Lions in the City

The wind. It's here. I looked up "the meaning behind Chicago being called the windy city" to get to the bottom of things. Native Chicagoans insist that the phrase is about politics and something else about an article written about a rival - or, I have no idea. The wikipedia site states that Chicago is not noted to be significantly windier than any other US city. I believe this to be incredibly false.

My best friend Gena is visiting us this weekend and she called a few days before her departure to ask what she should pack. I told her all she needed was a coat and scarf and that the weather was pretty moderate. Having a visitor means checking out the city and making sure all of the popular sites are photographed - all on foot. We went to Michigan Ave yesterday, sipped tea at the top of the Hancock Building, took photos of ourselves in the Bean at Millennium park and stalked 5 different wedding parties critiquing their colors as they took photos in the park. We were chilly... but not terribly freezing.

Then, today, we decided we would go for round two and take an afternoon stroll through the Lincoln Park zoo and then maybe hit up some of the shops nearby.

Our scarves were flying, my hair whipped my face every 20 seconds, I forgot tissues and I think an entire leaf landed in my eye. Gena, in disbelief, made us stop so that she could film the leaves in a tornado twirl. As we tried to talk ourselves into being brave and facing the blustery fall day - we looked west and saw the darkest, glowing storm cloud. We turned around, and went home.

Is this how the next 5 months are going to be? Will we be hiding out in our purple apartment with Puss fearful of the elements in our new city?

At the zoo we saw the Lions. The big golden cats were no more than 10 feet away from us in an indoor cage, pacing back and forth along the skinny wires that separated the wild animals from the humans (although I am pretty sure the majority of the children around us were much more ferocious than the roaring beasts). Was this a foreshadow for our very near future? Two Seattle lions trapped in our cage afraid of the terrifying wind and puddles that will most likely destroy our outfits and possibly cause our mascara to run.

Do I sound nervous about the following months? I am. However, unlike the lion stuck in his cell, we will explore our new jungle no matter the weather.... we'll just take cabs.