Praying Mantis...

Des Plaines single track...

Walking, Walking, Walking, in Chicago...

A poetic recreation in a northside neighbor's front yard, instant flashback sentimentality. Someday, again...

Montrose Point, April 2011

Tall wave crashes

over cold cement wall

sun pierces through

Cold water floods

across weathered cement

sun sparkling blinds

Huevos Gemelos...

One egg, two yolks. Huevos gemelos...

Magic Hedge

Montrose Bird Sanctuary has become a favorite Sunday morning destination for me. Used to waking up early, I have often jumped on my bike and headed toward "the lake" before my family awoke.

Despite being a high traffic area, the bird sanctuary still retains it's wildness. I enjoy it's immediate proximity to Lake Michigan.

The lake serves as a nice reminder that the world is much bigger than so my hectic daily busyness. In this way it helps me to relax.

I like to witness the natural energy that is latent in this wild area. The way the sand has been eroded from the edges of the matted grassy area strikes me.

This early in the morning, there are usually a few birders out and about.  Apparently Montrose Bird Sanctuary is nicknamed the "Magic Hedge" because most of Illinois' species of birds have been sited passing through this area.  Trolling around the internet, I was also surprised to find out that this area had once been the site of a Cold War missile launching site!?!? Yikes... Regardless, I enjoy the early morning kinship of seeing other people, such as the birders, at the "Magic Hedge."

Playing Ketchup!

This is fun, going through my pictures - my stories, my journal. A year's worth of notes and observations.

In Art School, a stellar professor one day outlined the different types of photographers. One type was the ones who used their pictures as "windows".  I knew instantly I was this type. 

In the worst sense, art is artificial - a sad way of living life by avoiding it. In the best sense, art is a way of communing with the world, life. To love something is to want to know it, explore it, experience it.

This is a picture of my bicycle from February of this year, 2011. I took a picture of the porteur bars before I removed them to try drop bars. Before these, I had used Nitto "Moustache" bars, though it was on a different frame. I never went back to the Moustache bars. Recently I picked up the wider Moustache bars and I felt like I was steering a tractor. The porteur bars are narrower, and more elegant in feel. You cold easily use the wider part of the bar if you were to stand up to pedal hard.  Having my hands in the bends felt nice. This allowed my finger tips to rest on the ends of the brake levers, should I need to brake suddenly - as so often happens in this city of ours...

In the end, I found I loved the vertical hand position of the dropped bars so much more. I was also surprised to find that the more forward position of the dropped bars shifted my torso forward and put less weight on the slim Brooks saddle. Not only was this more comfortable, but I also started using the next higher gear, with no added effort!