Snow Clouds

Snow Clouds, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

It's been a blustery cold week for a vacation, but I made the best of it. I cooked chicken soup and chili to keep warm and got out to photograph the best that I could.

This photo taken on Tuesday shows the clouds that were dumping up to a foot of snow on the other side of the lake. Thankfully that wasn't here. Today those poor folks got another batch of snow while in Chicago the sky was a bright blue all day long.

Decorative Cabbage

Decorative Cabbage, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Taking vacation in mid to late November can be a crapshoot. Last year temps were sort of mild in th 50's. This year were barely out of the '30s. It's really cutting into my picture takeing abilities.

I took this on Monday hoping that the cold weather won't kill them. They're beautiful decorative plants that look alot like cabbage. I usually see these plants in downtown flower boxes but this is located in someone's front yard.

The Dying Dealers

Archer Avenue used to be an Auto Dealer heaven. From Western to Pulaski there were six different new car dealers. We had Balzekas Chrysler-Plymouth just east of California, Archer-Kedzie AMC at Kedzie, Power Ford at Archer and Spaulding, Bill Becker Chevrolet at Trumbull, a Volkwagen Dealer at Ridgeway and a Honda Dealer at Pulaski.

It looks like the only dealer left is Balzekas, and who knows how long Chrysler will be in business. The above pictures are the latest causulties. The top picture is Midway Ford a succesor dealer to Power Ford. It looks like they merged with Metro Ford on Western. I don't know why Metro didn't move to this location since this is a more modern facility. The second picture is one of the lots of Montell Chevrolet. They appear to be out of business since the only new vehicle I saw was a white Tahoe in the west showroom.

This Chevrolet dealer has changed hands several times over the last 30 years. It's closing saddens me. When I was a boy it was Bill Becker Chevrolet. Latter it became Ron Postma and then Montell.

The recession of 80-81 closed the Volkswegen Dealer. Next to close was the AMC dealer but not before it became an Jeep-Eagle Dealer. The Ford dealer also closed during that recession but the old Power Ford showroom was torn down with a modern building attached to the service building. The Ford dealer seemed to change hands more than any of them. So long Archer Avenue it looks like dealer row is almost all gone.

Curie A Building

Curie A Building, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

The loctus trees are almost bare on this late Autumn afternoon, as I was walking down Archer from Pulaski. In the background is Curie High School's "A" Building which contains the classrooms.

Built between 1971 and 1973 the building is a simple box. The large tinted windows are fixed since the building has air conditioning. I guess the simple box works well for schools but there is no ornamentation on the building at all, which makes it boring.

Sun Bear at Zoo

Sun Bear, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

For the second Sunday in a row I paid a visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo. This time with the Kodak camera. This is a female Sun Bear. Her tongue sticks out because of an operation on her jaw. She seems to be a real cutie, but her male partner was giving her problems shortly after I shot this photo.

A morning in Jackson Park

Golden Lady 1, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Today was an early morning arrival downtown to meet Tina at the Thomson Center. We were supposed to watch the spire be assembled and hoisted atop the Trump Tower but they decided to move the date to the 15th.

Luckly Tina drove downtown and we decided to visit Jackson Park instead. Other than being at the Museum of Science of Industry, I've never been in Jackson Park. What a cool place. The trees had a lot of red and yellows. The highlight was at the end when we reached the Statue of the Republic.

The statue is a 1/3rd reproduction of the one that was at the World's Columbian Exposition. It was erected in 1918 to celebrate the 25th aniversary of the fair

Daley Plaza's Chicagoween

Daley Plaza, originally uploaded by kendoman26.

Despite the chill in the air, the Plaza is filled with people watching a movie as part of Chicagoween. The new CBS studios are located in the building on the right