In which we grasp at "summer"

I accept that I will never cease to be amazed at how quickly time goes. Whoosh! There it goes again!
"Summer," that word that used to mean an endless string of lazy days and of mini golf and ice cream and the beach and sunscreen and bare feet and nothing in particular that had to be done -- well that word now seems to mean something entirely different. Something too much like more of the same but with hotter weather.

We've done what we could to make it mean vacation and family. Dean and I took a trip to Chicago to visit with some of my family and see the sights and enjoy each other's company (poor Ken had to work).

(Chicagoans call it "The Bean" but the artist called it "Cloud Gate.")

And real cloud gates! Our gorgeous view one morning from the top of the John Hancock Tower, when the clouds descended to street level and showed us a sea of buildings, bobbing up above the surface.

I'm sorry, but there IS no better place in all the world to watch a major league baseball game than Wrigley Field. We call it The Friendly Confines for good reason -- this gem of a ballpark fills, on a weekday (and every day) for a team that hasn't won The Series in, um, a while (OK, 102 years but who's counting?). It fills with fans who share the love, even with fans from the opposing team (I can tell you that you do NOT want to openly express support for the opposing team when you're at Fenway here in Boston.) Not an inappropriate word was said within our earshot (again, a refreshing change from Fenway) and no, we didn't really care that our Cubbies didn't win (not too much).

(Behind Dean, up at street level across the river, they were filming Transformers III.)

I am very happy when I am home. In Chicago. No matter how much changes, I still know this place as I know no other place.

And this past weekend our niece was married. I took a gazillion pictures, but I'll share this one for now -- they got married on the grounds of a golf club and here you see them having fun with their photographer. It was an intense, emotional day; Lori was missing in person but entirely there in spirit.
We thoroughly enjoyed the day, which couldn't have been more ideal -- low 70s, sea breeze, abundant sunshine. Seeing all our friends and relations for a happy occasion was cathartic, even though we all had to choke back tears from time to time.

For now I simply leave you with this incredibly good piece of advice, courtesy of Lincoln Park Zoo. Natalie has me hungry for a road trip which is an entirely different and wonderful kind of summer phrase; we just might have something up our sleeves (if we had any) in that regard.