Wolf

When the wolf takes the high spot on the rock at Brookfield Zoo, the photographers are usually happy. Relaxing on the lower ground makes him much more difficult to see. This day he was taking the sun, much to my delight.

Zoo Stars

For the next few days, an assortment of zoo animals that have caught my eye. Here we start with the camel, seen at Brookfield Zoo.

SUNDAY POSTER

Light Fades

The geese were gone, the sun dropped below the horizon, sunset followed. Our visit to Hidden Lake was complete.

Naked Tree in the Dusk

Dusk fell on Hidden Lake and my eye caught the color in the clouds. I turned and looked around me and saw the naked tree, the only bright color reflecting off the stop sign.

Fall color was closing up, just as this day was coming to its end.

THANKSGIVING PRAYER

This poem is my expression of thanks for the gifts I enjoy, and it was written for LivingWell Cancer Resource Center in Geneva, Illinois. It is my hope that it expresses the emotional aspect of the fight against cancer. May you have a most blessed and happy Thanksgiving.

Flying South

A wonderful gaggle of geese were heading south, right over Morton Arboretum, from my Hidden Lake vantage point. Rare to see such a symmetrical formation.

By the way, I am pleased to notice this is my 700th post with more than two months left before my second year is complete. Still loving put the photos out there.

Hidden Lake

Hidden Lake, just north of Morton Arboretum in Lisle, was my last forest preserve of the autumn color season. Small but attractive, the preserve had requisite trees with color and also some interesting seed pods.

Final Rays of Sun

Just before leaving Churchill Woods, the sunset blazed even more strongly, as if to bid me good night. The best of my fall color shots of the season were already collected.

SUNDAY POEM

SUNDAY POSTER

Sunset

Fall color shots generally take place at the so-called Golden Hour, the time when the setting sun drops far enough to send long attractive shadows across the landscape. The end of the Golden Hour, of course, would be sunset. What more could we ask of a Grand Finale?

Color Everywhere

Look down and see a twig with some perfectly burnt leaves. Look up and see the waning sun preparing to set. Fall in the Forest Preserve features color, everywhere.

Muted Colors

Muted colors were all around in Churchill Woods. Muted, that is, until you took a second look. Then they were peaceful, but vibrant. Even in the simplest places, such as tree bark or a footbridge.

Nearing Sunset

One image that is all about size -- a huge sun jest setting into the bare branches of the trees -- and one looking the other way. As the sun began to set, the view across the pond became quite blue. Rather than the obvious sun, here the key is the great blue heron. He can be found somewhere on the left side, standing on a branch.

Color of the Sun

Here we see Churchill Woods so bathed in bright fall sunshine that even the bare trees show strong color with their bark. Two scenics that in a more normal November might have been drab and lifeless look instead colorful and alive.

Color in the Woods

On the way to a travel seminar, with the weather so unseasonably warm and beautiful, I left two hours early with the intention of catching up some some late-fall color. My first stop was Churchill Woods in Lombard and Glen Ellyn, a quiet place with some beautiful color.

We generally expect our fall color to be in the leaves, but much of the color at Churchill was in the rest of the vegetation rather than in the leaves, most of which were already fallen.

Gianna & Joey

My souvenir of our recent visit with Gianna and Joey, a nice chance to grab a few portraits.

SUNDAY POEM

Only a puffy set of clouds could background this true story, a poem that developed from an appointment with my oncologist. Some poems are called "found poems," happy conjunctions of words that somehow become poetic. This description of a good day at the doctor's office was a joy to write; it had been of course a joy to view.

SUNDAY POSTER

Anyone who knows me knows that Ernie Banks is my athletic hero, a winner in every way for his entire life. Here his optimism shows through, highlighted by my photo of his statue outside Wrigley Field.

Finale

Two fireworks images will compose our finale. Both images are composites from one of my favorite shows, a special weeknight thank from the people of Warnemunde, Germany, as our cruise ship left port after 10:30 PM. Most of the ship's passengers had been on one of several trains into Berlin, with our trip including a stop at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. A long, interesting day with lots of great memories.

Another Pair

Our Friday images are another pair of fireworks displays. One of the images is reflected over water while the other hovers in the dark sky. We will look at two more in the next post before looking for some late-season fall color shots.

Fireworks

On Veteran's Day, two more images of fireworks lighting up the nighttime sky.

Fireworks

With Veteran's Day this week and with Thanksgiving coming up in only two weeks, I thought we would take a few days to look into the archives of fireworks that I have collected over the years. Here are the first two.

Two More Images

Past one of the well-kept period farm buildings (the era of the 1890s preserved), I headed for the parking lot. Had to collect one more perfectly-colored tree in all its autumn glory. It was a great visit.

Fall Color at Kline Creek

At the Kline Creek Farm Corn Harvest I got some of my favorite fall color pictures of the year. Here we see the horse team returning to the cornfield after bringing in a load of corn and a shot of a perfectly decorated tree in front of the farm house.

SUNDAY POEM

SUNDAY POSTER

Corn

Seed corn does not look good to eat, of course, not to a human. But there is something attractive to the eye that I do not see in sweet corn. Oh, yes, the sweet corn looks brighter, more plump and tasty, more uniform in the ranks. But these, stacked and piled where they are tossed, have an individuality that is, as I noted, quite attractive to the eye.