Fall In Chicago Is

"Fall in Chicago is an event. It's like theater: active, kinetic, rich."

-Shauna Niequist

I hope I remember this fall in Chicago for a long, long time.
Summer in Chicago is unparalleled. But fall...fall is spellbinding.
This year though, fall was especially warm, sunny, bright, and ongoingly beautiful, almost to the point of confusion.
Why is it so nice still? people start asking nervously.

It's really funny to me that in Chicago when we have amazing weather for any length of time, everyone gets nervous.
I heard this means winter's gonna be fierce. We're gonna pay for this. It's gonna be the longest stretch of sub-zero temps on record. In history.
It's like we have it so good, we suspect it has to be too good to be true, and something bad must be around the corner.
Weather catastrophizing is one of the humorous quirks about Chicagoans, though there's nothing humorous about our winters, you have to admit.

But while we're walking around nervously catastrophizing about the upcoming winter,
these are the too-good-to-be true scenes we see on our city streets.
At least these are the scenes I see, in my little part of the city.

{Campus}

{A Seasonal Schwinn}

{The Essence of Chicago:
Fire escape, a Vespa, the El}

{Orso's on Wells}

This is the most romantic fall restaurant nook.
I just die every time I walk by it!

{Einstein's}
Not usually an Einstein's person, but to sit outside amidst mums (no, that does not say nuns) and have a casual breakfast on a crisp morning sounds like maybe I could be an Einstein's person.

{Lincoln Park}
You know the love.

{Back at our backyard Washington Park}
Watching the seasons change here is like marking off your height on a growth chart.
You see that time is indeed passing, and you are indeed changing,
even when you don't perceive it on a daily basis.

{Indeed, a very warm fall}
Terrible for the allergies, but happy for the gift of extended outdoor-friendly weeks.

{Sidewalk displays}

Fall in Chicago is.

Definitely an event.

And on the brink of the holidays, the magic is going nowhere but up.
Happy November 1st!