wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

We were on the road again to Chicago to babysit our little grandson while his parents attended a wedding and to visit with our daughters and sons-in-law. The skies were cloudy as we headed west, it rained, and I swear whenever we cross the border into Indiana, truck traffic increases. They appear out of nowhere. Once we got to Indianapolis, the rain stopped and it was smooth sailing to the Windy City.

A couple weeks before we left for Chicago, I read about a Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. My daughter bought the tickets and as a Chicago resident, she gets a discounted rate. On top of that, she used senior discounts for Todd and me, and for admission to the museum and for entrance to the Frida Kahlo exhibit, it cost $38.00 for the two of us. 

After viewing the Frida Kahlo exhibit, my daughter wanted to see the Van Gogh art, I wanted to see the Chagall windows, and Todd wanted to see the replica of the Chicago Board of Trade trading floor. We all got our wishes and a bonus was seeing the prototype for Alexander Calder's "Flamingo." The actual 53' statue stands in Chicago's Federal Plaza. 

Historic Route 66 begins right across the street from the Art Institute. Todd and I have talked about driving this iconic road to Santa Monica, exploring American history and culture and stopping at National Parks to get our Parks passport stamped.

Our little grandson wasn't feeling very well (cold and ear infection). We played with him, sang songs, turned on "Mickey Mouse," but nothing made him happy. We put him in his stroller and took several walks all around his neighborhood. One walk took us to Humboldt Park, a 200 acre green space, and we walked around part of its perimeter. Little guy was happy. Fresh air and sunshine do wonders.

Made some more pickles. For last night's dinner I put together a salad with lots of veggies and used some of those vegetables for this new batch. Cauliflower, red onion, cucumbers, red and orange peppers, and carrots will be ready for snacking in a couple days!