With the Washington Park Festival of Lights taking place right next to the Old Michigan City, Indiana lighthouse, they seem to have gotten in the spirit as well. Last year, only the lantern room was decorated with Christmas lights.
It really fits in well with the festival of lights.
We've been to South Haven lots of times, but never wandered around the neighborhoods too much. After a walk on the pier, then along the beach, we decided to head up toward the homes along the lake, then into the surrounding neighborhood.
Along the way, we found ourselves at the intersection of Monroe and Monroe.
A giant Santa greets everyone passing the LaPorte, Indiana County Complex on Lincolnway. It was a warm weekend leading into December, but cold weather is on the way tonight, and perhaps some snow as well. - Santa should feel right at home.
Without all the leaves on the trees, the wetlands throughout the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore seem exposed and vulnerable, yet at times also appear foreboding.
While setting up to capture this image, I stood alone, in ankle deep water and knee-high grass. I heard a loud rustling a few feet to my right, and it was quickly heading towards me. Unlike almost any other environment, swamps evoke eerie mental images of misfortune and evil, and this was no exception. The dim evening light and cloudy skies created an eerie atmosphere as I searched for the source of the rustling.
"Most likely a beaver getting ready for winter" I thought - but I never did find out what it was...........
Climbing up a bit higher than the waterfall, gives a view of the little canyon that ends with this waterfall. This is a place I'd love to explore, but there's no easy way to get there.
It's a bit off the beaten path, and the falls only run in wet weather. To get there, you need to cross the main steam at the bottom of the upper dells, right at the place called Cedar Point.
Certainly place I'll explore a bit more next spring.
Recent rains guaranteed lots of water in the dells of Matthiessen State Park near Utica, Illinois. The lower dells were completely flooded and impossible to visit, but the upper dells were in good form.
This four foot tall portion of the 10 or 12 foot total drop was running pretty fast into Giant's Bathtub, a 50 foot diameter natural pool at the bottom of the canyon.
As the evening drew near, the partly sunny skies turned mostly cloudy, creating a haunting look on the dunes.
Mother nature rolled out a carpet of Maple leaves for the visitors and students attending North Central College's Homecoming festivities.
After several days of gloomy, rainy weather, the sun appeared on Sunday afternoon. With temperatures up near 60, I headed right for the beach!
The waves over the past few days really eroded the dunes, and created the little pool of water seen parallel to the shore of Lake Michigan. As the afternoon progressed, the sun disappeared behind rain clouds, and I jumped over the 6 foot wide pool of water to get a photo from the little sand "island" seen here. As soon as I landed, I sank into the loose, wet sand almost up to my knees. Not something I was prepared for! Lake Michigan is cold this time of year, and the wet sand seeped into my shoes instantly. It was not easy to get back to solid ground without crawling, but I managed.
I guess the sand eroded from the dune was simply deposited along the shore, and the wave action kept if from settling. It was almost like quicksand. I did manage to get out, and I also managed a few shots before I sank too far............what the heck, I was already wet.
North Central College's Old Main tower reflected in the wet pavement.
It was a beautiful Fall weekend at Matthiessen State Park, The temperatures were a bit cool but the sun was out (finally) and the leaves were vibrant. The lack of water in the streams was a bit disappointing, as the waterfalls were only trickles.
The streams hardly moved at all, so I decided to take a long exposure of the leaves along the stream bed. Apparently, the stream was moving!
The late afternoon sun really highlighted the autumn leaves at Matthiessen State Park on Sunday. This footbridge crosses over the top of Lake Falls, a 35 foot tall waterfall flowing from Matthiessen lake through the upper dells and into the lower dells of the state park.
The canyons are a great place to explore in any season, but fall is the most colorful for obvious reasons.
After the Civil War reenactment at Dollinger Farm on Sunday, we headed out to Matthiessen State Park to view the fall colors. With all the gray days we had lately, it was nice to finally see some color.
The late day sun illuminated the fall colors on the opposite shore of Matthiessen Lake. The colors were unreal and brilliant; there wasn't much done to this photo except bring out some of the shadows. The combination of blue sky, colorful leaves and intense sun at just the right angle saturated the place with color. Even the scum on the water took on the blue from the sky.
Rich Koz, better known as Svengoolie, the Chicago television host, had a meet and greet at a local costume store. After about an hour wait in line, we all got to meet the great Svengoolie.
He began his show back in 1979, hosting B (and C) horror movies, with comical introductions, songs and parodies.
At least we didn't have to drive to Berwyn.............
An early morning walk through Cowle's Bog yielded some excellent fall color on the wide variety of trees.
It seems that this path is seldom explored, judging by the small number of footprints and lack of trash. Since the trail from the two parking areas to the beach varies from 2 miles to 3 miles, I suppose many people don't bother with the hike when they can drive a few blocks up and enter at the state park.
On the Cowles Bog trail, one can walk for a few miles from wetland, to woodland, to prairie, to beach. During this walk, the plant life varies greatly -trees such as maple, oak, sassafras, cedar and hickory are common. I also believe I saw a few cypress trees in the wetland area! I'm going to make sure of that, but the bark, shape, crown and even the cypress knees were the same as the trees I've seen in the south. I'm sure these are a different variety since they are so far north.
If you decide to walk to the outer light of the St. Joseph, Michigan lighthouses on a cold windy day, you need to realize that you're going to get your feet wet - maybe even your entire body! This day wasn't too windy, so the waves crashed onto the pier and only got me wet up to my ankles. Last summer, the waves were breaking two feet over the pier - getting me wet from head to toe and almost knocking me into the water. That's fine in the summer, but the water temperature now is way too cold to get that wet!
Here, I'm standing next to the outer range light, looking toward shore as the waves crash in front of me. As much as I hate winter, I can't wait until the water begins freezing on the lighthouses - the November gales begin to create alien-like forms out of the great lakes lighthouses.
A sunny morning highlights the colors of the leaves in the woods of Cowel's Bog. The leaves were just beginning to change, so we found islands of color scattered throughout the area.
Our early start enabled us to photograph in the sunlight, soon after we left the park, the cloud cover began.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
A scaffold erected around the St. Joseph, Michigan outer lighthouse was in need of adjustment after 50 mile per hour winds churned up Lake Michigan, and the waves tossed the scaffold around. Workers here were carefully removing the scaffold that was "floating" in mid air.
It appears some restoration work is being done to the outer lighthouse.
The early morning sunlight revealed evidence that we were not the only creatures on the dune. Cracks were also evident in the sand, most likely the sand was falling under it's own weight after two days of 40 to 50 mile per hour winds stacked it a bit too high.
