Yoga in the Park

I don’t “do” hot weather. Or sunshine for that matter.

The feeling of sweating just drives me nuts. To me, it's like scraping your nails on a chalk board. I really despise it. It's weird, I know.

So, it was really noteworthy that Miss Healthypants talked me into attending an outdoor yoga session at Millennium Park this morning.

Every Saturday morning at 8:00 am during the summer, there’s a free yoga session that takes place in front of the band shell. It truly is a beautiful setting, surrounded by Chicago’s skyline. I used to be “in” to yoga so it’s not unfamiliar to me and I’m still pretty bendy.

But I was hesitant to do this because it was supposed to be pretty hot today -- and I don’t “do” hot weather, remember? But MHP is pretty persuasive and knows which buttons to push.

So, I got up at 7:00 am this morning -- on a Saturday, mind you -- and met up with the ever so chipper MHP. It was already pretty warm.

We arrived at the yoga place and placed our mats down among the people. I’d say there were about two hundred folks there and the surroundings really were pretty incredible.

Here, take a look:



See? Did you notice all that dreadful sunshine?

I lasted about 30 minutes which was pretty good, I’d say. The sun was really beating down by then and the instructor favored the Downward Dog position way too much -- a position that is exceedingly difficult when one has really thin wrists and is a bit overweight.

MHP stayed until the bitter end and then even did their session of outdoor pilates. See? Healthypants.

Meanwhile, I slinked home in the comfort of an air-conditioned Taxi of Shame.

Skaters

Look at all the gleeful, happy skaters down at Millennium park.

I was going to take a late lunch hour and get some skating in. Then my Outlook Calendar chimed, reminding me that I had to attend a webinar.

Sigh . . .

Only Two More Days

Only two more days until the ice rink at Millennium Park opens up.

I am SO excited. I feel like a little kid again.

I went down there on my lunch hour and snapped these photos of the glistening, virgin ice, all ready and waiting for me.

Here is a view of the office building where I work, gleaming in the winter sunlight.

And look at this. The logo for Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympics is embedded in the ice.

I'll feel just like Brian Boitano!

Snow

It snowed last night.

During lunch at the conference in Effingham yesterday (which is 210 miles south of Chicago), they announced that the afternoon session at 3:00 pm was cancelled so that everyone from Chicago could get on the road early. Three-to-five inches of snow was in the forecast.

I took that as my cue to leave right then. I was sort of conferenced-out and the last thing I needed was to be ensnarled in traffic trying to get into the city.

Turns out, that was a good instinct. I made it back just as the snow was beginning to fall.
Ensnarling was ensuing.

Here's a pic of Chicago from today's news.
See? Snow.

It snowed most of the night. The Balcony of Terror now looks like a big, white mushroom cap.

I have to admit that I really love winter. Even in Chicago.

The only outdoor activity I actually enjoy is ice skating. I really love it. While I was in Seattle, The Neighbor thought it a bit strange that someone from Texas enjoyed ice skating so much.

It’s because I am from Texas that I enjoy it. It’s the only outdoor activity I can engage in where I can be assured of not getting hot. Getting hot, getting sweaty just goes against everything in my entire being.

Besides, I really need to lose some weight which, apparently, can only be done by getting off of one's backside. According to leading fitness experts, eating Chee-tohs and watching Judge Judy after work is a highly ineffective means of weight loss.

I’ve learned that I won’t go to the gym. There’s the danger of getting hot and there’s also the danger that someone might look at me.

The ice rink at Millennium Park is right outside my office building. So, I keep my hockey skates in a back-pack at work along with a pair of jeans. About 5:30 when most everyone has left, I change into my jeans (I have an office door that locks in case you’re wondering), grab my skates and i-Pod and hit the rink.

"Hockey skates??" says my mother, looking astonished. Isn’t that just awfully athletic and jock-ish of me, keeping hockey skates in my office?

Well, just to assuage any illusions of me being jock-ish, I’ll have you know that the first song on my “skate” playlist is Donna Summer’s "I Feel Love. Click here to listen to it. That song is an absolute blast to skate to.

Brian Boitano never had it so good.

Time to be a kid again. . .

When I was a little kid, a portable roller-rink came to my little-bitty home town each summer and, to me, that was just about the most exciting thing in the whole wide world.

I still remember the name: Henke Roller Rink.

It was basically a wooden surface underneath a big canvas tent with open sides. It was always erected just a few blocks from our house, and I would just about be beside myself during those few days while it was being constructed.

Waiting . . .
Waiting . . .

Then! I’d notice some skaters underneath the tent, signaling that it was open and ready to use. My dad or mom would give me a quarter for the skate-rental and a nickel for a bottle of pop and off I’d go. (That was back in the days when little kids could venture a few blocks from their house, unaccompanied).

I’d skate just as fast as I could, feeling the wooden surface rattling under my wheels. I was a little bat-outta-hell on wheels.

Then, after getting all sweaty, I’d take a break and buy a Grape Nehi from the ice-bin behind the counter. Believe me, soda-pop never tasted so good as at the skating rink, underneath the canvas tent on a hot summer day.

They played music on a record player over a tinny loudspeaker. I think the only song they had was “On the Bayou.”

Saturday or Sunday mornings were the best times to skate. I’d practically have the place to myself. Saturday nights were the worst because it would be packed with rowdy high school kids.


Now, I’m excited again, because in two days, the ice rink opens at Millennium Park. I just dashed to my boss’s office window which looks down on the rink and there’s ice on the rink! And Zamboni tracks!

Waiting. . .
Waiting. . .

Things have changed a bit though. I much prefer ice skating because I don’t like the heat. Skate rentals are $9.00 instead of a quarter. (I have my own skates though, so it’s free, thank you very much).

Instead of Grape-Nehi for a nickel, it’s a Starbuck’s latte or cocoa for $3.50.

Instead of music coming out of a tinny speaker, I have my iPod that plays a combination of 70’s disco and Baroque adagios.

But some things never change. I still like having the place to myself on a Saturday morning and avoid the place on Saturday nights. Those high-school kids are still way too rowdy.

It’s good to be a kid again.

Taste and See

Last night, we all went to "Taste of Chicago" which is a food festival where there are a bazillion food booths and you basically eat everything in sight. (I had a Polish sausage with saurkraut, curried goat, plantains, and mustard-fried catfish - - oink!).

I've lived in Chicago for six years and I've never been to "Taste". Not even once. It's always too hot.

But yesterday, it was unseasonably cool so we all ventured there. We hooked up with the Iwanskis and also (are you ready for this?) City Mouse! And City Mouse's family.

Miss Mouse was utterly charming and fun to be around. Loved her to pieces. It seems that's the way it's been all along with our blog friends. We just adore each other and love being around each other.

Making friends in the 21st century.

Loving. It!

But the best part was that we didn't tell The Child that there was a musical act featuring her favorite "High School Musical." Here's a pic of Lorraine and a just-a-little-bit-overwhelmed Child.

And Lorraine and City Mouse

And then here we all are at Millennium Park. (Again, I've lived here for six years and have never been there) It was a pretty cool place. Tonight, we're having the Trailer Trash Fourth of July Party.

Right now, Lorraine is in my kitchen (God, I LOVE saying that), The Child is playing video games, The Spouse is reading but I'm about to get him engaged in some serious Emerson, Lake & Palmer dialogue (we've discovered a mutual passion for ELP, so he's cool). Lorraine's making true Trailer Trash food: Jell-o salad with fruit cocktail in it, deviled eggs, tater salad, and we're about to start making the corn dogs and batter-fried Twinkies and Hostess Cupcakes. I'll also make forzen watermelon daiqueries. Then, we'll go on the roof and watch the fireworks. Doncha just love it?