Bits and Pieces

  • Weather, ours: alright, in spite of global warming, Chicago area weather has been downright brilliant. Warm but not too hot temps, some rain to keep lawns and bushes green, and comfortable breezes to keep us cooler on hot days. Plentiful sunshine graces our days. An El Nino winter (warmer and less snowy) gave us last winter’s perfection, while a promised El Nina winter approaching will likely be more of the same, just a little colder and more snowy than last year, but not as much as normal years. Chicago has fared much better than other areas of the nation in recent years. We know this will not hold, but we can appreciate when it’s our turn for great weather.
  • Noise: sirens, train horns, traffic, especially semi-trucks, doors slamming, dropping things on the floor above your apartment, neighborhood dog barks. These are just some of the noises we all put up with throughout life. In my case, the condo building is across the street from the mainline track of the Union Pacific railroad. We get lots of traffic daily, 24/7. Most of that is expected and routine, also not very loud. Abrupt horns blurting usually is done only for occasional people or dogs near the tracks. Otherwise, the trains respect our need for controlled noise, especially at nighttime. Traffic noise is another thing; our main drag is also a truck route due to the nearby train tracks. Their rumble is OK, just not their jacked up roaring engines when the speed limit is clearly 25! As to dogs barking, we get very little of that, but a neighbor has a huge dog they let out several times a day; when he is finished, he barks loudly and long until they readmit him to the house. Annoying is insufficient to describe the interrupted peace.
  • Living Costs: especially eggs. I know eggs are mostly affected in price by bird flu epidemics throughout the USA. But when the local store mismanages their shipments with broken eggs in cartons on the shelf for sale, well that tops the chart for irritation. I managed to get a carton of 18 eggs by carefully exchanging broken ones for good ones from other cartons. By the time I finished the carton, I found 5 more broken eggs. They were the ones glued to the carton by seeping egg white. Meanwhile, groceries are costing me about 10% more in recent months. Some of this may be caused by tariff fears, but not much. Besides, I avoid products and produce that are likely imported. I eat simpler.

August 8, 2025

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intimacy

As we mature, we become deeply involved in relationships. Some of this is basic family relations – siblings, parental – and the like. Next is friends who enter our homes and we theirs. Neighbors, classmates, mutual hobbyists and so forth. Then we develop friendships that go much deeper. We comfort one another when we are hurting physically or emotionally. We discuss the matters of life and learn much more about ourselves and each other. We can even anticipate how others will react to various situations and stimuli. Good friendships do not spread to everyone we know. No, good friendships are special, close and deeply personal. We focus attention and brainpower on these few friends. Some special relationships focus on specific topics of interest and importance. Yes, we have specialized friendships. Most common. But one day, we get to know one person very well. An emotional connection forms with deep roots. A need to know the person more fully expands in personal ways. We sense this b...
Read more

Bits & Pieces

Pie: Apple pie more specifically. With Thanksgiving just passed, many of us enjoyed a good apple pie. Sure, there was pumpkin to accompany the turkey, but in our family multiple pies are offered in the holidays. Apple is surely one. Pecan, pumpkin and others, too. But I almost always choose apple. When I was in college, I was asked what kind of pie did I eat most often. In front of my mom, I answered apple, because I was always looking for a pie as good as mom’s own. Of course my mother was pleased, but it was a true statement just the same. When I was married, Ann’s pie was darned good. Her mother’s recipe. But we fiddled with the recipe until it took on its own generational name, and boy, was it good! Today I still order apple pie for dessert because I am always looking for a great pie to challenge our family recipes. I rarely do find such a prize. Do others do the same? Do you search for a great pie of choice, continually? If you do, what’s your story? Why do you do this? ...
Read more

Remembering Tom Sherlock

Tom Sherlock died on Wednesday, April 3rd. He was 65 years old and did not survive a heart surgery. That was his unexpected end and sad enough. But there is more to his story. Tom joined Dan Schuyler and George Safford to create what became the Village Chronicles, a weekly newspaper serving Warrenville, Illinois. That paper expanded to serve Winfield and then West Chicago. The paper published for eight years and built a good reputation for itself. Tom served the paper in several ways. He was our information technology guru, provided hardware and software to support the paper's operations. He was our sole bookkeeper, accountant and financial manager. He designed our distribution process and provided office space for meetings and layout and typesetting. His efforts supported the work of 32 volunteers who wrote and reported on the communities we served.  The newspaper broke even financially most of the time, but it was a struggle. Tom managed to find money to keep the newspaper afloat...
Read more