Day 5: Chicago. just staying put another day...

A beautiful, windy day. We walked along the lake and around the campus at Northwestern University. 

Today's my Mom's three-month anniversary, and I found myself thinking of her a lot, wanting to tell her what we are doing, the people we're meeting, the buildings, the natural beauty around the lake. 

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A few yards away from the shoreline, these bare branches, red-coral, make a striking contrast against the dark ground and blue sky. Whenever I see something like this, I think of my friend Paul, who's a landscape designer. He says plants like this "provide interest in the garden all year round."

Never saw anything like this along Nantucket Sound!

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Matthew White works events at Northwestern. It wasn't long before our conversation turned to high-mileage Toyotas. Particularly his son's adventures in the one he drives. We're not sure whether and how much Matthew's son gloated over picking up his dad at the shop when his car needed work.

We shared the photos with him, and as we left, he said, "Now you have a connection on the South Side!"

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Students paint these shoreline boulders in Northwestern purple and white. We can't figure whether someone painted over their intended's name, or they have a deep affection for Xanax (makes me think of the schoolyard taunt, "If you love it so much, why don't you marry it?"). Or maybe the suitor was rejected and thinks a benzodiazepine is the only thing that could help.

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The university library, Northwestern University, Illinois. I've never been a fan of brutalist architecture, but I couldn't help but be impressed by this stunning example of it, built (no surprise) in 1970.

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A very windy walk. Joe taking photos.

I think this is about a '3' on the Beaufort Wind Scale, 19-24 mph. The gusts were higher.

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At first, we spent a few minutes trying to figure out what function this had. But soon enough this art piece just captivated us. I like the juxtaposition of the iron & steel, the rust and the bolts against the fragile butterfly.

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Another artistic interpretation of the butterfly, this one in Michael's collection.

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Joe likes to end the day with a sunset stroll by the lake. It'll be a few days before we're near a body of water this impressive.

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