Lazy Summer Afternoon

Many people have sighed for the 'good old days' 

and regretted the 'passing of the horse,' 

but today, when only those who like horses own them, 

it is a far better time for horses.  

~C.W. Anderson~

Wide View

Rural scene near Galena, Illinois 

in the northwest corner of the state.

This Old House

The Dowling House (1826) 

is the oldest one in historic Galena, Illinois.

When the Corn is Green

Wisconsin Farmland

 Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil 

and you're a thousand miles from the corn field. 

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Across the River

Looking across the Des Moines River 

from Bentonsport, Iowa.

Lone Star

The one-room Lone Star country schoolhouse was originally located on the Schudel Farm west of Fieldon, Illinois.  A few years ago it was moved to the Jersey County Historical Society site on the grounds of the Cheney Mansion in Jerseyville, the county seat, and lovingly restored for tours.

Rock On, Old Man

The Old Man of the Dalles, St. Croix River, Wisconsin

The Dalles of the St. Croix River is a scenic gorge located near Interstate Park, south of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin and Taylor Falls, Minnesota. The lower 125 miles of the river form the border between the two states until its confluence with the Mississippi River. The river is a National Scenic Riverway under the protection of the National Park Service.  The Old Man of the Dalles is a famous natural rock formation on the breathtakingly scenic river.

Jay Cook State Park, MN

St. Louis River, from the suspension bridge, at Jay Cook State Park, MN

I first visited Jay Cook State Park, 10 miles south of Duluth, Minnesota in 1969, when I was 16 years old and on vacation with my best friend and her family. My second visit was 37 years later, in 2006, while on a field trip with the Split Rock Artist Retreat. 

The only thing I remembered from that first visit was the 200 foot long suspension bridge that crosses the St. Louis River Gorge.  Both times I was scared to death to cross it. When I was 16, I wasn't interested in beautiful scenery though.  My focus, then, was on the young, two-legged "wildlife" of the male gender. On this second trip, so many years later, I was stunned by the rugged beauty of the landscape and the power of the mighty river roaring beneath the bridge.

The Thing About Fishing

St. Croix River, Wisconsin side

Even if you've been fishing for three hours 

and haven't gotten anything 

except poison ivy and sunburn, 

you're still better off than the worm.  

~Author Unknown~

Taylor Falls Princess

The small, historic village of Taylor Falls, Minnesota (pop. 1,039) is located on the beautiful St. Croix River which borders Minnesota and Wisconsin. I enjoyed a scenic boat tour aboard the Taylor Falls Queen, from which I grabbed this shot of her sister steamboat, the Taylor Falls Princess as the two vessels passed each other on the river.  The scenery was breathtaking!

Florence Bridge

The lift bridge over the Illinois River at Florence, Illinois.

Windmill on the Mississippi

The town of Fulton, Illinois on the Mississippi River in the northwest corner of the state, has its own Dutch windmill which was manufactured and pre-assembled in the Netherlands. It was dedicated in 2000 and stands nearly 100 feet tall. It's fully operational, with a set of blue basalt millstones which grind wheat, corn, rye, and buckwheat into flour that's sold in the gift shop in the Windmill Cultural Center.

Galena Gate

I found this unusual gate while exploring 
Old Town Galena early one Saturday morning.

On Being a Camel

Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; 

you may be freeing him from being a camel. 

~G. K Chesterton, Orthodoxy, 1909~

When Nature Calls...

The Bentonsport, Iowa Cemetery

Nature calls at some of the most inconvenient times and inappropriate places.

Eyewitness

Civil War Re-enactment, Makanda, IL

 We saw the lightning and that was the guns 

and then we heard the thunder 

 and that was the big guns; 

and then we heard the rain falling 

and that was the blood falling; 

and when we came to get in the crops, 

it was dead men that we reaped.  

~Harriet Tubman~

Abe, the Railsplitter

This 30-foot-high fiberglass statue of Abraham Lincoln stands outside the Illinois Building at the entrance to the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. It was constructed over a welded-wire frame in 1967 by John Rinnus of Athens, Illinois, who used two telephone poles for the legs.

Soleil Levant Cabin

The exterior of Soleil Levant, 

an 1850s German cabin 

I stayed in near North Branch, Minnesota.

Soleil Levant - Inside

This is the gorgeous 1850's German cabin I stayed in on my way home from my artist retreat in Minnesota in 2006 .  Located near North Branch, Minnesota and completely furnished in period antiques, this bed and breakfast was SO special! Alice and her husband brought me the most beautiful breakfast in a basket the next morning. I felt like I was living in the Little House on the Prairie. I can wholeheartedly recommend this very unique little piece of Heaven on Earth as the perfect and affordable place to stay, just north of the Twin Cities.

http://www.minnesotabedandbreakfasts.org/listings/soleillevantbandb-north-branch-minnesota.html

Raspberry Island Lighthouse

The Raspberry Island Lighthouse, 

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Bayfield, Wisconsin.

Sightseeing

Tourists enjoy the Grand Tour of 

the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore 

(from Bayfield, Wisconsin) 

aboard the Island Princess.  

Shown here: the Raspberry Island Lighthouse

Ashland Ore Dock

The massive Soo Line ore dock (seen in the distance across Chequamegon Bay) was built in 1916 in Ashland, Wisconsin, on the southern shore of Lake Superior, for loading the area's iron ore into freighters headed to the nation's industrial belt. This concrete structure, which is 80 feet tall, 59 feet wide and 1,800 feet long, was last used in 1965. 

In an effort to stimulate preservation efforts for "the largest concrete structure of its kind in the world," the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation named it "one of the ten most endangered historic buildings in Wisconsin" in 2007, the year I happened to be vacationing in the area and took this photo. But the structure was deemed structurally unsafe and was slated for demolition in 2010. As of Spring 2011, it was still standing. 

Wood Bridge

I discovered this charming little neglected/abandoned park in 2006 near the Springfield Marina. Five years later we returned and the park was gone --- replaced by ugly lakeside condominiums and parking lots. Over-development: a blight on nature.

Handclasp in Stone

from an old cemetery in Calhoun County, Illinois

We understand death for the first time 

when he puts his hand upon one whom we love.  

~Madame de Stael~

The Golden Moments

Angel of Hickory Grove Cemetery (where my father is buried), Wrights, IL

The golden moments in the stream of life 

rush past us and we see nothing but sand; 

the angels come to visit us, and 

we only know them when they are gone.  

~George Elliot~

Sharing

God gives every bird its food, 

but He does not throw it into its nest.  

~J.G. Holland

Light a Candle

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.  

~Chinese Proverb~

A Bit of Galena

Galena is the largest city (pop. 3,429) and county seat of Jo Daviess County in the northwestern corner of Illinois. A popular tourist destination, eighty-five percent of the buildings are located within the Galena Historic District, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. General Ulysses S. Grant's 1860 Italianate-style brick home is one of historic centerpieces of this quaint village.


Shown above is the South Presbyterian Church, All The Things You Love Interior Design, Fever River Outfitters, and a private residence (2006).

Little Butterfly Indeed!

I've watched you now a full half-hour;
Self-poised upon that yellow flower
And, little Butterfly! Indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed. 

How motionless! - not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

~William Wordsworth~ from "To a Butterfly"