Chicagoland

This post has to piggyback on the Midwest posting. You see, we moved to the famous Chicagoland area a few months ago. By the way, I did not coin that word. It's said on every TV and radio station. It covers a radius of about 45 miles to the north, west, and south of the city of Chicago. And to the east is Lake Michigan.

I am in love with Chicagoland. There are no cons, only pros to living here, OK, one con. My kids and grandkids don't live here. I fool myself into thinking they do so that I can go about my day and enjoy the city without the pain of missing them so much.

What are the pros of living here, you ask? Oh, there are so many. I'll start with my neighbors. In a word--they are lovely. They have wonderful upbeat attitudes, they've invited us into their homes, over for dinner, to parties, and to restaurants. It didn't matter that it was Winter, who cares! One of our neighbors even had a Groundhog Day party. A what? You heard me. Everyone brought a dish, and we ate, talked, and had a wonderful time.  No one complained about the weather. We all just chatted and laughed — we were grateful to be together and enjoy life. We have found a great church, we've made some friends, and we are happy.

Everyone asks us how we're settling in or if we need anything. However, no one has asked us this question — why did you move here? We were asked that question pretty much every day when living near Cleveland. I wonder why?

And then there is the city of Chicago itself. Wow, what a city. I love it more than I love New York City or San Francisco, and I truly love those cities. Chicago has everything--museums, shopping, restaurants, Lake Michigan, a river flowing through the center, skyscrapers, the L, and so much more. We can take the Metra, a commuter train, into the city on weekends for a $7 round trip. It's fantastic.  We often go, as we aren't the type who sit around waiting or wondering what to do on any given weekend.  Nope, we're the movers and the shakers--the goers and the doers--we don't relax, we like to have adventures. And Chicago is perfect for us. It's colder here in the Winter, I'll admit that, but it snows a little less, so spring seems to come a little earlier. The fall colors aren't nearly as brilliant as Cleveland's, and neither is the countryside as beautiful, but I still love it here. I am content.

So for now, we will thoroughly enjoy our time here in Chicagoland. We'll explore and wander through each little suburb, and we'll get to know each and every one.  We'll be tourists and eat our way through Chicago. I'd like to retire here, but honestly, we don't have a good track record of staying in one place. So, I'm thinking that at best I've got about 5 years to get to know Chicago inside out. I'd better get started then--time's a-wasting.