windy city blues

well! a week ago today i flew to chicago and joyously reunited with my man. we drove to appleton wisconsin that night, woke up on a bright birthday morning - my aforementioned man's - and set out for the breathtakingly beautiful sturgeon bay. i was ecstatic to be back in such a very dreamy, yet very american setting; it's the kind of american place that one has a tendency to forget exists when in far more cynical places... after checking into the beach harbor resort, we prepared ourselves for the saturday night gig at the hitching post in valmy. a birthday bash for those born in august. it was a grand night. the music was exquisite and those in attendance were digging it!
the next day, back at the beach harbor, sunday boasted more music by even more musicians sharing the stage, a lot of 'cherry bounces', and a caravan over the michigan street bridge to the nautical inn, around 11pm, where more music was requested and played! we retired after 3ish in the morning...oh well, at least it was a little earlier than the night before...


the Bard was right. parting is such sweet sorrow. we were leaving for chicago on monday - first thing in the morning
...we left sturgeon bay at 3:42 in the afternoon...with much melancholy and resistance...even more so for my partner, as he had been living there for the entire month of august and loving it.
by the time we arrived in chicago we were, perhaps, not in the best of mental spaces to be in chi town. it was a hideous night. all i really cared about was leaving.
the next morning was all about hissing mist in the air, the bongo room for eats, and the art institute for visual pleasure.
a brief reprieve from the harsh city outside, the museum was astonishing. although i have been fortunate enough to visit museums far and near, monday was the first time i set foot in the art institute of chicago. at my love's insistence we made our way to the haystacks of monet, the bedroom of van gogh and much more in hasty fashion, due to the fact we both had separate planes to catch to
our home.


back outside the museum...

it was the 'hold your breath and hope you make the flight' kind of ride to O'Hare International. if you read the previous blog - 'why do i have to go to LA' ....friends, thAt was a cakewalk in comparison to the absurdity called 'commuting' in and surrounding chicago and they HAve the Ltrain! ...you are not in sunny southern california either. whew!
i do not know how these people do it everyday.
with a car to return to the car rental office and a shuttle to catch from there to the actual airline terminal at one of the largest airports in the world, the baggage and ticket check-in to go through and that final frontier of the orange alert security fear zone, with an extra helping of a 'i wanna get outta here' screaming voice in the head and the chances of actually not missing the flight...odds not in one's favour..., all i could focus on was the incredible art at the institute and the weekend of joy and music i had just experienced.
i think that might have worked some magic. against teeming odds, my partner and i found our separate planes on different airlines to catch back to our home that night. i think we are both still a little blue and still carrying around a pocketful or so of wanderlust but happy to be together, looking forward to the next adventure, the next place to take off and the next to land.