Hmm... not a bad idea... what should I blog about?
Well... I think I will make a start and see how it goes... Hopefully, I will be able to create a space of my own :-)
Winter Blues:
For people who live or lived in Chicago and it's suburbs, winter is no stranger. Extremely cold temperatures combined with dangerous wind chills greet them almost every day....every afternoon....every evening.....well.... every night!!
It's my ninth winter in Gurnee, which is one of the northern-most suburbs of Chicago (very close to Wisconsin border). I wake up every wintry morning asking the same question... What on earth am I doing here?
Since the last few days, temperatures have been staying firmly in single digits and staying below zero most of the time. I'm not talking Centigrade here. It's Fahrenheit. With wind chills going as low as negative 25, it's difficult to walk from the car park to your office.
My car makes a strange grunting noise when I start it.....
My Furnace at home grumbles and mumbles before firing up....
My Heart skips several beats after looking at the heating bill.....
My elder son now demands more money to shovel the snow from our driveway....
Why....why....why.... I ask this question again and again.....
On a cold Sunday afternoon, my younger son says "Dad, let's go sledding". My older son is already putting on his snow pants.
These brats are out to destroy my beautiful Sunday afternoon....Settled cosily in my recliner, sipping a cup of hot tea, eating hot samosas and watching Packers getting thrashed by Bears at the Soldier field... I cannot ask for a better Sunday afternoon...
I look at my wife with lot of hope. "I don't know who these kids are. They are your kids till Monday morning" My wife is pretty good at that!!
Both my sons are already geared up for sledding. My younger one pulls me out of recliner "C'mon dad, get ready..." I have no choice. Grudgingly I put all the winter outdoor apparel and drive my sons to the nearby sled-hill.
Why....why... why... I ask this question once again... It's bitterly cold out there... there is snow everywhere....
"Here we go Wheeeeeee....." My younger son goes down with his sled....
"Geronimo!!!!.... Here I come...." there goes my older son sledding his way merrily down the hill
I stand there watching my kids go down the sled-hill again and again, cursing the cold and my fate that brought me to this place.
"You wannna go, Dad?" My younger son was magnanimous in offering his sled to me. I hesitate a bit. Oh well, I guess I could go once...
Much later I find myself fighting for the sled. I become a kid again... All that mumble and grumble about cold weather and snow is now pushed in to oblivion.....
That's Chicago for you. Every season has something to offer. Life here teaches you to find happiness and joy under most extreme conditions.
