Thursday doors…odd and more in Illinois

Let’s start out with an odd door for Becky’s SquareOdds, although I don’t think Dan, our host for Thursday Doors will find it odd. This is the back door of one of the BNSF trains taking passengers into and out of Chicago, in this case to and from Aurora, Illinois while stopping in Naperville where we lived. The trains before 8:30 am came from Aurora, stopped in Naperville, and then went directly to Union Station, taking about half an hour. Catch one later and you’d see every stop between Aurora and the city and believe me, there were lots of them, making your trip somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half. It was well worth it to board early, then have coffee or take photos while waiting for the stores or attractions in the city to open!

Moving on to non-square doors, I want to remind you that it’s not always about the doors themselves.

Although this Naperville house was directly across the street from a ridiculously enormous mansion, it was much more attractive and livable in my eyes and I loved everything about it, from the round window, to the enormous porch, to the attractive door. This house felt like a home; the other looked like an expanded ego in building form.

More Chicago odds

I like sculpture but find this one a bit odd, looking to me as if some sci-fi digging machine dropped a claw into downtown Chi Town. There’s a mini version of this in Naperville where we lived. Hopefully this one didn’t snatch up the man in the photo after I left!

I do love reflections, especially odd ones like this with lovely distortions of the original stately building. Chicago reflections ala Gaudi perhaps?

for Becky’s wonderful Square Challenge which this month is SquareOdds

Chicago odd

Let’s keeping looking for oddities in downtown Chicago. Crown Fountain is a fascinating spot where two 50-foot fountains feature photos of ordinary Chicagoans spitting water at each other. That sounds a bit odd but although not as iconic as The Bean, it’s just another thing that makes the downtown area unique and enjoyable. I encourage you to click on the highlighted link above and read about the fountain.

Here’s bonus, once-in-a-lifetime oddity: today’s date is 2.22.22 or, depending upon where you live, 22.2.22. 🙂

SquareOdds 2.22.22

Flying train

If you’re in downtown Chicago, you might catch a view of what appears to be a flying train. The L (or El) stands for “elevated” because much of the system operates on elevated tracks, making it possible to have a view of a train appearing to fly by. Here it also seems to be attached to the side of the building. How odd.

SquareOdds 2.21.22

Dizzy

One Word Sunday: dizzy

Can’t leave black/grey without The Bean

Six Word Saturday 11.27.21 and Life in Colour: black/grey

Reflecting grey

Some of my favorite things about downtown and high-rise buildings are the reflections you can catch in them. Mostly I prefer my canyon walls to be made of rock, but they don’t reflect nearly as well. 🙂

Life in Colour: black/grey

Hidden gold

Not all gold is obvious. You’ve heard of people panning or mining for gold, haven’t you? You have to take a closer look to find gold here but it’s there.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #164 – Looking Up/Down…in the city

Guest hostess Sofia’s theme this week is “Looking Up/Down.” Let’s look up and down in two different cities, starting by looking up in Chicago (and no, it’s not a photo of the Bean this week, although I was seriously tempted because it’s so photogenic!)

A bit further in the walk near the art museum, look down. What a contrast to what you see when looking up! Chicago and its metropolitan area do a wonderful job of providing green spaces even in the heart of the city and there are a plethora of parks, especially in DuPage county where we lived. (Isn’t “plethora” a great word?”

In Philadelphia, we can calmly look up and down in the same photo…and see the same thing, just in reverse.

That’s it for today. For all of you in the U.S., happy Labor Day. I hope you have some wonderful plans. For the est of you, I hope the same. 🙂

Lemon tree very pretty and reflecting a bit

Who else remembers the Peter, Paul, and Mary song “Lemon Tree?” As with all their songs, the melody was lovey, although I had to disagree with the last line of the chorus:

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat
Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat

Okay, perhaps you don’t actually eat a lemon on its own, but the fruit is pretty darn good! I start most mornings with a glass of warm water and the juice of half a lemon. I also sometimes make a ginger-lemon drink that’s very good and good for me. This lemon tree is at Queen Creek Olive Mill. They grow quite a bit of what they use/sell at the mill store.

And for “blue” this week, let’s venture to a completely different sort of surroundings, to downtown Chicago once again where there are plenty blues for today.