Weather

July 18th, 2009
January 10th, 2010

[Chicago's] changes in weather are often sudden and pronounced, but usually are of such a character as to have a stimulating effect upon the average person of health; and it is not at all improbable that the great energy of its people, which has resulted in the rapid upbuilding of Chicago, is due largely to the peculiar nature of its climate.

(Cox, Henry J. and John Howard Armington. The Weather and Climate of Chicago. The University of Chicago Press, 1914.)

White on white

Winter in Chicago is like living in a Kazimir Malevich painting. We took the opportunity last Sunday to remove a little white from white and, by shoveling, hopefully making it a little bit more like a Franz Kline.



There isn't much to do in winter. A lot of folks think the garden looks barren but I appreciate the tidy beauty of it, like a fresh canvas waiting for the next year's palate of browns and greens and yellows.




That said, we did a little pruning of the fruit trees (January is a good time to take off branches since dormant trees concentrate their energy in the trunk) and removed some wasp nests from the shed. We kept looking around for more to do but there wasn't much. It's hard for a gardener to hibernate.