The Flowering of Spring

The Gathering, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Monday was a good day to walk over to Ping Tom park and see what is blooming. Not only are the trees in bloom but they have a field of these daffodils.

They looked like an army ready to walk down the park. What a neat display.

Suddenly Summer

Friday was the first 80 degree day in the area since early October of last year. It was a great day to explore nature. The above photo is one of the falls at Mathiessen State Park.

The day started early with me leaving my place around 5:30 and arriving at Archer and Harlem around 6:20. I meet up with Tom before seven and then we went out to visit Matthiessen and Starved Rock state parks. It was a great day to be about shooting all sorts of natural stuff. The highlight was the waterfalls at both parks. There is something magical about the falling water. We were lucky we recieved so much rain earlier in the week.

We spent the morning at Matthiessen and the afternoon at Starved Rock. It was time to leave at three and with all the traffic and the long bus ride back from Harlem and finally arrived at my place a little after six. I was tired, a little wet and the sweat made me feel dirty, but it was a fun day and I have no regrets.

Boating Time

18th Street Bridge Up, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Wednesday was the first day that the city was opening the bridges so that the sailboats could go out to the harbors. These were the first batch out around 10:30 am.

They had a little bit a trouble getting the 18th street bridge backdown. It seemed to have taken them an extra 3 or 4 minutes to lower it completely back down.

Soggy Trails

The trail between locks 11 & 12, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Despite the wet weather on Sunday we still headed to Ottawa. The rain wasn't really that bad and sometimes it would stop. Depending on conditions I was using either my Olympus E-500 DSLR or my Fuji Finepix JW150.

We got to see some great stuff along the trails between Locks 11 & 12 as this photo captures. We seen a painted turtle on the path and a toad crossed our path. What a real neat outing.

Canal Railroad bridge at Sunset

Canal Railroad bridge at Sunset, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Thursday evening was a great time to walk over to Tom Ping park. My main goal was to shoot this vertical lift railroad bridge. While I was there, a Metra train and an Amtrak train passed by.

Trump and His Friends

Trump and His Friends, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

When I was done walking thru the parks on Easter Sunday, I decided to walk the lakefront to lakeshore drive and then to the river. This is the view from below the Lake Shore Drive bridge over the River. I really cool place to see how the Trump Tower fits in.

Fountain's Season has Begun

Despite it being a bit cool for a mid-April Easter, it was pleasant enough to take a walk through Grant Park and Millenium Park. The fountain is finally back on after being shut down last Labor Day weekend. They spruced it up for the Olympic Commitee, but the only notable change was the red gravel was replaced with a similar color block. I like the change!

I walked to Millennium Park from the fountain and then over Lake shore drive to the bike path and ended under Lake Shore Drive at the river. A nice day for a walk :)

Stormy Times

Storm Cloud, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Despite the fact that I took this shot last Tuesday, It sums up today beautifully. We had a three hour window when the rain stopped but it just started again. I guess I'll just wait for the snow :(