Dungeons and Dragons in Carbondale

Another side trip that we took, as a result of our recent visit to Marion, Illinois, was to see the Jeremy Rochman Memorial Park in Carbondale. This park is a father’s touching tribute to his son, killed in an automobile accident in 1993, at the young age of 19 years.  Jeremy “Boo” Rochman was a great fan of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ and his love of this game was the inspiration for the park’s theme.

Everywhere you look, there are sculpted figures based on the characters in the game.

There’s an awesome castle for kids to explore, with all kinds of creatures lurking inside and outside the walls.

If you look carefully, you may see a fairy or a winged horse.

 

AND HERE BE DRAGONS!!

I managed to squeeze through a narrow opening in the castle to watch as this skillful artist added some colorful figures to one of the walls.

And while you’re walking around the park, don’t forget to look up in the trees. You never know what could be watching you from up above.

This private park at 31 Homewood Drive in Carbondale is open to the public from 9am to dusk.  Admission is free but donations are gratefully accepted.

If you are ever in the Carbondale area of Illinois and you have some time to spare, I strongly urge you to pay a visit to this park.  I get very emotional about memorials such as this and couldn’t help shedding a few tears, thinking about this young man, cut down in his prime, who might possibly have been looking down with a smile at all the young children (and adults) who were there enjoying this delightful fantasy world.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – The Letter J

Roll up! Roll up!  Cee is looking for words that start with the letter j for her Fun Foto Challenge this week so, here for your amazement and delight, see the  jiggler, the juggler, the jester and the jouster.  All the fun of the fair!

Images captured at the Bristol Renaissance Fair.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter J – Needs to contain the Letter J and be at least 6 letters long

Seven Days Black & White Photo Challenge – Day 7

Seven days, seven black and white photos of my life. No people. No explanation. Day 7.  Challenge someone every day.  Today I challenge The Lantern Room

If I pick you and you don’t feel like participating or if you’ve already taken up the challenge, that’s fine.  I understand.

Seven Days Black & White Photo Challenge – Day 6

Seven days, seven black and white photos of my life. No people. No explanation. Day 6.  Challenge someone every day.  Today I challenge The Humble Fabulist

If I pick you and you don’t feel like participating or if you’ve already taken up the challenge, that’s fine.  I understand.

Seven Days Black & White Photo Challenge – Day 5

Seven days, seven black and white photos of my life. No people. No explanation. Day 5.  Challenge someone every day.  Today I challenge allaboutwordswa

If I pick you and you don’t feel like participating or if you’ve already taken up the challenge, that’s fine.  I understand.

Seven Days Black & White Photo Challenge – Day 4

Seven days, seven black and white photos of my life. No people. No explanation. Day 3.  Challenge someone every day.  Today I challenge Lin’s Doodles

If I pick you and you don’t feel like participating or if you’ve already taken up the challenge, that’s fine.  I understand.

Seven Days Black & White Challenge – Day 3

I don’t usually like to publish more than one post per day but, now that I’ve been drawn into this  7 day b/w challenge thing, I find that it’s unavoidable.  Sorry!  Seven days, seven black and white photos of my life. No people. No explanation. Day 3.  Challenge someone every day.  Today I challenge Stuff and what if…

If I pick you and you don’t feel like participating, that’s fine.  I understand.  It’s just that I can’t resist a challenge.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Any Old Iron

Cee’s ‘alphabet with a twist’ photo challenge this week is calling for things beginning with i and I may be giving away my family’s cockney roots here when I tell you that this is a song that my grandparents and parents used to sing to me when I was a child and which I passed on to my kids and grandchildren.

“Any old iron? Any old iron?
Any, any, any old iron?
You look neat. Talk about a treat!
You look dapper from your napper to your feet.
Dressed in style, brand-new tile,
With your father’s old green tie on.
But I wouldn’t give you tuppence for your old watch chain,
Old iron, old iron.”

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have spent a lot of time at historical museums and farmhouses and these are just a few of the items that I assume would have been made of cast iron.

The first two images were captured at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago, Illinois. The next one was taken in the farmhouse kitchen at Spring Valley in Schaumburg.

And the following pictures were taken at the Historical Museum in Marion, Illinois.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter I – Needs to start with the letter I

Seven Days B&W – Day 2

Seven days, seven black and white photos of my life. No people. No explanation.  Day 2.  Challenge someone every day. Today I challenge the person who first introduced me to WordPress  jbcamera

Thanks for opening up a whole new world for me, Jane.

APAWC – Under Glass

Nancy Merrill has us looking under glass for her Photo A Week Challenge this week.  I’ve got plenty of pictures of things that I’ve photographed through glass but, if I’m going to take the subject literally there aren’t too many pictures in the old photo files that show something is actually under glass. These are the only images that I could come up with.  The first two were taken at the Flower & Garden Show in Rosemont.  The third is a clock that belonged to my Mum & Dad, given to them by their workmates when they retired and came to live in the USA.  It doesn’t work and probably never will, but I can’t bring myself to throw it out.

 

For more on Nancy’s Photo A Week Challenge go to A Photo a Week: Under Glass