Chicago Archives - The Rest of my Time

Cooler By the Lake

November, 2025

I’ve sewn almost all my life, but I’ve never dipped my toe into the designing merch waters until now. “Cooler by the Lake” is a phrase you hear often in my Chicago neighborhood, but most of the shirts with the slogan either don’t have the neckline I like, or reference the Michigan side.

This is one of those projects I’ve had in mind to try for quite a while, but since a lot of people have had a lot to say about Chicago lately, the time seemed right.

It will be a couple of weeks before I see how it turned out, and we’ll see where it goes from there. If I like it, this could be the start of something fun.

Quieter outside than inside

July, 2024

What could this picture possibly have to do with meditation, mediocre or otherwise?

Well, this is the view I have from my little nest, the comfy chair big enough that I can sink in to it with my legs folded up and meditation every morning, usually as the sun is just coming up.

And it’s the view I usually don’t see, because I meditate with my eyes closed, so I can concentrate better. At least that’s the theory.

Lately, though, I’m experimenting with eyes wide open. Closed, I don’t have the visual input to deal with and to distract, but it leaves my thoughts free to wander. Open, I’m picking a point is space to pull my focus back – the question is, with a view like this, which point?

And by the way, have you ever notice that if you stare at one thing for a long time, the edges just kind of dissolve, like maybe you really can see the atoms move around. Or do I need my eyes checked?

5” x 5” x 25 Minutes continues . . .

March, 2024

#The100 day project continues, sometimes with Instagram evidence, sometimes not. My challenge to my self was a 5”x5” piece I work on for no more than 25 minutes each day.

The first couple of weeks I was in California, and the images reflected that.

Now, back in Chicago, I can see the change. I like the freedom this small format and the no-rules rules gives me, so that one is drawn and scraped with watercolor blocks, and the other is collage, but the view from my window is obvious in both pieces.

Suddenly September

September, 2022

Summer always feels short, and there are always things we wish we had done when the weather was just right, regardless of the season. This picture might be surprising to a lot of people who have an idea of what life is like in a big northern city, especially one that is a favorite media punching bag right now. This is my front yard. This is my Chicago. And this summer, I remembered to take the time, more than I have in the past, to walk across the street from my high rise, put my toes in the sand, and watch the boats, the waves, and a city. Cities are living proof of both the messiness of lots of people living together and the genius and beauty they can create, and when I get to have this and the sand and the water too, I feel pretty blessed and right at home.