The Chicago skyline reflected in the bean.
The day after I rode 55 miles back from Normal, Katie drove me up north towards Chicago, where she handed me off at a rest area to our mom, driving down from Kenosha, who drove me into the city and dropped me off at the home of Michele Kasuboske and her daughter Siena.
Michele and I have been friends since the third grade, when she moved in around the corner from my house on Curling Pond Court. There were a good a chunk of years in between where we’d barely been in touch at all, but I am so grateful to be able to reconnect with her now.
Here’s Michele and I out on the town!
From her house north of Wrigleyville, I started exploring the city by bike. I rode up and down the lake and hung out at the trapeze school run by college circus friends. I met local acroyogis and found high school friends I’d been looking forward to spending more time with since our reunion last summer. I went to fests and resale shops and free concerts–
like these Mongolian rockers–
and ate gelato and crepes and Italian Ice. I ended up teaching an acroyoga class with a visiting student from Madison when the local teacher hadn’t quite returned from a trip to Indonesia.
There might be no better place than Chicago in the summer.
Of course it is Chicago, so here’s Kyna, a circus friend who happens to also have a lot of free time, and I bundled up when the temperature dropped from 90 to 50 degrees.
Another June day, I had lunch with Bob Kessler, someone I’ve known since the first grade. He mentioned how his Buddhist teacher said this weekend that, if we realized how wonderful things really are, it would be so overwhelming that we could barely stand it. This has been my experience of Chicago so far. It is so great I can barely stand it.
That Sunday, for example, I rode my bike four miles across town to Nature Yoga Sanctuary. There was an acroyoga class, and I was going to meet Tara, who I have also known since grade school. The weather was warm and, frankly, perfect. The trees were green, the sky was blue, and there were bicyclists everywhere. Chicago cyclists are kind of aggressive and make me a little nervous, but I’m so excited there is such a vibrant bike culture here. I got block away from the yoga studio and found the street blocked off for a street festival. A band was playing and people were streaming in.
I felt so much energy from the city!. I was so excited and grateful and full of joy to be part of this beautiful day in this amazing city!
Bob mentioned that the trick then is to feel this way even it’s 98 degrees and humid and you’re feeling crabby. Of course it’s so easy on such a gorgeous day. That is when you move from equanimity to joy.
Acro in Millenium Park on a beautiful day.
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