Some 19,000 years ago, torrential meltwater from a receding glacier tore through central Illinois, gouging out the Illinois and Kankakee Rivers and the dramatic sandstone canyons of what is now Starved Rock State Park. Those water-carved canyons attract thousands of city dwellers in spring, summer, and fall, but I’ll never forget the park’s spectral beauty when my wife and I first visited in winter.

It was just after the new year, on the eve of a historic arctic chill. The thermometer had already dipped into the mid-20s, and our breath billowed in front of us as we followed the easiest trail, which hugs the shore of the Illinois River. The occasional birdcall overhead sliced the quiet like a scalpel. As we descended into the deeper reaches of the park, we were struck dumb by the silent agony of frozen waterfalls. There are many of them in the park: At Sac Canyon, a broad series of plateaus fan water into a stream below; the falls at French Canyon cut a twisty path down a shallow incline of sandstone; the spectacular falls at St. Louis Canyon perform a long, straight drop past a commanding amphitheater of rock.

But what stopped us in our boot prints that day was Ottawa Canyon’s falls (pictured), where an overhang and a landing below it allowed us to cross, precariously, behind the sheet of water and look out into the canyon. In the cold, the water hung like thick braids of silver hair, cascading earthward but shocked into stillness, awaiting spring’s thaw.

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How to Whoosh Down a Sledding Hill

● Olympian Aja Evans, bronze medal bobsledder
● Hometown South Loop
● Advice “My sister, my mom, and I used to go sledding at Dan Ryan Woods and use different things, like big plastic tubs, to see what was the fastest. My mom said, ‘We need a real sled.’ She got us a red four-person plastic one, and when we went back, we were flying. We’d make friends, and when someone would hop in with us, we’d go even farther. Fluffy snow will create too much friction. So say you have fresh snow. It may take a few runs to compress it, but if you keep going down the same place, you can make it a hard, ice-like surface. To go faster, get in a tight position to lessen wind resistance. Extend your legs out and arms forward. Get low and keep an even balance. Stay relaxed and enjoy the ride.”

How to Start and Stop on the Ice

● Olympian Kendall Coyne Schofield, gold medal hockey player
● Hometown Palos Heights
● Advice “Say you’re gliding on two feet. You’re going at a moderate pace and want to go faster. Implement a crossover to increase your speed. Work both edges of your skates and put your left foot over your right. The right foot becomes your power foot that’s going to push you out. And then when you are skating fast, the most important skill is stopping. Take your hips and throw them forward, transferring your weight in the direction you’re trying to stop — one foot on the inside, one foot on the outside. And shave that top layer of ice.”

How to (Safely) Skate on a Pond

● Olympian Brian Hansen, silver medal speedskater
● Hometown Glenview
● Advice “Skating outside on lagoons has become a recreational thing for me now that I’m done training. But I take a lot of precautions. I use ice-testing poles that are like spears. I look for four inches of thickness. I’ll do a practice lap with a friend. I also bring ice awls. They’re kind of like if you took a little rod and put a screw through it so you can grip the ice in case you slip in. We’ll wear a wetsuit if we’re not sure. Often ice freezes in the middle but might be thinner at the edges, so I’ll scoot on a surfboard to get to the thicker ice. One time, me and a friend paddleboarded out in Lake Michigan by Racine. There were floating, mile-wide ice islands. They were definitely thin — but thick enough to skate on.”

How Not to Fall on the Rink

● Olympian Emery Lehman, speedskater
● Hometown Oak Park
● Advice “In skating, you need to be in an athletic stance: a slight knee bend, a slight ankle bend, muscles activated. If you’re standing up straight, you’ll fall. But in an athletic stance, you can feel that motion coming and resist it. You don’t want to mistake that for having your ankles caved in. You want the skate at an angle with blades rotated out but legs straight. Practice walking like this on the ice — think of it like a duck walk. Focus on keeping pressure on the inside edge without pushing your ankles in. Get more and more comfortable, then you can get lower in your stance and start pushing out more — and that’s when you’ll get really fast.”

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1. Warm up with a five-minute jog and 50 air squats.

2. Start circuit 1 with heavy shoveling. “Focus on getting the most snow in each shovelful,” Hudson says. “Bend your knees. Use your legs to get underneath the snow.” Shovel for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

3. Perform walking lunges for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

4. Do pushups for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 three times, alternating arms for shoveling on each round.

6. Rest 60 to 90 seconds.

7. Start circuit 2 by performing a weighted carry: Walk slowly up and down the sidewalk while carrying a 40-to-50-pound object (say, a five-gallon water cooler jug). Continue for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

8. Resume shoveling, but with smaller shovelfuls and at a faster pace. “This time, fling the snow as high as you can by shooting your arms overhead and extending your body so that you end on your toes.” Shovel for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

9. Perform V-ups: Lie on your back with your arms over your head and reaching for your toes. Do them for 40 seconds, then rest 15 seconds.

10. Repeat steps 7 to 9 three times, alternating arms for shoveling on each round.

11. Cool down with another five-minute jog and 50 more air squats.

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The only way out of a Chicago winter with two young kids is through. This summer I became an expert at keeping them and myself from losing it when our typical warm weather distractions weren’t an option. (For a mini drive-in, I stuck each kid in a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, parked six feet apart, to watch a movie projected on the side of our garage.) To stave off this year’s particularly brutal brand of cabin fever, I’ve concocted these ideas for socially distant outdoor playdates. Grab your mask, don your snowsuit, and double up your socks — it’s a four-month-long snow day.

1 Snow painting Fill balloons, spray bottles, and water guns with nontoxic washable paint diluted with water — a one-to-one ratio works. Then find a snow-covered wall, backyard, or alley, and get your Jackson Pollock on.

2 Photo scavenger hunt Let your shutterbugs loose on the neighborhood or a nature trail to see what wintery things their eyes spy, from sweet (a dog wearing boots) to cheeky (yellow snow!). It’s pretty easy to drum up a list of items to seek — or you could just ask the kids to find something for each letter of the alphabet. Even easier: Premade lists are abundantly available online (Good Housekeeping has almost two dozen on its site). Tell your surly teen it’s a #InstaChallenge.

3 Chilly American Ninja Warrior All the outdoor toys are just as fun, if not more, when used to build obstacles on fresh powder. Think Hula-Hoops propped to create tunnels, pool noodles bent into hurdles, and mini trampolines you can bounce on to avoid snowballs. Bonus: Jumping, crawling, and running while bundled up gets the heart pumping harder and, by my scientific estimate, decreases the chances of a hellacious bedtime by 78 percent.

4 Winter Wiffle Ball Hitting and tossing an aerated plastic ball on a blustery day will have everyone running like loopy circus clowns. Pro tip: Buy a colored ball so you can spot it in the snow.

5 Ice Legos Freeze water in ice cube trays, butter tubs, Dixie cups, and other small containers to create different shapes. Then let your little architect build dreamy ice castles, fairy igloo gardens, and true-to-life frozen dystopian landscapes. Add tiny trinkets and food coloring to the water before freezing for extra pizzazz.

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Beds full of desiccated plants suddenly become striking when you realize, as the Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf has said, “Brown is also a color.” He famously creates his compositions, including Lurie Garden, with all four seasons in mind. “He thinks ahead to what plants will look like in the future when he selects them,” says the garden’s director, Laura Ekasetya, who now shepherds Oudolf’s vision. That means she allows the flora to swish and sway until March, when she finally cuts back the previous year’s growth to make way for spring. Here, she walks us through five things to look (and listen) for.

Landscape Art

Before you enter, observe the grounds from across Monroe Street. “The garden is meant to be a tapestry of different textures,” Ekasetya says. “It’s meant to be this painting in plants when viewed from the Art Institute.”

Rustle and Flow

Because snow absorbs ambient noise, you can better hear the sounds the plants make in the wind. A highlight: the slender,papery blades of Dallas Blues, a type of switchgrass, which can reach a height of five feet.

Put a Bird on It

Goldfinches flock to the dark, spiky seedheads of echinacea plants (also known as coneflowers). In winter, the birds turn a dusty brown, with just the slightest buttery tinge to their face and neck. Tell your kids to look for seedheads the finches have plucked into tiny Mohawks.

Snow Bouquet

The small sprays of flowers atop the thin stems of wild quinine dry into a sturdy, flat platform that holds up to even heavy, wet snow. “It looks delicate, but if you touch it, it’s really tough,” Ekasetya says. “It’s a good landing pad for sparrows, and then they eat the seeds.”

Spring Awakening

Several insect species overwinter in the garden, including two varieties of butterflies that hunker down in the arborvitae. They typically emerge in March — but sometimes, if it’s mild, you can spot them in February drinking sap from the trunks of maple trees that border the western edge.

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In the 2006 movie The Lake House, a tree whose seasonally changing leaves mirror the feelings of the protagonists grows through the center of a home. We know that Keanu Reeves is with the wrong woman because she doesn’t wear winter boots. And that Sandra Bullock is with the wrong man because he wears a tie while working from home. Keanu and Sandra, on the other hand, know how to accessorize for a Chicago February, he with a most excellent array of turtleneck sweaters, she with an abundant collection of fashion scarves. They are meant for each other. The Lake House is not subtle, and it is not good. But it captures winter in Chicago better than any other film.

A brief summary: Keanu’s Alex lives in 2004. Sandra’s Kate lives in 2006. Yet they own the same dog, and thanks to a paranormal mailbox, they write letters to each other through space and time. They fall in love, but the obstacle keeping them apart seems insurmountable, even as star-crossed romances go. Spoiler alert, for anyone who doesn’t want a 15-year-old movie spoiled: Alex is dead, sort of?

Moving on. While The Lake House does not have a good grasp of physics or emotional restraint, it does get one thing right. Most of the movie takes place outside, on L platforms and at construction sites, meandering from the Loop to the titular lake house, which was built for the movie (and later torn down) in Willow Springs. The ground is wet, the snow always half melted — the Chicago of The Lake House is not the winter fantasyland of Home Alone. This is nuisance snow that slops at the hem of our pants and makes us curse when we step off the curb. There is also the optimism of those few cracklingly clear winter days when the sky is blue, the air is lighter, and you can see just enough ground to remember that the dirt is still there and it won’t always be mud.

At one point, Kate tries, unsuccessfully, to save Alex from catching a cold by warning him of an April snowstorm, a Chicago ritual. “Everyone got sick,” she writes. Meanwhile, Alex cooks soup, and you can see the flurries start to swirl through the window over his shoulder. He sneezes.

Eventually, of course, the snow stops. The sun comes out. Alex is well. His reward for making it through that freakish episode is spring.

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City dwellers lucky enough to have a patch of Chicago to call their own: Now is the time to increase your usable square footage. “Channel the warming aesthetics of a ski chalet for your cold weather retreat by surrounding yourself with layers of cozy and natural materials,” encourages Celeste Robbins, founder and principal of Winnetka-based Robbins Architecture. From fire pits to fuzzy blankets, here are some tricks to turn that neglected deck into a magical escape.

Twinkle, Twinkle

“Add layers of lights to balance harsh contrasts,” Robbins suggests. “A soft uplight along with dappled candle flames brightens a dark winter night.” Stake some LEDs to shine toward branches: Disk pathway lights ($20 for a pack of four; Gordon’s Ace Hardware, 725 S. State St., South Loop) don’t struggle in cold or wet weather. Meanwhile, drape trees or bushes with Edison bulb string lights ($50; Lakeview Ace Hardware, 3911 N. Lincoln Ave., North Center), and sprinkle some wood lanterns (from $70; Crate & Barrel, Old Orchard Center, Skokie) in the corners. Need more bling? Ignite a few Juniper Berry & Fir three-wick candles ($30; Bright Endeavors, 4015 W. Carroll Ave., West Garfield Park).

Dine Out

The retro ceramic Big Green Egg cooker (from $399; Armitage Hardware, 925 W. Armitage Ave., Lincoln Park) combines a grill, oven, and smoker in one ridiculously cute package. Or relive your scouting days with a minimalist Breeo smokeless fire pit (from $339; Backyard Barbecue Store, 535 Green Bay Rd., Wilmette), over which you can char your dogs. “The warmth and movement of the flames inherently bring a sense of intimacy and shared connection,” says Robbins.

Stay a While

“In addition to large seating pieces, add ottomans, end tables, and blankets to provide comfort and scale,” says Robbins. Wicker doesn’t feel right in winter, which is why we love the teak love seat designed by Fred Segal ($1,600; cb2.com). Drape it in durable Pendleton wool blankets (from $269; Alcala’s Western Wear, 1733 W. Chicago Ave., West Town).

Keep the Heat

Many of the usual stores are sold out of those tall, slender heating units you see at restaurants. But an unlikely source is well stocked: Castle Party Rentals is selling new-in-the-box heaters like the ones it rents for events ($399 to buy, from $99 to rent; 602 Sidwell Ct., St. Charles). If you’re ready to invest as much in winterizing your patio as you would in an indoor room reno, treat yo’ self to a Tuuci canopy (from $14,800; Design Within Reach, 755 W. North Ave., Near North Side). With built-in infrared heaters, it keeps all that toastiness from escaping into the night.

Photography: (disc lights and Edison bulbs) Courtesy of Ace Hardware; (lanterns and love seat ) Courtesy of Crate & Barrel; (candles) Courtesy of Mattea linae; (Big Green Egg) Courtesy of Big Green Egg; (blanket) Courtesy of Pendleton; (heater) Courtesy of Castle Party Rentals; (canopy) Courtesy of Design Within Reach 

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1 Collect a few dozen half-gallon plastic containers — milk jugs with their top halves cut off work just fine. “The more you can get,” says Alvestad, “the faster your igloo will rise.”

2 Wait for a good strong cold spell that’s forecast to last at least a week. “It’s a bit of a gamble. You are totally dependent on the weather.”

3 Fill up the containers with water and leave them outside overnight to freeze.

4 Once they’re frozen, pop the ice bricks out of their containers (you may have to take them inside for a few minutes first to allow them to melt enough to come loose). Create a circle of ice bricks, cementing one brick to another using wet snow as mortar. “Don’t forget to leave a gap for an entry tunnel.”

5 Start building upward by adding a second layer of bricks, then a third, and so on, tilting the bricks inward a bit as you go higher (this may require you to hold the bricks in place for a minute or two to let the mortar freeze). Over a period of days — how long depends on how many bricks you can freeze each night — continue building upward and inward until you’ve closed the igloo’s roof.

6 Use another batch of bricks to build an entry tunnel wide and tall enough to crawl through.

7 When your igloo is complete, spray it with water to give it a good icy outer shell.

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In their nearly 15 years as a band, San Francisco’s Grayceon have reimagined the traditional shapes of metal with challenging song structures, thought-provoking lyrics, and a sound that often feels orchestral despite being largely produced by a trio of cello, guitar, and drums. On their fifth album, Mothers Weavers Vultures, the group make a plea for humanity to build a better future, no matter the hardships along the way—a fitting capstone for a year most of us are glad to leave behind.…Read More