The Forlorn Fir

In my childhood the saddest part of the holiday season for me was having to strip our live Christmas tree of its decorations and unceremoniously dumping it on the curb. While I like the smell and the texture of a real tree, now that I live in an apartment I keep my vintage Christmas decorations up yearround including a little white ceramic tree from the 1960s, so I never have to experience the 'death' of my holiday tree ever again. (Yes, I'm not even a vegetarian but get emotional over trees, odd). Anyways, saw this sad little potted Christmas tree near my apartment's dumpster today which was especially depressing as it was still very healthy and since it's in a pot will survive beyond the holidays. Would have rescued it but I'm horrible with plants (despite being the daughter of a horticulturist!) so had to leave it there in the alley. Hopefully someone else adopted it.

Also, it's so cold here that the water freezes coming out of the (outdoor) faucets! Ah, winter.

Living Inside a Snowglobe

After living in Chicago for almost 3 years I've gotten a little cynical about snow. Gone are the days when I'd go to sleep as a kid, praying for snow--in Arkansas we only got 4 or 5 snowfalls a year, usually an inch at most, that would melt within 4 hours of touching the ground.

There's a weather warning advisory on-- it's been snowing since I left my apartment at 8AM this morning and we're supposed to accumulate up to an inch of snow per hour! This is the view from my office window-- on the 7th floor of a building on S. Michigan Avenue. It appears so still and peaceful out, like a dream.

Structure of a Snowflake

While waiting for a Western bus in Lincoln Square I happened across an empty storefront (sadly now a common sight in this economy) whose windows had been taken over by lacy, icy configurations of condensation. I'd never seen frost accumulate like this before-- they reminded me of other configurations in nature (namely leaves and trees) and also Japanese brush paintings and 1960s minimal paintings.