Free falling

In the jungles of parenthood, it's easy to let a few days (weeks?) slip past without keeping ye olde blog up to date. But since the last post, there's been some big news and I've enjoyed some outdoors experiences. Not to mention we ventured 13 days into meteorological fall--always a milestone worth noting.

First, of course, hizzoner, Da Mare himself, Richard M. Daley announced he would not run for re-election. A few days later he said that he would like to re-reverse the Chicago River.

Fall has been great so far--mild temperatures without much rain. Saturday we entered a sort of early fall rapture at sunset. We made our way to the end of the fishhook pier at Montrose Point (the closest thing to being in the middle of the lake without being on a boat). The sky was full of puffy clouds and there was an incredible alpenglow (is alpenglow ever not incredible?) that bathed the whole city in orange. The skyline in the distance looked like Cloud City, the beautiful capital of the Nooyd System. A single spotted sandpiper in nonbreeding plumage escorted us down the pier, teetering on the edge of the cement revetment.

There's been a definite change in the types and numbers of birds around, too. This morning, I saw at least three dozen mourning doves perched on the same set of power lines on the Southwest Side. I saw several common nighthawks fly over our building one evening last week (a new bird for the yard list). And warblers are around, too, in their dusky fall plumage.