Jingle Bells

This is not a great photo, but it tells a fun and memorable event for me.  The weather for December has been mild, in the 40’s and no snow.  That means I can bundle up and still take the dog out on bike rides.  You need to know that the dog runs along side of me with a short leash.  He goes pretty well around 7 miles per hour unless distracted by some animal and then he wants to pull in whatever direction the animal is. I need to jerk and pull on the leash to get him back on track.  We have several different places we like to ride.  Today I went on the neighborhood run.  This route takes us around the middle school you see above.  The driveways to the middle school are on the left side of the school and behind the school (in front of the houses you see in the picture.)  As you can see, a number of geese usually hang out around here.  Sometimes there are a few geese and sometimes a lot.  You can see they have a nice large area to roam around plus across the street which is on the right side out of the picture, there is a pond they like to go over to.  Therefore, they roam back and forth across the road. 

On our ride this day, we were going by the houses near the pond on the right.  I could see the geese which were not strung out as is in this picture, but they were across the road behind the school.  We turned in on that road to go around the school as is our usual route.  Some of the geese started to calmly waddle off the road and onto the grass BUT there is always ONE goose that panics and sets off the rest.  I could see a goose to the front left of us flap his wings and I knew, oh dear, here goes.  Sure enough geese on the road in front of us and both sides of us flew up in the air.  This time it was an amazing sensation because geese all around us flew up and off in the direction we were heading.  With that Sebastian had to lead the chase and so here we go from 7 miles an hour to 10 miles per hour.  I had to squeeze on my brake slightly and say “Whoa.”  But the sensation I felt was like we were going to be lifted off the ground, just as the geese were lifting off the ground and flying by us and in front of us.  For a moment I knew what it must feel like to drive Santa’s sleigh.

At that same moment the song “Jingle Bells” popped into my mind….Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh.  So I burst out laughing in song, “Dashing through the snow on a one dog open bike, over the road I go, laughing all the way…ha, ha, ha.”

It was truly a moment I wish I could have had on video.  I guess the video will always be in my mind…a fun unforgettable moment.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Christmas Decorations

The Christmas season is another great time to take pictures of decorations.  Nothing could be quite as fun as going to a historic house like Shiloh House in Zion, IL that is decorated for the holidays.  Here are a few of the pictures I took.

The Reason for the Season

I was out to a Christmas exhibit in Zion, IL called Kringle's Kingdom.  They have a lot of display boxes set up with various Christmas scenes that a number of different people have worked on.  It is quite an exhibit.  I stopped to take a good look at this one.  It shows Santa kneeling looking at the baby Jesus.  The title of the display is "The Reason for the Season."  Hmmm....think about it.

(The box is actually quite a bit larger than this showing a big forest of trees and a lot of snow cover.  I zoomed in on this portion to prevent the flash flare on the glass from showing up in the picture.)

After the Fall

Once the colorful leaves have fallen, trees look so forlorn, but there are still pictures out there.  I took this silhouette reflected picture on a late afternoon bike ride around one of our favorite ponds at Illinois Beach State Park - Sand Lake.

Setting Goals

     Recently we reached a goal I was hoping to acheive this year and that is to bike 1,000 miles.  To date we have gone 1,038 miles.  We did not do this all in one day.  We did 5 miles one day, 10 miles another day several days a week.  Wayne and I could have done more if we had biked on our own, but it was also exercise for our dog, Sebastian.  Therefore the fastest we could go was about 7 mph and a maximum of 10 miles a day.
      Setting goals is a good thing and if you just take it a little bit at a time and keep at it every day or just a few days a week, you will be surprised what you can accomplish in a couple weeks, a couple months, a year.   If the weather holds out, I wonder what our total miles will end up being this year? 
       I took this picture on one of our fall rides at Illinois Beach State Park in the late afternoon.  We had stopped to give our dog a little rest  and I noted the cool shadows we made on the pavement.

Happy Birthday Sebastian

Today was our dog Sebastian’s 4^th Birthday.  I posted this picture on Facebook for the occasion.  This picture was taken a couple of years ago at the As Good As Gold Golden Retriever Rescue annual reunion picnic.  Looking at this picture reminds me of a lot of things.  It reminds me of all the animal rescue groups and what a great job they are trying to do.  It reminds me of how we got Sebastian as a puppy just before Christmas 4 years ago.  It reminds me of his mother and how she was abandoned pregnant, but then was rescued by AGAG.  It reminds me of how all seven of her puppies were adopted out to good homes.  It reminds me of how I was able to meet all the other puppies and his mom at the AGAG reunion picnic.  It reminds me of how amazing our technology is today and because of Facebook I am friends with 3 of the other families that have adopted Sebastian’s siblings and that I can keep in contact with where they are and what they are involved in and how they are doing.  The funny thing is that my 3 other friends beat me and wished Sebastian a happy birthday before I could make my post and wish the same to their dogs.  You may think this is all crazy, but it really isn’t just about the dogs.  It is about the people that own them too and how these funny little furry things can bring people together.

On Tour

A great way to see an area is to let someone else do the driving.  I recently took a day trip with Chicago Photo Safaris.  I went with them to Chicago, a place my husband hates to drive to due to the traffic and parking.  No worries this time.  Chicago Photo Safaris did all the driving and dropped us off at several places in Chicago and we got to photograph all day long.

 

The Botanic Gardens Revisited

It is great to go back and visit a place through different seasons.  These are some pictures I got this fall at the Chicago Botanic Gardens.  I love the yellows and reds blended in with the greens and colorful trees.

 

Fall Harvest

 

It is harvest time and a great time to take pictures of the colorful fall harvest and fall decorations.

Our 30th Anniversary- Fun in Door County

For our 30th Anniversary, on 9/11 no less, we went to Door County for a few days.  The things I think of in Door County are.....

Relaxing at one of the scenic bays 

Antiques

Old Cars

Enjoying the State Parks. (Biking the Sunset Trail at Peninsula State Park with Wayne and Sebastian.)

 

Lighthouses

Old barns

  Quaint shopping

 



Take a Hike

Fall is a good time to take a hike. I have been doing Hike Lake County for the last 12 years. The Lake County Forest Preserve District puts out a list of 12 hikes you can take each year through the nature areas. It is a good time to get out and get some exercise (and give your dog some exercise), explore some place new and possibly see something unexpected.

 

 

I Love a Parade

 

I love a parade.  It gives a lot of opportunity to practive photography.  There are all sorts of subjects and lots of colors.  There are bands, beauty queens, action, kids, floats, horses, clowns and flags.  Backgrounds and lighting can be a bit of a challenge but then that is good practice too.

I am a Photographer, Not a Biker

 

My husband and I like to bike.  I have put a number of pictures on Facebook of us out on our bikes at Illinois Beach State Park and the Kenosha Bike Trail.  So we decided to join the KFA 40 bike ride.  We knew we didn’t want to go the full 40 miles, so we decided to do the 20…the back 20.  We met the group at the halfway mark and did the south end since we have done the north end a number of times.  I started out good, taking pictures of people as they arrived at the first rest stop.  Then they were off and we were left in the dust.  Well, we could see right away this was not going to be a joy ride, it was every man and woman for themselves. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we went along, I saw things I could have taken pictures of had I taken the time, but I was too concerned about the group being way ahead of us and we were dead last.  They were going 12-14 mph and we were going a max of about 10mph.  There were a few neighborhoods that I was not too keen on going through by ourselves, but we didn’t have a choice.  I was glad to have my husband and best friend, Wayne to ride with me.  We were glad the two young girls in front of us had each other to ride with.  As we went through those neighborhoods this time however, I noticed interesting things, like people working in little patch gardens along the side of the trail.

There is a part of the trail that goes on road and takes some twists and turns.  The young girls had stopped and waited for us as they weren’t quite sure which way to go.  We found the correct route and continued on.  We made it to the final check point and I took a couple of pictures there. 

 Then it is time to go back and oh my, what a head wind.  Our previous speed of 10mph drops to 7mph.  We come across a group of guys just finishing fixing a flat tire.  We plug on as I am concerned about how far we are falling behind. 

I liked the pictures I did take, but I wish I had stopped and taken more pictures of the neighborhoods we went through, the sidewalk gardens and the tagging on the buildings, more pictures of the people in our group, the helpers and the guys fixing the flat.  I guess you might say, I really don’t have the heart of a true biker, I would rather take pictures.

So here are some thoughts to ponder:

Don’t try to make yourself into something you are not.  Be true to yourself.  Follow your own dream.

Stop and smell the roses and don’t care if others pass you by.

You need a friend to go the distance with.

Stop and help someone along your way.

We did make it back to the midpoint rest stop where we started and the refreshment team was still there.  They had waited for us.  That was a nice ending to our journey.  Have a great day, where ever it may take you.