six more weeks of winter

well, the groundhog saw his shadow today. i'm truly disappointed. as if this winter was not long and difficult enough as it was. i'll just have to make the best of it and take advantage of the predicted weather. i'll go on the winter walks that i have been wanting to take. i'll take lots of snow pictures that i have not gotten around to taking yet.

but, i'm a sun girl. ask anyone who knows me. i like the sun. i like to bask in it. like a cat, i like to sit or lay in its light and warmth when it comes through a window of my home. i like to be outside and feel the rays hit my skin because i'm able to wear a tank top and a skirt and some flip flops. i like warm weather. what can i say?

i'm not sure why i still live in chicagoland, quite frankly. but i do. and so i make the best of it. if i had moved away years ago to avoid the cold, i probably would not have had the chance to have my wedding on the woodstock square—where part of the movie groundhog day was filmed and the setting for the majority of the movie.

i had written about it earlier here. but i said i would post again on groundhog day with some pictures that i took there from the summer. so, here is the picture. i thought i had more, but this is the only good one i had. this picture is the gazebo {sometimes called bandstand} where my wedding ceremony was, and was also where the groundhog day ceremony in the movie took place. it's in the center of the historic woodstock square—the center of woodstock.

this little spot holds lots of memories—not just my wedding. it is also where my husband proposed to me. it was where i did a puppet show with my sister and a friend for a children's show that we were helping with through our church. it is where i spent lots of summers with my sister and our friends after we went to stone's gift shop to buy candy or swiss made bakery to buy yellow smiley face cookies. it's where i sang a duet with my sister for a concert. it's where my brother and his wife and wedding party went after their wedding to take pictures. it's where my sister and i had a picnic on a whim one summer after college. it's where one of our best friends competed in the town's beauty pageant and won. it's where i went on a date with my papa—to go see a bluegrass band perform at the famous opera house {which is the building bill murray's character jumps from in the movie}. it's the center of the town where i grew up. it's the center of the town and the square that hold so many memories for me. the square where i had my favorite breakfast of my life. the square where i spent many hours after school as a kid. the square where i went to many art fairs. the square where i took horse-drawn carriage rides through on cobblestone streets at christmas time with all the white lights lit. the square where i went to see many movies in the historic theater that graced the likes of paul newman and orson welles. the square where many of my favorite shops were—like the used book store with that great smell of old books. or the backdrop with unique art and gifts from local artisans. or angelo's diner with the best cinnamon raisin french toast in the county. the square where i laughed, fought, cried, confided, dined, sang, danced, played, ran, watched, shopped, read and quenched my thirst.

it's not just a place in a movie. it's a real place. it was real to me. and it still is. 

soon, i will go back and sit on a bench with a pastry from the bakery and laugh and listen and feel the breeze—well, probably not within the next six weeks, but soon enough. i can't wait.