Grackle time

Since my last post, I've had surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in my left knee. I received cadaver tissue to replace the ligament I ruptured playing basketball in May. I haven't been doing much of anything since the surgery. I have seen the black squirrel out our front window. Yesterday, I saw two common grackles in one of the maples in front of our house--it doesn't sound like much but I've found grackles uncommon in Chicago's North Side neighborhoods. In recovery, my primary goals are to return to backpacking, cycling and cross country skiing. A reasonable goal, I hope, is to bike again before the snow flies.

Meantime, a couple notes from the driftless area. Previously, I've written about my love-hate relationship with an outfitter called Acronym. After leaving Niles for Northbrook this year, Acronym reportedly is planning a location in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

In other news, Sean Penn is directing the movie version of the Jon Krakauer book "Into the Wild." The story chronicles the post-college wanderings of Chris McCandless, a 1990 Emory University graduate who abandons his possessions and winds up living in an old school bus in the Alaskan bush. Outside Magazine has a bunch of information on the production, due out next month.