Greetings from Chicago! It's a beautiful, sunny May morning, though it is a bit chilly compared to Carrboro. We have been enjoying spending time with my parents this past week and will remain here a few more days until we return to North Carolina Tuesday night.

Yesterday, Dad and I ran a 25 kilometer race on a beautiful course in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The course set out along the Grand River, crossed it around the 6 mile mark, and then wound back to the city over rolling terrain for the last 9 miles or so. It was a perfect morning to race, with a little breeze to keep us runners cool, and there were plenty of people cheering along the sides of the course. The race was very well organized and the runners were treated very well. My dad was so impressed by the spread at the finish line and is still raving about that! I enjoyed it very much. Results are posted at: http://www.doitsports.com/results/page.tcl?id=11627

where you can search by age group or by our last name to see both of our results! Dad was 43rd in his age group, and I was 12th overall, just missing out on the Top 10. I was very happy with my time because it represents a big improvement over my best pace for a half marathon (which is about 2.5 miles shorter to boot), and because I ran most of the race alone. So I am optimistic that I can still improve substantially between now and November when I race at the trials.

Today we will return to the church I grew up in and will hear Sarah Johnson speak about her Peace Corps experience in Kenya. She recently returned from there and had a very moving experience, from all I have heard. Then we will have a Mother's Day lunch at home with my Uncle Phil visiting, before going to a concert tonight in Evanston. It is part of the Music of the Baroque series for which the performances take place in a large church; we are supposed to hear a piece by Purcell.

Shu Wen and I have also been walking about the city. On Wednesday, we strolled around Hyde Park with my mother, walking to the Midway and the University, stopping in a park to read, and then coming back home along the lakefront. Then on Thursday, we all went to see a terrific special exhibition at the Art Institute, organized around collections of Impressionist to Cubist Art that was collected by a prominent art dealer in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. We were particularly impressed by the Cezanne pieces, but there was also work by Van Gogh, Degas, Matisse, Renoir, Gauguin and Picasso. After that, Shu Wen and I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo and walked downtown quite a bit.

On our way back from Grand Rapids, we also made two worthwhile stops, the first in Holland, Michigan for Tulip Time, and the second in Kalamazoo to see Julia Gartrell, who is a long-time friend of Shu Wen's (from her host family in Durham when she first arrived in the US 7+ years ago). Holland is a cute little town that's amazingly diverse and very lively this time of year. They are quite proud of their tulip displays and have parades and dances to show off their Dutch roots. Some of the things happening there did not look too Dutch, but we enjoyed them anyway! Kalamazoo was a peculiar town that has really wide avenues and zooming cars, and an interesting bipolar working class/college town feel. We went to a nice place for lunch and walked a bit there with Julia, which was a great relief for us runners after sitting in the car and getting nice and stiff.

I will sign off here; look for another update when we return to Carrboro!