Is This What he Meant?

"If you like your Doctor, you can keep your Doctor. Period."

The old-time downtown section on Rochelle: the remnants of the business district of the first half of the 20th century. Most of the economic activity of the town has moved a mile or so north, along a highway. There is a classic old hardware store, a nice cafe and a lot of "dive" bars left in the old section.

Hubsy's Choice: Train Spotting in Rochelle, IL...

To take our minds of the loss of the cat on October 19, we got in the car and drove the 70 miles to the central Illinois town of Rochelle. Not only do major Interstate Highways intersect here, but two double-tracks cross near the center of the town. So many train-spotters come to watch and photograph the big freight trains that the town created a park with a picnic area and information center. It was a lovely cool fall day, great to change the scene---and I will take photos of almost anything.

I Don't Just Sit Around and Read....

....but I finished reading "Tucker's Last Stand", a Vietnam-era thriller by William F. Buckley, Jr. This author, who passed away a couple of years ago, was a legendary writer of non-fiction, a political and social commentator, a TV personality and much more. Almost as a lark, it seems, he dashed off a series of spy thrillers of the Cold War period. A typical story of the genre, with attractive but one dimensional characters; I kept thinking the book would have made a fine adult-style comic book, with a nice graphic presentation. Set in 1964, with real life political figures among the cast of characters: there is an unforgettable image of Lyndon Johnson conducting a meeting with aides from the White House swimming pool.

The Annual "Praying Mantis Photo"

speaking of Halloween. (If these bugs were as big as a cat, they'd be very scary!)

Amazing Sunset....

One from the archives.

A Couple More Photos for Mom's Birthday tomorrow!