A Slice of Chicago Life - Fall

A friend of mine is going to Chicago on business, but will have just one day to do the town. It's a tough time of year to visit Chicago. Nice because the summer tourists are gone. A guessing game because of the weather. If we're in the midst of a nice Indian summer, it's fantastic. Otherwise, well, let's just say, the marathoner's are the only people who don't mind it when it's 40 degrees in October. My mother has been visiting me for years, and says she still hasn't seen all of the city. When you only have a day for "touring," what to do is entirely dependent on what you want to know about the City. For a slice of Chicago life, visit Lincoln Park.

Lincoln Park runs for several miles along the lakefront. There are beaches, harbors, lagoons, bike paths and lots of sports fields. Residents flock to the park whenever the weather is the least bit nice. There's something for everyone in Lincoln Park. Start your tour at the south end of the park at the Chicago History Museum. Home to the Chicago Historical Society, there is exhibition space, a research facility, and a variety of public programming, including tours. Chicago has a rich and vibrant history and the CHS tells the city's story from its founding as a small frontier outpost through the Great Fire of 1871 and the 1893 Columbian Exposition through the city's more recent cultural and economic evolution.

Head north to the Green City Market. The Green City Market operates year round. From May through October they have an outdoor venue. When the temperatures drop in November they'll move north and operate out of a space in the Nature Museum, also in Lincoln Park. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, dairy, beef, and even locally produced baked goods can be found here.

Next stop, the Lincoln Park Zoo. For years, I lived within walking distance of this little gem. The staff is friendly and some of the residents are real characters. There are usually a few babies around too. They have a "Farm-in-the-Zoo." Great for Chicago kids, who might not otherwise get to experience what goes on at a farm. A few years ago they built a new enclosure for their great apes. It's fantastic! Lots of a natural light, indoor and outdoor space, toys...it's nicer than my apartment. I was down there one day last winter after a snow and the chimps were going outside and making snow cones. When it first opened there were rumors that the gorillas had air guns that they could fire at visitors. I've never seen any evidence of those, but that tells you a little bit about their personalities. The zoo also offers seasonal programming, concerts in the summer, Halloween for the kids, and holiday programming between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Lincoln Park Conservatory consists of the conservatory, a lily pond, and outdoor formal gardens and sits next to the zoo. Artists flock to the gardens when the weather is nice and everything is in bloom. Locals hang out in the conservatory on weekend mornings in the winter when they need to "escape" from winter in Chicago.

Cross Fullerton Avenue and visit the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. This museum has always seemed geared to the younger set, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the couple of visits that I have made. Run by the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Museum looks at natural history locally. My favorite part is the "Judy Istock Butterfly Haven." The Museum is also the winter home of the Green City Market.

The park continues north along lakefront for several miles and is more traditional park consisting of marinas, beaches, green space, tennis courts, ball fields, soccer fields, bike paths, even a driving range. Thanks for joining me.

Hopes and Shattered Dreams: Remembering Dallas

Eerie...this event that I've heard people talk about my entire life and now I'm here in the place where it happened. Forty-five years and there are still no answers. Some of the road signs are gone, others have changed, but overall Dealey Plaza is essentially the same as it was in November of 1963, the collonades, built by the WPA between 1938 and 1940, the wooden fence on the top of the grassy knoll, and overlooking it all, the old Texas School Book Depository. Some of the views have become obscured, the trees are 45 years older after all, but many remain. The 6th floor sniper's nest, now part of the Sixth Floor Museum, has been plexied off and stacked with boxes to give you the illusion that it is a place frozen in time.

Floors 5-7,Texas School Book Depository

Dealey Plaza and the Grassy Knoll

There are X's painted on the street meant to represent where the car was when the President was shot. People, a large number of whom either weren't old enough to remember or were too young to really understand, wander out to the X's to touch them and/or have their picture taken. This is still a busy street and it's banked; cars come flying through the stoplight and down the hill.

Is this the event that shattered our innocence? Why this assassination? Three other presidents had been gunned down before him. How would the people's outlook on Vietnam and Watergate have been different had Dallas not happened? Would 9/11 have become the event that shattered our idealistic approach to government? Would the US have survived 9/11 without already knowing it could come through such a huge, collectively personal tragedy and still function? How can the next generations be made to understand the life changing impact caused by the death of one man?

The old Texas School Book Depository, home to the Sixth Floor Museum. You can see the open window in the sniper's nest, second floor from the top on the far right hand side.

 
Sidebar: The Sixth Floor Museum is worth a visit if you're ever in Dallas. They've done a nice job of setting the scene and taking you through the assassination and the aftermath. Prepare yourself before viewing the Zapruder film; there is a reason you can't just stumble upon it. Even though I knew what was coming and have seen edited versions countless times, I was still unprepared for the violence.

Wordless Wednesday - The Alleghenies by Train

This mountaintop wind farm actually spans several mountaintops.

The fiery gold of fall.

Christmas Tree Farm - Which tree will adorn your house this season?

Sunrise in the Alleghenies

There is nothing quite like sunrise in the mountains. Watching the flickering shadows as the sun plays among the trees on the mountaintop as the earth wakes up. A country gentleman is standing on his front porch raising his coffee cup in greeting to the passing train. Even though it is nearly November, the occasional mountain peak is still showing their magnificent shades of red and gold. The sun glinting sideways across the deep red leaves makes them look almost plum...”purple mountain majesties.” The gold leaves haven’t yet lost their brilliance and still look like fire when the sun hits them.

I love to ride the rails. You travel through country that you might not otherwise see. There are what feels like miles and miles of coal cars parked on one of the side tracks high up in the mountains like bales of hay stacked up on the back 40 and leaving no doubt that the mine is nearby and there is still coal in these hills.

Then every once in a while you round the bend, quite literally, and the terrain opens up a little bit and there is a town, one of many you’ll encounter on your meanderings. The first thing you notice the tall, white steeple in the middle the church and the center of life in this remote community. Small little communities like those read about in history books, but that few people today will ever experience. Life here can be hard, but like so many who have come before them, these are people of faith who will find their way through.

We’ve wandered away from the river. You can tell it’s ready for winter. The water is low, waiting to be replenished by the winter snows. In some places there is almost no water. Here the water is still and so clear that you can see the riverbed, just a trickle. Snow and then spring can’t come to soon.

Can You Ever Really Go Home Again?

My emotional response to that is I think not. The reality is that it really depends on home. My neighborhood in the first city I lived in after college, which I also call home, is virtually unchanged. The community I grew up in however is nearly unrecognizable and seems to become more so with each return visit. First it was the fast food chains on the state highway. Not as shocking since that started when I was still in high school so it appeared more gradual. The next transformation was the conversion of farmland to subdivisions. More homes brought more people brought more kids and the new school campus changed the look of the community even more. Last year (it may have been longer) they redid the entrance and exit ramps off the expressway and let’s just say, they’re frightening and I’m glad I don’t have to drive them. I’m told that they drive better than the old ones, but I’ve never seen anything remotely like it. In last few months, they have added both a Wal-Mart and a Meijer; Target came a few years ago. While they have undoubtedly brought with them a much-needed infusion of commerce, I still find it a little disheartening to not recognize my own hometown – the ice rink, the truck stop where my grandmother worked when my dad was a kid, and a family farm. My city friends always tell me it’s so nice that I can go home as they’ve watched their hometown change around them. What I’ve never figured out how to explain is how much less their hometown has changed than mine. I guess it really is just all about your perspective.

Home Sweet Yum

It’s fall. The weather has turned cool and crisp. Ok, so this trip home was a little soggy as well, but it’s still home. The leaves are turning brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red. And Saturdays are for football. But this time of year, I really know that I am home, when I go to the mill (http://www.parshallvillecidergristmill.com) and pick up hot out of the fryer cinnamon sugar doughnuts and fresh apple cider. The doughnuts are so light and airy that they melt in your mouth. The cider is so fresh that it tastes like you’ve bitten into an apple straight off the tree. So how do make sure the doughnuts are hot? They make them all day long, but I will almost always arrive 10-15 minutes after opening when that first batch comes out. Home sweet yum.

It really was fall went I wrote this. Here it is six weeks later and we’ve gone from brilliant colors to gray rain trying to pretend it's snow, but I can still smell the cider and doughnuts.