Nothing like biking along the lakefront all afternoon when it’s a shocking 85-degrees outside!!! Blue skies, warm breezes & sleeveless!!!

Some beautiful spring flowers gracefully dancing in front of the one of my stamped & soda-fired totem poles down in Central Illinois… is there such a thing as #TotemPoleTuesday?!

And sure, there may have been a bit of April snow this morning…
but it looks like Spring is still holding strong!

A beautifully chilly start to the day.
Low-hanging mist giving a frozen touch to the morning.

A SIMPLY GORGEOUS AFTERNOON!

Plenty of blue skies, wispy clouds, a swift breeze… and MY BIKE!!! Sure, I rode twenty miles this morning, but when the temperature goes up into the mid-60’s for the first time this year… you just GOTTA go out to play… for another forty miles!!! Whoo-Hoo… Spring is coming!!!

It was a beautiful day to get outside to play! The sun was out and the temperature actually hit 50-degrees!!! I decided to go for a nice long hike through Moraine Hills State Park. I was surprised by the amount of snow they still had, but was happy to be shedding layers of clothes as the day went on. Some beautiful scenery, slushy paths and a few sandhill cranes along the way!

Feels like Spring is coming soon… but we still have a lot of ice to melt away!!! Some really cool ice “sculptures” happening in my back courtyard.

I think there’s still stairs under there somewhere?!

We had a surprisingly warm day here in Chicago today… lots of sun & lots of melting! And the perfect opportunity to get back out on my bike for another wonderful afternoon ride along the lakefront!

While today may be gray, yesterday was a great day to PLAY!!! After a full day in the studio, I got to sneak out yesterday for a great, late afternoon ride along the lakefront. Lots of melting snow, lots of puddles & lots of wet-grime flicking up on my back!!!

Didn’t care… too much fun pedaling!!!

With warm temps, the snow is melting which gives even less reason for Chicago “dibs”. A strange local custom where people put chairs, tables, garbage cans & all kinds of trash in their shoveled out parking space to “reserve it” for when they come back. Kinda loved this impassioned message I saw this afternoon on my way home!

Just got back from a sweaty afternoon jog along the lakefront! So excited to see all of this snow starting to melt. We have a long ways to go… but it was encouragingly warm this afternoon. Of course I put on too many layers and regretted it quickly… and got tired of splashing through all the mushy puddles. But I’ll take it if it means Spring is one day closer!!!