From the window of my hotel room in Chicago last month – where I looked out often to gauge how many layers to put on, or even whether to go outside – my view of the snow-covered BBQ area immediately inspired me.

The weather wasn’t the only thing that captured my attention.

Every time I glanced outside things were changed subtly, a slowly unfolding story: Light snow, heavy snow, snow piling on the roof of the pool enclosure, children playing in the heated pool, beautiful icicles forming, the demolition of icicles by children, their path of destruction leading back to the pool, and then this:

The footsteps on the left are for comparison: human, recognizable. The tracks on the right: maybe a deer?

“Not a mystery!” you shout.

True, except the tracks only go in one direction, and they lead up to (or away from) the door to the pool enclosure. The snow around the door remained undisturbed after the children opened it to begin their icicle rampage.

Whatever went up to that door didn’t go in or out, so why isn’t there another set of tracks leading away?

And then there was this guy sitting in his truck. The truck wasn’t idling. The temperature outside = below zero.

HOURS later, he was still sitting there. Creepy, huh?

Finally, I reported his presence to the Front Desk Clerk. “A trucking company has a contract with the hotel, but the room is in rotation. Those who arrive early have to wait for their bed.”

Oh, OK. Still creepy.