Flying High

We recently spent a few days in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and our first stop was at the EAA Aviation Museum. We were there ahead of the big Air Show this weekend, so we had the place almost to ourselves and everything was looking in tip-top shape. This was rather an apt beginning to our trip as we’d just learned that our grandson had recently earned a well-deserved promotion to Technical Sergeant in the USAF. And my husband, who was also in the Air Force, received a warm welcome from greeters at the Museum with the most sincere thanks for his service.

I was glad of this opportunity to take pictures of something other than nature for a change, and this certainly was different and presented quite a challenge, the subjects being large and not always in the best place to get a clear shot of the entire thing, if you get my meaning.

There are more than 200 historic planes in this collection as well as many galleries and displays, so you can easily spend the whole day here. And there is also a section specifically for kids, with games and various amusements all related to aviation.

There is a small nature area in the grounds (you might know I couldn’t leave without photographing something to do with nature!) but by this time we were quite exhausted so we called it a day.

January Squares – Room Up Top

There is plenty of room Up top for Becky’s January Squares Photo Challenge this week. And the view is pretty spectacular from up on the top floor of these high-rise buildings in downtown Chicago.

Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a high-rise in Chicago. You can catch a great view from up top these less conventional structures; the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the YMCA Leaning Tower in Niles, a lookout tower at Fort Snelling in Minnesota and the Moser Tower Millennium Carillon in Naperville.

Whether corporate or cute, there’s always room up at the top; Oakbrook Terrace Tower in Oakbrook Illinois, the Amegy Bank Tower in Houston, the James H. and Joann N. Collins Tower along the River Walk in St Charles and a lookout point in the rose garden of Olbrich Gardens in Madison Wisconsin.

Lens-Artist Photo Challenge – Symmetry

This week, Patti has chosen Symmetry as the topic for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. On the road and in the garden, we’ve come across symmetry in all kinds of places; Cantigny Park in Wheaton, a display of artwork in Galena and the Art Museum and a bridge in Milwaukee.

Although my own garden follows a more free and easy cottage-style format, I enjoy visiting the symmetrically formal layouts in gardens such the ones seen here; McGovern Centennial Park in Houston, Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville and Green Bay Botanical Garden.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Capital

This week, guest host Viveka has given us the topic Capital for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.  We have visited a few State Capitals on our travels around the US so here is my take on the subject.  Living in Illinois as we do, Springfield would be the obvious place to start.

Madison, is about the halfway point between our house and where our daughter and her family live in Wisconsin, so we sometimes meet there to visit places like Olbrich Botanic Gardens and the Capital Building.

We have family living in Indiana so a trip to Indianapolis is usually one of our destinations. Just my luck, one of the sharpest pictures I ever took was one of the steam plant, which is the only reason I include it here. Also pictured, The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, White River Gardens and a fountain at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

A recent visit to St. Paul, Minnesota resulted in some pictures of the Capital Building, the Cathedral of St. Paul, and the Conservatory at Como Park Zoo.

Our youngest daughter and her husband lived in Salt Lake City, Utah for a brief period so we spent a week there taking in the sights which included the Capital Building, Temple Square and the College of Pharmacy.

Our visit to Cheyenne, Wyoming was only a short one as we were on our way to Utah, but we stopped long enough to visit the Capital Building.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – A Window With A View

I’ve missed one or two of these Lens-Artists Challenges recently so I’m making up for lost time with this one.  Amy has chosen A Window With A View as the topic this week and here is my take on the subject. The first picture is a view of Millennium Park from The Chicago Art Institute. The second was taken at the Cuneo Mansion in Vernon Hills where there was a lovely view of the surrounding gardens from one of my favorite rooms there.

The next view, of the waterfront on Mackinac Island, was taken from a window high up on a hill at Fort Mackinac.

The next two pictures were taken at the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oakbrook, Illinois. Two totally different views from the same room, one of the gardens and the other of the house. I believe this room was built as a sun or fresh air room which was supposed to be beneficial to the occupant’s health. If I remember rightly, there were windows like this on three sides of the room.

The next image was captured at the Capitol Building in St Paul, Minnesota. A window within a window overlooking the Capitol Grounds.

One of the biggest reasons for our travels has been to visit our children. For a while our youngest daughter and her family lived in a condo that had a very nice view of McGovern Centennial Gardens in Houston, Texas.  Before that, they lived in Salt Lake City, Utah where we visited the Natural History Museum that had a window where the view was almost the same looking in as it was looking out.

Climbing up the steps of one of the towers at Holy Hill Basilica provided a great view of an adjacent spire.  Also in Wisconsin, this time at the Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay, there was a colorful view from one of the windows of the John Purves tugboat.

Train Lines

I suppose it was inevitable. I do seem to have quite a few train lines in the photo files so here are some for Becky’s Square Lines Challenge. The first set are all in Chicago. The second set includes lines from Bartlett, Milwaukee, Glenwood Springs in Colorado and Galena, Illinois.

 

Art Lines

Here are a few lines at the Milwaukee Art Museum for Becky’s Square Lines Challenge.

 

Green Bay Lines

Here are a few lines for Becky’s Square Lines Challenge that I found in Green Bay, Wisconsin. These images were captured at the Green Bay Botanical Garden, The National Railroad Museum (note the line of geese taking a tour), Lambeau Field (home of the Green Bay Packers) and Heritage Hill State Park.

In The Line Of Duty

For today’s Square Lines Challenge I’d like to share these images from Ashland, Wisconsin. The Veterans Mural, which took two years to complete, was dedicated in the summer of 2005. These portraits on Vaughn Avenue and Main Street honor those men and women from Ashland who served in the armed forces during various wars and conflicts. The artists referred to photos of the actual people in order to make the mural as accurate as possible.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Wild Pitch

Well, here’s something a bit different. I’ve never been to a girl’s softball game before, so last weekend we went up to Wisconsin to watch our eldest granddaughter play in a softball tournament. It seems like only yesterday that she was a toddler playing with her dollies and tea set and now she’s ten years old and ready to take on the world.

For the first couple of games, we choose to watch from a place of comparative safety behind the fence and sit back to enjoy what is, for us, a new experience.  You have to admire the enthusiasm that these girls show, and I can’t help noticing that they’ve picked up one or two mannerisms, probably from watching major league baseball games on TV, although I somehow can’t imagine Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and the others standing in the dugout singing “We are the Yankees, couldn’t be prouder! If you can’t hear us we’ll shout a little louder!” which the girls proceed to do until they reach an ear-splitting crescendo that scatters a flock of birds roosting in a nearby tree.

During the second game there is a lot to cheer about as the hits are coming fast and furious and we spend most of our time either clapping the team or slapping the mosquitoes that are evidently ravenous up in Wisconsin. By the end of the game we have scored 16 runs and a gazillion mosquito bites despite a liberal application of bug spray and Skin-So-Soft.

The next couple of games are played at another park, the field brand new, the playing surface pristine. I hadn’t planned on making a panoramic view of the field so I take pictures from all different angles and when I finally download the resulting shots and decide to stitch a couple together to give an idea of what the place looks like, I have one heck of a time trying to get things to line up.

It’s not easy to get a clear shot through the chain link fence so I opt to be a bit more adventurous and observe the game from along the left field line. My husband, who is rather more cautious, chooses a spot a bit further down at the end of the safety net.

“The ball will have to make a sharp turn for it to hit me,” he says as he settles down. Famous last words!  Almost at the first crack of the bat, the ball comes hurtling towards us and makes a freaky wild turn. Luckily his reflexes are still pretty good and he gets a hand up to protect his head, the ball giving his palm a pretty sound wallop.  I am very impressed by Wisconsin hospitality when a man comes running all the way from the other side of the field with an ice pack. There is a lot said about the rivalry between Illinois and Wisconsin and this good Samaritan wasn’t to know we were from Illinois but I’d like to think he would have extended us the same curtesy even had he been aware of the fact. Be that as it may, we are extremely grateful for this friendly gesture.

By the end of the fourth game our team has a 2-2 record. Granddaughter has played some excellent games at first base, got several key hits and has shown that she knows what to do when it comes to running the bases. It all comes down to the final game and our girl goes up to bat.  After watching the ball whizz over her head and a few wild pitches outside that get away from the catcher, she gets knocked down by an inside pitch to the leg. She crumples in a heap and the coaches rush out as we hold our collective breath. They eventually get her to her feet and she hobbles to first base. She’s obviously in some pain but she doesn’t come out of the game and even steals second base. Attagirl!

They end up winning the game and then I find out that the first game that they lost wasn’t part of the tournament so they are actually 3-1.  Hooray!!  They make it into the Championship game which is being held this weekend.  That was one wild and crazy tournament! Unfortunately we won’t be able to make the game but we’ll be there in spirit.

Thanks to Tina over at Travels & Trifles for picking the Wild topic for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.