25 August 2014: Sunset

After a day of dramatic weather, from sweltering heat to torrential rain, 

the sun sets behind Tobey Prinz Beach.

23 August 2014: It's Good to Be Back!

It's been an eventful month, dear reader, including a move that should have been easy but wasn't, a few weeks with only limited internet access, and a very long train ride to a very nice place. But i'm back at last with a few pictures of what was happening on this late-August Saturday in Rogers Park.

The morning was foggy, the lake and the seagulls barely visible. On mornings like this, the beach seems strange and otherworldly.

Even the Saturday morning fitness class in the park looked almost like an impressionist painting, the coach's voice counting off reps seemed gentle, distant.

After a stormy afternoon, the weather cleared and this exuberant group put on an impromptu staging of "Singin' in the Rain" while waiting outside the Mayne Stage for the Queerpocalypse show to begin. 

2 August 2014: Early Saturday Morning

In principle, i'm still on my break from blogging, but i couldn't resist posting this picture of a pair of weary souls on the Morse L platform early this morning. 

Looks like it must have been a wild Friday night.

25 July 2014: Gone Fishin'

Dear Reader,

I am taking a break from this and my other blogs for the next couple of weeks to focus on personal and professional matters. I hope to return by mid-August. In the meantime, talk amongst yourselves.

23 July 2014: Surf's Up!

Lake Michigan is flexing her muscles this morning,
doing her finest impersonation of an ocean. The surf is roaring,
the wind is blowing, the swallows are swooping,
and the air is clear and cool. What a morning!
Drop everything and head to the beach:
days like this are as rare as they are wonderful.

22 July 2014: A Bumper-Crop of Fungi

It might seem frivolous or escapist of me to focus so often on the small quotidian details of life in Rogers Park at a time when our neighborhood seems to be under siege. Each day brings news of yet another shooting, and i've even wondered if maybe i should leave this place i love. But ultimately, the fact that i do love this neighborhood -- fiercely -- makes me reject that notion. We've been through hard times before; hopefully this latest wave of violence will soon be resolved, and life in our beautiful community will return to normal. In the meantime, i will continue to celebrate the beautiful, the strange, the charming, and the inexplicably weird elements of life in Rogers Park. It's just my way of reminding myself and my readers what a precious place this is. 

********************

On that note, here is a chronicle of the latest crop of bizarre fungi growing on a lawn on the 1400 block of W. Farwell. The cool weather and heavy rains this summer seem to be especially conducive to the proliferation of fungi. Doggie Demeanor has graciously lent her assistance in providing a sense of scale to the pictures; admittedly, she is a very small dog and objects placed next to her may appear larger than they would if shown in juxtaposition to a Bernese Mountain Dog, but these are some huge 'shrooms!

NB. I know absolutely nothing about mushroom identification and, as a rule of thumb, assume that these, like any fungi  that i haven't bought in the market, are poisonous. 

Sunday, 20 July: What looked like four giant golf balls perched on their tees emerged on the lawn. 

Monday, 21 July: The "golf balls" have developed into classic mushroom shape 

Tuesday, 22 July: The caps have flattened a bit and gotten even larger. To the naked eye, they are a pure, bright white; the photos make them seem to be glowing in a strange otherworldly way.

Yikes! It looks like Doggie Demeanor is pooping UFOs!

19 July 2014: Lotuses

The lotuses in the pond in the Hare Krishnas' garden
are just about ready to bloom. I confess that i never
noticed them before today, but isn't it nice how they
blend with the painted lotuses on the sign?