Distractions, reflections

When I first arrived at the Kellogg School in 1980, I was offered a “foster relative” family to help me adapt to American life. I had to be one of the students coming the shortest distance — it’s a 10-hour drive from Toronto to Evanston — but Charlie and MaryAnn welcomed me, and they’ve remained as members of my extended family for over 25 years.

I haven’t been to the Chicago area much over the years, so I mostly came over to hang out. This included going out with MaryAnn to walk the dog.

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For the 25th reunion of the Kellogg class of 1982, the program had Saturday morning lectures scheduled. Between my day job and my grad studies, I visit a graduate business school event at least once per month. I showed up early for breakfast in the lounge, but when the lectures started … I decided that I would rather just hang out and talk with Amy and Gwen for a few hours.

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In 1981 and 1982, I played electric bass in the pit band for the Special-K Revue. Although this extracurricular event at the Kellogg School is now considered an institution, the first production of the show was only in 1980 … so as a first year Kellogg student, I was performing with some of the original players.

The shows now coincide with the alumni reunion. This year’s show was called “The Inconvenient Truth”.

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It’s been 25 years since I graduated from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. I attended the 20th reunion (and the 15th and 10th, I think). There’s been small changes around Evanston, near the Northwestern University campus, but I certainly wouldn’t get lost!

In my second year, I lived south of the campus on Chicago Avenue, so I must have walked or biked past the arch everyday without giving it much thought.

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On my recent trips to Houston, I’ve stayed at centrally-located hotels close to client offices. On this trip, however, a late start in the morning meant that I could avoid the commuting rush, and stretch out a visit with Jeanne over three days. (When I’m on the Internet, it hardly matters where I am in the world).

The neighbour next door to Jeanne has lawn ornaments — and I don’t know how the local ducks relate to them.

A few minutes walk down the street brings us to the reason that ducks are in the area: a man-made pond, with houses ringing the shore.  Read more... (229 words, 5 images, estimated 55 secs reading time)