A strange thing happened...

Just got back from Chicago. It was a beautiful day there with lots of sunshine and urban gardens in full bloom. I shot a few photos to share, but first I have to tell you about a few unusual things that happened while I was there. I go to Chicago two or three times a year, so it feels pretty familiar to me. But I've never been there the day after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. It was general insanity due to the excitement, but it ended up being even moreso since they had a parade down Michigan Ave that ended at my hotel with the team having a big dinner with boosters. That's definitely a first.

Another first was walking down Wabash Ave back from a nice dinner with the Iowa delegation of the AMA when suddenly thousands of bikers started flying past. They were deliberately making lots of noise and drawing attention to themselves, and it wasn't until a few dozen rode by (they were on the far side of a wide street) that someone said, "Are they... naked?" And indeed they were. Most of them were stark naked. There were thousands of them. It was surreal. Apparently there is an annual ride in Chicago to protest overuse of oil and to support a healthy body image. Riiiiight.

And finally, before I post the photos from this morning, the last thing that was odd was that as I was walking through town taking these pictures I overheard multiple conversations about radiation oncology. One was a breast cancer patient who apparently didn't want radiation, "If it's incurable, then why prolong the inevitable?" I resisted the temptation to point out that life is incurable in general and death is always inevitable, but people generally prolong facing it just the same. A few block later I heard (or thought I heard) a couple guys talking about radiation biology board exams. The same test I'm going to be taking in a few weeks. Crazy, huh?

Well, without further ado, here are some photos. The sunniest, brightest final picture was the view of my kitchen floor after getting home a few minutes ago.