Pot of Gold? In Ottawa?

Leaving from an excellent restaurant in Ottawa after dinner last Saturday, I saw a suggestion that a pot of gold might well be down there. I certainly appeared to be close to the end of the rainbow!

POSTER

In honor of those we remember on Memorial Day. Rest in Peace.

SUNDAY POSTER

Northerly Island

Still hoping the rain would stop for a few skyline shots, I headed out to Northerly Island, home of the Adler Planetarium. Lights still shimmered the streets on the way out, I had to balance an umbrella to get even one shot, and I had no idea if I got anything worth saving. Home, dried off, warming up, I found the misty rain lighting up the skyline in one shot I really did like from the lakeside vantage point. One shot? Yes, worth the effort.

Downtown Walkers

Two walkers huddled under a single umbrella and crossing a downtown street with the colors of the lights shimmering into the night.

South of the Loop

Quiet, dark, closed for Saturday night and being soaked by the rain, the Soldier Field colonnades and the south front of the Field Museum are impressive sights.

Navy Pier

Navy Pier looks strangely different under the falling rain at ten o'clock of a Saturday night. Walkways normally filled with people are empty, lights shimmering across the pier. The empty wheel was turning as I turned and drove the car away.

Rainy Streets

I had an intention of getting some well-lit skyline/night shots of the beautiful Chicago downtown. With the rain, I was more successful capturing wet scenics of a city riding out a rainstorm. As a candid photographer, I always gladly change gears and collect what I find.

Rainy Night

A recent rainy night in Chicago yielded some interesting images, but the scariest was the one sign on the Shell Station showing gasoline for sale at $5.00 per gallon.

The other image is of a landmark location, the theater marquee at the location of the death of the infamous John Dillinger.

SUNDAY POSTER

A late-night poster from one who loves to be up late but fortunately is quite able to get a good night's sleep!

POSTER POEM

This week, following the LivingWell Cancer Resource Center Bridge Walk, I had a port flush at my oncologist's office. I had just received notification that the staff was relocating to new offices, and I just had to match a bridge photo with this new poem about feelings of patients . . . including me!

LivingWell Magazine Covers

Our last post from last week's Bridge Walk are the two souvenir magazine covers I made up for Darcy Ringhofer, the walk's Grand Marshall, and Manuela Bender, a cancer survivor who traveled the furthest to walk, bringing her husband Danijel all the way from Frankfort, Germany. From the smiles on their faces, our two cover personalities were truly enjoying the day.

Headgear

The Bridge Walk took place under cool gray skies so many walkers had headgear that would make a queen proud. Caps, balloons, earmuffs, baseball hats . . . . and flamingos.

Great Tees

This year's Bridge Walk tees were lime green for survivors, so those naturally win the unofficial prize for "Best Tee." Lots of alternative colors also walked, such as the orange for staff and volunteers, the blue for supporters, family and friends, and the "Chemo Sucks" tees seen here, with the wonderful quip on the back. Yay, Chemo!

Long Distance Success

Two more images from the Bridge Walk include a sign at the end of the walk, showing the success of the fund-raising drive to date, and a shot of the duo who traveled the furthest to walk and to contribute to the success of the event.

Manuela Bender (left) became Internet friends with Rada Popovic (center) when Manuela was fighting cancer a few years ago. Rada was supporting her daughter, who lost her battle to cancer shortly thereafter. The friendship has continued, and Manuela and her husband Danijel (right) planned a visit to the United States from their home in Germany. The centerpiece of the plan was joining the walk. The support from people who live so far away was welcome and appreciated!

More Color at the Walk

This look at color at the Bridge Walk starts with a cancer survivor, clearly seen by the green tee shirt and highlighted with stunning red hair. And what look at color could omit the Color Guard, provided by the Geneva Fire Dept.? Especially when the Guard is flanked by a tower of balloons!

Color at the Walk

A gray Saturday morning was filled with color along the Fox River in Geneva as walkers and supporters turned out to raise money for LivingWell Cancer Resource Center. Here we see Cool Beanz the Clown and one of several St. Charles East High School students, turned out bright in orange and purple, adding to to the fun.

SUNDAY POSTER

Here we have a "found poster," a photo that includes the script, included here in support of the coming of spring (despite the cold snap the past couple of days in Chicago!)

Bridge Walk

Today is the date of the sixth annual Bridge Walk in support of LivingWell Cancer Resource Center in Geneva. I will be out shooting photographs, of course, but perhaps I will also be thinking about a future poem or two. This one was written after last year's walk.

Skyline

Our last look at buildings in Chicago must be this view of iconic skyline, several of the buildings in a single view, seen here from Adler Planetarium looking north.

Urban Footprint

Here is an old-time photo of a building that was right along the Chicago River, a couple of short blocks west of Michigan Avenue and on the north bank. My son Eric worked there for some years before the building was sold and razed.
What was the property used for? This is where Trump built his Chicago skyscraper.

Spaces

Back to some images of Chicago architecture, where the streets of downtown are a virtual textbook of architecture history.

Here we see two extremes. One image shows the standard Chicago Window, developed by the 1890s to allow the most light into the tallest buildings being built anywhere. The other is inside the atrium of the Thompson State of Illinois Building, full of light and packed with windows everywhere.

Gianna and Joey

One more image from the weekend festivities, with Gianna posing alongside her brother Joey. Like his Poppa, the little man cleans up pretty well!

Granddaughter's Big Day

It was a big day for our eight-year-old granddaughter Gianna. Her First Holy Communion, a true milestone for a wonderful girl who is growing up so quickly. She was a model of seriousness throughout the ceremony. Well, almost throughout; she could not resist a wave toward Poppa and his camera!

SUNDAY POSTER

Now a young and spry 80, Ernie Banks has been my athletic hero since 1956 and he has never once let me down. He knows a lot about baseball and he knows a lot about positive attitude. But this quote from his early 1970s autobiography MR. CUB shows he knows a lot about friendship, teamwork, and . . . well, balance.

Big John Up Close

Two more views of Big John, the John Hancock Center, dominating the Michigan Avenue skyline. These are much more up close than the earlier posting.

South LaSalle

The Chicago Board of Trade anchors the south end of LaSalle Street. Visitors are allowed into an observation room to see the classic form of trade in several markets, especially grain and other food items.

If you walk out the front door and down one block, the building on the right is The Rookery. Here we see the flying staircase designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as part of a 1905 remodeling of the lobby. Well worth a visit.

Big John

Two views of Big John, the John Hancock Building on the Magnificent Mile, Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Fisher Building

Walking around downtown Chicago is literally walking through a 3-D history of city architecture. All it takes is an open eye to notice. If a person needs help opening an eye, the Chicago Architecture Foundation offers several guided walks all over the Loop and surrounding areas. In the next few posts we will look at some of the buildings seen on these walks.

Today we see two views of the Fisher Building, opened before the elevated train and the remodeled to move the front door away from the el to another side. It is an interesting building right near the Harold Washington Library.

Colorful Characters

Among the colorful characters I have seen would be the firehouse dog seen here on the way to a school outing, and the biggest name in clowns, WGN's own Bozo. I had the chance to work with Bob Bell in the late 1970s when Bozo appeared on the Jerry Lewis telethon when I was working backstage and he was the epitome of the professional clown. A real pleasure to work with. This photo was from about 1978.

Towers

Our first cruise was in early August, 2000, from New York to Halifax and back. It was so enjoyable that our second cruise was in August, 2001, along the same route. In both cases I came back with strong pictures of the New York skyline. They have been hard pictures to look at since then, and they will continue to be. But justice has been brought to Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the destruction of the twin towers. The feeling of closure is real.