I have to share that I went swimming tonight and shared a lane with a swimmer who made such a splash and left such a wake that it was like sharing a lane with Neptune and his team of white horses. Lots happening here since we returned from Merida! Within a few days, I’d been so looking forward to Mildred visiting, so it was quite a drag to wake up sick the morning she was due to arrive. Terrible timing. Mildred and I met in the summer of 1988 when…

Funny that c&c down under readers should ask how the other two kennymen are doing, we had a report lined up from miles. Portland got its biggest snowfall in 80 years last week, and everything closed. Everything! Including Miles’s college and work. And far away in Merida, we had our last night out. We went back to a place we’d really enjoyed during the week and ordered the mahi mahi tartare – which was amazing but was dressed up slightly differently. And I had a tuna salad that was like a yucatecan take on a nicoise. yummm. Then we went…

As mentioned in the last post, after happy hour on the patio (it can be hard to distinguish between the many happy hours on the patio, but in this one I had a locally made kombucha!) we went to Catrin on Wednesday night and enjoyed the outdoor patio with animated light show on the back wall. Delightful! Walking home through the grand plaza that is really the heart of the city, we came upon a very lively charitable event. The big checks being awarded to local hospitals was a tip off! Another evening we ate at a very nice restaurant…

We took a bus from Cancun airport to Merida last Thursday, which was a very pleasant 4.5 hour trip. Super relaxing and comfortable! We checked into our Airbnb and have been enjoying this peaceful and relaxing spot ever since. We’re staying in a traditional style home in the Centro, or city center. The neighborhood is called San Juan, and here are some views from walks we’ve taken. The house is so modest on the outside and so much more in the inside! We’re always amazed by this contrast in Merida. The lots are very deep, so there’s a really small…

The nice thing about February in Chicago is that it’s really easy to catch sunrise and sunset- at about 7 am and 5pm, these are times when one can be up or heads up from work and noticing these things! Here’s a nice sunset in the park. Then, sacrificing much midwestern winter beauty, we returned to Cancun. John’s company conference was in the same resort as last year, but different building on the opposite side of the water park. Lovely setting, and we really knew the place right from the go this time!

Very excited to post beach photos now, and I’m including coastlines even if I didn’t swim there. Sounds like this librarian is comfortable establishing category rules then ignoring them! In date visited order, not much can top a Christmas Day swim at maroubra beach! Lifeguards in Santa hats and perfect water and sand for jumping in the waves. Then, the next day we went on a bush walk with Peter and Susie and finished with a swim at little congwong beach. That water was absolutely perfect for swimming – calm and just a bit cool. The trip that Colette, Rory…

On to describe swims I had in the rock pools category! A couple of things to note: kudos to the writers of Ocean Pools. (Thanks to Colette for sharing this link, very much wish I could see the exhibit at Clovelly!) I’m already finding that it’s tricky to sort through photos of water and pools and keep them all straight! Also, my analysis of rock pools is not going to include a ranked list, for a couple of reasons. I only swam in 4 somehow? and I already decided to put Bondi in the “laps” category (because my swim there…

The Carpe swim club met today for a winter swim at the Hotel Intercontintal on Michigan Avenue. The Fitness Center floor there is really lovely, and we were able to swim laps and do a bit of hanging out in the “junior olympic” sized pool. And afterwards we had some good chaise longue time where we discussed the kinds of topics that in summer we’d cover on the beach: local politics, TV shows, and recent adventures. So, to expand on some of our recent adventures, Colette and John have done such a thorough job of detailing our trip to Australia,…

Friday morning we got a glimpse that the sun is still out there! Then got some more snow. It hasn’t snowed much this winter, with just a barely 2 inches by the end of today. The park was very pretty with a lot of soft gray in the sky and on the frozen lagoon this afternoon. Other weekend highlights included dinner Friday at Big Star Mariscos (new version of the taco place in wicker park, focusing on fish), going to a mayoral candidate forum on transportation and having dinner out with friends on Saturday. Ironically we got ghosted by the…

Last week we saw an art exhibit called Exact Dutch Yellow at the cultural center – twice! The second time was during a musical performance by two cellists. The show explored color as shown through light and also pigments, and it also referenced some historical documents on how to describe color in nature. It was interesting to photograph too since the colors produced by light were captured differently on camera. The dusky photo showed up a vibrant blue at first, then I did an on site color correction to get it to match what I was seeing. Also at the…