On a day that began at 9F/-13C and 5-8 inches of snow predicted, these are the ingredients required for bicycling in a Chicago winter.

A balaclava, thermal scarf, down bomber jacket, sweat shirt,  cotton sweater, thermal undershirt, t-shirt, rain pants, sweat pants, thermal underwear, Skinz, cotton socks, wool socks, thermal gloves, my indispensable Blundstones, and a bike.  Some optional items:  a sense of humour, stupidity, and a fearlessness to deal with Chicago drivers - in particular, taxi drivers.  I must also say for the record that despite how fat I look I've actually lost weight this winter.  Maybe it's not swimming laps but actually biking while wearing 200 pounds of clothes.

Ten days and counting.

By the way, doesn’t holly look so much better with snow on it?

My friend Hertha – the Opera Queen – generously invited me to tonight’s performance of “The Magic Flute” by Mozart at the Lyric Opera.  Beautiful singing, great scenery and costumes and, of course, the music itself.  Also, a photo of the Lyric’s lobby, and a close-up of one of the magnificent chandeliers.

From this morning’s Sydney Morning Herald:  Repurposed Books.  “The creative cyber world is awash with bookish objects made from orphaned volumes.  Here is a selection of the weird and wonderful creations that have been created from books.”  To see more examples, go here.

Chris Gregoire, governor of Washington, pressing for same-sex marriage.  Thoughtful, eloquent and respectful.  Well done.

Gregoire marriage presser

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A cold and chilly morning on 28 December 2011. Today, in 1902, my Grandma Eklund was born. She lived in the homestead to the right in the photograph. She died in 1987, and I think about her every day. Happy Birthday Grandma!

You can't make up colours like these.

And under the category of "Farm Art," I also included the pork sign.  Apparently I drew it in high school for my Dad to stencil it on the hog trailer.  A week ago, my Dad made the frame from old wood.  We put it together on Christmas Day, and hung it up in the garage this afternoon.  Doesn't every garage look better with fine art?

Christmas Day?  It felt more like early spring.  Dare I ask when the real winter will come along?

Some photographs from our family get-together at my brother's house in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Certainly not the "White Christmas" I expected when I returned from Australia.  Temperatures were nearly 50F (11C) ... but I'm not complaining!