Memorial Day at the Beach (And thank heavens there is a beach!)

Here in Chicagoland, this has been a colder spring than usual – so I am told. Thus I was thrilled to find out that we’d have a sunny, clear, thunderstorm-free Memorial Day of 91 degrees. Yahoo!

Of course, 91 degrees is HOT. And what does any sane person want to do on a day such as this? Go to the beach, of course. Now, I’ve lived on the West Coast and on the East Coast and so the beach is a viable option in either of those places. But now I live in the Mid-west, nowhere near an ocean. But to my very pleasant surprise, the shores of Lake Michigan feel very much like an ocean. You can look out at the water and see no signs of land, so far and vast is this expansive lake. Up to this point, however, I’ve only seen Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. And while the waterfront is beautiful, it’s no beach. There isn’t a sandy spread to lay out a beach towel and an umbrella.

But the locals informed me that if one moves beyond Grant Park, you can indeed find sandy beaches downtown. And, in the northern suburbs, there are some amazing beaches. So James and I decided to go check out the beaches in Evanston. This is a great town north of Chicago, where Northwestern is located. It has great shops, restaurants, parks, bookstores, and, beaches. James and I were thrilled as we strolled the paths along the water…and the beaches were hopping for Memorial Day! Volleyball, massive family BBQ’s, sandcastles, soccer, ice cream, and everything that makes for a good summer day.

So my plan is this…hit the beaches as many times as possible this summer, to store up on some Chicago lovin’ before I hit the winter again. Because man, I really hate the winters here. But I do love beaches, and Chicago, it turns out, has a lot of them. Thank heavens.

A blustery weekend in Chicago

Well, it is mid-May and our temperatures this past week have been extreme. It was 88 degrees Wednesday and 85 degrees Tuesday—and our house was about 83 degrees inside. Not comfortable to sleep in! So we turned on the AC, and assumed that we’d finally turned the corner towards spring weather.

Then our good friends, Ben and Karen, arrived late Thursday night and stayed with us for the day on Friday. We had tickets to the Cubs game, and thought it was supposed to be around 72 degrees. We knew it might rain, but thought it would be warm so we dressed for warm weather. And it seemed as soon as we sat down at the game, the wind started howling and the temperature dropped 20 degrees. And we could literally see clouds being swept through the stadium by the wind – BRRR!!!

Ben heroically tracked down a starbucks not far from the stadium and brought back Hot Cocoas, which kept me going until about the fifth inning. Karen and I stuck it out until the 6^th inning, and then we took off to warm up in the Starbucks. But we had fun nonetheless, and the Cubs won! Thanks for coming to stay with us B & K – way too short, but sweet!

Then today James had his half marathon in Chicago on the waterfront. Well, let’s just say that after two minutes out of the parking garage and walking through the rain and wind, we were both ready to turn around and go back home. But James persevered, and so did 3500 other runners. It really could not have been worse weather for a run this time of year – about 45 degrees, fierce wind, pelting rain…miserable. Most of the run went right along the Lake Michigan seawall, and James said that the waves crashing into the walls were being drawn up by the wind to douse the already soaked runners. I cheered him on at the start, and then took my numb body to a coffee shop to wait it out until the end. I caught him at the finish line, and was so proud of him for finishing. James has done two full marathons, but I think this half-marathon was just as much a challenge because of the nasty weather. So well done James!

And can I just say that I am not impressed with Chicago weather yet? After a freezing, long winter I was hoping for a lovely spring. Well, that hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully the Chicago summer can win me over!

Easter

This marked our first Easter in Illinois, and James and I kept with our tradition of inviting a rather eclectic group over to our house for Easter brunch. We both feel like Easter is an excellent time to open your home to old and new friends, an opportunity for us all to share together in the joy of the glory of our risen Lord.

This was also a very special Easter for James and me, because we became members at Church of the Resurrection. We went through the Core class to become members (which involves three 4-hour sessions, plus an all-day retreat), and then we were confirmed as members during the Saturday night Easter Vigil. I am really glad we decided to become members during the Easter vigil, because it is an amazing service of worship and praise. It starts at 7:00pm and doesn’t end until after 11:00pm, but the time flies! A few weeks later when our bishop was in town, James and I were then confirmed into the Anglican Church. We are looking forward to getting more involved with church this upcoming year, and to continue meeting new people.

Easter was always a really special holiday for my family, with lots of fun traditions. It has been difficult to not get to spend it with family the last 4 years, but it has also been a real blessing to spend it with new friends and to create our own traditions.