It was a good week

I said there would be more and there is. I think I've, over the years, found two of the best locations to photograph my birds in the Northwest Suburbs.  I know of a few other nesting locations, but not with nearly as many birds.  At the two I frequent, there are literally hundreds of these pterodactyls. 

 These two remind of the two old guys on The Muppet Show.

Its Been Too Long

It's been awhile.  I gotta see if I remember how to do this.  No excuses really.  My camera gear is all good.  New computer to help speed things up a little.  I think what it really comes down to is time and motivation.  And I will say I have been short on both.  The time thing is easy to explain.  Work has been busy and and 8 year old and a 13 year old will keep you busy.  The motivation thing is harder to explain.  I do believe in creative block such as what writers get and I think I had a case of that.  And the weather this spring has not helped.  So, enough with the excuses.  I'm working on getting back into the swing of it.
Tonight's shot is a pure sign that spring is close/here.  In the last couple of weeks, I've driven by some of my top secret locations for my birds and they are here in full force.  I was a little worried going into winter since many of there feeding holes had dried up last summer.  I wasn't sure how that would affect them and I'm really still not sure since, even with the heavy rains we've had, some of their spots are pretty much dry.  But, their nesting grounds are busy.  This shot is of just one of many birds I captured in about a 20 minute span.  Busy building nests and taking care of young ones.  I'll have more to share this weekend.

Don't Drink the Water!!!!!

It has always been the motto here that you don't dare drink the water from the Chicago River.  If you presently or ever have lived around here you have heard the stories of what "lurks" beneath the surface and often you can see what "lurks" by looking at the surface.  St. Patricks Day adds one more reason to not drink the water.  This fun holiday is probably the most celebrated day in Chicago.  In my younger days, I was known to kick back a few green beers on the day(the memories are tucked deep in a secret place).  At this point, though, I have a different priority.  To witness the dyeing of the river green.  In my 25 years+ here, I have never witnessed it and decided to do so this year. Got up early on Saturday and made my way down to the festivities.  I parked and had to walk about 4 blocks to the river.  If you want to know how crazy this city gets on St. Pat's Day, just walk four blocks on a 24 degree morning at 8 am.  Every bar and restaurant I walked past, and there must have been a couple dozen of them, had lines out the door and at least a block long.  I don't think they were all there for green eggs and ham.  Hint:  Green Beer.  Now, at 8 am. you walk by and laugh.  At 4 pm, I think you run and scream.  You just know it was going to get crazy.
The dyeing of the river started about 50 years ago and it actually started by accident.  The story I heard was that a plumber was using the dye to look for pollution leaks in the city plumbing.  Wherever the dye leaked into the river, they knew they had a problem.  The plumber had some sort of personal problem and went to see the head of the plumber's union.  The union boss noticed how the plumber's overalls were splotchy with a green color.  He asked how the green color got there and the plumber explained.  The rest is history. Shortly after, a traditon was born.  It takes about 40 pounds of the powdered dye to turn the river green.  It lasts for a day or so and is safe for humans and wildlife.  Originally, they used 100 pounds and found it lasted for a week, a little too long for the city's liking.
Today's post includes before and after shots of the river, but if you want to see more pics head over to
http://dyeingofthechicagoriver2013.shutterfly.com/.  There you will see numerous other pictures of the action. Perhaps, one of the most interesting shots I got was of a guy with water jets mounted to his feet that made him float above the water and sometimes he would plunge himself down into the water and pop back out.  Unfortunately, he never came super close to where I was standing, but you can get the idea.  It was neat and I gotta find me a pair of those.

Let it snow.

I didn't expect to be using a title like this on February 27th, but I am and probably will be able to use it again in the next week or so.  We got nailed yesterday with about 9" in about 4 hours.  So, what do you do when you are caught on the roads while getting major snowfall?  You take the backroads home to try and get some shots.  Then, you realize it is not a good idea when you turn down a road that starts with a hill downward and ends with a hill going upward and find you can't enough traction to get up the hill at the end.  So, you turn around, carefully, and try the other way, and find no luck getting back up that hill either.  Finally, you just go for it using your downward momentum to launch you up the other side praying that you don't spin out or have another car coming over the hill from the other way.  But, if that doesn't sway you to head home, the friendly policeman that I had the pleasure of meeting made it very clear that I am to put away the camera and go straight home.  Do not pass "go" and collect $200(shoot more pics) or risk drawing a "Go to jail" card and since I did not have a get out of jail free card, I listened to him and headed home. But, first I grabbed a shot of these guys.  Man, there was alot of snow coming down.

 

Focus. Focus. Focus

Had the privledge of seeing my nephew dive in the Wisconsin High School State Diving Championship last weekend.  He's carrying on a tradition started by his sister who I also witnessed contorting her body while springing off a wooden platform.  He didn't win the whole deal, but, while I'm sure he is disappointed, his family is not and we are all very proud of him. To be in the Top 20 of anything is a great accomplishment.

I taught him well

What's better than taking a hot shower, grabbing a soft towel, and plopping down in your favorite chair and grabbing some zzzzzzz's?  Nothing, I say.  Unless you finish off a box of Fiddle Faddle carmel corn just before you nod off. (Empty box on the floor by his feet just out of the picture)

I believe Evilbear Photography has broke new ground

The first name I thought of for this post was "A Family Affair".  And it would have been fitting since it is a shot of my immediate family, some spouses, and a cousin and spouse all celebrating my parents 52nd wedding anniversary a few weeks ago.  The bride and groom are the 3rd and 4th people on the left from the bottom moving up.  For several years now, we all try to get together on a weekend close to their anniversary for a Saturday afternoon at the casino and then a nice group dinner at a Northwoods Supper Club.  Sometimes a couple of us can't make it and sometimes a few others can't, but we usually have most of us together.  And once again, we had a great evening.  But besides the great accomplishment of 52 wedded years, there is a very unusual aspect to this picture.  Hint:  The Evilbear allowed himself to be photographed.  Answer:  The Evilbear is in a picture that he is posting on his blog.  I do believe it is a first.  A group/family picture really isn't complete unless all attendees are in the shot so I handed over my cherished equipment and let the waitress have at it and fire off some shots.  I think she did a fine job considering getting this group to stay still, let alone be quiet, for more than 2 seconds is quite an accomplishment.