Day 79: Chicago Ellipses

In front of the Gehry pavillion, Chicago 2004

In 2004 Rob, James and I headed to North America - a trip to Chicago, Ottawa and Vancouver. First stop was Chicago for the Annual Am Pol Sci Conference. It was our first visit to that city and we all loved it; I've been fortunate to go back a few more times since then for conferences including with Cazy, and have enjoyed catching up with many of my university friends there including, Fiona, Georgina, Laurel, Karen, Carol, Sabine, Elisabeth and others. Every time I discover something new. I've experienced its baking heat, but not braved a winter trip yet.

Chicago's restaurants are superb - Karen and Laurel organised a meal at Balena one night - fabulous! It's architecture is second to none, as is its public art. Anish Kapoor's wonderful 'Cloud Gate' is a masterpiece, as is the Frank Gehry pavilion behind it.

On this day, James was enjoying running around
the cloud watching his reflection, when he bumped into a young girl his age, with whom he instantly made friends. It was a delightful encounter that we were lucky to catch on camera.

Across the road from here I found my souvenir earrings for this trip, a pair of silver ellipses with a translucent soft pink squares attached. (Rob also purchased a souvenir, a tea cup based on a Frank Lloyd Wright design, which sadly no longer exists). I've not worn these earrings for ages. They are a bit battered now, but it was nice to give them a polish and an outing today after a long stint at the back of the jewellry box, bringing back these happy memories.

Day 79 started with another headache, which cleared after a nice walk around the park with Robbie, Angus and Molly. I dropped Angus to his friend Cohen's s house for a play and had a brief but lovely catch up with Kathryn, Cohen's mum, who has been such a support to us taking care of Angus at crucial moments during this treatment process.

I came home to a visit from darling Lizzie who bought me a selection of the most delicious cakes and a divine bunch of peonies. She knows these have such significance for me - and goodness knows where she found them in April! It was great to catch up. I had a very quiet afternoon resting and I was spoilt again by Robbie who made me the cauliflower soup I've been hankering for. Super food from a Super man! James is enjoying some holiday time with the other Amigos at Cazy's, so we've enjoyed one-on-one time with Angus. Making very slow progress with my new puzzle!