Annual Scarecrow Festival

The annual Wanatah, Indiana Scarecrow Festival marks the beginning of Fall each September with a parade, craft vendors, rides, food and fun.

Directly across the street from the festival, this house always decorates for the event.

Native American Dance Demonstration

During the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Duneland Heriage Days, the Bailey Homestead offered a glimpse into the past including dances by Native American Tribes.
Spectators were also encouraged to participate in the dance.

Trois Canards

Durning the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Heritage Days, visitors were given a glimpse into the past. At the Bailey Homestead, visitors listen to some traditional French music performed by the trio Trois Canards. The instrument on the left is a Herdy Gerdy.

Trois Canards translated to English means: three ducks.

WWII Era Baseball

When most of the men in America were fighting WWII, the baseball games were sometimes played by women. This reenactment was part of WWII Days in Lockport, IL

Shooting at the Allied Plane

A German soldier fires at a low flying Allied plane during a WWII reneactment. The spent casings can be seen as they are discharged from the weapon.

WWII reenactment
Dellwood Park
Lockport, Illinois

On The Shoulders

A German soldier uses his shoulders to support a machine gun during a WWII reenactment.
Lockport, IL

Firing at the Allies

The Allies approach and two German machine gunners fire.
WWII reenactment
Dellwood Park
Lockport, IL

Watching the Allied Plane Overhead

The Lockport, Illinois WWII Days took place on September 10th and 11th. It was a nice opportunity to see some of the weapons and tools used by both the Allies and the Axis forces.

During Sunday's battle, this German soldier watched as an Allied L-4 Liaison aircraft circled the front lines gathering information on the German positions.

Tribute to 911

World War II Days in Lockport's Dellwood Park held a tribute to the 911 victims.
Immediately following the battle, the WWII reenactment participants -dressed in period uniforms- honored those lost on September 11, 2001.

Photo selected for Magazine Cover

Northern Indiana Lakes Magazine is the latest publication to use a photo of mine in one of their publications.

This barn is located in LaPorte County, Indiana and is one of the few I've encountered with a bale of hay hanging from the loft.

Round Leaf Sundew

A tiny carnivorous plant that thrives in Pinhook Bog, Indiana's only true peat bog. The plant is about the size of a quarter, and attracts insects. When an insect lands on a leaf, the leaf curls toward the center of the plant trapping the insect. It can then be digested.

The bog was formed about 15,000 years ago, right after the ice age, and is home to many unusual plant species. It's closed to the general public most of the year, but open a few hours here and there during open house events.

Argiope Spider

Found this lady living among the black eyed susan flowers in the garden. Also called a garden spider or corn spider, this one was over 2 inches long from leg tip to leg tip.

Redhead

This dragonfly simply sat on a branch and let me get within inches of him. At one time, he actually landed on my finger when I extended it.
Cowles Bog
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

A Walk on a Wavy Day

Waves over six feet pound the shore of Michigan City's Mt. Baldy shoreline. These fierce waves create rip currents along the shore, making wading and swimming very dangerous and often deadly.

Jumping the Waves

Chris and Dan enjoy the waves on a windy summer day along Lake Michigan- careful to stay in shallow water so they were not dragged out by the rip current.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Surf's Up

High winds kicked up Lake Michigan creating the perfect waves for surfing. Rip current warnings were in effect, and the beaches were closed to swimmers, but that didn't stop this surfer from enjoying the waves.

I watched as he floated around waiting for the right wave, he actually was floating out farther and farther due to the rip current. Many people were rescued up and down the lake as they were pulled out by the water.
Central Beach
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Look What I Found

While digging in the sand and pebbles along the shore of Lake Michigan, Danny uncovered a live cicada. It was completely buried - perhaps by the waves the previous night.

He held it for a while and then released it when he dried off. I wanted to keep it until we came across a Cicada Wasp, but we decided to let him go.

Of course, 5 minutes later, we came across dozens of Cicada Wasps. It would have been interesting to watch them try to catch the cicada.

Exploring the Rocky Shore

The boys walking through the slick, rocky shore of Lake Michigan near the Wind Point Lighthouse.
Racine County, Wisconsin.
The water near the shore is full of algae, both floating and stuck to the rocks. The odor is unpleasant, and I've discovered that some of this algae can be harmful to humans. It's a good thing that the boys didn't wade through the green water! I wonder if this only settles here because of the cove created by Wind Point.

Eastern Cicada Killer

Cicada wasps are the largest wasps in North America - females reach two inches long. They're solitary, ground burrowing wasps that hunt cicadas, drag them to their nests and lay their eggs on them for the larvae to feed upon. Late July and early August seem to be the most active times for these wasps at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, where I observed dozens on a single dune path. Because of their size, they can startle you, but left alone they ignore people. The males are territorial and may swoop down around you, but they don't have stingers. This is obviously a female - look at the size of the stinger.

Summer at Wind Point

I typically visit the Wind Point lighthouse during the winter months, but this year I decided to check it out on a hot summer day. Of course, I visited today and tours of the tower will take place next weekend!

A "coolish" breeze off of Lake Michigan was at my back as I captured this shot (a combination of 3 images stitched together), making the 90 degree temperatures seem more like 80.