Chicago tips

Now You Can Check Out ChicagoTips On Amazon Kindle

books, nepotism

Do you all know about the Kindle?  It's a new device, an electronic book developed by Amazon that enables one to download from among 90,000 published books;  also selected newspapers, magazines and blogs.  Store up to 200 books at a time on Kindle...even more with an external memory card.

ChicagoTips http://chicagotips.com is right there for you to subscribe to for 99 cents a month.  That means you can even take us traveling with you as well as all those books you've been wanting to read.  It's a chance to choose among them at your leisure.  Bestsellers are $9.99 or less;  older  books  even less. 

The Kindle is 7.5" x 5.3" x 0.7" and weighs 10.3 ounces; see the cool shot of the latter measurement above right, courtesy Amazon.

We Took A Wiggly Baby To The Beach

nepotism

My daughter-in-law Valeria, originally from Argentina is a truly dedicated beach person.  She and our son Dan and their 6 month old daughter Simona visited us this past week in "Harbor Country" (Mich.).  I could hardly believe their plan to take Simona to that  super sandy beach but Valeria's an architect so she devised a dug out seat  for S to sit in where she could see all the action.

The weather there as here was pretty awful punctuated by rain almost every day but our visiting trio pulled off two enjoyable days this way.  Since Simona doesn't walk yet, she was perfectly content to snooze under her beach umbrella (spf 30) and drink milk.  One day they stayed for hours in great comfort, Dan able to swim vast distances with the women happily ensconced in their makeshift refuge.

Here's Valeria with her contoured creation and the family just messing around.

A Serendipitous Yield From A Traffic Jam

art, nepotism

Despite the fact that we've lived in the city for a very long time, my husband and I have finally had to face one of life's grimmer realities, the commuter traffic jam.

On summer weekends we generally travel an hour and 45 minutes to southwest Michigan or "Harbor Country", as it is dubbed by local chambers of commerce.  Recently we decided to return to town on a Sunday evening instead of our usual Monday morning, but to our dismay the construction backup began not too far west of Gary.  We decided to take highways 12 and 20, then 41 to avoid the horrors of interstate 90.  It wasn't too bad,  and then the sun began to set, relieving our strained eyes from its' glare.  We exclaimed anew as we found ourselves stuck once again as a dark vintage iron bridge began to rise,  permitting a boat to pass.

What a boat!  It was enormous, old, long and bulky and sported a huge crain on its' deck.  Other inconvenienced motorists joined us, all in awe at its' majesty.

I believe it was called the Mariner but I'm not sure.  However, if you're coming back to Chicago some summer evening from the east, try that route.  You might see something else intriguing, who knows.

Simona Is 5 Days Old Today

nepotism

You might (or might not) be interested to know that my ONLY grandaughter arrived on earth just 5 days ago.  She lives with my son Dan and his wife Valeria in Spanish Harlem in NYC  and will soon be moving to Brooklyn where she can avail herself of long buggy rides in nearby Frederick Olmstead-designed Prospect Park.  In the summer there are boat rides and I'm sure she'll love those, especially.

Yesterday I spotted a small rabbit in our city yard and wondered if I shouldn't forego my plans for rabbit stew and instead try to capture a small creature for Simona to keep in HER yard.  I'll bet airlines permit rabbits and we've got plenty here to share with the folks in the Big Apple.

Home For Thanksgiving

nepotism

Our family is still growing and so are their appetites so I've decided to take a break til early next week.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

chicagoTips Takes A Vacation nepotism

Recently chicagoTips, needing a break from the weather, took a vacation with the Sierra Club which sponsored a trip for grandchildren and grandparents only.  Their first lodge, built by volunteers in the 1930s is well located for summer hikes and other child-friendly activities and is in the Donner Pass area of California.

Here you may view 1) sand architecture at Donner Lake by designers Owen Freed, right in the photo on the left and Lucas Manning, and 2) Henry Freed on his first solo kayak voyage at the same location.