
Posts Tagged ‘Naperville Illinois’
Wordless Wednesday…morning
Posted: June 29, 2022 in NatureTags: McDowell Forest Preserve, morning, morning light, Naperville Illinois, Nature, sunrise

Thursday doors…odd and more in Illinois
Posted: February 24, 2022 in squares, Thursday doorsTags: #ThursdayDoors, Chicago, door handles, doors, Naperville Illinois, SquareOdds, squares, SquareUp challenge, Thursday doors, trains
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.
Giants from squares past: trees
Posted: October 8, 2021 in squaresTags: McDowell Forest Preserve, Naperville Illinois, Past Squares, squares, SquareUp challenge, trees
Needless to say, NOT from Arizona, although we did get a huge thunderstorm and hard rain (for about half an hour) yesterday. Loved it and I loved these trees from my old haunt in Illinois, McDowell Forest Preserve.

Classic blue doors
Posted: July 22, 2021 in Life in Colour Photo Challenge 2021, Thursday doorsTags: #ThursdayDoors, blue doors, classic cars, classic doors, doors, Fourth of July, Life in Colour Photo Challenge 2021, Life in Colour: blue, Naperville Illinois, Philadelphia doors, red white and blue, Thursday doors
Today I offer you two sets of two blue doors from Philadelphia (with the red, white, and blue hiding behind the TREE.) Red, white, and blue is seen in the second shot as well on a classic car in a Fourth of July parade. Hats off to our veterans!
Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the deity to be a source of delight. ~John Ruskin


Ethereal trees and corporeal children
Posted: July 16, 2021 in Life in Colour Photo Challenge 2021, squaresTags: blue, children, Life in Colour Photo Challenge 2021, Life in Colour: blue, Naperville Illinois, Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch, squares, Squares: trees, SquareUp challenge, trees, trees in water
Lens-Artists Challenge #156: black and white
Posted: July 10, 2021 in Lens-Artist Photo ChallengeTags: Art Institute of Chicago, black and white photography, headlights, Lens-Artist Photo Challenge, Lens-Artists Challenge #156, Lens-Artists Challenge #156: black and white, monochrome, Naperville Illinois
Anne Sandler is our guest hostess this week, (thanks, Anne), asking us for black and white photos. I remember when there were only black and white photos (as well as film and no digital.) So I’m taking a break from watching the replay of stage 13 of the Tour de France to gather some of my favorite black and white photos. Not true; I’m doing both. 🙂
Anne asked us to talk about our post-processing but I do virtually none and have no fancy editing apps. Here’s what I told her in response to her post:
“Some were taken with an iPhone and other than cropping, sometimes adding a frame or vignette, or making them black and white, I do very little. I don’t have Lightroom, Nik or any of those things. I use Picasa (free) or Pixlr (also free.)”
One of my favorite photos is this lone grocery cart in the middle of a flooded parking area in Naperville, Illinois.

A quiet moment in the Art Institute of Chicago, rendered in black and white. I love the sweep of the staircase and the single woman making her way down.

Shell and shadow on a beach at Cape May, New Jersey.

A foggy morning in Cape May. I waited for the ghostly carriage to come careening through the mist but I waited, thankfully, in vain.

If there’d been a deer nearby, I could have had a photo of a literal deer in the headlight but it, like the coach above, never materialized.

As always, thanks so much for visiting and for commenting. The conversation makes it all worthwhile because I love to know what you think, what you like, why you like it, and what it makes you think about.
Morning trees and cool blue
Posted: July 9, 2021 in Life in Colour Photo Challenge 2021, squaresTags: blue, dawn, fountain, Life in Colour Photo Challenge 2021, Life in Colour: blue, morning, Naperville Illinois, Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch, squares, Squares: trees, SquareUp, SquareUp challenge, trees, water
Monday menu: sushi
Posted: June 7, 2021 in FoodTags: Blue Sushi Sake Grill, food, friends, Naperville Illinois, sushi
While back in Illinois, I managed to work in a good amount of delicious food, all in good company. A friend and I met for coffee one day and then on a second day for lunch at Blue Sushi Sake Grill in downtown Naperville. After a year of Covid, it was a treat to once again be eating in a restaurant. We’d planned to eat outside, but the wind kept us in although still distanced from other customers. Neither of us eats raw fish, but we managed to dine exceedingly well anyway. This first selection, called Crunchy L.A., consisted of 8 pieces (yes, each of those four is made of two pieces) of crab mix, avocado, cucumber, crispy panko, and sweet chili sauce. I love panko for its crunch and the entire dish was delicious. I’m a big fan of square dishes, so I would have loved to have taken the plate home with me. I also just want to put out there that holding a piece of sushi with chopsticks while dipping it in sauce and thengetting it to your mouth, all without it falling apart is NOT the easiest thing in the world to do and you’re forced to put the entire piece in your mouth because trying to bite it in half ensures that it will come apart if it hasn’t already. Don’t ask how I know this; just take my word for it!

The Hawaiian Roll (tempura fried, mango, salmon, crab mix, and mango sauce) was a surprise because it was served warm but it was still oh so good. Even though the pieces appear relatively small, after two dishes each, we were replete and a stroll along the Riverwalk, followed by a time of sitting in the sun chatting was just the thing. If there are any things that can enhance time with a friend or friends, good food is certainly one of them. And a friend paying for your lunch is the unexpected but much appreciated end to a perfect day (or at least the middle of that day.) 🙂
