Saturday coffee.

Last night was beautiful. A short break in the 90 degree summer we’ve been sweating through.

Anne and I walked up to the Monument where the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival is running this weekend.

Our friend Peter Schulz has a couple of large-scale photographs on exhibit. Peter used to work for the City and was Mayor Washington’s photographer. He, like me, is retired now and taking his photography in new directions. They’re great.

We stopped at Lula on the way home. We sat at the bar and Anne had a gin and tonic with some locally made gin. It’s made by a little company started by the bartender somewhere on the north side. Anne said it was pretty good. I stuck with my summer drink of Compari and soda on the rocks.

Anne and I split an order of Lula’s quesadillas. Corn tortillas filled with hen of the woods mushrooms, caramelized squash and  fromage blanc, said the menu.

Suddenly we turned around and there was a protest outside. About two dozen people, one with a bullhorn, marching up and down in front of Lula.

“What did you do now?” I said to the bartender. “Are you using non-union hen of the woods mushrooms?”

It turned out that it was part of a wedding proposal. The couple met at a demonstration. He was proposing. And his friends showed up with signs in anticipation of her arrival. “Boycott bachelorette-ness,” said one. “Join into union,” said another.

When she arrived she said yes, of course. They kissed for a very long time. Everyone applauded And then they grabbed an outside table for dinner while their friends were left to enjoy the rest of the evening somewhere else.

This afternoon I’m off to the Western ‘burbs. Batavia to be exact.

I’ve been asked to join a panel sponsored by the Fox Valley Jobs with Justice. Joining me will be Vice President of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch #825 Bill Schorsch, International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local District 8 Business Representative Pat Camardo, Elizabeth Lalasz is a registered nurse at John H. Stroger Hospital, nurse representative and member of the Facilities Bargaining Committee with National Nurses United (NNU). She currently is the co-facilitator of the Union Outreach Subcommittee for the Chicago Teacher’s Solidarity Campaign. Cheryl Randecker, a worker from the Sensata Plant in Freeport, Ill., will describe her own plight, and that of her fellow workers, as the company, a division of Bain Capital, plans to ship their jobs to China. Laborer’s Local 681 Business Manager Jose Zamarripa will discuss his local’s representation for the ATMI Precast workers in Aurora.

I’ll be talking about the pension fight here in Illinois.

Scheduled from 2 to 5 PM at the Batavia Library, I anticipate forcing myself to be unusually parsimonious.

And I am looking forward to hearing the other stories.

Don’t forget. Join me Wednesday morning at 9AM in front of the CPS offices, 125 Clark Street to support the CTU.