Lake Pimitoui, Illinois River, Peoria Heights
February and March were interesting months - freezing cold in the former with a rapid transition into what is fast becoming an early, very warm spring! I spent most of February studying pediatric cardiology and preparing some lectures to give at our daily noon conference. As much as we talk about our long work hours, there's a considerable amount of plain old-fashioned lecture and study time woven throughout our day. Or rather, the lectures are there (1 1/2 hrs a day) if you can extract your self from the interminable pages and Thing To Do, and the studying is something that should happen in the best of worlds. What made February stand out in my mind is that on the whole, it was a pretty dense month in terms of academics. And because our cardiology center has a large number of young patients with congenital heart problems - rare and common - who come in from all over the state, I also got much, much better with my stethescope and heard interesting heart sounds that formerly had only been book-knowledge to me.
Kate was pretty busy in the hospital, so I spent many evenings in the attic study with the cat and the computer. :)
I also got out walking a few times, just to take in winter... As seen above, the Illinois River Valley near Peoria has beautiful views - though the wind coming down the valley was well below zero that day! It seems like our seasons are a bit more intense midstate. The winds come across the plains from the west and cast a solid freeze by the beginning of November that keeps everything pretty silent - though often sunny - through February.
March brought family birthdays, Greg's and Mom, so I went home for a long weekend. Getting there & back was quite the adventure. I started in Bloomington, where I realized as I was checking in that my credit card had been left at the drugstore on the other side of town (thankfully, not 1hr away in Peoria!) - don't worry, the attendent told me, you have plenty of time as your plane is delayed almost 2hrs! Providential, I think! Then she adds, Oh but the Atlanta connection isn't delayed, so we're not sure what you'll do when you get there. Hmmm. Better get the credit card and settle in for a long trip!
So I spent the evening looking at amazing cloud formations and watching the distant thunder & lightening displays, which were apparently all over the country shutting down flights.
After I joined several thousand other characters in various states of sleep-deprivation milling around the Atlanta airport until either their flights or hotels were established, I landed the last room in the Sleep Inn, slept lightly dreaming of airplanes landing (awakening to real sound effects) and finally alighted in Buffalo the following day at noon. Fortunately, Greg's Birthday involved a lot of laughter, a great game of bowling and was rounded out with pumpkin pie - which finally topped chocolate cake as the special request for dessert!
Getting back to Peoria proved to be equally challenging! I must have been among hundreds of other people who missed flights on the daylight savings switch - and I even had my clock correct (just not the itinerary!). So after a very pleasant extra day at home, I finally made it back to the Midwest with the well-confirmed realization that if you want to travel between two small-to-midsize cities 15hrs apart, you should plan for a leisurely journey with detours.
Winter weather faded away quite nicely by midMarch. There was one rather funny episode that somewhat characterizes the funny home moments that occur in Kate's & my kitchen. It involved lentils, which I had for the first time in about 12 years, and actually liked them. The significance? Lentils can potentially be a great winter staple, and they have a way of showing up in all sorts of dishes, especially those Kate likes to make. To dislike them leaves one at a relative disadvantage with respect to soups, in particular. The first time I met lentils they were presented in a highly suspicous-appearing dinner item about the same color and consistency of swamp debris. It was labeled "lentil soup" - but in the experience of attempting to ingest this concoction, I came to the conclusion that since soups were supposed to be edible, this might not live up to the name. Thereafter, I avoided lentils in all forms, as they were clearly the culprit ingredient.
However, things happen. In this case, Lent happened. This event precipitated a number of changes in our household, one being the effort to use what we had in the cupboards more completely before buying more groceries. So I opened my cupboards to explore the backs and behold! Staring me in the face were LENTILS. I was dismayed. You laugh - but do you know what's in the back of your cupboards?? So how to accomplish the Using of Lentils, and maintain edibility... Kate was buried in hospital work, so this was up to me. I delved into the vegetarian monastic cookbook and behold- tomato lentil basil soup. Thank you French Benedictines. No overbearing brownness. No sludge in the bowl. This was a delight. Winter eating just got even better.... but thank goodness spring (and the garden!) is also around the corner.
St Meinrad Abbey, IN
Chris, myself, Lena & Jane
Jane & Will
For the love of black bears
