The Diary - July 11
The Diary
July 11, 2026
It is always revealing to see where you live through the eyes of visitors. On Monday, my friends Bete and Rogerio arrived from Sao Paulo, Brazil. After clearing Immigration and Customs at O’Hare, they headed to my condo on Lake Shore Drive.
It was a sunny summer morning. I dropped their luggage in the bedroom and hustled them up to the rooftop deck to share the view. The entire city was at our feet. To the east, Lake Michigan was shining, a giant tropical-blue platter stretching to where it met the darker blue horizon. A verdant swatch of Lincoln Park bordered it, sliced by a pulsing Lake Shore Drive, the buzz of traffic barely audible to us 26 stories high. To the south, the Loop loomed. I was able to point out landmark buildings. To the west, the vertical city ended suddenly, and Chicago stretched out in low-rise sensibility, neighborhood after neighborhood. Rogerio, a baseball fan, smiled broadly when he made out Wrigley Field. Later, after a walk along Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive, Rogerio asked with his trademark sarcasm, “Is it hard living in such a beautiful city?’” I felt a surge of pride in the city where I spent much of my work life.
Friday, after a week of exploring Chicago, Bete and Rogerio arrived in Princeton on the evening Amtrak. We headed to DQ on Main Street, where we sat on picnic benches and ate ice cream as storm clouds gathered. Rogerio, an agricultural engineer, was stuck by the abundance of corn and soybeans he saw from the train. He explained the difference between US crops and those raised in Brazil, where they now have two corn and soybean harvests a year! We headed to my house in Henry through a thunderstorm of biblical proportions. The rain ended when we reached Henry. We sat on the front porch counting the pulsing fireflies with Bete commenting on the enveloping quiet.
Today, I brought my guests to the shop in Peoria. After touring the store and chatting on the sofa, they began worrying about the store’s viability, as it was an exceedingly slow morning. I told them not to worry and, happily, business picked up while they visited the farmer’s market and toured the Riverfront Museum where they were wowed by the “Exquisite Creatures” exhibit by Christopher Marley.
After the store closes, I will take them for a drive along Grandview Drive. The storms pushed east last night, so the view should be outstanding. We will stop for pizza in the Heights. Tomorrow, we will rest in Henry and take a jump in Lake Thunderbird. Monday evening, they will head back to the “Big Smoke” on that other lake.