Rest in Peace Johnny

John T. Duerkop, Jr., June 11, 1948 - May 23, 2008
John was an unusual man. He was kind-hearted, a gentleman, intensely curious about the world around him, and happiest when he was talking about what he had learned.

He preferred a slower pace. He liked to drive the back roads, instead of the freeways, because there was so much more of life to see there.

He liked people. He liked rivers, streams, lakes, valleys, mountains, sunsets, and rain storms. He collected and studied history books, magazines, and maps. He could always tell you what was up the road, off the beaten path, and who had been there in times past. He seemed to know something about everything.

He liked cowboys and Indians, and cowboy poets. He liked pine trees, flannel shirts, and campfires. He liked horses, fish, and birds.

He never got enough of the world and what filled it.

He was faithful, loving, and respectful, and we cherished him.

His body was finally overcome by cancer. It’s been weeks since he passed away, but it is still difficult to believe that he’s not still fighting.

During the last year of his life, there were many times when it seemed his tired body could not possibly hold on much longer. But somehow he rallied. Setback after setback, he came back. It’s hard to accept that he had such a hard time of it and hard to comprehend his absence.


John was supported by a strong network of family, by friends who held him so dear they seemed like family, and by kind strangers who heard about him and prayed, yearned, and willed for him to recover.
When he finally passed away one afternoon, he was at home, asleep, where he wanted to be, in the West Texas desert. Surrounded by some of those mountains, cowboys, and horses that he loved. His body is gone, but he’s still here, deep in our hearts.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone has a great day!

Our celebration will be pretty low key because I'll be in yoga class until about 8:30 p.m. We'll have time to do our gift exchange tonight and then enjoy a leisurely meal this weekend in the Upper Peninsula.

We're packing now for 4 days of pancakes for breakfast and cross-country skiing. Yay! We're going up north with another couple and their tough little dog. Temps will be similar to Chicago's, but with 2x the snow and not so many plows. I'm a little worried about the slippery roads and really don't look forward to warming up the house.

One year we all did this (was it last year?), the girls went to wait for a table at the local supper club while the boys drove to the house to shovel the entrance and turn up the heat. On the way back to dinner, the boys skidded through a sharp curve and went off the road and over a small ditch. Fortunately it was all low speed. No one got hurt and we were able to use one car to pull the other car back onto the road. We'll be extra cautious this year. :)

Sorry, but no pics today. There's no light, it's extremely cold, and everything I'm knitting is a secret.

And as always, thanks for thinking of John and asking about him even when you know the news is not so good.

Libby's best friend

My little dog turned eight this summer, and for most of her life, she's enjoyed a midday walk with Alycia.

We get it all in Chicago -- rain, sleet, snow, blazing heat, and wilting humidity -- and yet none of it has made a difference in Alycia's commitment to showing up day after day to walk around the neighborhood with her little buddy.

On the occasional weekday when one of us is home and we cancel the walk, I feel a little guilty, because Libby still looks out the window for her best friend.

When I woke up this morning it was -4F/-20C, but I know Alycia will still be coming over. As a wee showing of our appreciation for her dedication, we gave her this warm wool and silk hat. I confess I wanted to keep it for myself, but I'll be sitting on my arse today in a warm office while Alycia is making her rounds. Brrrr.


Pattern: Fake Isle on Magknits

Materials: Approx. 60 yards/50 meters of Noro Silk Garden in colorway #205, equal amount of Lamb's Pride in M-05 Onyx black, and a few feet of Lamb's Pride in fuschia (no ball band) for the contrasting cast on.

Modifications: used US#5 for ribbing, US#6 for body, and broke Noro as needed to control the colors.

Trudging On

We had a brief reprieve, but the Arctic air is back with a vengeance, and seems to be here to stay for a while. I'm still commuting on my bicycle, but I'm keeping the errands to a minimum and hurrying back to the bike rack before the handlebars and saddle cool off too much. No kidding -- I just compared the forecast for Fairbanks, Alaska and Chicago, and they were almost the same!

Of course it has to be this freakishly cold when my BIL from Texas gets stuck at O'Hare for 24 hours. His oldest has Northwestern University on her short list, so after a hearty breakfast on Friday morning, we headed up to Evanston (in the car!) so that he could take a look around. I'm really glad we did, because he liked the campus more than he expected. When my niece and her momma did the campus tour last Fall, he was on a business trip in South America. I told him Chicago was usually 30 degrees warmer in January, but it's probably tough for him to picture it that way.

Meanwhile, David has been making his own treks back and forth between Chicago and Texas, to take care of his brother Johnny. Johnny wants to be home as much as possible while he's battling cancer and the side effects of treatment, so David is doing all he can to make that possible. Johnny's struggle puts things in perspective for me. The toughest thing I have to do these days is ride my bike in the snow to yoga class...

Lots of cold and time home alone with Libby means I've been knitting. With wool. :) My first FO of 2008 is a hat for my mom. It's super soft and warm, and will coordinate with her dark green coat. Click to make bigger or see other shots on flickr.


Pattern: "Three Tams" on Knitty.

Materials: 1/2 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Couscous and Noro Silk Garden in #246.

Modifications: I combined Tam A's first 10 rows with the body of Tam C. Omitted 6 stitches from the ribbing, and broke the Noro to control the color changes. It fits well and didn't give me hat head.

Happy New Year!

Hi all and happy new year from the Windy City!

Wow, 2007 was hectic! I've got my fingers crossed that the new year will be a bit more predictable.

We got up early this morning when it was still quiet and shoveled up 2 inches/5 cm of fresh snow. OK, actually David did all the shoveling, while I wrestled with Libby and snapped a few pictures. (Click to embiggen.)
In the afternoon we went to some friends' for their annual January 1st Open House. I ate way too much, but it was all so good, especially the spicy chocolate fondue served with fresh pineapple, banana, and pound cake. I'm putting the recipe on my list for our own party next year -- it included semisweet and bittersweet chocolates, as well as Chinese Five Spice mix and Chili powder.

We were supposed to bring a batch of mango salsa, but while I was giving the ingredients a final stir, the glass mixing bowl burst into about 100 pieces. Gaaak! Since all the stores were closed for the holiday, we had to scrounge around the house for an alternate dish. Brigaderios to the rescue! (My version calls for 5 tablespoons of Hot Cocoa mix from The Spice House, 1 Tablespoon of white sugar, 1 Tablespoon of butter, and 1 can of Eagle Sweetened Condensed Milk). Delicious, but not exactly health food. Oh well, the holidays are officially over and tomorrow we start eating better!

Another Step in the Right Direction

Johnny went home to Texas!

We weren't ready to send him off, but he was very anxious to get back to his own place. His original plan was to spend just 1 week in Miami for jaw surgery over the summer, but all the surgical complications kept him away for more than 3 months. Pretty awful, huh? He continues to improve, but of course, still needs a lot more time and help to heal. Who knows, he might even be able to return to work.

Thank you very much for asking about him and keeping us all in your thoughts and prayers. You've been a big help!

It's Working!

Thanks for looking out for Johnny and sending him the prayers and well wishes he has needed so badly!

With a lot of hard work and so many people pulling for him, he has been able to make the transition from the hospital in Miami to his mom's apartment near Chicago. Mom! Good for what ails ya, right? He has settled in to her place and now enjoys lots of time with her, his sisters, brother, cousins, nieces and nephews, old friends, and even a dog or two.

He's a little frustrated with what, to him, seems to be slow progress. But he is healing and becoming stronger every day. If he keeps on track, he'll be going back to his own house in Texas later this Fall.

So, many thanks, and please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Thinking of John

We intended to be in the Upper Peninsula until mid July, but we're abruptly back in Chicago, or I should say I'm back in Chicago and David has flown to Miami to be with a big brother who is very ill.

Big brother John survived neck cancer, but the radiation treatments that helped cure him five years ago broke down his jaw bone, and jaw implant surgery in Miami has led to serious complications. The jaw surgery was actually about 3 weeks ago, but I avoided talking about it until now, partly out of uncertainty and partly to respect John's privacy. He was pleased with the surgery and was about to go home from the hospital, but then suffered respiratory problems and was found unconscious in his hospital bed. He went to intensive care, and was intubated, heavily sedated, and flat on his back for weeks, improving ever so slowly. As an alternative to the intubation and heavy sedation, he underwent a tracheotomy and was gradually weaned from the ventilator. The last he knew, he was about to go home, but as he's been weaned from the heavy sedative, he's learned about this major setback.

John is a sweet, kind-hearted man, who would give you the shirt off his back. He's brilliant, intensely interested in the world around him, and always ready for a challenge. Despite his amazing, encyclopedic knowledge, he's very humble and spiritual. He's a good son, a good big brother, and a good friend.

The family has been sick with worry but cautiously optimistic about John's slow recovery. His body is healing, but his morale and energy are very low. Please help him. Whether you be the type of person that prays, wishes, or sends positive energy, please think of John in Miami. Please use your influence, your powers of persuasion, and the collective consciousness, and please send him whatever you've got. Please help him heal, smile, and come home soon. There's a huge void in the family without him here and we want him back already.

The Lakefront by Bicycle

On my sister's last day in Chicago, we slept in late, snacked on banana bread and coffee, and then pedaled our bicycles over to the lakefront.

We took a little break at the zoo.

The big lion was rolling around on his back.
I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of the lioness using the poor leafless tree as a scratching post.

These guys are more my speed. They remind me of Libby.





I hope my sister comes back to Chicago soon.

Chicago architecture by boat

When my sister was visiting last weekend we took a boat tour with the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

If you're a fan of the Dave Matthews Band, you may recall a little incident in 2004 involving their tour bus, a Chicago bridge, and an architecture tour boat. While the band was out on the town, their bus driver drove the bus over the Kinzie Street bridge and dumped the contents of the waste tank. The surface of the bridge is mostly grates and the waste fell onto the passengers of the architecture tour boat. Altogether now: eeewwwwwww! More here if you're interested.

Any way, our tour guide cautioned us against craning our necks and gaping up at the bridges, but never mentioned why.

Here's some of the photos I took while we headed east on the river, out to Lake Michigan and Navy Pier:


Lake Point Tower:



Heading back west, into the Loop, here's the Wrigley Building (as in Wrigley chewing gum):


The new Trump Tower under construction:
The Tribune (newspaper) building:

On the south and north branches of the river:

Auntie Brags a Little

One of the nice things about my recent trip to Florida was spending time with my nieces and nephew. They are just the greatest kids and I can't say enough about how wonderful they are. Today I get to brag a little about their creativity.

This is my beautiful niece N:

When N was 11, she borrowed this photo of Lib as a puppy and took it with her to art class:

N devoted many months to perfecting this amazing oil portrait:

This lovely little girl is my niece S:

S loves small things and excels at origami folding. She even teaches origami lessons! She created the blue crane on the right, and taught me how to make the purple cube on the left:

And then, there's my nephew R.

R created ... his hairstyle.
Aren't I a lucky aunt!