Hanging at the Lake

I haz wifi's.  Who knows for how long but maybe long enough to get out  a quick post.

Went down to Lake Michigan today for a quick visit.  It was not so very nice out.  Grey and windy and not freezing cold but that penetrating dampness that I so don't miss living in Colorado.

The lake looked more irritated than angry.  You should see it when it's angry.  But don't go in it when it's angry, trust me on this one.

I tracked a ton of sand into my aunt's car after tramping around on the beach in my trail running shoes.  Oops.

Nice view of the Bahai Temple from the Wilmette Harbor.  More pictures of the temple here from a trip 2 years ago.

The Village of Wilmette loves rules.  Lots of signs everywhere to remind you of the rules in case you forget.

They especially like rules when it comes to dogs.  Dogs, even on leash, have not been allowed in any Wilmette parks since the 70's.  Now there is a dog beach that you can take your dog to but there are lots and lots of rules and you have to take your dog on a designated route to get to the beach.

There were even more signs about stuff you'd better not even think of doing but the pictures came out too blurry.  I think my poor point and shoot camera is starting to go.

Wilmette is also very particular about businesses, signs, etc.  This is what a Starbucks looks like in Wilmette.

Do not even think about opening a Walmart or Target or McDonalds in Wilmette.  Though maybe it's a good thing that there are some places somewhere that don't have a Walmart or a McDonalds.

Today's big family drama was all about timeshares.  My grandfather bought a bunch of weeks of timeshares up in northern Wisconsin during times of the year that no one in their right mind would want to go to northern Wisconsin.  Like in February or the end of November or I don't even know when.  And the maintenance fees on these weeks . . .  yikes is all I have to say.  Nobody in the family wants to inherit the timeshares and pay the maintenance fees and go to northern Wisconsin, well, ever, let alone in February.  You cannot even give these weeks away and we know because my aunt tried.  She gave away 2 of the weeks that weren't in February but the others?  No way.  And the other aunt is telling me I'm going to eventually be responsible for my share of the maintenance fees even though I haven't been to northern Wisconsin in 20 years or so and I argued vehemently against buying the timeshare back in the 70's.  Because even as a teenager I could see this was a bad idea.  But my grandfather fancied himself a genius investor and I was just a dumb teenage girl.

Anyway, after much searching for 35 year old pieces of paperwork and going around in circles about this and freaking out by me because I'm having enough trouble right now with my own mortgage let alone property that I don't even want and why on earth would I ever go to northern Wisconsin in February and good gravy people, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.  So I googled and according to the internets I don't have to inherit anything I don't want to, especially not timeshares with ridiculous maintenance fees in the frozen tundra no matter what sort of genius agreement my grandfather entered into.  Now I know googling in the internets is maybe not as good as consulting a lawyer but since we can't find the paperwork that the lawyer needs I'm going to assume the internets knows what it's talking about.  Unless any of you would like a free week or three in the frozen tundra.

Two more days.  I wonder what adventure awaits tomorrow.

Bahai Temple Wilmette

Hard to take a bad picture of the Bahai Temple.

And yet I've somehow made it look like the Leaning Tower despite its obsessive symmetry.

There are 7 Bahai Temples in the world but the one in Wilmette is the oldest and most impressive.  And just a short 10 minute drive from my grandmother's house so it made for a nice little excursion today.

One of the gardens that surround the temple.  I forget exactly how many but there is one on each side so the temple is completely surrounded.

Usually the gardens look a lot more lush than this but perhaps because it's nearing winter they've toned things down.

The detail of the stonework is amazing.

The swastika symbol, or actually 'reverse' or 'left hand' swastika, was a religious symbol used in Hinduism and Buddhism long before the Nazis got their nasty paws on it thus its inclusion in the carvings on the pillar depicting the world's religions (the Nazi swastika is a reverse image).

I'm not exactly a religious person but I love the Bahai Temple.

They don't allow photography inside because it is a place of worship after all and they want people to have peace and quiet and respect if they're in there to worship.  But I did find a virtual tour of the interior that's very cool.  You can use the arrows to look anywhere you want, including straight up at the top of the dome and you can zoom in and out.  The inside is a sight to behold and if you're ever in the Chicago area it's worth a quick trip.

Is it really in the upper 70's in October?  I think Chicagoans are the only ones happy about global warming.  Except for the folks running the Chicago Marathon tomorrow.  For the non-runners reading this, upper 70's is way too hot to run a marathon.  I went out for a 3-4 mile run yesterday morning and I was too hot after 20 minutes.  Hope they have enough water this time.  In 2006 temps. went into the upper 80's and they ran out of water and shut the race down.  Tomorrow's conditions won't be as brutal but still there will be the potential for problems and I hope the organizers learned some lessons from last time.  Good luck and have fun to anyone running.