Clearwater Beach Sunset
taken with my cellphone
Fulton County Round Barn Festival
click to enlarge
Larry Paxton Round Barn
Fulton County Indiana Museum
It was the Round Barn Festival in Rochester, Indiana this weekend. I missed the actual festival, so I wasn't able to go on the tour of nine round barns (the most in a single county in the US), but I managed to find a couple the next day that were on the tour and just explored them myself.
click to enlarge
Jerry Calloway Round Barn with Animals Depicted on Roof
Fulton/Miami Indiana County Line
This is the Calloway barn, built in 1915. It's 80 feet in diameter with a 50 foot tall silo in the center of the building.
Larry Paxton Round Barn
Fulton County Indiana Museum
It was the Round Barn Festival in Rochester, Indiana this weekend. I missed the actual festival, so I wasn't able to go on the tour of nine round barns (the most in a single county in the US), but I managed to find a couple the next day that were on the tour and just explored them myself.
click to enlarge
Jerry Calloway Round Barn with Animals Depicted on Roof
Fulton/Miami Indiana County Line
This is the Calloway barn, built in 1915. It's 80 feet in diameter with a 50 foot tall silo in the center of the building.
Cicada Invation!
click to enlarge
Perodical Cicada
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery
Every 16 or 17 years, the northern Illinois area is swarmed by cicadas. Areas that have or had mature trees are hit heaviest. The cicadas emerge from a 16 year underground larvae stage and burrow up onto the surface to dry out and molt. Once they shed their "skin" their wings grow and dry out in about an hour, then they take flight up to the tree tops where they call for a mate. The cicada's call is the loud, buzzing sound you hear in the summer, but here where there are millions and millions of cicadas, it's almost too loud to think! The combined call sounds like a whaling fire alarm in the forest!
They only live for two weeks, just enough time to mate and lay eggs that will hatch, burrow underground and feed for the next 16 years.
Parts of the woods are literally covered in live cicadas and their skins. You can't walk around without one landing on you. No worries, the cicada does not have any mouth parts or stingers, so they're harmless.
click to enlarge
Cicada on Mike's Neck
Perodical Cicada
Bachelor's Grove Cemetery
Every 16 or 17 years, the northern Illinois area is swarmed by cicadas. Areas that have or had mature trees are hit heaviest. The cicadas emerge from a 16 year underground larvae stage and burrow up onto the surface to dry out and molt. Once they shed their "skin" their wings grow and dry out in about an hour, then they take flight up to the tree tops where they call for a mate. The cicada's call is the loud, buzzing sound you hear in the summer, but here where there are millions and millions of cicadas, it's almost too loud to think! The combined call sounds like a whaling fire alarm in the forest!
They only live for two weeks, just enough time to mate and lay eggs that will hatch, burrow underground and feed for the next 16 years.
Parts of the woods are literally covered in live cicadas and their skins. You can't walk around without one landing on you. No worries, the cicada does not have any mouth parts or stingers, so they're harmless.
click to enlarge
Cicada on Mike's Neck
Distant Skyline
click to enlarge
Chicago Skyline seen from Mt. Baldy
Michigan City, Indiana
Storm clouds break up and make way for some evening sunlight over Lake Michigan.
Mt. Baldy is a 125 foot tall sand dune in Michigan City, Indiana, and is part of the National Lakeshore.
Chicago Skyline seen from Mt. Baldy
Michigan City, Indiana
Storm clouds break up and make way for some evening sunlight over Lake Michigan.
Mt. Baldy is a 125 foot tall sand dune in Michigan City, Indiana, and is part of the National Lakeshore.
I Saw the Light (house)
click to enlarge
Michigan City Lighthouse
Washington Park
Michigan City, Indiana
Memorial Day weekend didn't stop us from going to see the Michigan City lighthouse. Here you see the large boulders along the north side of the lighthouse breakwater. These rocks help break the waves and reduce "scour" a process that would undermine the concrete breakwater in a matter of years.
Michigan City Lighthouse
Washington Park
Michigan City, Indiana
Memorial Day weekend didn't stop us from going to see the Michigan City lighthouse. Here you see the large boulders along the north side of the lighthouse breakwater. These rocks help break the waves and reduce "scour" a process that would undermine the concrete breakwater in a matter of years.
Fog of War
click to enlarge
Smoke fills the battlefield during a Civil War reenactment
Naperville, Illinois
Smoke fills the battlefield during a Civil War reenactment
Naperville, Illinois
Hersh and the McCarricks
click to enlarge
Lakeshore Theater
May 22
Kristin Hersh performed last night in Chicago with her loyal 50 Foot Wave band members Bernard and Rob, and the McCarricks from London UK. The show was at the Lakeshore Theater on Broadway and Belmont - a perfect, comfortable venue for this type of show.
Kristin Hersh on Stage
Kristin Hersh and Kimberlee McCarrick
Martin McCarrick performs on stage
May 22
Lakeshore Theater
May 22
Kristin Hersh performed last night in Chicago with her loyal 50 Foot Wave band members Bernard and Rob, and the McCarricks from London UK. The show was at the Lakeshore Theater on Broadway and Belmont - a perfect, comfortable venue for this type of show.
Kristin Hersh on Stage
Kristin Hersh and Kimberlee McCarrick
Martin McCarrick performs on stage
May 22
Civil War Battle
click to enlarge
Cannon Firing
Civil War Reenactment
Naperville, Illinois
Fire!
This civil war era cannon really lets off a boom during the annual Naper Settlement Civil War Days. Since the cannon was not firing a projectile, only about 1/4 the amount of black powder was used, but you could still feel the explosion a few hundred feet away. They don't use too much black powder in reenactments because it would break the windows in the historic settlement.
Cannon Firing
Civil War Reenactment
Naperville, Illinois
Fire!
This civil war era cannon really lets off a boom during the annual Naper Settlement Civil War Days. Since the cannon was not firing a projectile, only about 1/4 the amount of black powder was used, but you could still feel the explosion a few hundred feet away. They don't use too much black powder in reenactments because it would break the windows in the historic settlement.
Sheriff Bikes
click to enlarge
Row of Berrien County Sheriff Motorcycles
Outside the Amtrack Station
St. Joseph, Michigan
A rather large crowd was gathering at Silver Beach on the shore of Lake Michigan to attend the festivities at the annual Blossom Time Festival. To help preserve the peace (or as Chicago's famous Mayor Daley once said, "To preserve disorder") several Berrien County Sheriff's officers parked their bikes to take part in foot patrol on the lakefront.
Row of Berrien County Sheriff Motorcycles
Outside the Amtrack Station
St. Joseph, Michigan
A rather large crowd was gathering at Silver Beach on the shore of Lake Michigan to attend the festivities at the annual Blossom Time Festival. To help preserve the peace (or as Chicago's famous Mayor Daley once said, "To preserve disorder") several Berrien County Sheriff's officers parked their bikes to take part in foot patrol on the lakefront.
Geese
click to enlarge
Mother Goose and her Gosling
Lake Katherine
Palos, Illinois
Spring welcomes a new generation of geese at the Lake Katherine nature preserve. In addition to the teams of geese, ducks and heron were also seen raising new families.
Lake Katherine is just west of Harlem Ave. slightly north of Route 83 on Lake Catherine Drive and right along the Calumet Sag Channel.
Mother Goose and her Gosling
Lake Katherine
Palos, Illinois
Spring welcomes a new generation of geese at the Lake Katherine nature preserve. In addition to the teams of geese, ducks and heron were also seen raising new families.
Lake Katherine is just west of Harlem Ave. slightly north of Route 83 on Lake Catherine Drive and right along the Calumet Sag Channel.
Starved Rock
click to enlarge
Pine Tree on 125 foot tall Limestone Butte
Starved Rock State Park
Illinois
Made the long climb up to Starved Rock over the weekend. Starved Rock is one of the many limestone buttes in the area around the small town of Utica, Illinois that can be climbed and explored. The state park has miles of trails through the woods and stone canyons near the Illinois River.
click to enlarge
Starved Rock Butte
Click to see the flagpole at the top
Starved Rock gets its name from an Indian battle where one tribe was driven up this butte and surrounded by another tribe. The battle lasted until all of the warriors on the butte starved to death.
Pine Tree on 125 foot tall Limestone Butte
Starved Rock State Park
Illinois
Made the long climb up to Starved Rock over the weekend. Starved Rock is one of the many limestone buttes in the area around the small town of Utica, Illinois that can be climbed and explored. The state park has miles of trails through the woods and stone canyons near the Illinois River.
click to enlarge
Starved Rock Butte
Click to see the flagpole at the top
Starved Rock gets its name from an Indian battle where one tribe was driven up this butte and surrounded by another tribe. The battle lasted until all of the warriors on the butte starved to death.
Snake
click to enlarge
A Snake hunting in Tinley Creek Woods
Found a little three-foot long snake hunting for prey while walking through the woods on Sunday. A dog was puzzled when he found the snake, I guess he's never seen one before. Thanks to the dog the snake froze and didn't move an inch for well over a minute. It gave me the chance to photograph him up close.
A Snake hunting in Tinley Creek Woods
Found a little three-foot long snake hunting for prey while walking through the woods on Sunday. A dog was puzzled when he found the snake, I guess he's never seen one before. Thanks to the dog the snake froze and didn't move an inch for well over a minute. It gave me the chance to photograph him up close.
Green Heron
click to enlarge
Green Heron Hunting in Lake Katherine
Palos, IL
Here's a little heron that just flew up from the south for the summer. He's perfectly happy hunting in this small inland lake in Illinois.
Green Heron Hunting in Lake Katherine
Palos, IL
Here's a little heron that just flew up from the south for the summer. He's perfectly happy hunting in this small inland lake in Illinois.
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