Exit stage left

It's the day before Election Day, and the country trembles on the edge of change. Here in Chicago, the city is already celebrating. Everywhere people wear their Obama T-shirts and buttons with a kind of defiant pride, daring the world to caution them against breaking out the champagne too soon.



The morning was impossibly beautiful. I got a pastry and a chai latte, and sat on a bench on the north end of Grant Park for half an hour. The air was 72 degrees, so perfectly balanced it did not feel like it had any temperature at all. The sun shone with autumn brightness, the sky appeared scribbled with pastels, the breeze barely ruffled the luminous yellow leaves. On Michigan Avenue, the buses rumbled and the music students lugged their instruments to class. I felt surrounded by such perfection that I wasn't sure I hadn't died in my sleep and was in some Chicago-themed heaven.

Before boarding the Orange Line for Midway, I walked a couple of blocks over to Loopy Yarns, a legendary Chicago yarn store. Although I wanted to buy one of everything (Noro Silk Garden! Misti Alpaca laceweight! Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock! Claudia Handpainted! Handmaiden Sea Silk!), I restricted myself to a hank of mmmmmmMalabrigo worsted in green, and two skeins of KPPPM in a blue-purple colorway. The nice ladies at Loopy threw in a tote bag to mark my visit, and gave me the student/teacher discount.



At the airport, walking from the train to the terminal, I complimented a TSA worker on her sparkly scarf as I passed. Seconds later, she handed it to me as a gift.



If only my family could somehow magically join me here, I'd stay forever. Thank you, Chicago.