When we fell asleep last night after an evening with friends at one of the in-home-get-togethers that are staples of Chicago’s winters because it’s too damn cold too fool with a bar and you really just want to sit up in someone’s living room drinking rich red wine and vodka tonics with a hot pizza on the way, we knew we would wake to a blanket of snow over our fine city.
The City of Big Shoulders hasn’t seen snow in nine months, a shock, I imagine, to some of you who think Chicago is all slush and shivers. No flakes here, not since the end of February.
I had a dream on Thursday night that I was forced to pack up and leave Chicago for the Bay Area, where the Mister and I lived for two years before returning here. I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the most terrifying nighttime reveries I have had in recent memory and that I woke, dazed, bewildered, and shocked to find myself firmly tucked into a cozy bed in a cave-like bedroom in an apartment in the best city on earth. I went through all of Friday with Chicago and my love for it on my mind. We have our problems and some of them are huge, massive. But I can’t imagine being anywhere else. So, as you may have guessed, the snow bothers me not one iota.
It certainly doesn’t irritate the pup, who got up and went straight to the front window, as is his habit most mornings. Only this time he stayed for a very long while, watching the snow fall and keeping an eye on the man with the shovel next door. Every now and then he would grunt and emit a low growl, a warning for that man not to step over the property line because of course, in a doggie mind, that step means he will come into the apartment and kill us all. He was ecstatic on our morning walk, making a trail of both paw and snout prints as he ate a path up the block.
We’ll head back out this afternoon, maybe for a long walk in Humboldt Park, crazy gorgeous with white snow everywhere. I can’t wait.
For now, it’s time to battle the unplowed sidestreets to pick up Aziza for a trip to IKEA. I’ve got a short list that includes a shower curtain and new paneling for our bedroom wall and possibly some simple pothos plants to fill the empty pots I’ve been amassing for Christmas gifts.
Is it snowing where you are? Hate it or love it?
Have a great weekend!
