No, this isn’t Chicago, it’s in the middle of farm fields in Union Illinois. 

But of course, the Illinois Railway Museum has everything to do with Chicago and its history, since that city’s history is all about the railroads, and vice versa.

Actually Union, Illinois in only about 25 minutes from where we now live, but we haven’t been there since we moved to McHenry County.  We’ll have to get a membership and come more often (it’s really cheap and supports the whole operation which is all volunteers).  If you’re into trains, there’s more than you can see in one or two visits!

They have tons (literally!) of old Chicago commuter streetcars and trains.

Everything has great descriptive plaques.

They even have an old CTA station,

tons of signs,

and just about everything railroad. I probably have ridden on one or two of these cars. 

Now this is really scary.  I remember when these trains were new, and now they’re in a museum!

Remember these?

When I was a kid and we lived off of Lincoln Avenue, all the main streets had the overhead wires for the trolly buses.  They dissappeared almost overnight (that has an intersting history of corruption and conspiracy having to do with the auto makers and gas companies.)

Many of the old streetcar tracks still remain under the existing pavement on many of Chicago’s main streets.  You can still sometimes see the tracks exposed in underpasses (the reason is that they can’t build up the pavement because they want to keep the clearance as high as possible for trucks to get under, so the thin pavement deteriorates quickly).

Lots of pictures in this post. Enjoy. Everything from rusty old steam engines to nicely restored ones, street cars to commuter trains, locomotives of all kinds.

Some great restored interiors!

When you get tired of walking, which you will - on different days they offer rides on a different train.

They even have old buildings and structures related to the railroads, all brought here from somewhere else.

So she finally got me to say yes 27 years ago. We were too young and stupid to know any better. No church and all that shit. City hall (Chicago), the judge was a wonderful, funny African-American woman – that’s about all I remember. We told our families later. That was fun. They were pissed. Our “honeymoon” was a walk along the lakefront or something. We were poor then and we’re nearly poor again now. Maybe we went to a museum. I don’t remember that either - wonder if she does?

I love you babe. Stay in your seat until the roller coaster comes to a complete stop.

Al Franken!!!!!!

Speaks for itself…

Wireless Internet magic–sitting in the woods on comfy canvas folding chair–day’s work is done–a glass of good Spanish wine–looking up way to get rid of yellow jackets nest under siding–should have learned after getting multiple stings last year–call professionals!–wind blowing, trees swaying–music in my head–sleepy afternoon–can it please last forever?

Anyone know what this plant is? It is growing wild along the street in front of our house. I’m assuming this is the seed head, but I didn’t see any flowers. The camera doesn’t catch it, but at the end of each stem from the center of the globe is a cup-like formation with sides of very fine and fragile looking golden filaments, each getting slightly heavier towards the base. The sunlight hitting the base of each cup makes it look just like 24 carat white gold. The whole plant stands about two feet tall and the globe is a little larger then my fist - maybe 3-1/2 to 4 inches in diameter.

It’s one of those days I want to stay home and just be outside - then take an afternoon nap. But no, I have to get in the car in a little bit to give myself three hours battling traffic, avoiding the city, to get out to Indiana, to plough through an outdoor pops concert. For which the peanuts they throw at us for orchestra pay little resembles compensation worthy of giving up this gorgeous day!  And then I have to drive home again.  I guess I should be thankful for the peanuts.  Sigh…

The woods behind us are filled with these! Smaller than the nuked, flavorless raspberries you buy in the store that are shipped in from god-knows-where. These wild ones have a very concentrated flavor and are very seedy. Great for preserves or jams (strain out the seeds). I just love to pick ‘em and eat ‘em fresh while I get eaten alive by mosquitoes. And then clean seeds out of my teeth for the next day and a half.

Some odd fungi growing from the mulch path in the woods:

And some plum tomatoes on the vine:

The majestic Bur Oak that stands as a sentry at the front of our driveway:

The first days of Summer are feeling like…the first days of summer.  We reached nearly 90 today.  All the plant life is shooting upwards and outwards, many plants already bolting, some flowering, some already going to seed under the hot sun.  The plantains (most would call them weeds) in our uncut lawn (meadow) sending their stalks skyward almost overnight.

And it smells like summer.  I love being out in it, the hot sun on my back, my clothes clinging to my body from sweat, the midday quiet - even too hot for the birds to be out singing, and a little too early for the crickets - the long days and still relatively cool nights.

Cheap thrills, I know – but this is my life at the moment.

Hornets harvesting wood pulp from our cedar deck for their nests

This thistle that I was nurturing got knocked over by the heavy rains, but hell, that doesn’t stop this pernicious plant!  For me, there is no more beautiful flower than that of the thistle

Some of the grasses are already over six feet

Our wildflower beds are taking off, starting with all white

Some call them weeds, some call them “understory” - it’s all in the eye of the beholder

Red spirea just being gorgeous

You can’t live out here surrounded by corn country and not plant a few stalks (this is sweet corn)

As to vegetable gardening, this is the first time in five years that we are again growing a few vegetables.  Believe it or not, it has been very difficult for us to find a good place to put a veggie garden.  The only nice big, sunny, relatively flat place is our septic field (where we have the wildflowers), and you really shouldn’t grow veggies there.  The back yard is all woods.  I grow cucumbers as much for the foliage and the flowers as for the fruit.  They are beautiful!

Now tomatoes, we definitely grow for the fruit!  I think in two weeks, we’ll be feasting on some “early girls”

Oh, I just can’t stop!:  Milkweeds ready to flower

Hostas ready to outgrow their containers

And this one ready to outgrow the county!

A patch of unmowed white clover

It’s also a good time for certain chores.  Like washing rugs on the driveway with the garden hose, and letting the hot sun give them a good quick-dry

This little jumping spider on the side of the house caught my eye

And finally, well, just another picture of where we live

I’m learning an arrangement on the violin of Debussy’s “Golliwog’s Cakewalk”. I thought I knew the origin, but looked it up again.

a “Cakewalk” was a form that started during the later years of slavery and continued through through the Ragtime era and beyond into American culture. Is the root of Ragtime music. From Wikipedia: “Cakewalk is a traditional African American form of music and dance which originated among slaves in the Southern United States. The form was originally known as the chalk line walk. The dance takes its name from competitions held on plantations prior to Emancipation, in which prizes, sometimes cake, were given for the best dancers.”

So when we use expressions like “it’s a cakewalk”, or “it’s a piece of cake”, or “he takes the cake” - they all derive from this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dm4zOSA2nw