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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.