Cantigny Park

Cantigny Park in Winfield is a fine place to visit, featuring acres of greenery and trees, flowers, picnic tables, and open grass fields. In addition, the former home of Col. Robert McCormick, longtime publisher of the Chicago Tribune, is open for viewing, and Col. McCormick's beloved First Division is represented in a powerful museum.

Here we see a statue with a World War I doughboy, followed by a seed pod on a tree.

Into the Night

I brought a fast enough lens that I was able to continue shooting into the evening at Andre Dawson's celebrity softball game. Here we see Bear Steve McMichael ripping a single to left, followed by Dawson's second double of the game, right down the left field line.

Followers of this photoblog will recall that I attended two of Fergie Jenkins' charity baseball games in Arizona the past two springs. Comparing the two events, I prefer seeing the old-timers play with a baseball when possible. The softball feeling is such that it just takes the players an additional long step away from their days at Wrigley Field in the past. The catcher, above, is Gary Carter and he looks lost standing to wait for the pitch to bounce.

Or maybe it was just the pajama bottoms they wore instead of baseball pants.

Madlock and Dawson

Andre Dawson was the hitting star in his own softball game, rapping two balls that bounded to the fence for doubles. Here we see him scoring after one of his hits. Not surprisingly, Dawson does not run hard on those knees and while he batted and ran the bases, he did not play in the field.

Bill Madlock, though, did play third base as well as getting a couple of hits. Forgotten in the minds of many Cub fans, Madlock won two batting titles as a Cub and should be recognized as the best Cub third baseman since Ron Santo.

Singing and Pitching

Former Cub outfielder Dwight Smith sand the National Anthem at Wrigley Field a time or two, I recall, and he did the honors in Schaumburg to open Andre Dawson's softball game. Later, Bruce Sutter was on the mound, but the tough split-finger fastball is a thing of the past . . . at least when he is pitching slow-pitch softball.

Super Bowl XX

Another friend of Andre Dawson who participated in his softball game at Alexian Field was former Bear defensive tackle Steve McMichael. His hearty laugh being shared with many fans, McMichael signed autographs and promised to try to hit a home run in the game (he did not come through with that one). While he was signing his autographs, it was easy to see what a Super Bowl Ring looks like.

Chicago Athletes Return

Chicago fans all love their heroes. A recent celebrity softball game at Alexian Field, the home of the Schaumburg Flyers, had a long list of Chicago athletes and I was able to collect several images. Here we see Cub relief star Bruce Sutter, later to become a Hall-of-Famer after stints with the Cardinals and the Braves. The other is Otis Wilson, star linebacker with the 1985 Bears, known as Mama's Boy Otis in the famed Super Bowl Shuffle Crew.

TRAVELING Magazine

Our 600th post, a nice milestone, closes our photographic look at our visit to Washington DC. The feature photo is a view of the Washington Monument from across the Tidal Basin while standing on the grounds of the powerful Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Featured are the two living persons who made the static monuments and museums come to life for us, Yona Dickmann and Gordon Ward. As we noted in recent posts, these survivors of Auschwitz and Iwo Jima, respectively, are to be remembered with fondness and respect every time we recall the power and the beauty of our nation's Capitol.

Iwo Jima and Gordon Ward

It was Saturday morning, just a day before our visit to Washington DC would end. We had visited Teddy Roosevelt Island that morning after five days at all the major sites, as we have seen in previous posts. And we went to see the US Marine Corps. Memorial, the famed statue depicting the even more famed Joe Rosenthal photo of the raising of Old Glory on Iwo Jima.

We circled the statue, we took traditional photos and creative angles. We were beginning to get ready to leave, ready to plan some further sightseeing on our way back to the hotel. And there was a man, a man in a wheelchair with a baseball cap on his head. The cap told us that he was an Iwo Jima survivor.

We spent twenty to thirty minutes with him there, that morning, meeting his daughter Ana Ward and meeting other people from Gordon's life through his album of 8x10 photos. Many photos of his wife and family, but also a shot or two of him, including some post war shots. A highlight is his body cast being autographed by Boris Karloff. What a wonderful chance to meet a wonderful man, a live hero of the events depicted in the statue. Meeting Yona Dickmann at the Holocaust Museum and meeting Gordon Ward at the Iwo Jima statue were certainly the two highlights of the week in Washington.

Thanking them for the memories, we prepared to leave. And we went back to the hotel, happily finished with our sightseeing. Thanks to you for a wonderful morning, Gordon.

Teddy Roosevelt Island

A hidden treasure, I think, is Teddy Roosevelt Island right out in the Potomac between Washington and Arlington. Drive over the bridge and head north, slowly, until the small parking lot appears, park the car and walk across the foot bridge to the island.

TR was well-known for his respect for the environment, and a strong statue declaims his love for nature in a clearing which feels far from downtown Washington. Unfortunately, the memorial is in significant disrepair, with fountain shut down and reflecting pools left empty, only a remnant of a rainstorm remaining. I would like to hope that my next trip to DC will find TR Island spruced up and again a reminder of the value of the environment and the natural beauty of the United States of America.

National Cathedral

Our next stop after Arlington was back in DC at the Washington National Cathedral, a massive edifice with a reverent quiet and a cool majesty. The burial place of Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan also has an observatory, several ornate side chapels, and many quiet places to sit or kneel for a prayer.

We were tourists on Friday and then returned as churchgoers on Sunday.

Changing of the Guard

The most impressive event in Arlington National Cemetery is the Changing of the Guard. The precision of the guards in their drill, honoring the deceased "known but to God" is an event not to be missed. Their concentration and dedication is palpable, and the sizable audience was completely silent in response.

Kennedy 'Dynasty'?

The three brothers, torn apart by two brutal murders, now reunited in death and in Arlington National Cemetery. One President, one candidate for the office who could well have saved us from the mess of the Nixon term of office, and one who was much more cut out for the Senate and who spent a wonderful long career there. Sen. Kennedy, you represented the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with distinction and you were a Senator for all Americans who believe in the hopes and dreams of the forefathers.

President Kennedy

I entered Barrington High School in fall, 1960. Shortly after the school year began. Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts stopped and gave a short talk on the front steps of the high school. I estimate I stood ten feet away from him. I thought President Eisenhower was an old old man who needed to pass the baton to a new generation. And so he did, in a highlight of my freshman year.

Count ahead and you will realize that the term of President Kennedy followed my four years at Barrington, and during his run for re-election I was a senior. The day he was assassinated in Dallas is etched deeply into my memory; for that matter the entire weekend is. To visit Arlington National Cemetery is, to me, a visit to the grave of a highly inspirational President. Rest in peace, JFK.

Smithsonian Air and Space

Just down the street from the Holocaust Museum is a string of several Smithsonian museums, one of which is the excellent Air & Space Museum. Here we see the Wright Brothers' Flyer from 1903 just down a few display halls from NASA's Apollo 11 moon landing capsule from 1969. I look. At these two relics and I notice that only 66 years after a flight of 108 feet, two men walked on the moon, a quarter of a million miles away.

Yona Dickmann

Just outside the entrance to the permanent exhibit, two ladies sat at a simple table, smiling and waiting to visit and answer questions. Yona Dickmann, seen here, spoke with us for perhaps twenty minutes, answering questions and sharing memories. A survivor of Auschwitz who lost her entire family, she is today a delightful lady who made our visit all the more poignant and memorable.
After she recalled a soup made with water and a single potato and expected to feed ten, she was asked if she thinks about those things every day, all these years later. No, she said, she does not dwell on the memories.
"But I never throw food away, never," she added. Even after all these years. We felt fortunate to be granted time to visit with this wonderful lady, the epitome of survivor. She became one of the two most powerful memories we will retain from our week in Washington. The other will come up in a later post.

Holocaust Museum

Our previous visit to Washington DC had been more than 20 years earlier, at a time when a building was just going up in remembrance of the Holocaust. I recall driving past the building site right along the National Mall, so I went online weeks before the trip to secure timed tickets to see the powerful permanent exhibit.

The two-to-three hour trip through the exhibit was a multi-media experience to recall the pre-war beginning, the full-scale wartime activity, and the post-war developments. Much of the exhibit is a no-photograph zone, but here we see the exterior of the building and the quiet, solemn Hall of Remembrance. The best part of the experience will be in the next post.

National Archives

An imposing place to visit, the depository of all significant official documents of our country, the National Archives features but three of them.

To see once again the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is an opportunity to not only see history but to dwell on it.

Constituent Coffee

As we headed off to see the Senate in session, Sen. Durbin's interns invited us to the weekly Constituent Coffee at the Hart Senate Office Building, planned for the next morning. After Sens. Durbin and Burris spoke for a few minutes, they answered questions for perhaps a half four, then had us all line up for photos. The Senator's office staff asked us to write down an email address and what we were wearing, and later that afternoon we had a nice souvenir of the visit.

The other image is one I took from the window of the room where the Constituent Coffee took place. An awesome vista of that magnificent building.

Folger Shakespeare Library

After a nice lunch at the Capitol Building's new Visitor Center, a short side trip two blocks on East Capitol Street brought me to the Folger Shakespeare Library. More significant as a research library than a museum, the Folger has a couple of first edition copies of the 1623 First Folio. Along with a small display area, there is a nice theater seen here, where a regular season of great drama is staged.

Outside the building is a quiet garden with some interesting statuary, one featuring Puck with the inscription "Lord what fools these mortals be." A nice stop for literary enthusiasts.

Capitol Hill

Sen. Durbin's office also got us onto the Congressional Tour later the same day. Two interns showed us around the House and the Senate, gave us passes to see the legislators in session during the late-day hours. Their assistance was much appreciated.

The White House

Thanks to Sarah Ryan, in the office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, we were on the list to visit the White House and were pleased to be in line by just after 7:00 AM. No purses, no cameras, cell phones allowed if turned off. So there are no photos inside the famed home of the Presidents, but I did manage a couple of BlackBerry shots which I was able to tweak into decent images. We emerged from the White House to the north portico (more squared in appearance) and took shots from there. Earlier in the week, we collected photos of the south portico (more rounded in appearance) while visiting the Mall.

US Botanic Garden

My interest in gardening and landscaping pushed me to visit the national Botanic Garden. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this longtime favorite is in the next block to the Capitol.

An outdoor garden fronts a large indoor conservatory. Truly a sight to warm the heart of a gardener.

American History

A stop at the Smithsonian's American History Museum is always a must, although a photo blog will not have an image of the Star-Spangled Banner, kept in a controlled-light display that is designed to preserve it for future generations. But we did see the ruby slippers of Oz, Julia Child's kitchen, Archie Bunker's chair, and these two quite different images.

My favorite George Washington statue, depicting him quite incongruously in toga, was formerly in a lower level of the Capitol. Here it is a hallway feature, quite near the dress Carol Burnett wore in a spoof of Gone With the Wind. Turning the drapery of Tara into a dress to impress was funny enough, but including the curtain rod was comic genius. When Burnett referred to it as "something I saw in a window," that might have been the heartiest laugh I ever enjoyed in front of the television.

World War II Memorial

Another memorial that was not here 22 years ago for our previous visit was one we certainly looked forward to. The World War II Memorial is in the middle of the Mall, directly west of the Washington Monument. A previous post showed the Memorial from the observation window atop the Washington Monument.

My father was in the Navy during WWII and my father-in-law, who passed away before I had the pleasure of meeting him, was in the Army. Both served in the Pacific Theater and neither one came home to talk much about the experience. They both were proud to serve and then anxious to begin their lives as husbands and parents. The Memorial brought a wonderful feeling to my heart. I always enjoy thinking about my dad, who passed away too early over 19 years ago. But here, for the first time, I felt my dad and my father-in-law have this powerful connection. I thought deeply that afternoon about Robert Faust and Ralph Beato, strangers in life and together as veterans, parents, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. That was all very much alive for me at the World War II Memorial.

Thanks so much for your service, dad and dad. We love you and honor you and will make certain that your great-grandchildren know what you did for us and for them.

That afternoon, I called my mother, just to visit. Since I was not able to call Robert and Ralph.

Korean War Memorial

Leaving the Vietnam Memorial we walked back across Lincoln's eyesight and turned east along the Reflecting Pool to see the Korean War Memorial. A powerful collection of soldiers trekking up a gentle hill alongside a black wall that has pictures rather than names of those who fought in the first of the undeclared wars that now seem to be the norm. An artwork that gains power from the fact that the viewer sees himself alongside or trailing the soldiers, thus more involved than he might otherwise be.

The looks on the faces of the soldiers made me nickname them the 'Ghost Soldiers,' looking as if they were trying to figure out how in the world they wound up in Washington.

Remembering Vietnam

In the previous post we saw the view from the Lincoln Memorial. If he could look out and crane his neck to the left he would see the Vietnam War Memorial, which includes a wall etched with the names of nearly 60,000 Americans dead in the conflict. Here we see the statue that is part of the Memorial with three soldiers appearing to come out of the trees on their way back to base. The accompanying statue is a bit further east and depicts the contribution of nurses to the effort.

I found it difficult to visit this site in 2010. Not nearly as many people are leaving flowers or pictures along the wall; I saw no one taking a rubbing of a name of one of the soldiers. It was far more active two decades ago. But the major portion of the feeling was the existence of the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, causing me to wonder if we as a country have learned anything in the past fifty years.