Mia and I enjoyed Windycon 52. This year it had moved in time back to the 2nd weekend in October, where we first knew it. It had also moved it space to the Hyatt Regency O’Hare. As at our previous Chicagoland conventions, it was good to catch up with old friends, although this time part of it was to celebrate the life of one of them who is no longer with us.
The drive down was quite mostly quite pleasant. The Wisconsin countryside was much prettier than on our last few visits, since the Donald Trump signs near I90/94 were all gone. The only problem was at the end. Rhe hotel is huge, and we could easily see it, but Finding the right route to it was was rather tricky, and we missed a few turns. Mia had to endure another one of my rants about the evils of GPS and turn-by-turn directions. We ended up seeing more than we wanted of northwest Chicago, although the neighborhoold seemed quite pleasant.
Once we got there checking in at the front desk was smooth. The problem was figuring out where our room was. Not knowing anything about the layout of the hotel we did not understand the directions the desk gave us and had a lot of trouble finding our room. The room was just fine once we found it. We did basic unpacking, then checked in at Convention registration and went to the bar for well-earned drinks and some food.
As I mentioned, the hotel is huge. We shared it with a convention of Omega Psi Phi(!). They seemed like fine people and there was no friction between the groups. The hotel had the space for both of us. They wore a lot of purple jackets, often with yellow trim. Sometimes it seemed like a group of Minnesota Vikings fans, but better behaved than any comparably sized gathering of football fans.
Our main event Friday night was a memorial for our old friend Chuck Ott. We had known him since the 1970s and he was at our wedding in 1978. We miss him. After that we went to the , of which Chuck had been a founding member 50 years ago. We always go to the Moebius shows at Chicago SF cons. After the show we were quite thrashed and went back to our room and collapsed for the night.
Saturday morning I woke up well before Mia, and went out for a walk to really grok the hotel layout. It was much less frustrating once I actually understood it. I went to A Whirlybird for Titan: NASA’s Dragonfly mission, presented by Bill Higgins.
Saturn’s huge moon, Titan, is distant, cold, and hazy. But its thick nitrogen atmosphere is a great environment for aircraft — if rather strange aircraft. NASA plans, in 2026, to launch Dragonfly, and eight-rotor robot helicopter loaded with instruments, to explore Titan’s frigid surface. Heat from a radioisotope will recharge its batteries between flights, and keep its brain warm. Planned arrival is 2034, after which regular flights of exploration through Titan’s yellowish air will begin.
Bill’s presentations are must-see events for me at SF cons and this one was as good as ever. Bill mentioned that his first Windycon was Windycon 3 in 1976. That was also my first Windycon.
We had dinner Saturday evening with Will S., who has been a friend since the 1980s. It was a good time. We ate in the hotel restaurant. The food was uninspired but OK, and not too grossly overpriced.
After dinner Mia and I went to the art auction. This is always a lot of fun to watch and we have known some the auctioneers for many years. Once again Mia was a runner. Mia also bid for and bought one item. Normally pick up is at 10AM Sunday morning, but we were leaving at 9AM so we had to make special arrangements with the staff to get it. This required some waiting, but everybody was friendly and cooperative.
The reason we had to leave early was that we were going to our old parish, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston. More on that later
