On Saturday, I did a lot of running around – literally, in the morning at any rate. Shannon and I went and ran in the park for another 4.5 miles. That gave me about sixteen miles over four runs in the seven days after a marathon, which is pretty amazing for me, since it usually takes me four to seven days before I can run at all after a marathon.
After we got home and ready for the day, Mer and I decided to go downtown. I was sleepy, but Mer and I make a conscious choice to try to do something every day when we are away from home, whether that be hiking or touring or seeing theater. So, we headed downtown on the El. We started at Moody Bible Institute to drop off a package of cookies for one of Mer’s former students (we give cookies as graduation presents to students). We then walked in a direction that I thought would take us to the Water Tower. The walk took us through several cool neighborhoods we had never seen, including a block-long restaurant district, but ultimately took us about four blocks too far north. We were able to correct that, and we got to the Water Tower so we could visit Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA). The museum is small (we were able to see the whole thing in about three hours), but is full of Christian art from the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Shannon and Jo recommended it highly to us, and we were not disappointed. The permanent collection is on one floor, occupying three rooms. We went through most of the works when it came time for a guided tour. Mer went and joined the tour while I rested on a bench. Although I can run for about four hours and suffer no back issues of any kind, standing in one place makes my back ache badly after just an hour or so. Mer returned with two people – a guide and a docent-in-training. Mer and I made up the entire tour, which was cool. It lasted about an hour, and they took us around to see several works. The guide kept asking us what we saw in each painting, and that was interesting to be forced to look hard at each painting. Being a bit impatient when I am not experienced in a topic, I did occasionally wish she would just jump in and tell us about the painting, but it was an informative tour. After the tour, Mer and I took a quick look at the rotating works on a different floor, but we were short on time and the works were all modern and so had less historical importance, and did not deal with Christian themes, so were less personally interesting.
We jumped back on the El and had to tromp home about a mile to Shannon’s in the rain. Shannon told us he had hoped we would just stay downtown since we were going back down to Moody (on the El, of course). We ate a quick bite, and Shannon and Mer and I headed back out in the now-rain-free evening to go see the Informal improv show. Jolene stayed home to work since she is in the middle of getting her master’s degree.
We got to the show an hour early (shocker, I know), and we were first in line. Ben and John, my former students, saw us and ran out of the auditorium to say hi. They needed to warm up, so could not chat long. Shannon and Mer and I passed the time chatting and watching the growing crowd – Informal manages to fill a four-hundred-seat auditorium twice in an evening, which is impressive. Playing to a mostly-college-aged crowd must be fantastic, given the energy in the room.
Since a ton of CVCA students end up at Moody, Mer and I saw several former students, including one of our “daughters” who was in Chicago for a concert, but had agreed to swing by the show if she could make it. That was fun. Ben’s parents came out to see their first show, so we were able to freak them out with them seeing and hearing Shannon for the first time (he is my identical twin).
The Informal show was fun. They always do about fifty percent sketch comedy (pre-planned scripted skits) and fifty percent improv. Both were well done. Informal has two new members who did very well; one of them is excellent at physical comedy, which is always a plus in an improv group. I always look to Shannon for an outsider opinion on the show since he does not know anyone, and he liked it very much, saying he would take a show of that caliber any day.
After the show, we visited with Ben and John and some other students, and then headed home on our friend the El. Mer and I stopped to pick up some Chinese food on the way back to the apartment, which we ate while watching YouTube videos Shannon and Jo wanted us to see and while we talked about the show.
We had to leave on Sunday, getting on the road about 10:30 Chicago time, which put us home about 6:00 after an uneventful drive home. It was a great weekend – a world-class city with friends and family, and theater and museums (and good public transportation).