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....