People of the Texas State Fair 10/21/2012

                                                      Say it with me: "Don't Mess with Texas!"

                                                                         Yellow Accents

                                                 ...and looking darn cute doin' it, too.

                                                                      Rope Guy Again

                                                                         Blowing lots of bubbles.

                                                                            Spirals Again!

                                                                        Catch o' the day #1

                                                                 Consider the Proud Grandparents. Catch #2

Just because

Big Wheel....!

   No Kidding! This is really Big!

With Circles and Spirals.....

 At the Texas State Fair, I could watch this activity all day. I didn't, but was happy with the few photos.

 A handsome piece of local infrastructure. I like man-hole cover designs and fireplugs, as you know.

                                              I thought it was broken, but it is really high art.

                                                                    Happy Halloween!

                                 A delicious fruit filled oven baked pancake, as prepared by my dear friend....

Just a few steps from this wonderful staircase! Lovely lustrous wood, gleaming marble and so much else, with amazing light in a natural-world setting.

A Complete Change of Pace...!



Oh, The Humanity! Sight of the Former Big Tex,  Icon of the Texas State Fair. He left us 2-days prior to this photo!



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 The next few posts will share a whirlwind-weekend with wonderful friends! A much needed mini-break, deep in the heart of the South.

You may remember the informal fiddle selections we enjoyed at our house last Christmas played for us all by

the son of my college friends.  The lovely young lady in the photo above is Roberta Rast, a Champion Fiddler, member of the celtic-rock band, The Kildares, and the young man's fiddle teacher. The band plays regularly at their State Fair. So this is a Celebrity Sighting, as well. It was fun to see the set and meet her.

Canyons with Fire Escapes, Cityscapes and a Room with a View...

 I would never venture into the back alleys of the city--far too timid for that--but am always interested. This one, behind our building, is mainly a "smoker's lounge" for the local office workers.

 I don't smoke, but I know that this open porch (with a wonderful view from 37 floors up) is the one used by our offices' smokers.

 Saved by the McDonald's: the small older office building is 100 years old, a generic "skyscraper" of the turn of the last century. All the other old buildings on that block were torn down in the last 30 years, but this little trooper has a very successful McD's in the ground floor! Currently, the building is under renovation. Cool.

 My daily walk from train station to work at the base of the "Sears" Tower, looking east on Adams St.

The old "Field Building", 135 S. LaSalle St. Iconic in it's day as one of the last large buildings constructed in Chicago before the Depression of the 1930's.

WTF...

 Last month I was trimming the ivy which grows too high on the side of the house. I came upon this critter hiding among the vines.  We put a measuring tape up nearby to it; it turned to look at the tape, which was cute to watch.

Seems to be a brown stick mantis. Never seen one here before. After we stopped fussing over it, it crawled back into what I left of the ivy. On with the hunt; life in the suburbs.

That Time Again....

Last Rose(s) of Summer 2012

Red....

National News Event, Just Outside Our Door....

 Our office is located within a block of the HQ for the Chicago Public School System, so during the teachers' union strike a couple of weeks back, we were daily treated to the sights and sounds of the assemblies and marches. The inflatible Rat symbolized the mayor of Chicago.

"The Man with the Golden Slacks" had little to do the the strike, I just like the way the photo turned out.

 Here is another view of the nasty looking blow-up Rat. Can I hire this Rat for a Birthday Party, too?

 "Too Many Snacks in the Teachers' Lounge" is the title of this photo. To be fair, I tried to find some slim, healthy looking strikers, as well.

 News trucks tucked into the alley at Quincy and LaSalle, a favorite staging place when stories are to be gathered in the financial district of Chicago.

Some random news guy and his cameraman at a rally and march.

 As you may gather, I'm not much of a sympathizer with this sort of public employee labor strike; for the life of me, I've never understood people who take children into "crowd" situations like this. I was shocked that someone thought it was a good idea to bring (what appears to be) a special needs kid!