July and August. There may have been fewer days in each month when I was not out photographing something than when I was out. July started with an excursion to photograph the demolition of the original Malcolm X College and one of the older buildings on Rush University Hospital’s campus. I made two trips, the first with my friend Teresa, then I went back the next day with smaller camera that I could fit the lens through the chain link fence. It was really interesting to see some items left behind- a lab coat hanging on the door of a room, and a white board left in another. It is sad to see some classic architecture being torn down. The new campus is bigger, but lacks the character of the old campus.

The following weekend, I drove down to Springfield and met up with my friend Cathie, who had driven there from Myrtle Beach. Cathie is a huge Abraham Lincoln fan, so, as she says, Springfield is her Disneyland. We took a tour of his home, which is now part of the National Park Service. We checked out the old state capitol building, and visited his tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery. I really, really tried to convince Cathie to try a horseshoe, a culinary staple in Springfield, but she wasn’t very interested. From there, we both drove back up to the Chicago area, and I had the opportunity to take Cathie around my home turf, finally. We hit a lot of the major spots downtown (Cloud Gate [aka The Bean], Millennium Park, the Cultural Center, the James Thompson Center, the River Walk, had dinner at the Billy Goat Tavern, and then finished the day at 360 Chicago in the John Hancock Center for sunset and nightscapes of the city). That was one day! Over the next few days, we visited the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Bahai Temple, Brookfield Zoo, and we took a tour hosted by good friend Wendy Bright of WendyCity- we took her 1920s Deco and Decadence Tour. And then we finished Cathie’s visit with a trip up to Milwaukee.

The rest of July included a hike in Starved Rock, followed by some amateur storm chasing that day, and then, I finished the month photographing a kitten adoption event hosted by the Animal Outreach Humane Society of McHenry County.

August included two trips downtown for sunset on a couple of occasions, a visit by my friend Karen from Michigan, where we did a photowalk downtown (and took a river taxi to Chinatown), and then a photowalk in Pilsen the next day. August finished with the meet up of the Drink and Click chapter, the theme was “street art” so we went to Logan Square. There were incredible examples for us to see.

A busy couple of months. But, nothing like what I experienced the first week of September. But some of you know all about that. For those of you who don’t you will just have to wait until tomorrow!