Dear Everyone,
There has been a surplus of sports stories in Chicago
lately. The Bears second come from
behind victory. The Cubs in a race to
the World Series with the Mets. Also,
last Friday I had two tickets to see the Blackhawks play the Islanders. Cindy was out of town with Jasper, at
University of Wisconsin – Madison, visiting the school, and looking in on
Michael Tuchler, and Andy and Gail were out of town in New York, so I went to
the game with Jami Walloch, my pathology colleague. It was a good game; the Hawks dominated. They have been fairly inconsistent so far
this year, with a lot of new players due to the salary cap. We’ll see where they are in mid-season. By the way, the Bears lost a total stinker to the Lions in overtime. It was a battle to the bottom.
I’m sorry to report that one of my favorite grocery stores,
the Westbrook Market on 63rd and Cass is closing. This store was a bit out of the way for me,
so I did not shop here often (indeed, I was unsure of its exact location for
several years after moving to Hinsdale, and would come upon it almost
accidentally, a la Le Grand Meaulnes). I usually referred to this store as ‘the
wacky store’, because it had such an unusual array of products. The produce section was half Mexican and half
SE Asian. There were whole aisles
devoted to Baltic, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Asian foods. You could buy anything from fresh air freighted
Lithuanian rye bread to Philippine coconut soda. It was a great place to wander around and buy
Andrew Zimmerman level strange food at reasonable prices. Unfortunately, the grocery store is in a
failing mall, and the competition for exotica has heated up, with an expanded
Whole Foods, Pete’s Fresh Market, and a Marianos all opening within a couple of
miles. I went in yesterday to get some Chorizo
to make a Mexican noodle bowl (chorizo, canned salsa, chipotle peppers, chicken
broth, zucchini, and angel hair pasta), and the store was half empty, with
large signs announcing big sales. The
only crowded aisle was the liquor one. Yes, I can get pretty much anything it
sold at some of the other stores in the area, but it was one stop shopping for
a lot of interesting food that will not be replaced.
Meanwhile, we have been trying to think of pumpkins to carve
for this Halloween (probably the last one I will bother with), as well as costumes
for going the Walloch’s Halloween party.
For pumpkins we might try the Hinsdale Central school mascot, the ‘red
devil’. I think Cindy might dress up as
a dragon, and for me she has suggested the ‘Walking (Grateful) Dead’, which
since they had a concert in Chicago this summer, is at least topical.
Last weekend Nicola and I drove out to HP to see Barbara and
Roger prior to their theatre trip to England.
Barbara promised she would try to go the Literacy Volunteers of Illinois
Scrabble Spectacular if Gail is able to go with her. I expect huge winnings to come from this,
perhaps as large as those who hold Illinois lottery tickets worth more than
$600 (the state has refused to pay-out for these, since there has been no
budget for over four months).
Love, H.
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