Fossil Hunt

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Endocerid Fossil
Sag Quarry
Lemont, Illinois

An afternoon walk through the Sag Quarries yielded a few cool fossils. The Sag Quarries are in Lemont near the intersection of Archer Road and Rt. 83. They have been abandoned and flooded for decades and are now part of the Cook County Forest Preserve District.

When walking along the shore you're walking along the edge of the old limestone quarry, so one must be careful not to fall into the deep water. Limestone is everywhere and with a little luck, you can spot fossils that are 450 million years old! The limestone in this area began to form beneath the warm, shallow sea that covered this area over 400 million years ago. Some of the creatures that lived in the sea at this time were shellfish including the Endocerid, a long conical shellfish that could reach lengths of 10 meters or more. The one preserved above was about 18 to 24 inches in length.

It died and sank to the bottom where it was covered up by sediment including sand and tiny particles of calcium from other shells. Over millions of years the sediment compacted and formed the limestone we see today.

The Sag Quarries were in operation in the early 1800's, and during the time of the construction of the I&M Canal. The limestone from these quarries was used to build the Chicago Watertower, Holy Name Cathedral, St. James of the Sag Church (monk's castle) and numerous local buildings.

Reflection

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Geese Wading
Sag Quarries
Lemont, Illinois

The long abandoned limestone quarries in Lemont, Illinois are now filled with water and an abundance of wildlife. An easy, rather interesting walk around the quarries will reveal some things from the past. You'll see a lot of limestone blocks cut by the former workers at the quarry - just left where they were cut on the last day of operation - way too big to move. You'll also see the occasional fossil. This layer of limestone was formed over 400 million years ago when this part of the earth was covered in a warm, shallow sea. Evidence of fish and other sea creatures is rather easy to find while walking along the quarries.

Stocked with fish, these lakes are also popular haunts for local fishermen.

Terror Hill!

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Swallow Cliffs Toboggan Run
Palos Hills, Illinois

One of the two remaining toboggan runs in the Chicago area, Swallow Cliffs is over 90 feet high and toboggans can reach speeds of 50 miles per hour as they slide 900 feet. Last used in 2003, Swallow Cliffs was also known as Terror Hill by local residents.

The last ice age created the "cliff" that the toboggan run is built upon. Glaciers formed moraines at this point in the country and glacial meltwater created the predecessor to Lake Michigan called Lake Chicago. Over time, the waters began to erode the moraines that were keeping the water in place. Over a period of about 3000 years, this meltwater drained Lake Chicago into the Mississippi River with a flow greater than today's Amazon River. The meltwater carved out the depressions known as the Sag that runs through this area. This cliff was actually the shore of Lake Chicago - you'll note in the photo that the land is flat once you get down from the top of Swallow Cliff. If there was a rise in the distance, that evidence would have proven this had been an ancient riverbed, but the land remains flat showing it was once a large body of water.

A private company wishes to create a winter park out of the old Swallow Cliffs Toboggan site. So perhaps once again in the winter, children and adults will experience "Terror Hill."

Firetruck

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View from cherry picker on a firetruck
Orland Park, Illinois

Sunday we visited the firehouse for an open house and got to take a trip up the 55 foot high cherry picker on the fire truck.

The view would have been nice if we were somewhere interesting, pretty much all we saw were the roofs of shops and stores.

We still had fun.

October Rainbow

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Rainbow over Naperville, Illinois
October 5, 2007

A brief rain shower this morning caused a large, but faint rainbow in the northwestern sky. I happened to have the camera in hand (as usual) and snapped a picture before it disappeared a few moments later.

Temperatures are in the mid to upper 80's today - that's hot for October in Chicago!
Hope it lasts all winter!
Hurray for global warming!

Soft Sand

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Sand and Sea Grass
Mount Baldy
Michigan City Indiana

Lake Michigan

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View of Lake Michigan from Mt. Baldy
Michigan City, Indiana

With fall here, I'm still thinking about hot weather and sand. Here's a photo from a visit to Mount Baldy. This 125 foot tall sand dune is right on the edge of Michigan City, Indiana and part of the National Lakeshore.

It's hard to imagine this place will be frozen in about two months....
I've got to get there one more time before it gets too cold.

Fall Has Arrived

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View of Turtlehead Lake
Cook County, Illinios

Even though it was the first day of fall, the leaves have already begun to change in southern Cook County. Soon this lake will begin to freeze over and take on an entirely different look.

Not looking forward to the rain, wind and cold, but the colors are spectacular in the Fall.

Afraid of Nothing

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Baby turtle
Northwest Indiana

Here's a little guy Danny found right by the lake shore. It looks to me like he's really young. He's not even in his shell - I guess he's not afraid of anything! I certainly hope he makes it through the winter.

I used to see many more turtles around the lake, but in recent years, I've been lucky to see one or two a year. Let's hope this is the start of something good and these little guys stick around for a while.

Solitude

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Waiting for my Return
Treasure Island, Florida

This poor bench is waiting all alone for me to return to the beach next summer. It's funny how people don't get to the beach early in the morning, it's a picturesque time on the west coast of Florida. Of course you're going to say that a sunset is the perfect thing to see at the beach, but you'll notice how vibrant the sky and water are when the sun is at an extreme angle behind you.

The fish, birds and other wildlife are awake and busy looking for food, fresh and well rested from the night before. Often, you'll see sea turtle tracks in the sand leading from the Gulf to a freshly excavated nest.

Morning is a great time to experience the beach.

Sun's Rays

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Sun peeking out from behind a cloud
Treasure Island, Florida
June 2007

Empty Beach

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Beach Chairs and "Umbrellas"
Treasure Island, Florida

An early morning walk found most beach chairs unoccupied along the white sands of Treasure Island, Florida.

A long, wide beach, Treasure Island can be loaded with visitors but still have an open feel, and appear to be empty.

Remember Those We Lost

Remember those who lost their lives and loved ones on September 11, 2001

New Roof for the Old Barn

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Workers Replacing the Roof
Door Prairie Barn
LaPorte, Indiana

A crew of roofers spent a few days installing a new cedar shake roof on the 1860 Door Prairie barn in LaPorte. This barn looks fairly small from the road, but if you enlarge the photo you can see just how large the barn really is.

It's nice to see this barn getting some care before it's too late.

Orange Sky

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Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico

June 2007
Clearwater Beach, Florida

Sparkling Clearwater Beach

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Garbage Cans on Clearwater Beach

Sparkling......at least that's what it used to be called. Now it looks more like an advertisement for Waste Management.

The little motels that created the atmosphere of Clearwater Beach have mostly disappeared over the last five years. A few still remain, but for how long? High priced condos are going up everywhere, the beach walk is construction is underway, and almost everything that defined Clearwater Beach is gone (I'm surprised they aren't building a new pier - one they can charge $40 to walk out on).

I hope the number of garbage cans on the beach is only temporary until the beach walk is complete. Perhaps they moved the cans from the parking lots onto the beach until things are done. It sure looks bad with a can every 25 feet along the beach. Who took over the management of this little island? If the idea of change is to attract higher class, higher paying tourists to the area, they're in for a surprise. These high class people must really be slobs if they need to have so many trash cans on the beach. Were they littering too much? Was there really so much trash on the beach that someone figured they would put a can every 25 feet so people won't miss the cans?

I can hear it now, a little boy visits the beach for the first time. Instead of gazing in amazement at the Gulf of Mexico, or the sugar white sand, he says, "Look mommy, lots of garbage cans!" Certainly not what I want to see on a beach that was once rated a Top 10 city beach.

And don't get me started on the fact that the sand is getting compressed by the stupid motor vehicles used by the city and the umbrella rental company. The sand used to be soft, now it's turning into a hard packed beach similar to Daytona.

So sad....

Mass Transportation

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7 Horse Power Mass Transport

Horses and riders line up for judging at the LaPorte County Fair, LaPorte Indiana.

Big Guns

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Six Inch Armstrong Rapid Fire Gun
Fort DeSoto
St. Petersburg, Florida

A not so well know park around St. Pete Florida is Fort DeSoto. The fort is located on an island called Mullet Key at the entrance to Tampa Bay. This large park has a well preserved fort from the Spanish American War with the only 12 inch seacoast rifled mortars in the United States. Four of the seacoast mortars are on display, along with two of the above pictured Six Inch Armstrong Rapid Fire Guns.

One of the best beaches in America is located on the north end of the island. Plenty of sand and water are available for leisure activities, along with miles of walking paths and long fishing piers. A small museum displays several period uniforms and items of everyday military life on the island.

A great view of the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay can be found on top of the sand covered fort, so it's worth the climb up 50 stairs.

Lunar Eclipse

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Lunar Eclipse
4:30 am August 28, 2007

Got up a bit early to witness a full lunar eclipse in the southwestern sky. At 4:00 am, I noticed a shadow at the top of the moon but I waited 30 minutes until more of the moon was covered before I grabbed the camera. Here you can see the moon is 3/4 immersed in the earth's umbra or shadow.

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Lunar Eclipse
5:00 am August 28, 2007

In the second photograph, you can see how the moon turns red when most of the light is shaded by the Earth. Some light from the sun is scattered by Earth's atmosphere, so the moon does not appear completely dark - it takes on a coppery brown color when fully immersed in the earth's umbra.

Unfortunately, the setting moon dropped out of site behind some trees so I began to move the camera, but not before clouds began to obscure the view.

I'll just have to wait for the next lunar eclipse six months from now on February 20-21.

Soaring Osprey

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An Osprey flying over Lake Tarpon

An Osprey is seen here gliding along Salmon Bay on Lake Tarpon. These majestic birds seem to have taken a liking to Anderson Park, Tarpon Springs, Florida. We saw at least four flying and hunting during our short walk through the park.