Friday Foto Fun - The Blue Skies Edition

Another Friday, another day with Catherine and our cameras.  All week the weathermen predicted rain for Friday, Saturday & Sunday.  And then....at the last minute, it was a very slight chance of rain on Friday...so plans whirled in our little photography minds, what to do??  We attempted Starved Rock in the springtime but stopped so many times to take one photo-op after another we simply ran out of time and never made it.  The decision made to try again, we started early.  Well, early in our world, maybe not in yours.  I picked Catherine up at 8:30 AM and off we went, but first a stop at McDonald's for a cup of coffee since I left mine sitting on the kitchen counter.  I do that so many times, fix and leave behind, I get so annoyed with myself.  McDonald's now ask if you want cream & sugar, and it comes to you exactly how you requested.....wrong, no sweet 'n low even tho I specifically requested it.  Me and the voice from the speaker were having little language issues, I couldn't understand her, and perhaps she could not understand me.  Soooo, another stop at another McDonald's, thank goodness there is a McDonald's every few blocks. I get cranky when I don't have enough coffee with cream & sweet 'n low in the morning, just ask Catherine.   Now, off we go to Starved Rock, 45 miles of back road driving with expectations of new discoveries.  Starved Rock is a state park located on the Illinois River and near Utica, IL. southwest of the Chicago area and eventho I have lived in this area for over 30 years, I have never been. 

Driving along at a pretty good clip we spotted these large birds flying fairly close and circling above.  Rounding a curve we spotted the attraction, a dead animal obviously hit by a passing car.  Upon closer observation we decided these were Condor's.  Scavengers of road kill, and fairly ugly birds, their heads being red and unattractive.  They were skittish so my shots were taken from inside the car behind the windshield, not very good ones, but OK.  I DID NOT take a picture of the road kill which was probably the best angle.

We arrived at Starved Rock and began the walk to the top, finding treasures along the way.  I don't know if we were stopping to find the treasures or stopping to catch our breath.  It was a fairly steep climb, so having a camera we didn't look like were struggling, merely hesitating to take a photo.  Think we fooled anyone??

There were so many cobwebs and with the sun shining thru the thick canopy of trees it just illuminated their delicate webs.

Many of the trees were changing from their lovely summer greens to brilliant bright yellows.  

I love berries and these yellow ones stole my heart.....

Love these pinks and greens.....

After walking to the top of Starved Rock and winding our way around to the other side to take the "after" image we decided to drive around in hopes of spotting some camera worthy images.

We drove into the small town of Utica and couldn't help but notice the church steeple rising above the village.  The sky, along with the clouds provided the perfect back-drop for this beautiful church.  St. Mary's Catholic Church had been established in 1858, but after a fire destroyed the original wooden church it was re-built in 1888.  This area dates back to the 1600's when Fr. Marquette celebrated mass with the local Indians.  The inside of this church was as lovely as the outside, I couldn't help but notice the red from the stained glass windows casting a shadow over the heart of Jesus. 

Back in the car, back on the road we stopped at almost every barn along the way.  The hues of Fall are stand-up-and-applaud awesome. 

Can you believe this sky??? 

Even the weeds look good in the countryside......

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Little birds have found their home....

The morning glories are still lending their beauty to this rusty fence.

After a trip to what seemed like happy valley where all your troubles seem to vaporize, we ended our day with a vow to return in the winter, when the snow changes everything to a white filled wonderland. 

"Good old days start with good new days like today."  ~  Denise Settle

Until next time.......

Friday Foto Fun (sort of)

Yesterday, Catherine and Georgia joined me on a what I had hoped to be a Friday Foto Fun Day....we were off to see the Jellies at the Shedd Aquarium, but first Catherine suggested we stop at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica on W. Jackson in Chicago....really right on the way to the aquarium.    The church was locked but after trying several doors finally a nice woman, one of the employees, answered our knocks and let us in.  She explained that because of the rather unsavory neighborhood, they felt it safer to keep it locked.  It is a sad state when church's must be locked to protect them from the neighborhood.  I thought church's were a protector of man, not from man.  As we entered this massive church it was evident that this was a holy place.  A Basilica is an honorary title which the Pope gives to a church because 1) of it's artistic value (that was quite evident) and 2) It was the center of devotion.  The Sorrowful Mother Novena began here in 1937 and at it's peak in the late 1930's there were 38 services here every Friday attended by 70,000 people.  Today, there are only 300 families that attend this church.  

The high altar is built of entirely white carrara marble

 These images are a little dark, it was a very cloudy day and there were no lights on inside the church, so it was really difficult to capture the true beauty and colors of this magnificent church.

In each of the alcoves there are wonderful statues each representing the history of "the church". 

In a separate room, the old Baptistry, sits a replica of Michaelangelo's pieta.  It was carved in Italy and brought and displayed in Chicago's Loop before being installed in the church in 1937.   It weighs 3 tons so not an easy task to move this from place to place. 

This is a national shrine of St. Peregrine, located on the east side of the Basilica, and dedicated by Joseph Cardinal Bernadin on June 7, 1993.  St. Peregrine (1265-1345) was a Servite Friar who was miraculously cured of cancer after praying all night before a crucifix.  Today he is considered the patron saint of Cancer and those critically ill.  Many a prayer has been offered to this Saint and continue daily in hopes of ending the deadly disease. 



With Georgia's assistance, we drove straight to the Shedd Aquarium and instead of paying $16 to park we got lucky and found a meter spot less than a block away.  Ofcourse it ate quarters like Toby eats when he is ravished (which is most of the time).  I think 1 quarter was 10 minutes and we wanted at least 2 1/2 hours worth, you do the math, it was alot.  It was still cheaper than $16.  As we walked closer and closer the number of people around the museum  kept growing and by the time we reached the entrance the line was forever and ever.  My heart sank because I knew there was no way we could stand in that line and be able to enjoy the jellies in the time we had alotted ourselves.  So, this was as close to the jellies as we got on Friday.  I think the exhibit will be here until early 2012, so hopefully in the not too distant future, I'll be back.  

Since we couldn't get into the Aquarium we decided to stop in at the Field Museum which is right next door.  There are 3 Museums (the Aquarium, the Field Museum and the Adler Planeterium) and Soldier Field all within short walking distances of each other.  Each one is spectacular.  The large main hall at the Field Museum is the home to Sue, the largest, most complete T.REX ever discovered.  Whew, glad the only thing that vaguely resembles a dinosaur today is the rather small in comparison Iguana.  I can still remember the first time I saw Jurassic Park and almost peeing in my pants when the 2 kids were trapped in the kitchen and the raptors were after them....omg!!! 

We wandered around and took a few pictures, it was dark inside and a flash would not work with all the glass.  The displays are first class and the animals did look quite real (well I know they were real and alive at one point but now they are dead and stuffed).

 

Would you believe this was the only live animal I saw all day.  Between not getting into the Jellies and the stuffed animals at the Field Museum, it is a sad state of affairs that the only live animal I saw was this lowly seagull also known as a scavenger.  He was hanging around the hotdog stand looking for a free handout. 

Now this looked like a good time, there were quite a few of these buzzing around the museum area.  It would be my luck that it would flip if I tried one of these.  Didn't the inventor of the segway die in an accident while riding one???  I think he drove it off of a cliff.  If the inventor couldn't tame it, how would I ever dream of handling one?  Ofcourse there are no cliffs close, but there is this lake called Michigan that might be a problem.  She looks awfully close to the fella in front of her, hopefully their wheels don't get tangled up. 

And speaking of Lake Michigan, this is the view as we walked back to the car....fog had rolled in so no pictures of the Chicago skyline today.

Not exactly the day I had planned, but a good one afterall.

“If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one.”  Cavett Roberts

Until next time,