Maybe it’s because I am old enough to aspire to be a birder or maybe it’s that I never realized what a cool place an ornithology lab can be, but I was pleasantly surprised by my visit yesterday to The Cornell Ornithology lab at Sapsucker Woods. I arrived as a free lab tour was starting and it was great, about 18 visitors from all over (including a guy from Wales who mentioned living for a few years in Ottumwa, Iowa and loving it) and a very engaging guide who led us into the areas normally off bounds for visitors. We saw some very interesting stuffed birds, bird feet and bird wings in the specimens lab (or some such) and learned all kinds of interesting tidbits about the life and study of birds. (See Notes below) I also walked on one of the sawdust paths in the woods around the attractive modern lab building with a borrowed pair of binoculars (which an 8 year old girl tried to show me how to use) to try to find some noteworthy birds. Next trip I’d like to go on one of their early morning free guided bird walks on Saturday or Sunday.
Sapsucker Woods birding
We had another nice late afternoon by the lake, dinner at the picnic table and a last trip to Cream at the Top for Ice cream (bittersweet symphony and dark chocolate chip!) . Myra and I took a last (for me, this year) morning walk along the lake with her nice neighbor Heather and then it was time to say goodbye. No tears this time. Loved being with some of my favorite people in one of my favorite places and I’ll be back!
My friend Tom picked me up for a pleasant 1 hour 10 minute drive to a good restaurant in Syracuse called Francesca’s where I had lunch with my friend Cynthia. Great time catching up after two years of not seeing each other and good food too (antipasto salad, Italian wedding soup). Now at the Syracuse airport with what I hope is only a briefly delayed flight to DC.
On the way back to the lake, I stopped at the Ithaca Bakery outpost in the odd Triphammer mall for bread for dinner. Nice to have. And I drove through the hidden hamlet of Ludlowville to see if anything was going on and was pleased to see that nothing was.
I am so thrilled to be back in my favorite place in the world, certainly my sentimental favorite. Ithaca is so full of memories that go back to my childhood when my parents– who met in Ithaca in college and loved this place — took my siblings and me here as kids to Cornell alumni university for a week each summer during the 1970s.
We were on our way to hear 19 – yes 19 – Democrats vying to be the presidential nominee in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential contest. We were braced to be hungry — the Democratic party event in Cedar Rapids promised to be long, with little to no food. So what better time to visit the new cleverly-named Caucus Bistro in the small town of Ladora, Iowa — about midway between our house in Des Moines and the hotel ballroom in Cedar Rapids where Democrats including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand (see photo op below), Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klohbuchar and “Mayor Pete” (so-named because I can’t remember how to spell his last name, although I think I now know how to pronounce it).
Word has it over 900 people showed up last Saturday night (June 1) for the Des Moines Center’s first show to feature the artwork of LGBT&Q artists…The crowd included many members of the “queer” community, some drag queens, no shortage of presumably straight folks and me. It was a great celebration – with food, drink, music – and, of course, work by 15 artists that is well worth a visit to see! Oh and it also won a major prize from Sotheby’s: 
Today, for one last hurrah, my Aunt MAT took me for a delicious lunch at the classy restaurant in the Ritz Carlton. Not too shabby! And now, here at O’Hare, my carryon under-the-seat-only bag with the cheapest fare (aka basic) appears to have passed muster. What a memorable and action-packed trip to Chicago! Thx to my family there!!!
Some of my favorite Manet paintings are not in the new show at the Art Institute of Chicago but that’s okay because 1) I look at them all the time (the poster versions of Olympia and The Balcony) 2) there was so much else to see. The show is small, much smaller than the Bonnard show at The Tate Modern in London that I went to in March. But the lovely colorful portraits of elegantly dressed women and still lives of flowers bounced off the walls. Being in rooms full of these paintings made me happy, although they were painted during a sad period in Manet’s life, when he was sick and nearing death.
We also popped into a nearby room full of American painter’s work including Grant Wood’s American Gothic, a famous Edward Hopper and other great works by Georgia O’keefe, Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton. A few user tips: I was glad we bought fast pass tickets online a few hours before we arrived. Saved us from standing in a long line. What I should have done was bought a membership for $70, rather than tix to the museum/special exhibit which cost $84 for two of us. (I need to do the math to see what it costs to bring a guest as a member.) Members also get discounts at the museum store which has some gear stuff, including jewelry by Chicago artists. And of course members can keep coming back without further payment.
Yes, Bike the Drive was definitely worth getting up at 5:30 a.m.. The chance to ride a bike along Lake Shore Drive with nothing except other bikes, albeit thousands of them, was much-appreciated. The annual event was orderly and well-organized, with lots of helpful volunteers, very little red tape or lines, and plenty of free food (bananas, apples, cliff bars, even designer coffee.) I was riding a borrowed 6-speed Schwinn with a very comfortable wide seat. The only minor challenge was making it up several minor inclines. Otherwise the route was flat and very scenic. I spotted sights along “LSD” I’d never seen during decades of zipping along it in my car.
We got lucky with the weather. The sky was overcast and dark at times but it never rained beyond some drizzle. At points, the sun almost came out and the lake looked beautiful, as did the dramatic skyline. What a treat to see some of the dramatic high-rise architecture along the river leading to the lake from new vantage points. And for a moment you had a feel for what might be if we were all less dependent on our gas-guzzling cars. I did recall, at times, the thrill of riding on some bike-only bridge in Copenhagen and, of course, the temporary bike-only rural roads in Iowa during RAGBRAI.
I rode a few blocks from Emma and Rockets in Edgewater to the BRyn Mawr entrance onto the Drive and rode south 8 miles to Grant Park where I met up wi5 my sister Jill and two of her friends who took the El in from Oak Park. I wanted to keep riding south but we sort of ran out of time (there are some timing issues to keep track of – and I am glad I started at 6:30 am) so we rode back north. next time, I may being my bike and ride all the way down and back, the earlier the better.
This afternoon we went to the Sunday farmers market in Logan Square and to delicious Bang Bang Pie shop, which serves, yes, pie — sweet and savory. We had excellent chocolate caramel pie and key lime pie (they’d run out of strawberry rhubarb) and sampled the chicken pot pie. Also had great homemade lemonade with free refills. We also walked Millie around E & R’s lovely Edgewater neighborhood.
