After Dark

I mentioned in a previous post that I visited the Cub statues twice one recent evening.  I shared some shots of Ernie Banks taken before 5:00 PM on the way in to see the game; here are some shots of the statue after 9:00 PM and into the dark.  A different look, especially in the closeup.

Those Drumming Fingers

At the age of perhaps 11, I began to understand that great batters do not crush the bat handle in their fists.  Tight muscles are slow muscles.  Loose muscles are limber and quick.  I learned this by watching grainy black and white television baseball games.  Ernie Banks, who would be NL MVP in back-to-back seasons when I was 11 and 12, held that bat in his fingers and literally flexed them, drumming on the bat handle, as he waited for the pitch.  The fingers were the first details I looked at and there they were . . . those drumming fingers!

Wrigley Statues

I had attended the unveiling of the Ernie Banks statue at Wrigley Field, on Opening Day, 2008.  I have some photos I like of that beautiful monument to Chicago baseball.  But as I had no photos of the Billy Williams and Ron Santo statues, a recent ballpark trip included two visits to the statuary.  Here is Ernie in the soft light of early evening.

PENTECOST POSTER

PENTECOST SUNDAY POSTER

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Perfect weather

Not too hot, not too cold, no rain.  It was delightful for this year's Bridge Walk, and it turned out to be a wonderful stroll along the Fabyan pathways accompanied by hundreds of our friends.

And They Are Off!

And the walkers passed through the balloon rainbow to begin the walk.  While a majority of walkers wore one or another of the official Bridge Walk tee shirts, the creativity and humor of others was truly evident.

Grand Marshall

The latest in my series of magazine covers . . . the entire mag is this cover, of course . . . features Grand Marshall Regina Mazzuca in triumph, leading the walkers in the LivingWell Cancer Resource Center's annual Bridge Walk.  Arms high, she was inspirational and very photogenic!

Fun and Funding!

A great time was had by all on the 7th Annual Bridge Walk to support LivingWell Cancer Resource Center.  Perhaps the best time was had by those walking across the finish line to the news that nearly a quarter-million dollars had been raised Saturday morning.  The clowns packed up to head home with well-deserved smiles!

POSTER ON PEACE

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From a great American poet.

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FRIDAY POSTER

Flower and a Flyer

Before leaving Baker's Lake, I did find a flower or two to photograph, then looked back and saw a low-flying heron headed back to the Rookery.  Love his shadow on the water.

Later Look

Upon return to Baker's Lake in early May, I saw the shoreline still has a supply of trees that have not been sunk.  Perhaps there is a plan to use them in some other way, or perhaps they will be sunk after the mating and growth season is over.  In the sunshine, several of the egrets are quite clear in this image.

Wintry Plans

A brief stop at Baker's Lake in January showed a bleak shoreline and a sizable pile of discarded Christmas trees along the shore.  These are often sunk into small lakes to provide positive breeding ground for many species of fish.

Baker's Lake

Baker's Lake is right along Rt. 14 in Barrington and its feature is a Heron Rookery.  What looks like an artificial island is a structure just designed to support herons and egrets along with cormorants for the spring and summer mating and birthing seasons.  Look closely and notice that the white spots are egrets.  At various times the adults tend to swoop in toward shore, perhaps looking for food to share with the little ones, but on this afternoon, no birds approached the shore for the benefit of my camera.

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Cuba Marsh

Cuba Marsh, just north of Barrington, offered a few vistas that appear to be far from Chicago and its suburbs.

North Suburbs

Not far from Raceway Woods, I visited a couple of forest preserve areas in the Barrington area.  Pince cones hanging, boats stacked for the winter.  Always something to see!

Longer Bridge

Further north from the footbridge we see another addition to Raceway Woods in recent years.  A small creek has altered the landscape tremendously in recent decades, and the straightaway, nearly a mile long, was impassable without hiking down into a valley for some years.  This footbridge does not replace anything folks walked on years ago; this replaces a portion of the race course itself.  The views it affords of the area are quite interesting, and the 2.7 mile course is now walkable.

Rust Never Sleeps

About the time that Meadowdale was closed and abandoned, Neil Young recorded Rust Never Sleeps.  Today at Raceway Woods we see graphic evidence of that fact.

Bridge Details

Details of the old footbridge at Meadowdale, the best being a huge tree which, having grown up through the struts, appears to be biting on the rust-protected metal.

Bridge Remnant

Both bridges along the roadway in Raceway Woods are new, perhaps five years old and clearly not wide enough for any automobile race course.  One bridge remnant does remain, though.  Parking years ago was on the east side, near Rt. 31, and a footbridge allowed spectators to cross over the race course.  While all of the decking is gone, it is an interesting artifact, as trees that did not exist fifty years ago have grown up thick and huge.
On this quiet and pretty afternoon, it is far too quiet here.  A half-dozen years ago, my first visit to Raceway Woods was also on a quiet day, but I could almost hear the roar of the engines as they spun around a turn.  Today, those years seem impossibly long gone.

Meadowdale International Raceway

Our mystery location is Raceway Woods, a public walking/jogging/bicycling park between  West Dundee and Algonquin along Rt. 31.  A silo from the earlier farmstead was painted for the Raceway back in 1958 and it still stands, now repainted as a wonderful souvenir of the times.  From 1958-1967 this was Meadowdale International Raceway, a 2.75 mile track for the much more complex European style of racing.  The course had hairpin turns and a Monza wall, where drivers had to keep up to speed as they raced along the upper areas of the wall without falling.  A straightaway nearly a mile long promoted high speeds.  Google the Meadowdale name and find out much more about this interesting place to visit.

SUNDAY POSTER

More Mystery

Two more views from the mystery location in the Fox River Valley.  Any ideas?

Fox Valley Mystery Location

Took a nice photo walk recently in the heart of the Fox Valley.  I will post a handful of images; if you have a guess as to where this might be, send it in the Comment section.  I will reveal the location on Saturday.  Or sometime soon!

Last Bird

On the walk to the parking lot, one more Redwing posed for me on two different branches.  A successful day of bird photography all around.