I'm sure a lot of you out in Geneva Patchland are big Steinbeck fans, as I am. So you're probably familiar with Travels with Charley, which is Steinbeck's "On the Road" with your basic French poodle, Charley. John Steinbeck might be America's greatest novelist. We can debate that some other time. But he's a guy you can't help but admire, being a writer nearly on my level, and a dog-lover to boot. "Travels with AJ" is a little tip of the floppy ears in Steinbeck's direction. And so, with all of that backstory, you can well imagine my inclination to like a dog named Charlie.  I met him at DePaw…

Welcome. Or should I say Valkommen in Geneva? Here are some photos from yesterday morning's walk in the snow. In our case, a walk goes around a special block—from East Side Drive to Locust to 6th Avenue to High Street—where you feel like you've been teleported to a forest preserve out in the country. The scenery is breathtaking, and it's in the middle of the city. Today is Sunday, and another good day to be out in the snow. Enjoy it. I know we will.

I was out walking with my colleague, Nagel, when I uncovered the evidence of the half-wall case. It seems that the 2-foot-tall wall on the east side of East Side Drive had been tilting for some months due to the settling of the berms that border a wide-open grassy Geneva East detention area where kids play soccer, throw Fisbees and fly kites—or where dogs walk their colleagues during the warm-weather months. Just a week before, the only collapsed part of the 100-yard-long half wall was a 15-foot stretch that city crews had quickly repaired. I did some quick sniffing around and it became …

Could this scene possibly be more quintessentially American? Hi, I'm AJ and I'm a dog—let's get that out of the way first. I used the word "quintessentially" in the first paragraph so that, if you're an agnostic insomniac dyslexic etymologist, you won't stay up all night wondering if there's a column-writing dog. (RIMSHOT! But seriously ... ) What could be more American than a dog out for a walk with his dog's-best-friend? Answer: When they run into a genuine all-American kids' lemonade stand. You'll see from the photos and short video Rick took that this is an enterprising family indeed. Not…