Welcome to Chicago with Noon and Wilder, and the A-Z of the Windy City.

Over the next month, we’ll be visiting parts of the third largest city in the United States – home of not one, but two baseball teams, (Go Cubbies!), an American football team, basketball and hockey teams.  And those are just the pros – the city is known for Chicago-style softball leagues, beachfront volleyball, soccer, tennis, and many more.  That’s just the sports.  We also have some of the best museums and galleries in the world.  Of course, the best part of Chicago, if we do say so ourselves, is the fact that our series The Chicagoland Shifters is set right here.

Our journey begins at The Art Institute, a museum and a school of art and design.

I first visited the Art Institute my very first week after moving here.  It’s a hard place to miss, I’m told – there are the famous lions standing guard out front, it’s right on Michigan Avenue, and it’s not far from the lake.

There’s only one problem:  Chicago is flat as a pancake.

To someone from the west coast, navigating using natural topographic features is second-nature.  The big mount is north, the lower range is west, etc.  How do you do that on the flat plains of the Midwest?  I asked this of my friends.  “Use the lake,” they advised.  “Lake Michigan, you mean?”  “Yup.”  “Um, how do I see the lake, if it’s totally flat and there are buildings in the way?”  “You develop lake-dar.”

Lake-dar.  Like radar, only for a lake.  What do I look like, I bird?

Birds have small iron deposits in their bodies that help them determine where north is.  It turns out, so do humans; it’s in the bridge of our nose.  It’s not lake-dar, but over time, I have been able to keep a handle on where north is and keep my bearings in a city that defies navigation by mountain.

My first visit, however, I set out with the self-confidence of a tourist and marched down the street to go visit the Art Institute.

And for the record?

I was going the exact wrong direction.

So much for lake-dar.

Visit us Saturday for a trip to Wilmette and the Bahai Temple.

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Thank you for joining us for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave us a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

The theme at Noony’s blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo.  Join her as she explores Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

Noony’s theme on Knoontime Knitting – One Writer’s Journey Into 3-D craft blog is Letterforms In Nature.  She’ll be exploring her daily round, looking for shapes in the natural world and build environment.

The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from Noon & Wilder; the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

Our friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and we’ll add you!):

• Darla M. Sands, Awakening Dreams and Conquering Nightmares with a Pen
• Kari Trenten, The Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration

Write on, and Happy Blogging!