Yesterday the biggest snow storm of the season hit Chicago. Never mind that it’s March and we’re more in the mood for spring flowers than snow flakes. It started snowing in the morning, picked up in the afternoon, and didn’t stop until late evening. Officially, the city got 9 inches of snow – the biggest drop of snow since the February 2011 blizzard.

My two older kids’ school declared a snow day, and so we got to spend a weekday together. In fact, I ended up driving my daughter to an appointment that we had moved to early afternoon so she wouldn’t be out there in the evening. But that meant I was out there in the thick of it. Since inclement weather tends to make for good photo opportunities, and I hadn’t been out with my camera in a while, I decided to pack up my gear, bundle up, and roam the parks with my camera. Here is a glimpse of my snow day.

 
emma & shel in the storm
 
 
 
I love taking pictures of bikes, and these snow-covered ones seem so dynamic compared with all the sleeping white cars in the background.
 
 
 
Ulysses S. Grant weathers the storm.
 
 
 
What’s cozier than looking out at the storm from a café? Delightful Pastries in the Old Town neighborhood – their paczkis (Polish doughnuts filled with raspberry jam) are indeed a delight.
 
 
 
Once we had driven home safely, I was curious to see what the lakefront was like, so I didn’t get out of my winter garb but headed out to the Point, a peninsula a block away.
 
 
 
Even in a storm, snow can appear as lace.
 
 
 
I am fascinated by snowy benches…
 
 
 
…and snowy branches.
 
 
 
The storm at the Point
 
 
 
Turn around and you see this – a lone tree on the edge of the white nothingness of the lake.
 
 
 
Back at home, looking out.