On This Date in 1999 (April 15)

This letter will be the last that I send to you in Arizona. JoAnna says that you’ll be back in Two Rivers by the end of the month. Back to reality!

We’ve been experiencing a lot of April showers lately. We had a couple periods of rain during the week, including a soaking downpour that started late Thursday evening and lasted throughout the night. Yesterday we had beautiful weather through the late afternoon when a bank of gray clouds darkened the western horizon. It has been raining on and off ever since, which makes today a good time to stay inside and tackle some cleaning projects or just take it easy. JoAnna’s doing the latter right now. She’s sacked out on the couch watching a biography of Cher on VH1.

“I can barely keep my eyes opened,” she told me a few minutes ago.

The boys are on the other side of the house waiting for a friend to come over, someone who lives just a block away from us.

JoAnna and I started our spring cleaning yesterday. The house was begging for our attention. We started out with the living room/dining area/study, covering every surface from ceiling to floor. The cabinets and buffet were cleared out and cleaned, and then the contents were more efficiently organized. We also tackled the kitchen, again from top to bottom. We didn’t have to clean all the cabinets since JoAnna had rearranged some of them to accommodate the new dishes and glasses we got at Christmas. While I was cleaning the kitchen countertops, JoAnna tidied up the hallway between the kitchen and garage and then removed all the Abrahamson campaign clutter that had accumulated around the computer during the past three months. I’m so glad this election is over. Shirley was easily re-elected to the Supreme Court, beating her opponent handily, by a 63-37 margin. Sharryn Rose couldn’t even win Brown County, her home base.

Friday evening we hosted a card party here. Sheepshead, of course. We started at 7:00 and played until nearly 11:00. Nobody was really into the game. It was the first time this year that the group has gotten together for cards and we were more interested in talking and joking. JoAnna made hot tamales, and our guests brought various snacks – chips and cookies, mostly. Jon Erpenbach brought along Joey and Amy, his two children, so the boys had someone to play with. Amy is just crazy about Boxer, but, unfortunately, the feeling is not mutual. Amy is much too rough with him. Boxer was a basket case by the end of the evening. When we were saying goodbye to our guests, I held him so he wouldn’t make a dash for the open door. He bit me rather forcefully on my left index finger, the little runtski. He was all wound up after having been chased around the house by four wild kids for much of the evening.

JoAnna decided we’d go to church this morning since she didn’t want to get cleaned up for church after our housecleaning and then get all grubby again during the workout at the health club. Andy accompanied her and played basketball while she went through her routine. Eddie and I stayed home. I finished writing a letter to Mom, and Eddie watched TV. Mom, by the way, is doing fine. Dad had become such a burden, the Parkinson’s completely immobilizing him during the last couple weeks of his life. Both JoAnna and I were surprised, almost shocked, by her appearance at Christmas. She had lost so much weight. Some of it is attributable to an overactive thyroid, a diagnosis made by her doctor earlier in the year. I’m convinced that an equal part was a result of the ongoing stress of taking care of Dad. Mom was determined to keep him at home and, fortunately, Hospice was there during his last days so he could die peacefully and with dignity. Now Mom can get back to having a life of her own. 

The boys and I had a nice visit in Warren for a portion of the last week in March, during the boys’ spring break from school. We went shopping a couple times, once to the Jamestown (New York) mall, once to the Warren mall. We took Mom and Barb out to lunch one day. Otherwise we just hung out. Our evening meals lasted for three hours, with the family, including Larry and Kim, who always joined us at this time of the day, gathered around the dining room table for food and conversation.

The boys and I spent April Fool’s Day on the road. We stayed at a motel in Hammond, Indiana, just outside of Chicago. The boys spent most of the evening in the pool. I joined them for awhile, but then wrote a note to Mom while they continued to splash around. We had a great time in Chicago. On Friday, we visited the planetarium, walked through Grant Park to the Art Institute (not a very big hit with the boys, but they did enjoy the arms & armor exhibit) and the Museum of Broadcast Communications (featuring oldtime TV and radio memorabilia), and then walked back to the car – over an hour of walking altogether, which resulted in a few complaints from the boys during our return trip. It was a beautiful day for walking, though.

Around 3:00, we checked into our motel, the Best Western River North, located a few blocks north of the Chicago River and six blocks west of Michigan Avenue. We thought we’d be able to get in a swim before supper, but the pool was closed for repairs. Fortunately, a Nintendo game was attached to the TV in our room. That evening, we saw the Chicago Bulls make history, losing to Orlando by the largest margin in the team’s 33-year history. On Saturday, we went to Lou Mitchell’s, one of my favorite restaurants, for breakfast, took a trip to the Skydeck of the Sears Building, and wandered around the Lincoln Park Zoo. We returned to the United Center that evening to watch a hockey game, the Chicago Black Hawks vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hawks won in the final minute of the game, 2-1. It was, admittedly, an expensive weekend, but I don’t think I went over budget. I have to wait until I get my next Mastercard statement for the final verdict. The boys and I are determined that Mom will accompany us on our next trip to Chicago.

It looks like JoAnna has fallen asleep. I thought we were going to continue with our spring cleaning today, clean the bathrooms, specifically. I should attend to a couple areas I overlooked yesterday – the closet next to the front entrance and the cabinets next to the dishwasher. There’s also a couple loads of laundry to do, and I should go through my closet and chest of drawers and bag up a donation of castoffs to Goodwill. I also need to finish filling out our tax forms. JoAnna has me feeling lazy, though. Maybe I’ll just stretch out on the living room couch and continue reading the book I started yesterday, Little Green Men, by Christopher Buckley, a very funny novel about a George Will-type commentator who becomes convinced that he was abducted by aliens. Buckley deliciously spoofs the pomposities of Washington.

Later that same day.

I was able to check off most of the chores on my to-do list, while JoAnna continued to sack out on the couch. She must have used up all her energy at the health club last night. During the early afternoon, she did get up and prepare a round steak in the crock pot for supper and then completed the meal preparations between 5:30 and 6:00. Otherwise, she was snoozin’ or surfin’, the perfect couch potato. Eddie’s soccer practice was canceled. Andy’s lasted nearly two hours. Right now JoAnna is preparing the boys for their first communion, which takes place the first weekend of May. We hope to see you here then. We send you our love.

On This Date in 1999

I have a little bit of time before I have to drive Eddie to his Cub Scout meeting. Yesterday, on a beautiful spring evening, he had his first soccer practice, and I taxied him there and back since JoAnna had a meeting after work and didn’t get home until 7:00. Andy’s team practiced on Tuesday at a park in the Town of Middleton, about five miles west of here. JoAnna drove him there and then dropped off Eddie at the library since I had to work until 6:45, when it was time to attend a parent meeting and pick up Andy. The parent meeting was over by the time I got there since one of the coaches had given JoAnna (and others) the wrong time.

As you can deduct from the first paragraph of this letter, it didn’t take long – a day, actually -- to get back into our busy schedule.

JoAnna returned home from Pennsylvania on Monday morning about 10:00. She was beat but went to work anyway, until she couldn’t keep her head up and eyes opened. She was home at 3:00 and immediately changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. That evening -- after getting dressed again, of course -- she spent a couple hours at the AFSME headquarters doing phone-banking for Shirley Abrahamson.

I spent Monday doing wash and getting the house back in order. I also did some grocery shopping since the milk smelled as though it was close to go sour and the bread had an about-to-mold aura about it. The boys played roller-hockey in the driveway, watched TV, and generally ignored their dad except when they were hungry. Even though I had taken the entire day off, I debated about going into work to check my mail and catch up on my email, but I saved that stuff for first thing Tuesday morning.

Today started out beautifully, but clouds began moving in during the midafternoon and now it is raining, with some muffled thunder occasionally thrown in. Looks like we’ll be getting quite a bit of precipitation this week, which will be good for the grass and the perennials that are already a couple steps beyond peeking through the ground. Our daffodils and crocuses have just started to bloom. I noticed that a cluster of crocuses I planted in a section of the front yard last fall have become bunny food. They just can’t stay away from those new plants. After the first season, I guess they’re just not tender enough.

The boys are already looking forward to their next Chicago trip. We talked about taking a day trip to Wrigley Field some weekend this summer. If Sammy Sosa is going to have another fence-busting season, we better order our tickets now. The problem is, we haven’t finalized our summer schedule yet. Considering what we already have on our calendar – the Nelson family reunion in the Twin Cities, our Bastille Day party, the Richard family reunion in Louisiana, and two or three baseball tournaments, I don’t think we’re going to have many weekends left. Maybe a night game during the week is a better idea.

Were you able to read about the first part of our Chicago adventure? I should have enclosed a magnifier. I always write so small when I use blank greeting cards as stationary. Am I trying to get my money’s worth or ruin people’s eyesight?

You might be interested to know that we were eyewitnesses to history at the Bulls game. We were there to see most of the biggest loss in the team’s 33-year history. How the mighty have fallen, as they say. Andy was ready to leave before the end of the third quarter, which gives you a clear indication of just how bad the game was, but I insisted we stay until Orlando scored 100 points, which occurred very early in the fourth quarter. As a result of our early departure from the United Center, we didn’t have to fight the crowds and quickly hailed a cab back to the motel. 

By the way, Toni Kukoc did play, Barb. He must have made a quick recovery from whatever injury he had. He was the Bulls’ leading scorer with 13 points.

I guess I was somewhat surprised that the game was sold out – the Bulls’ 558th sellout in a row. An article in the March 25th New York Times offers a reason for the team’s continued popularity.

During their reign, the Bulls had become the darlings of celebrities and business tycoons, a favored night-on-the-town entertainment for people from the woodsy, wealthy North Shore. But now it is possible for a man like Rick Peterson, who works for an auto parts business in the working-class south suburbs, to take his 15-year-old son to the game, without forking over the equivalent of a house payment.

Our seats, one row below the very outer ring of seats on the top tier were $22 apiece. They probably could have been scalped for five times that amount last year.

We started out Saturday at Lou Mitchell’s, a loop restaurant known far and wide for its breakfast menu. I had eaten here three times previously, twice with JoAnna, during the mid-80s. I chowed down on a huge omelet (turkey, swiss, tomato, and mushroom) and a side of hash browns, while Andy settled for a bagel and Eddie picked at a Belgian waffle. From here, we walked to the Sears Tower a few blocks away and snaked our way, along with hundreds of other sightseers, to the bank of elevators that took us to the Skydeck. Before taking the 70-second trip to the top, we saw a 15-minute film entitled “Above Chicago”, which, of course, featured only the attractive portions of the city.

Our bird’s eye view was limited due to the day’s hazy conditions. We couldn’t see much beyond a one-mile radius of the loop. Back at ground level, the boys uttered cries of “I’m hungry” so I bought them slices of pizza at a conveniently located Sbarro’s.

From here we drove a few miles north to Lincoln Park. At first I thought we weren’t going to find a place to park. Lots of other people had the same idea we did, but having a basic familiarity with the city, my nose led us to a parking lot located on the Lake Michigan side of the park just west of Lake Shore Drive. The boys rollerbladed for a while but changed back into their shoes when we learned that rollerblades were not allowed in the zoo.

The Lincoln Park Zoo is a very compact facility. We were able to make a leisurely stroll around the grounds and through the various animal houses in less than two hours. Then it was back to the motel to relax for awhile. We were denied the amenity of a swimming pool since it was undergoing a renovation. As a consolation, the boys were able to play Nintendo in our room.

We ate supper at a nearby restaurant and then took a cab to the United Center. Our driver got us there in record time, shaving $2.50 off the average fare we paid on Friday. I handed him a $10 bill for the $5.40 fare and told him to keep the change. “You are the champion,” I added. The boys seemed impressed with my generous mood, figuring that Dad will buy me that jersey (Andy) and cap (Eddie) tonight. They were right. Dad broke out the plastic. The hockey game wasn’t anywhere near a sellout. The arena seats around 21,000 and at least a quarter of the seats must have been empty. We saw a great game, a much better contest than the previous evening, the Black Hawks pulling out a 2-1 victory in the last minute of the game. Where Eddie had been lethargic through most of the basketball game, except for the halftime break, he was into this game from start to finish. Our seats, though located in the third tier, put us right on center ice, providing a panoramic view of the action. At the Bulls’ game, one of the backboards partially obscured our view since we were located in the “end zone”.

Sunday morning, after checking out of our motel, we walked around the area looking for a restaurant where we could eat breakfast. Everything didn’t open until after 11:00, it seemed. We saw some activity in front of a place we had checked out the previous evening, the Rainforest Café, when there was a 45-minute wait for a table, and of course that didn’t fit into our schedule. Here’s a description of the restaurant from its promotional brochure. 

You’ll be immersed in a tropical wonderland with dazzling special effects: cool mists that permeate through cascading waterfalls; gentle tropical rainstorms (off to the sides; the customers don’t get wet), thunder and lightning; huge mushroom canopies, animation featuring Tracy the Talking Tree, butterflies, crocodiles, snakes and frogs, trumpeting elephants and other wildlife, all moving within the surroundings of larger than life banyan trees, with the sounds and aromas of a tropical rain forest. 

The boys loved this place. Our service was very leisurely, purposely, I think, since a store is attached to the restaurant, so we ended up spending nearly two hours here. The place is designed to provide a shopping experience as much as a dining experience. Fortunately, I only had to pay for the latter. The boys didn’t even ask to buy anything. I think they already appreciated how generous Dad had been during the past week. As a result of our visit, Eddie has decided that he wants to be a city planner and live in Chicago. I wish I could pinpoint the time that he made this career choice during the weekend. Maybe he picked up on some offhanded remark I made while we looking at this scale model of the loop area while waiting for our turn to go up to the Skydeck.

Newberry Library, Chicago (Postcard Series)

The Newberry

Lake Shore Drive, North from Drake Hotel, Chicago (Postcard Series)

Forgotten Chicago:  Lake Shore Drive Redux.

Chicago's Michigan Avenue, Looking North (Postcard Series)

The Magnificent Mile 

History of the Magnificent Mile

Mark Twain Hotel, Chicago (Postcard Series)

The History of the Mark Twain Hotel.  (USA Today, 2012)

Excerpt:   The 200-room Mark Twain Hotel was built in the 1930s. Designed by architect Harry Glube in 1930, the Art Deco-style building was constructed of a beige brick with white terra-cotta accents. The Mark Twain Hotel is in the heart of Chicago's historic Gold Coast Neighborhood, an affluent part of town that expanded greatly after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The Gold Coast neighborhood is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Flickr photo

On This Date in 1998

Sorry for being out of touch for so long. We should have made definite plans to see David Grisman at the Barrymore. That would have given us both something to look forward to. As it turned out, no surprise, I didn’t go, another missed opportunity to see a performer I have long admired.

Life is proceeding at its usual hectic pace. Only 6 more days of school left, and then we shift into our summer schedule. Which isn’t all that different from our schoolyear schedule actually, since it offers no relief from the usual juggling of activities and commitments. The boys will be attending a daycare program at a local school, one that provides them with a variety of offsite activities throughout the summer. Our evenings, at least three times a week, will be taken up with baseball games. We probably won’t venture out of Dane County until the end of June. (Not quite true.)

The boys and I drove to Pennsylvania during spring break. JoAnna was immersed in a special election. Her busy schedule didn’t permit a break. On the drive east, we made a planned stop at a Holidome in South Bend, Indiana, where the boys enjoyed the pool and a large activity area. In fact, they didn’t get to bed until 1 a.m. Party time! Nothing of interest to report from our four days in Warren, except that my dad continues to deteriorate both physically and mentally form Parkinson’s Disease.

Before returning home, we spent a couple of days in Chicago. I splurged and got us a room at a Days Inn on Lake Shore Drive, just across the way from Navy Pier. We visited the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and Museum of Science & Industry, which I first visited when I was Andy’s age and remember being literally cluttered with all kinds of fascinating exhibits. Now there seems to be so much open space and all these rinky-dink displays. Even the boys weren’t overly impressed with this stop. We also walked around Michigan Avenue, bustling with activity, and took a ride on a speeding elevator to the top of the Hancock building at dusk. We had a great time.

Easter weekend the family spent on night in – get ready to cringe – Wisconsin Dells at the Polynesian, a resort hotel with two indoor waterparks. The boys, of course, had been lobbying for this getaway. Perhaps it’s a sign of how much my life has been transformed since those crazy Oshkosh years of excess, but I actually enjoyed myself. Family outings have been somewhat of a rarity this year. The waterparks, a bit of a stretch to call them that, are geared for younger children, Eddie probably being at the upper end of the age range. Andy still had a great time, though. Friday evening, Mom and Dad kept an eye on the boys from the bar, drinking margaritas and playing casino. We told each other we should have got a suite, so we could have some privacy after the boys went to bed.

We spent the Memorial Day weekend in Two Rivers, where JoAnna and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. All day Saturday I was an almanac of historical information. Exactly twelve years ago today, at this very minute, I was getting out of bed with a most horrendous hangover. Twelve years ago today, the men in the wedding party were hanging out in the parking lot of the Lighthouse Inn. Twelve years ago today, I was sweating bullets minutes before Dad’s homily. Twelve years ago today, people had finished inching their way through the reception line and pictures of the wedding party were being taken. Twelve years ago today, Joan Kranick’s husband was wearing JoAnna’s bra at the reception. What a weekend that was!

Saturday evening of this past weekend, after playing baseball with the boys in Nashotah Park in the morning and golfing with JoAnna, Andy, and Larry in the afternoon, we grilled steaks on the barbecue and had a feast. In many ways, it was a perfect day of fun and relaxation. We topped it off by playing cards and sitting around the fire in Larry’s outdoor pit.

Teaching stuff. I survived my class and a series of other teaching commitments without incident. The home front. As a result of years of rough play in the back yard and a blight in the front yard, I’ve been doing some major work as a lawn doctor. At first, I thought about hiring a professional, but the results of my test area in the back yard were very satisfying, so I convinced myself it is a job that I can do. Although I was grousing about its condition in March, the yard looks beautiful now what with the perennials massing and the annuals providing attractive splashes of color. So if it’s not my Middleton Public Library commitments, there’s still plenty to keep me busy.

We now have a new member of the household. Boxer is a little gray-and-white furball, just the cutest little kitty. We got him a few weeks ago when he was 6 weeks old. At that time, I could cup him in my hands. He’s a playful little guy. JoAnna and I have to close our bedroom door if we don’t want to be disturbed at 4 or 5 in the morning. “Time to play,” Boxer says. When I walk home for lunch, he bounces around my feet like a puppy. Today he didn’t appreciate the fact that I was ignoring him while eating my lunch, so he started to crawl up my legs, claws digging into my shins. He didn’t get the hoped for reaction.

I had been resisting the idea of a pet for a long time, remembering our previous experience with Misty, the hairball queen, but JoAnna and Eddie kept pressuring me. They promised that the cat would be their responsibility, and so far I’ve held them to that. As I told JoAnna, Boxer is not going to be like the laundry or the grocery shopping a chore that I take over almost exclusively.

Let us know when you’re going to be in the area. Look forward to seeing you soon.

Night View of Grant Park, Chicago (Postcard Series)

Chicago Park District:  Grant Park

On This Date in 1998: Tuesday, April 14

A postscript on a Tuesday morning.

I’m enclosing a series of picture of the boys.

Andy & Eddie on the family room couch shortly before our departure for South Bend.

A series of three pictures showing the boys clowning around minutes before we backed out of the driveway.  (Look at all that snow in the background!)

Eddie, the Lego engineer, entertaining himself at the kitchen table.

The boys mugging for the camera during breakfast.

The Chicago skyline behind the boys, who are squinting to shield their eyes not only from a bright sun but also a very gusty wind.  Chicago was indeed the Windy City on our first day of sightseeing.

Andy and Eddie took most of the aquarium and museum pictures.  The second roll of film, which includes pictures taken at the top of the Hancock building, is still in the camera, five exposures remaining.

I think Chicago made an especially strong impression on Eddie.  His distillation of the skyline is quite impressive, another fine addition to his growing portfolio.  I should ask him to draw a view from the top of the Hancock building – to learn how his mind processed that perspective.

With the election over and the legislature not in session – and a desire to spend more time with her family – JoAnna has vowed to work a 40-hour-a-week schedule for the time being.   Yesterday she worked 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., which means that she picked up the boys at After School, dropped Eddie off at his soccer practice, and prepared supper (leftovers from Easter), while I was able to work a little bit later than usual – until 6:00.  She’s not looking forward to the fall elections- has even talked about resigning her position and finding a less stressful and demanding type of job.  For now, the boys and I are just happy to have Mom back home, to be a family again, to be able to sit four around the table and enjoy a meal together.

Chicago Skyline at Night (Postcard Series)

Chicago's Palmolive Building (Postcard Series)

Chicago Architecture Info

Was known as the Playboy Building from 1965 to 1989.

Gone condo

The Webster Hotel in Chicago, Illinois (Postcard Series)

Aerial View of Chicago's Lincoln Park (Postcard Series)

LINK