Heck, I don’t know exactly where I was standing. My little walking feet just wanted to take a rest.

Or maybe not.

She* lives here; she wants extra money; she can get down and get dirty. She was amazed at how we both worked for two hours and such a little dent was made in the chaos. Gasp. And then her brother came down and sat in a clean spot and she got very threatening. I may be onto something here. (In case of any homicide in the house, this post will self-destruct.)

*She – formerly known as Little Her in reference to people who can be bossy, annoying, whatever. For awhile there were multiple “Her’s” here and one “Little Her.” Now she is a former little her and has graduated to full Her status.

She noticed that a snapshot of herself had fallen facedown on the floor and I remarked, “I guess it’s like water seeking its own level.” Nastiness comes so easily to me – I believe I am a Champion Her.

I took a quick shot of the totem poles and did not even notice the bald man. I noticed him when I looked at the pictures and I cropped it and stuck him right up in your face because I am a mean person.

Okay, so a college in Chicago had an open house and (skipping the usual AmeliaJake story with the details and asides) at the last minute, I find out I am taking someone to it. Downtown. Urban Campus. Be there by 9:45 am.

We get up at four, drive to South Bend, take the South Shore, hike from Van Buren St. Station and get there in time to stand in a wrap-around-the-block line. Then we climb – with me carrying a heavy case of “necessities for being in the city without a car in which to stash stuff we might need” – up four flights of stairs to the balcony of the auditorium in the old Roosevelt University building.

This is when I learn the true meaning of Urban Campus: they give a presentation and tell you to look at the folder you have been handed four floors below and say, “Almost all our buildings are in walking distance.” I, as primary shepherd, latched onto the bit about “shuttle buses” – and, when I heard the main building the prospective student wanted to visit was one of the lunch venues, announced that’s where we’re going and focused – a skill stressed to students in the Open House presentation – on steering everyone onto a shuttle.

The catered buffet lunch was very, very good. I found that out after the first “meet the professors” meeting on the fourth floor. My companions went on a tour to the 8th floor; I headed down to the first floor and then texted to them: “Eating downstairs.”

After that, they took their map and went to a couple more stops and I walked over to the Field Museum area. Do you know there are many streets to cross in downtown Chicago, including Michigan Avenue and Lake Shore Drive – and relatively long stretches of park grounds? And I am still carrying the bag.

After awhile my phone vibrates in my pocket and we have our own telephone GPS conversation about locating the lady in the bright deep pink sweater standing on the museum steps by the flag pole. Reunited, we walked by the lake and a lot of places and finally ended up back at the Van Buren Street Station in a waiting room from a long time ago with long wooden benches, covered with etched carvings . . . of graffiti. Picture to come.

The real highlight of the day then revealed itself. We were in a train car with a hyperactive preteen, who got up on his knees and with his upper body sticking way above the seat, talked all the way to South Bend. Normally, I can tune these things out with the thought, “not my kid,” but this was different. By the time we pulled into the South Bend Station, we all felt ourselves thinking thoughts of violence. It was not unlike the scene in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, in which Steve Martin rants about being able to take anything life throws at him because he has survived John Candy’s constant talking. As an inside joke to those in the know – that boy has reached “Wanda” status.

We got out of the newly-constructed and possibly confusing airport entrance/exit and found ourselves on the Toll Road just before the light failed. Then in the dark, we pulled into our driveway . . . and not long after that, I had on a nightshirt and was wondering if all the muscle aches would keep me from sleeping. They did not.

It was a beautiful day in the Windy City – absolutely beautiful. I might post a picture or too later.

LZP’s son Joe is stationed in Guam, the same place Der Bingle was many moons ago (about the time the last Japanese soldier walked out of the jungle) and it is a bit more developed. I don’t think Uncle Bingle went fishing, but don’t feel too sorry for him – back then it was midnight outdoor movies, beaches, beaches, beaches, no brown snakes and riding around in jeeps with the floor boards rusted out. One crew would sell it the vehicle to the next.

As you look at this picture of Joe and his fish and the Pacific harbor, think of his wife who spent the winter while he was gone in . . . North Dakota.

That was how my Internet news day began – with that headline and with a picture of the dog with the arrow sticking out of his head. I will have that image in my mind throughout my day. I am not posting the picture here because I JUST CAN’T BEAR IT. I am thinking that I may have to bang my head against the wall to stop me from thinking about it – but then, that could stop me thinking altogether, which some people might consider to be not a bad thing.

Yes, that is a wonderful way to start the day. It is also raining, but that pales in the memory pokes of that hair remark. Sometimes I feel sighing is not an adequate response; I am tending to lean toward face smacking.

But enough of that. I got around to exploring the Pinterest site on the Internet and, boy, are there a lot of good ideas – I found I had spent an hour looking at container gardening suggestions. My thoughts are that I need a bunch of people to take the hours to duplicate the nifty projects. And that’s only container gardening – never mind the links to abandoned buildings, history, scenic roads, unique outhouses (that one kind of snuck in there, didn’t it?), gadgets, barbeque tips and so forth. Ignorance may not be bliss, but I think it can be restful.

Apparently, I have not been around here for the past few days. I have been outside a lot, raking a lot, picking up the windblown trash a lot, fighting a lot of grapevines. That does not really explain such a long absence, so I am wondering if while outside I was abducted and probed.

I did watch the movie Interstellar which involved the relative nature of time. That, in itself, took two and a half hours. I did not realize the movie was that long when I started watching and spent the last 45 minutes asking myself, “Is this going to be the ending?”

I also viewed “The Imitation Game” and might actually buy it when the price drops. If you look on the Internet, you can find the actual crossword puzzle that was published in England in order to recruit code breakers. I had to explain to someone that English crossword puzzles contain a good many clues/answers that involve word play and are not as straight forward as the usual crossword puzzle in US papers.

Come to think of it, people around me lately might have a whole different idea of cross words.