Scenery...

I guess it's time to admit that the dreams of my youth have changed when I prefer this scene:

Cardinals in our back yard

To this one:

Chicago

I used to think I wanted to live in a big city where I walked everywhere & rode the subway. But that's before I fell in love with small town living, with cornfields on my way to work, and with farm equipment traffic jams (well, to be honest, Dr. M gets more of those than I do).

Today as we drove into Chicago I felt my chest tighten & this low level sense of panic. And it wasn't even traumatic at all - our hotel was very easy to get to. And our room is really nice. I guess I just wish it was in the middle of a soybean field or something.

Wait a minute - cornfields? Soybean fields? Was I really born in the North Carolina Piedmont? Who knew that those dairy farming and mill hill working genes would bring forth a daughter of the Ohio farm country? Of course, I don't want to live and work on a farm - I just want to drive through them & feel my soul settle.

But for the next few days I'm in Chicago for the first time. I'm going to enjoy spending time with friends and listening in on Dr. M's panel. I'm going to enjoy this skyline from our room:

Then I'll head home to this view: