Why I Oughta...

This marks the second year in a row that we've booked a drive-thru Christmas lights experience.  Last year, we were up in Northbrook to do what - at the time - I thought was a COVID-specific experience of driving through a zig-zag of Christmas lights .  The whole need for social distancing coupled with the stir-crazy-ness of staying home provided a perfect combination to fall in love with the drive-thru light shows.  This year, the group up in Northbrook ( Let it Shine Lightshows ), expanded to put up a show at the Fox Valley Mall parking lot in Naperville/Aurora.  For my oldest's birthday party (Nat's family), we booked some tickets and went out there over the weekend. I don't know if it was the music or the lights or the fact that were were doing this thing again, but I'll tell you that I had a smile on my face the whole time.  Is it out-of-this-world?  No.  Is it a fun way to spend 30 minutes?  Sure is.  

I've done a few of these [view from my office] posts since we were all sent home at the beginning of COVID that were from my front porch and (even) an airplane .  But, it has been since mid-March when I was last in an office for work.  In that airplane post , I mentioned that we're moving offices - out of the Aon Center - and into a 'west of the river' mid-rise.  Over the past few weeks, I've visited a few times and am busy getting situated in the new setting.  The view?  Quite a downgrade.  The commute? Quite an upgrade.  From a 20-25 minute walk across the Loop to a four minute walk from where I emerged from under Union Station.   Having been in the office a few days, I'll say:  I'm surprised by how much I've enjoyed being here.  I really still do NOT know what I'm using office days for in terms of work (we're a hybrid team now, so have a mix of WFH and office days), but I'm glad I've come downtown to give it a shot.   ...

Back in March, the folks at Disney announced they were closing some of their stores as their business continues to transition to e-commerce.  That has only surely accelerated due to the pandemic.  One of those stores that was on the list of closures was near us - up in Rosemont.  Turns out, it is an outlet store.  And, I didn't know this, but Nat did (because she's been there a few times), they carry quite a bit of Disney Parks merchandise.  In particular, they carry Disneyland Park merchandise that has cycled through the park and ends up here - at the outlet with discounted prices.  Kinda neat.   With outlet prices coupled with the store closing, Nat went up there and picked up a bunch of clothes for the kids.  And, she came home with two things for me.  2020 Disneyland Park pins.  Disneyland was closed for nine of the twelve months of 2020, so it is no surprise that 2020 merchandise ended up at the outlet, right? The pins were ma...

A few weeks back, I attended my first in-person work meeting in 2021.  In fact, it has been the ONLY one that I've attended all this year.  And, one of the precautions that the team that I was visiting has been taking was the application of this yellow and black tape to the floor as a visual reminder of social distancing.  This was in a conference room and is meant to remind the user to stay in the square so they can safely stay at least six feet away from other attendees.   Posting this not because it is a unique experience for the world, but rather as a sort of COVID-era artifact that I encountered as we begin to return to work in offices.

Just a couple of days ago, I posted an update on my Google Local Guides status with one of my photos (of Dogpatch in Naperville ) hitting 6M views.  Like all of you with your location history turned on, Google also sent me a note showing my annual timeline.  And, 2020 was certainly different.  And my location history tells the story.  (Thanks, COVID.) Normally, Google Maps will show all the trips you have taken in a year.  In 2020, I made it to five states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan), but that Minneapolis trip took place pre-pandemic.  The rest of those trips were from March --> December.  We didn't go very far from home. Here is something pretty striking.  My visits broken down by Shopping and Restaurants.  Big cliff in March: My time on mass transit went to ZERO after March: Part of the report from Google shows some of the places that you went -and calls them "highlights".  Interesting to see that ALL FIVE of...

If you head to the Spruce Plot on the main loop of the Morton Arboretum and park your car directly across the loop from the tall Spruce trees, you are also close to this fallen tree jungle gym.  Walk out of the plot across the main road and go straight.  Soon, you'll find a sunken valley that has a lot of fallen timber.  There, you'll find this mess of tree trunks that you can climb on - just like our kids did in the photo below.   I'll say it again:  COVID took a lot from us and others.  But, it gave us this simple joy: 

We started this 1000 piece Harry Potter puzzle on December 13th .  And by "we", I really mean "me".  The kids helped a little bit - mostly because the oldest one was desperate to get access to the project table in the screened porch where I set up.  That's become our LEGO and puzzle table.  By December 18th, I had the border mostly done and the colors sorted .  And by December 22nd, it was starting to come into focus .  Today is the 30th of December, but, I finished this back on the 23rd. Just getting around to posting it - what with the Christmas hysteria around the house.  A couple of busy, full days sitting and focused on the puzzle got it done.  You can see the complete puzzle below:  Or, really...complete in the sense that I'm done with it.  But, there were two missing pieces.  This puzzle was on loan from our friends.  They said there was one missing piece.  And now, I think we caused it to have a second missing piec...

 Like the creaking of an old wooden ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Spruce Plot at the Morton Arboretum isn't just a sight for your eyes.  If you listen closely enough, you'll hear some of the trees swaying and rubbing against each other - way up in the air.  The sound is really quite an interesting part of your visit to this area.  You can go anytime during the year, but I think Winter provides the most striking difference in the area. Have a listen to the swaying of the Spruce trees at the Morton Arboretum : I've written a few times about this particular path at the Morton Arboretum this year - and talked about while COVID has taken so much from us, it has also given our family the Spruce Plot at the Arboretum. Here it is in late Summer - August of 2020 - where everything is still green . Here it is in late Fall - early December 2020 - where all of the leaves have dropped and the Sun is able to hit you *just right* in the morning.   The video above...

 I'll have more to say in a couple of days, but for now, I think a lot of people are celebrating the end of 2020.  And we're joining them.  Nat hung this ornament on our tree that reads:  2020 stink, stank, stunk.   I know others are marking 2020 with ornaments with masks on them, or toilet paper.  I think this one feels right for our house.  

 We have quite a few Christmas traditions in our house.  COVID has caused us to change, drop or modify a bunch of them.  But, it also provided us with some new opportunities.  One of them was this new drive-through light show that took place in the parking lot of Northbrook Mall.  We went right before Christmas to celebrate the Babe's birthday.  It is called the "Let it Shine" lightshow and you can find all the details here on their site .  I don't know if this is a one-year thing (because of COVID), but based on our experience, I'm hoping it isn't.   We really liked it.   We packed a dinner and packed the kids in to the van and went up there.  There is something akin to Disney's Fast Pass that you can buy to get a shortcut in the line.  But, we didn't wait that long.  Maybe 15 or 20 minutes of waiting until it was our turn to wind through the light show.  I have to say...I'm not sure that was a terrible thing....

 When we started this whole global pandemic thing back in Spring, puzzles had a moment.  Everybody was bound to their own home and it seemed liked everyone was doing puzzles.  Here's what Google Trends has in terms of data to show the surge in interest in puzzles this Spring : We tried to do one back then, but failed.  Just never got out of the starting block.  I think it had to do with the location of the puzzle.  We had it set up in our dining room - which is like a ghost town.  But, in recent weeks, I put up our little card table out on the screened porch and put a 300 piece family-friendly Christmas puzzle on it.  Guess what?  Seven or eight days after I started it, we finished it.  Because, it was in a room where we all were hanging out.   So, today is Sunday the 13th of December.  I'm working the rest of this week and a little bit next week.  But, then we'll have some time together as a family.  And, beca...