"I was overwhelmed by the goodness of the world"

This week, while I was off at the Byron Fellowship in the woods of Indiana, my dear friend Leah Miller was brokering a deal for me in Chicago. She's leaving for Ethiopia in six days, has 30 hours of studying and assignments and 50 hours of work to do before she leaves, but she pulled out all the stops.

The result is that Abby and I are staying 10 minutes north of The Loop in Chicago with her friend's brother's girlfriend. In a flourish of hospitality (besides that they didn't know us), brother Doug and girlfriend Nicole took us for drinks last night in the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor of the Hancock building. It has arguably the most spectacular view from any women's restroom in the world (though apparently the same is not true of the men's restroom).

Though my understanding of Divine Providence is still forming, Doug is the only person I'd know of who had made a round-the-world trip over the course of a year. And here I come to meet him. While the four of us talked about what he'd done and what I hope to do, he said, "I was overwhelmed by the goodness of the world." I'm getting a taste of that already.

So here Abb & I are for our sister weekend. In a lovely three-story townhouse complete with "eat anything in the fridge" and "you can use my roommate's internet" situation. We went to the Lincoln Zoo and H&M today, Shedd Aquarium (Abby + sharks = love) & the bean (Millennium Park) tomorrow.

Over.