A Walk in the Park

Sorry to steal the title, Kim. But today Jeff and I decided to go for a nice walk through the park. The winter wonderland that has engulfed Chicago, though causing the frustration of the prior two posts, also provides some beauty. Here are some pictures from our trip today...

You may not be able to tell, but we are standing on a frozen lake. The only thing keeping us from a painful and freezing death is a questionably thick layer of ice. Amazing.

Here's me standing on the water again, like Jesus, in front of the Museum of Science and Industry.

Meanwhile, down by Lake Michigan, the water freezes on the rocks, giving us these fun faux-icebergs to look at.

On a side note, the day was not without its usual blunders and awkward moments on my end. Before setting out on this icy adventure, Jeff prepared hot tea in travel mugs for both us. As we walked, I sipped the tea, noticing that it was trickling out slowly. Assuming that the tea bag was blocking smooth movement of the tea to my mouth, I continued to drink and soon found myself tipping the mug nearly upside down in order to drink. Again, assuming that I had finished rather quickly, I continued to walk. At one point, Jeff offered to hold my mug and commented, "This is still heavy. Have you even been drinking any tea?" I said yes and explained the tea bag blockage, but held fast to my stance that my mug was almost empty. Jeff then looked at the mug and said, "Is it even open?" Not wanting to look foolish, I insisted that it was. Jeff then instructed me to turn the cap counter-clockwise... revealing a much larger mouth opening for the mug. Still insisting that I had been drinking all along, and partially wanting to salvage what remained of my dignity, I took a big swig of the tea. Since the mug had in fact been closed the entire time, I wasn't prepared for the amount of tea that would come out of the opening.  I immediately spewed all of the tea back out onto the snow in an Exorcist-projectile-vomiting motion, to which Jeff responded dryly, "You are so attractive right now." So much for dignity and common sense.