We visited some friends in Urbana the week before last—at some point, as we talked about our home town and its problems, one asked, “Do you know people who have actually moved away?” We do. One couple left after the second round of looting last summer. Two other couples probably were on their way out […]

This past Friday, Chicago dropped most of the pandemic restrictions. We still are required to wear masks on public transportation (something I think I may do forever) and in certain other circumstances like schools, medical facilities, etc. (All of this relaxation applies only to vaccinated people—how we can tell who’s whom, I don’t know.) Also […]

Awhile back I posted about receiving and giving soup as a gift. A few weeks ago, the company we received and ordered from, Spoonful of Comfort, sent me an email—nothing unusual, as I had opted into their promotional emails. What was unusual was the subject—it wasn’t a special offer, it was an opportunity to opt […]

Yesterday marked an anniversary: It was on April 4, 2020 that the City of Chicago officially released me from my voluntary COVID quarantine at a city-operated hotel. I was self-isolating after a weeklong stay at Northwestern. Doctors didn’t want me to go home until I was fever free for three days—the worry was that I […]

On this date last year, Illinois Governor Pritzker ordered all bars and restaurants closed as of March 17 until …  March 30. On March 17, I walked across the street to our polling place and voted in the Illinois primary. Then I went home to get back to work, when working from home was still […]