no pool no joke

In the midst of yesterday’s warm humid breezes, I’ve started giving some thought to summer and how much we here in the land of ice and snow and wind treasure our pools.

And while we treasure them, they seem to provide us with plenty of angst. There was the battle about the reconstruction of Sholem Pool and the abandonment of an Olympic-size facility. And then there was the fire at the Urbana Indoor Aquatic Center that shut it down for months. And now there is the disaster that is Crystal Lake Pool.

The point of this history lesson is that I wonder how this will effect the rest of us this summer now that CLP is closed. Will this mean massive crowds at Sholem? A scramble to get into swim classes? A waiting list for the private swim clubs?

In this economic climate, it will be a challenge for the Urbana Park District to pass a tax increase, especially when its residents are somewhat leery of the District’s ability to be a proper steward of its current assets. We all know that Spalding Pool is nearing its shelf life; it will turn 40 next year, and use has dwindled in recent seasons.

Champaign-Urbana will only have one outdoor public pool sooner than later (I’m not counting the one at the building formerly known as IMPE). And that can’t be a good thing.

it’s only wednesday?

If I did a 25 things about me on Facebook (I didn’t), one of the things I would reveal is that I am a recycling maniac. So I was especially excited to see that those attending the News-Gazette’s Greener Living Expo this weekend will have the chance to recycle crayons. Crayons!!! Never thought about that one before.

We’re going to Peanut’s first live theater event this weekend, the Little Mermaid presented by the Champaign Urbana Junior Woman’s Club Tom Thumb Theater. Kudos to them for presenting the play at child-friendly times — amazingly that’s not always the case with “children’s” theater around here.

It’s Dr. Seuss weekend at my two favorite big box stores in honor of Read Across America. Meijer will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a party and fun for kids of all ages. And discounts on books. And Target will be having Dr. Seuss storytime on Sunday at 1 p.m.

a taste of the shtetl

Who would have thunk it? There has been an explosion of klezmer music right here in C-U.

For the uninitiated, klezmer is a type of Jewish folk music that originated in the shtetls (Yiddish for town) of Eastern Europe. When the Eastern European Jews were driven out of their homes and spread out all over the world, so did klezmer — mostly into cities with major Jewish population pockets.

Oddly enough, klezmer is all over the C-U entertainment map this month and next. Local klezmer veterans Little Oy on the Prairie played at the Common Ground Food Co-op last week; they are scheduled to perform at the Prairie Ensemble’s “Simply Black & White” Gala on March 6 at the Champaign Country Club. This Saturday, another local ensemble called “Don’t Ask” will be playing a free informal concert at the Urbana Free Library.

And on March 8,  Maxwell Street Klezmer Band, a Chicago institution (they played at my Bat Mitzvah!) will be entertaining us at Krannert Center.

Makes me wonder what could have been if I had practiced my clarinet more.

wishing

I wish that I could get all my grocery shopping done at one store in this town.

I wish that I could go see all five Best Picture nominee movies in one day — but we don’t have an AMC theater in this town.

I wish that the city of Champaign had allowed me to pick my own new mailbox. One day I came home to find a shiny new metal black one on our repaired post. It didn’t take as long as they said it would.

I wish that finding a preschool/childcare situation for Peanut wasn’t so complicated (more on that later).

I wish that I had more time for every person and every significant task in my life.

I wish that I didn’t waste so much time wishing.

pick me up off the floor, please

This is how I know a new friend (post college) from an old friend (college and earlier) — I can usually recognize the older friend’s handwriting. In the good old days, we used to communicate via passed notes, letters and cards. That’s old school. These are the days of digital communication, and never was this more apparent to me than the other day when I found a rather humbling note in my (new) mailbox (more on that later). Not a virtual one — the snail mail one.

It reads, “lbotp, you are a loyal friend, a loving mom, a beloved blogger, a talented communicator and so much more. Hooray for you! Thanks for making our lives better with all you do!”

It is completely anonymous. No signature, no return address. Nothing to clue me in, since I don’t recognize the handwriting.

Perhaps this is a trend. A week ago a friend of mine had this on her facebook status:

Ally McBeal is so excited to have received an anoymous valentine in the mail. How special! Thank you, Secret Cupid!

I was quick to comment on how cute the idea was, and I wonder if she ever figured out who the sender was. I don’t think she is the person behind my pick-me-up, but who knows these days. I’ve never seen her penmanship.

These past few weeks haven’t been easy, adjusting to a new baby and all that goes with it. So whomever my anonymous angel is, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

UPDATE: A thoughtful commenter rhetorically offered that if each reader send five anonymous notes like this, it would become an “anonymous kindness epidemic.” What a fantastic idea, and not just in theory.

the blogger gets blogged

When I was in the news business, I always tried to keep myself out of a story. Sure, I wanted my “voice” to be heard, but only as a way to tell the tale — not as a matter of policy or to insert opinion. I wanted to write the news, not be the news.

So it was fairly awkward for me to subject myself to an interview — about me. But my new friend Joel from over at Smile Politely made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. C-U’s “online magazine” wanted to pen a new feature profiling local bloggers, and decided to start with me. He was kind  enough to agree to a phone interview, since getting out of the house is nearly impossible for me these days.

Check it out here.

As for the next victim blogger in the series, I nominate Lisa over at Champaign Taste.

turn the page

I don’t know what’s happening at Pages for All Ages, the iconic bookstore and cafe in Savoy that last week posted a sign that it was closed for inventory — and never reopened (as far as I know). If Pages, which has enjoyed a 20-year run of selling books in C-U, is indeed a goner, it’s certainly the most notable example of a disturbing trend — the continued loss of locally owned businesses.

Certainly that isn’t news, but the businesses that have closed lately weren’t just places to shop or eat or browse. They were places where people gathered, sometimes every day, for a taste of community. These are institutions sociologists like to call third places — places outside of home and work where we could enjoy face-to-face communication and socialization with neighbors, friends and strangers.

Another such recent closure was Sweet Indulgence, the bakery on Windsor Road. In the summers, my family would walk there to get a special treat. Kids and parents could be seen there after school, and others would stop in for their morning coffee and pastry.

Before I had Jellybean, I spent a lot of time working at places where the Wi-Fi is free and the coffee is fresh. One morning I overheard a conversation between two senior citizens, lamenting the loss of Kafe K, the recently shuttered sandwich shop where (from what I could gather) the two had been regulars each morning.

Things change, but sometimes it’s not always easy to turn the page.