This weekend featured another opportunity to enjoy the calming powers of Lake Michigan. In all the summers since I moved back to Chicago in 1999, I don't recall spending as much time in or near the Lake as I have in the last several months.
This time it was a day sail up the coast a bit from Michigan City, Indiana. My dad learned to sail years ago and has been chartering boats out of this harbor for the last several summers. Except for the minimal wind (not from the preferred direction, anyway), the weather was perfect. Warm enough, in fact, to jump off the boat and do some swimming a few hundred yards off the coast of New Buffalo, Michigan. Most summers the lake water maintains the same temperature as a typical airplane toilet seat. But despite the relative mildness of the last few months, a lake swim has been the perfect refreshment on a warm, sunny day.
The best part about the boats he uses (the best part for my friends and I, anyway) is that they're nearly impossible to sail alone. My dad accepts the help of a crew almost as eagerly as we jump at the chance to float around on a boat eating cheese and crackers and sipping beers all damn day. So besides Brooke, my dad and me, the ship's manifest included our friends Randy and Sheila.
I've known Randy since high school and his wife Sheila since shortly after they met in college. Moving to Chicago around the same time I did, they got married and were the first to venture out from our tight-knit circle of friends in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood, opting to purchase a condo in Rogers Park, a community on the far north edge of the city. For several years they seemed like lone settlers in an outer rim territory since few of our complacent peers -- myself included -- would bother to travel all the way up there (approximately 5 miles, easily accessible via public transportation).
Since Brooke and I moved to the nearby neighborhood of Edgewater almost a year ago, the hope was that we'd feel more connected with our close pals ... but as it turns out, now they're moving even farther north. Milwaukee, to be precise. The narcissistically obvious conclusion is that they can't stand living near me. But the truth is that their independent graphic design business has been getting a steady stream of work from nort'-a-da-border. and, not surprisingly, a housing dollar stretches considerably farther in America's Dairyland than in the Land of Lincoln. Also, the congested commute to Chicago's west and south suburbs is often worse than the journey north into Milwaukee anyway.
After finding a great house, they're scheduled to close in mid-October and hope to relocate soon after that, so this was a great chance to take advantage of one last summer in Illinois (even though it was done in Michigan and Indiana). We'll miss having them just a few blocks away but will be grateful for the excuse to visit someplace new soon. And if we don't feel like shelling out for gas or taking the quick Amtrak trip up, we can always hoist the main sail and let the lake breeze facilitate a reunion. Last I checked, there was no shortage of cheese, crackers, or beer in Wisconsin to replenish the galley.
6 comments:
I can say without reservation that there is no shortage of beer or cheese in Wisconsin.
I wish Randy and Shelia all the best as they make the jump over the invisible line between states.
It sounds like you had a great day with your Dad.
Glad to hear that you're making the most of your summer. Love to all . . .
Amen to beer, cheese and a warm lake breeze. Life's perfect combination.
Best wishes to Randy and Sheila in their new venture. Just as Wisconsin has no shortage of cheese, Randy and Sheila have no shortage of talent. They will bloom wherever they're planted. How exciting for them. I can't think of a more perfect way to spend your time... enjoying time with your Dad, good friends, good food in one of the most beautiful settings in the world.
We're jointly blushing here at Cavedweller Studio! That was very nice of you to say all this. We will miss you and Brooke terribly and please know that you have an open-ended invitation to visit any time you wish to escape Edgewater. I'm sure we'll return to Sweet Home Chicago often, and well, we may crash on your couch too so thank you in advance.
And please thank Tom again and again for extending the sailing invitation to us; it's so much fun!
Randy here. Long time reader, first time writer.
That's a lie. I never read.
First off, thanks for the well-wishes and compliments everyone. We're looking forward to our new chapter. But we'll regret leaving Chicago too. Especially now that we have friends living in our neighborhood. John and Brooke's move up here has been a fun reminder of our Lakeview days when getting together with friends could be spontaneous and didn't require 2 days notice, mapquest and traffic reports.
Second, it's precisely BECAUSE of the cheese and beer that we're moving. I don't think I've ever had a meal where I DIDN'T say "this needs more cheese. And I need another beer." In fact, I believe I said it over a bowl of fruit loops just this morning. (that's also a lie. 3 beers was just enough.)
It's time to live the dream!
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