Bison in Batavia

In the western suburbs of Chicago, Batavia to be specific, is a facility called the National Accelerator Laboratory, or Fermilab for short. For the past 25 years or so, scientists have been experimenting with speeding particles inside a ring-shaped laboratory miles long that is underground. Above it are buildings, many brightly painted, and a wonderful place to see birds, butterflies -- and bison. I went to see if it was worth a look through the eye of the Nikon and the answer was a resounding YES.

Along with prairie grass and savanna, water for geese and trees for deer, this bison herd makes for an excellent two hours of photo shooting -- or more. Yesterday, the air was cold and from the fence line I could see the breath of these tremendously powerful animals. I will certainly return, either in spring or fall, to see more of these majestic iconic American animals and the other attractions of the Fermilab.

Winter Continues

Years ago, my grandmother loved to visit Morton Arboretum. While it looked like a big park of some kind, I was more interested in parks with climbing structures and swings. Now I appreciate the beauty of the Outdoor Museum of Woody Plants, located only a mile from the high school I taught at for nearly four decades. Wonderful landscapes are in view at every time of the year there.

During the week after Christmas, I drove down to the Arboretum, built by the Morton family, so famous for salt. Arriving just before that blue hour, the time of the power of the sunset, I saw many trees, roads, snowy hillsides, walkers -- and one buck who seemed as interested in me as I was in him. Since I shot with a 300 mm telephoto lens, I was not close enough to scare him off. He was close enough to fascinate me.

Looking back through my winterscapes, it is clear that winter has its beauty as much as any other season. Good lesson to remember.

More winterscapes

With the Chicago weatherman tossing out scary stories of 6" or more of snow on Tuesday or Wednesday or whenever it gets around to it, a post of some snowy pictures seems to be in order. The snow-laden branches are in my yard; that is a burning bush. The snow-filled creek leads into Mallard Lake, a local forest preserve where dogs were allowed to run off-leash and lots of fishermen seem to have good luck.

Next post should have perhaps one more pair of winterscapes, coming soon.

Winterscapes

It was great fun for me to return to Alaska over several weeks to post photos and relive the great trip. Now, to head in another direction, my first thought was an earlier trip -- Manhattan? The Caribbean? Las Vegas? And certainly we will return to travel. But I wanted to move in a different direction for a while.

Landscape photography is a staple for all ages. Black-and-white, full color, film or digital, the photo that captures a place and records it for the future is a wonderful pastime or profession. As it is wintry February in Chicago, I thought I would post a few winterscapes to see if they remind viewers of places they have seen.

The black-and-white was taken in 1976 on color slide film and more recently digitized and reworked into the appropriate b&w. It was a small woods near my first house. The color image is actually from my yard on one of those icy days.

The next post will look at another pair of winterscapes. It might include a poem or two as well.

Vancouver Monday Morning

Arriving in Vancouver Harbor, we watched the sun glint off the skyline of a beautiful city early on a Monday morning. Debarkation is never an enjoyment; after all, vacation is over and this is a travel day. We got through the lines well enough, were loaded onto a bus, and taken out to the airport.

On the way through downtown, I mentioned that the streets were strangely empty at 9:00 AM. Only when we were in the Customs line at the airport did we discover that it was a major holiday in Vancouver, and no one was at work unless they worked at the airport. It was a pleasure to go through U.S. Customs in the Vancouver airport. That's right, the cooperation between countries is so great that we went through customs BEFORE boarding the aircraft. That meant that we flew in and deplaned one heck of a lot more quickly than we would have from any other foreign port.

This blog has brought the trip to life for me nearly every day for several weeks. Hoping that people have seen the photos and enjoyed the trip, I now look for another topic to organize photos for a period of time. When I get the final idea, the next post will follow. Meanwhile, one more Alaska poem:

HOMEWARD BOUND

It has often been said that we leave a bit of ourselves
Wherever we happen to visit, wherever we happen to learn
It has also been said that we take a bit of those places
Home with us, tucked deeply in our hearts.
Those of us who love to travel must grow big hearts
To handle all these inputs, and those headed for Alaska
Better prepare themselves for the extra weight they will bear.
I wonder how speakers of Inuktitut, the Aleut language, would say
Things like "Thanks for everything" and "See you again."

Leaving Alaska

We boarded Coral Princess in Ketchikan and set sail for Vancouver. It was Saturday evening and the Street Fair was going strong. We were looking forward to the relaxation of a final sea day, not realizing that there would be no sea day. Cruising the Atlantic or the Caribbean, as I have indicated, allows lots of time with nothing to see outside the ship, nothing but ocean and sky and vastness. We remained near the coast and all day Sunday found things to see, boats and fishermen and all sorts of wonderful activity. It put a final wonderful feeling on the entire visit, and one we will never forget.

As the trip began in July and finished in August, I put together a second TRAVELING Magazine cover, featuring Lady Baltimore, Mendenhall Glacier, and an eagle I spotted from Capt. Rob Halston's tour outside Ketchikan. The problem, of course, was choosing the few images to print over the many others that I will never forget. It was tough but it was great fun.

We arrived in Vancouver on Monday morning, got some interesting "morningscapes" as we came in to the dock, and bussed to the airport for the trip home. Next post we will look at the beauty of a city on a Monday in August and we will close the Alaska trip.

People of Ketchikan

As we departed our final shore stop, we headed back to Ketchikan and saw signs for a Street Fair and Battle of the Bands. With plenty of time before sailing, we walked through the downtown fair and it left an absolutely wonderful final impression on us. From Capt. Rob Halston and his crew, who were personable as well as professional, to the street vendors and the patrons of the fair, we met so many nice people that it was a wonderful day. The streets were alive with skateboarders and dog walkers, the concession booths had those wonderful smells of summer food, and we talked to a clerk in a bookstore about the weather and the people of Ketchikan. It was surely our favorite town on the trip.

And it is interesting that after the caribou and the bears, the sled dogs and the running salmon, the mountains and the glaciers; the town we liked best was filled with wonderful, friendly people who could make us feel at home. Reminds us a lot of the lesson we already knew, the one about how ordinary people are the treasure of the earth. Thanks for the reminder, Ketchikan.

That evening we headed toward Vancouver and our airplane ticket home. Watch for the next post.