Don’t judge me – I’m just not a creature of the northlands. I grew up in Roanoke, VA – while not tropical, it was a mild, temperate climate. To me it’s perfectly understandable that when more than 5 snowflakes fell, they’d cancel school for a week, and people would rush out to buy milk and bread, and there would be fender benders everywhere even when there was barely a light dusting that never stuck to the pavement.

Which is why, after 4 years of physical and emotional suffering through the ridiculously cold lake-effect-snow-laden winters at Notre Dame, and being bewildered almost every second of those winters about why/how anyone would choose to settle there (in 1842 – inconceivable!), I instituted a ban on travel to that region from November 15 thru April 15.

That decision has worked really well for me, but I recently made an exception. One of my artworks – ironically, titled “Dusting of Snow” – was accepted for an exhibit in Chicago that opens this week, so I decided I’d go visit some of my wonderful friends there and attend the opening reception for the show. (Cue theme music from “Jaws” here.)

Today I checked the upcoming weather forecast for Chicago (attached below), which I would summarize as (1) completely unacceptable, (2) unfit for human habitation, (3) colder than any witch’s tit ever in the history of witchery, and (4) WTF. I’m already having flashbacks from my college years about flying into Chicago in January, taking that first step out of the doors at O’Hare Airport, and being hit with the blast of angry arctic air, smacking me in the face like a frozen metal folding chair, paralyzing my lungs, and sucking the hope from my soul.

Anyway, on the upside, it might increase the odds that someone buys my artwork – because after you’ve burned all the furniture to stay warm, you look to what’s on the walls to keep the fire going. If you’re in the vicinity of the Chicagoland frozen tundra this coming Friday night, January 19th, you’re cordially invited to layer up with bearskins, hitch up the sled dogs, and come join me from 7-10pm. Info is below. Xo – N