notes & things 7/23/2025
The past couple of days, we were in McHenry for a drive-in outing, the first of the year. They tend toward kids stuff and blockbusters in the summer, which are of less interest, so we consented to see the new Jurassic World and Superman, the latter of which had a terrible script, but the dinosaur one was at least competently rendered. There will be more throwback double features and horror screenings in the fall we hope to catch. This time, the riverfront hotel we usually stay at was booked up, so we hit up another nearby hotel to avoid that middle of the night drive back to the city. We left early to grab breakfast and drive back the scenic route...straight over to the lake and then down through the northern burbs, where I spotted and successfully identified a Frank Lloyd Wright in Highland Park. The wooded, winding roads of huge houses, private beaches, and expansive gated compounds eventually gave way to Evanston and then Rogers Park and the much less grand buildings of the city. There is a particular moneyed beauty to the lake front opulence though, the old-growth wooded coves, stone bridges, and curving driveways .
This week, there is not much going on besides working and writing. This midsummer slump always gets me to think about fall things. It's not quite time yet, but soon. We are in for a spate of warm days again, which the weathermen are calling "corn sweat" heat, a time when the busting corn contributes to the high humidity levels of late July and August. A few days ago, I heard my first late summer cicada, so it's only a matter of time. We do have another mid-August trip up to the Wisconsin wilds to visit extended family, so there is still summer to be grasped as it wriggles out of our hands toward September.
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