Between Storms

The recent days between snow storms allowed me a chance to return to Pratt's Wayne Woods to see how the last of winter was looking. The off-leash dog area had one set of users out and enjoying the sun. They are seen through the single-lane underpass that subways the freight train line.

SUNDAY POSTER

With Mendenhall Glacier in the background, a quote from a prayer used at my Church. And a wish for Peace to all.

Easter Lamb

Our last look at the Kline Creek Farm's lambs features a lone lamb in a warm corner, looking up at the camera and looking for all the world like the Easter lamb. Other views include a sheep nursing a lamb and a very tactile rope coiled and hanging on a post.

Closing the Pen

The sheep were active as the sun was headed for the horizon, and the attendant farmer was buttoning up the place for the night. One of the sheep posed for a photo while the house was shuttered.

Sheep Pen

The sheep and lambs were active, moving around in cold air to fight off the winter. The lambs enjoyed warming up in a small enclosure lit by a warm yellow heating lamp.

800 Posts and a Poster

This will be my 800th post in just about 25 months. The milestone is marked by a poster, even though I normally do posters on Sunday. But what good is having a blog if I can't change the schedule when I wish to?

This poster was generated from study of a theology book by N.T. Wright, the subject of a study group at church.

,

Farm Babies

At least 17 lambs have been born on Kline Creek Farm this season, and several of the babies are up an about inside and outside. The animated faces and soft gentle looks of the animals will make a visit more than worthwhile.

Ice!

Last winter I posted photos of ice harvesting at Kline Creek Farm. Although I did not go to the event this season, I knew it was completed and stopped by the ice house to check out the crop. Pretty cold but quite impressive to see.

SUNDAY POSTER

This image of a Bald Eagle was seen on a trip to Alaska in 2008. The entire awe-inspiring visit is captured in the photo and in the portion of the Lord's Prayer seen in the poster.

Kline Creek

Just a few days ago, the sun was out and the temperature was rising, but the heavy snow cover from two weeks ago was still in full evidence. I headed out to Kline Creek Farm in search of some new babies who have been in the news.
Here we see two images along the path up to the farm, both centering on the bridge across Kline Creek. Look for the babies a day or so.

Sunny Afternoon

A gnarled tree and a vista of wild grass basks in the sun at Timber Ridge Forest Preserve on a recent sun-drenched afternoon.

Power at Timber Ridge

Power lines run through Timber Ridge Forest Preserve along the Prairie Path, providing a nice focal point on a sunny winter afternoon.

Locomotives

Train fans love locomotives. After all, it is not much of a train without the engine. For a railfan photographer, engines have everything: power, size, shape, color. Here are a pair of my engine photos.

Commuters

Passenger railroading today revolves around commuters. Here are a pair of Metra shots, taken before all the current news stories of the air pollution trailing behind these diesel engines.

Railfan Images

A few more images of a Railfan, loving the signs and the engines and the cars and even the tracks. Here are a few from the railroad museum in Union, Illinois.

SUNDAY POSTER

A favorite proverb accompanied by a peek at summer in the city of Chicago.

Runner at the Reservoir

While at Spring Creek Reservoir the sun shone strongly on the high snow piles, as seen in the first photo, a runner circled the reservoir in the second. In a few months the forest preserve and the runner's clothing will look considerably different.

Paths at Spring Grove

Another post-blizzard photo spot here in Bloomingdale was Spring Creek Reservoir on Lake Street. Here we see two snowy paths, one a plowed access road, the other a curving whimsy path cut into the snow by people and their boots.

Blue Snow

One more pair of images from Meacham Grove in Bloomingdale, where the sun across the snow surface shows waves impressed on the snowbank by high wind, with the entire snow color looking blue. The other image shows the use of lens flare to intensify the color of the sunset.

Meacham Grove

A sunny afternoon forty-eight hours after the blizzard brought out the sun. A quick trip to Meacham Grove right here in Bloomingdale gave me these images of the aftermath of the storm.

Gotta love that sunset when you have been under a blizzard!

Sun on White Cliffs

On this last post of the effects of the blizzard at my house, we see the snow piles, which I call the White Cliffs of Bloomingdale, along with a striking shot of the sun straining its light through the branches of a hackberry tree.

More Snow

Two more images after the blizzard, one showing shadows highlighting the flow of the snowdrift and the other showing the canyon I had to carve to open my driveway. Funny, but it is starting to turn into a memory far sooner than I expected. But I am not unhappy about that.

SUNDAY POEM

My Valentine's Card, written and composed for all my Band of Brothers and Sisters: those who fight cancer, who have survived cancer, who have healed and helped and assisted those with cancer. One in a series of cards developed for LivingWell Cancer Resource Center in Geneva, a wonderful organization in support of all of us.

SUNDAY POSTER

The only line in one of my favorite Beatle songs. Scrolled over a sunset picture from a recent cruise.

Buried

The buried mailbox and the tight path to the front door in the aftermath of the 2011 blizzard.

Back Yard

Blizzard views looking out from the dinette. Look to the left and the path and bridge are under the huge drift. Look straight out to the south and see the pond with the glider behind it.

Back Yard Snow

The blizzard draped my back yard, as seen from the dinette, under a thick blanket of snow. Somewhere under that blanket is the pond, all nine large koi, and a light that crosses the pond to light my bench angel. The small stripe of lighter color shows the location of the spotlight. To the right of the spot is what looks like a piece of 2" pipe, which is what it is, an air pipe that I call my chimney, providing an emergency access to oxygen for the koi.

The light and the chimney can be seen more clearly in the detail picture, which focuses on the stand of arborvitae to the west of the pond, and on the weeping Norway spruce to the south.