The emancipation of my inner twelve-year-old

It was one of those days when we were caricatures of ourselves. On a hot afternoon, my husband and I waited in line for coffee at our favorite little locally owned coffee shop. As we age, our coffee orders get more and more pretentious: Now we throw in “oat milk” or “half sweet” or “do you have a light roast?” at the barista, hoping she’ll notice that her customers are truly discerning coffee consumers. (She never seems impressed.)

Anyway, we’re ordering our pretentious drinks when I see my husband carefully punching in his card number on his phone.

“What are you doing?” I asked him.

Another season of wicker basket family ties

I suppose you might gaze at a wicker laundry basket and ponder all the ways it suggests “family” to you, but my basket says “family” in a way that might not occur to you.

That’s because I keep an old wicker laundry basket on the patio, and I fill it not with laundry but with garden weeds until I figure out what to do with them next — compost, or yard-waste bag for disposal? But before the basket gets full enough for me to make that disposal decision, it gets visited daily by the latest addition to the family.

Flop or bop

Now that title usually applies to music, songs and the like. However, I feel it can work in many contexts. Movies are the best example. And studios and the people who run them don’t seem to know which is which. The prevailing theory is that CEOs running the movie industry are from the Silicon Valley set, tech bros who only see the world through algorithmic optimization. When, in fact, the public don’t want to be pigeonholed into carefully curated boxes. That isn’t to say all tech companies are that way, shoutout to Letterboxd and MUBI. It has been a problem for a while, especially this summer.

Companion planting: how to grow together

Companionship is often an important part of our lives. We are innately social creatures that benefit from interaction with others. The companionship that we crave may come in the form of a spouse, a family member, a neighbor or a pet. Someone who will listen to our problems and celebrate our successes. The knowledge that someone cares for us reduces feelings of loneliness, increases our happiness, gives us a sense of purpose, and lowers our stress level. These all have both mental and physical health benefits. Companions encourage and enable us to be the best versions of ourselves.

One afternoon spent at the lakeshore stands out the most in my mind, but I don’t have a photo to remember it — and frankly, since I only have my memory to rely on, it’s started to take on a life of its own.

Our books have moved to Venus from Mars

Sixty years ago, my WIU creative writing professor made a comment that proved to be prophetic, both then and now in a flipped-on-its-head kind of way. And although he directed his comment to the female students, it struck home with me.

He said: “If you’re a woman author submitting a manuscript for publication, use your initials instead of your first name, because the publishing industry is heavily tilted toward men. If publishers don’t know your gender, they can’t start judging until they read what you’ve written.”

Fond farewells

We are in the final stretch of the summer, the dog days if you will. Although the weather hasn’t been as balmy of late, this is usually the time where we long for Pumpkin Spice Lattes and fall foliage. The stores certainly have been manufacturing that feeling with Summerween, another horrible marketing term meant to encourage rampant consumption instead of genuine interest. Why do we want the years to fly by without any sense of enjoyment?

Ask an Angel: August 13, 2026

I’m becoming extremely concerned about my mom, who is 79 and lives alone. She has always been fiercely independent, and honestly, she still does pretty well for herself overall. However, I’ve noticed a few things recently that are starting to worry me.

Move over Chicago

There is a very famous high-end restaurant in Chicago called Girl and the Goat. You may have seen the chef/owner Stephanie Izard on numerous shows on the Food Network. Well, move over Stephanie, Chicago’s got nothing on us northwest suburbanites. Behold, The Chick and the Pig in Algonquin.

When the best option is to stick to the plan

Our annual summer vacation has been in the works for months, making campsite reservations and studying maps. This year we’re doing a repeat of a vacation we took back in 2020: driving the more than one-thousand-mile perimeter of Lake Michigan in our teardrop camper, but with two huge differences: This time, there is no global pandemic going on to close down many tourist attractions, nor are our four children accompanying us. It is me, my husband, and our dog.

Being eyewitness to history that never happened

If you have an android cellphone with Google Photos installed, you won’t believe your eyes at what you’re about to read.

But a word of caution: If you don’t want to spend the rest of the day diving deeper down a fun “I can’t stop myself” rabbit hole, then stop reading immediately. Turn the page. Bake a cake. Build a shed. Do anything else, because if you keep reading, you’re likely to blow most of the rest of your day having way too much fun.

Still with me? Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

What’s old is new again

There is a Mexican restaurant we have gone to for quite a while and we reviewed it three years ago. Suddenly the restaurant was closed for “remodeling” and we were thinking the worst. Lo and behold, we heard it had new owners, was completely remodeled, and is now even open for breakfast. We are talking about El Molino Mexican Restaurant in Carpentersville.

A leaf out of your book: practicing nature journaling

Benedictine University located in Lisle Illinois is the home of the Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum. The museum, while small in scope, is filled with specimens that were collected all over the world. Brothers Father Hilary Jurica and Father Edmund Jurica spent their lives in pursuit of educating others through hands-on learning.

Ask an Angel: July 30, 2026

Lately, I’ve been receiving a lot of emails saying that I’ve won a prize, gift card, or sweepstakes from companies that look legitimate. The message often contains the company’s logo, and most of these messages are from places I shop at frequently. I find myself extremely confused, especially since I can’t remember entering any contest or sweepstakes.

Gods and monsters

Translation can be a beast. In order to come up with a faithful yet fresh take on a tale a few millennia old, so many needles need to be thread. Not the least of all period-accurate costuming. And many the gods save you if you cast one person out of place. Ultimately you must go with your gut on the choices you see fit. However, Christopher Nolan isn’t one to listen to overly pedantic whining on the internet. He was too busy with a 60-foot animatronic cyclops to wield.

Keeper of secrets

“I need to tell you something, but you can’t tell anyone…”

If I had a dollar for every time I heard these words! People like telling me their secrets, and I willingly partake.

Two birds in the gourd are worth a flock in the bush

Last week I told you about a stubborn robin that pecked at my bathroom window, defending a nest that didn’t exist against a foe that also didn’t exist. Well, that false-heroic bird finally declared victory and moved on — probably to the golf course to waste still more time pretending to be a winner in another meaningless exercise.

Well, now I have a different pair of stubborn birds taking the stage just outside my breakfast-nook window. But unlike that delusional robin, these birds are true go-getters, experts at getting things done.

Catching up with old friends

Despite the weather, hopefully your Fourth was a good time to spend with friends and family. Possibly you got to see some all year round. Or maybe you get only fleeting moments with them. Recently, a close confidant from the city moved a suburb over. With the summer in full swing, your small group can go on a trip. Netflix’s The Four Seasons could give you some inspiration.

Standing for plants: An interview with Environmental Defenders

“Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” Although this quote is attributed to Margaret Mead it could very easily be the motto of the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County. For over 50 years they have worked diligently protecting our ecosystem and preserving our natural environment all while educating residents. They have successfully protected valuable areas such as Ryder’s Woods in Woodstock and the Volo Bog State Natural Area. They also assisted in the development of the Crystal Lake watershed protection ordinance and the McHenry County Stormwater ordinance.

You asked for it

Everywhere we went, people seemed to be coming out of the woodwork asking us if we’ve tried a new eatery in town. They all were bragging on how delicious it was, so much in fact, that they have been to it several times. We have never had so many people recommend a venue before. As a result, we moved this eatery to the top of our “to do list” and rushed off to Huntley’s Deli in, where else, Huntley.

Ask an Angel: July 16, 2026

I sometimes have trouble falling asleep, but the bigger issue is staying asleep. I’ll wake up around 2:00 a.m. and just lie there. Sometimes I need to use the bathroom, but most nights I’m restless for hours. By the time I drift off, it’s morning.

Growing up at summer camp

Having never been to summer camp myself, I’m living vicariously through my daughter, who is working this summer as a camp counselor. The camp she’s at could be right out of a Wes Anderson movie: picnic tables by the lake, tiny, brightly painted cabins with bunk beds and screen doors; a mess hall with huge serving platters and ladles and pitchers lined up, freshly washed.

We visited my daughter the other day, for a brief 30 minute-stopover while we happened to be driving through the quaint Wisconsin town where she works. As she met us on the gravel lane between the road and the camp, I could already detect a difference, the way her messy ponytail bounced with every step. She looks casual and comfortable, as if she’s recently discovered that her skin fits her perfectly.

A pane-pecked tale of woe

As I write this, a robin is pecking at my bathroom window. He’s been at it, off and on, since before 5 a.m. this morning.

And as irritating as that is, he has been pecking at my window every morning at dawn’s first blush since early May — more than two months now.

I have tried everything I know to stop him. Post-it notes on the glass. Even pictures of cats and wolves.

Allerton Park: A garden retreat

A change of scenery, as they say, is good for us. Getting out of the house and experiencing new things offers emotional benefits such as reduced stress and physical benefits such as better sleep. It was with great excitement that I discovered Allerton Park and Retreat. Located in Monticello, Illinois, a short three-and-a-half hour drive away, it is the perfect combination of a Georgian Manor house and 14 formal gardens.

For this column, Micah Putman, the Associate Director of Park Operations, has graciously agreed to answer a few questions.

Suzaku field forever

Ahhhh, the circle of life. Restaurants close and new ones sprout up. This simple fact has allowed us to bore you with our reviews for the last 14 years. Nancy needed a piece of jewelry repaired, so we ventured out on Randall Road and lo and behold, what used to be Georgia’s Restaurant has been transformed into Suzaku Field Sushi Restaurant in Algonquin.

Ask an Angel: July 2, 2026

I’m an older adult who usually enjoys the change of seasons, but I’ll admit, summer has started to feel more like something to get through rather than something to enjoy.

Going out in a blaze of glory

I was home sick the other day with a migraine, when I emerged from under my cold cap and darkened room to scavenge for something to eat. Not interested in any type of cooking, I found a slightly freezer-burned box of mini quiches behind the ice trays. I sighed. It would have to do. Thank goodness they at least had bacon in them.

Spending a lifetime in a place like this

I spent about an hour this morning doing what I do almost every morning for at least half of the year – I ride my bike south along rural Sandwald Road as far as Big Timber Road, jingling my bike bell in happy greeting to the growing fields of corn.

I watch the corn spend its entire lifetime from mid-May until late October — from first germination to final harvest — and along the way I reflect upon my own life and the many roads that got me here. For me, it is a kind of church moment to take that bike ride each day.

Proudly Serving the Community of
Sun City in Huntley

Columnists