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and then I walk down to the skating rink. A few couples and little kids are skating. The kids chase each other and skate backward and do figure eights. I rent a pair of more-or-less my size skates, lace them on, and walk onto the ice. I skate the perimeter1 of the rink, smoothly2 and without thinking too much. Repetition, movement, balance, cold air. It’s nice. The sun is setting. I skate for an hour or so, then return the skates, pull on my boots, and walk.
I walk west on Randolph, and south on Michigan Avenue, past the Art Institute. The lions are decked out in Christmas wreathes. I walk down Columbus Drive. Grant Park is empty, except for the crows, which strut3 and circle over the evening-blue snow. The streetlights tint4 the sky orange above me; it’s a deep cerulean blue over the lake. At Buckingham Fountain I stand until the cold becomes unbearable5 watching seagulls wheeling and diving, fighting over a loaf of bread somebody has left for them. A mounted policeman rides slowly around the fountain once and then sedately6 continues south.
I walk. My boots are not quite waterproof7, and despite my several sweaters my overcoat is a bit thin for the dropping temperature. Not enough body fat; I’m always cold from November to April. I walk along Harrison, over to State Street. I pass the Pacific Garden Mission, where the homeless have gathered for shelter and dinner. I wonder what they’re having; I wonder if there’s any festivity, there, in the shelter. There are few cars. I don’t have a watch, but I guess that it’s about seven. I’ve noticed lately that my sense of time passing is different; it seems to run slower than other people’s. An afternoon can be like a day to me; an El ride can be an epic8 journey. Today is interminable. I have managed to get through most of the day without thinking, too much, about Mom, about the accident, about all of it...but now, in the evening, walking, it is catching9 up with me. I realize I’m hungry. The alcohol has worn off. I’m almost at Adams, and I mentally review the amount of cash I have on me and decide to splurge on dinner at the Berghoff a venerable German restaurant famous for its brewery10.
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1 perimeter | |
n.周边,周长,周界 | |
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2 smoothly | |
adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地 | |
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3 strut | |
v.肿胀,鼓起;大摇大摆地走;炫耀;支撑;撑开;n.高视阔步;支柱,撑杆 | |
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4 tint | |
n.淡色,浅色;染发剂;vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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5 unbearable | |
adj.不能容忍的;忍受不住的 | |
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6 sedately | |
adv.镇静地,安详地 | |
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7 waterproof | |
n.防水材料;adj.防水的;v.使...能防水 | |
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8 epic | |
n.史诗,叙事诗;adj.史诗般的,壮丽的 | |
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9 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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10 brewery | |
n.啤酒厂 | |
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