Snap

We didn't get smacked too bad last night, though there is still plenty of time to be snowed under, in and away.

It's a good day to head into the basement to wrassle family pictures into albums. I'm already on the third volume, starting with a picture taken in 1899 of a town in southern Illinois that was home to my husband's family since before the Civil War.

It may be several winters and many albums before I reach the Eisenhower years.

Have any bodacious projects looming in your basement? Let me know what you're doing to hold winter at bay (besides brownies, tortilla chips, Nextflix and wine. Not that I have personal knowledge of one of those things.)

Not Exactly Candyland

100 years ago, when our girls were in middle school, Mall Madness was the only present they wanted for Christmas.

Do you remember this cardboard tribute to capitalism? Think Monopoly, but with credit cards.

I was aghast and said absolutely not.

The very next year, it was at the top of the wish list again.

"If they've asked for it two years in a row, you have to get it," reasoned my best pal Joyce. With extreme reluctance, Santa came through.

As I recall, many girls spent many hours hovering over the game board, which has a small machine that tells you which stores have a sale, where to head next, and don't forgot to stop at the ATM. 

Frankly, I'm not sure what the goal/point/moral of the game is, exactly. But I can tell you that it is enjoying a rebirth, of sorts.

Everything is still in the box, except the credit cards.

Clearly, the economy has exacted its toll.


Each week, Naperville Now participates in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. See what others are writing about the letter N here.

If I Could

I'd have an unlimited budget for flowers.

They would be sent to the house starting Dec. 1 and continue weekly until May 1, the actual span of a Chicago winter.

Failing that steady infusion of hope, life and color, I'd live at Whole Foods, which is where I took these quick pics last week.

I want to climb into those vases and roost.

March 20 is the calendar spring launch.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can make it.

How do you cope with the ennui of winter? Leave me a comment on this, my 400th post.

Mash-Up

We were test sitting new couches earlier this week (when did upholstered furniture get to be so ridiculously expensive?) and came across this remarkable piece of bird ingenuity:

I like a bird who upcycles plastic.

I can't decide if the wind whipped the plastic ribbons out of the weave or were added later for a certain avian je ne sais quoi. (The tree is just outside Michael's, so I will leave it to you to decide whether all those crafters going in and out put pressure on the builders.)

Come to think of it, I've done the same thing with Mylar tape on the back of our house. Woodpeckers, who have managed to make Swiss cheese out of our siding, are supposedly spooked by flapping strips of silver.

I may leave a strip as an offering next time I'm by the nest. A little pop of color and woodpecker warning to spruce up the homeplace.

Each week Naperville Now participates in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. See what others have to say about the letter M here.

Aaack!

Readers of this blog know that there are things that I hold critically important:

Sunlight (or go crazy in January).
Organization (the only way to beat back chaos).
Finishing projects before starting new ones (see above).
Washing one's hands (germs are evil).

This morning, the Chicago Tribune ran a terrifying story that has upended my germ world-view. Soap can be dangerous.

There is an extraneous chemical that has been added to antibacterial soaps (that I buy all the time) called triclosan (in liquid soaps) or triclocarban (bar soaps). It's also in some toothpastes.

Triclosan can induce hormonal changes, disrupt cardiac and skeletal muscle function and ultimately end up in the water we drink. The level of this chemical is rising in the lakes of Minnesota, so stick with vodka when you're up there.

The Environmental Protection Agency is going to take six years to review this chemical. No rush, EPA.

The FDA, however, says it poses a public health concern "and continues to pollute our bodies."

I just filled up an empty soap pump and brought it over to my grandchildren's bathroom.

I may never get over that.

Let's review -- read the labels of the soap you buy. Look for the word triclosan or triclocarban. The picture above = soaps to avoid.

The soaps above apparently are okay. (And alcohol-based hand sanitizers don't have it.)

With thanks to Chicago Tribune reporter Monica Eng for her excellent front page story.

Meanwhile, what do I do with the soap that I have no intention of using? What is the responsible way to dispose of it?

Light

I believe we are getting there.

 

Sunlight is starting to show up on these winter days.

 

 

Without the snow cover, the shadows wouldn't be quite as playful.

 

Or as artful.

 

(I'm thinking mermaid hair. Your impression?)

 

 

My friend Cherrie used to say at least February is the shortest month of the year. With a smallish leap, we are that much closer to March and the ultimate prize of spring.

 

 

Here's to the leap.

 

 

Each week Naperville Now participates in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. See what other Alphabetarians have to say about the letter L here.



What Winter is All About



B. Anderson

I'm going to hang this picture on my wall so I can remind myself 1.) how much I loved sleigh riding as a kid and 2.) sleigh riding is impossible without snow = winter.

With thanks to Betsy for a great iPhone pic, two sweet kids, and the reminder.