i love you, no i hate you, no i...

Do you have any love/hate relationships? One of those truly mind-blowing “I hate you, but I also love you” type things. Until recently I didn’t. I always thought I knew what people were talking about. In the end after reflection though I could always say, “Oh, I don’t really hate that” or “You know what? I just don’t like them.” Well, I can finally say I have found a relationship with so much push and tug, love and hate that I can call it an official one of love/hate.

Of course it is not just one person. It’s 2.8 million (9.5 metro area) people. It’s the city (and metro area) of Chicago. There are so many things that I love about the city and so many things that I hate that I struggle with how I feel about the place. It’s a place I long for, yet long to get away. A place I have hope for, yet sometimes seem hopeless towards. A place where good truly reigns, yet destruction and evil lurk. A place of great diversity, yet a place that is segregated. It is a place that can make me very happy and also very mad. It is my relationship with Chicago.

40 great things about winter and the holiday season (in pictures).

Snow. Skiing. Being air born. Tree farms. The perfect tree. Christmas carols. Surprises. Sledding. Receiving a package in the mail. Parades. Christmas in the city. Christmas lights. Things that can really be done with snow and a giant stadium. Consumerism. Christmas movies. Snowball fights. Laughing at the misfortunate. Going AWOL when it is you. Second best sled to the… Toboggan. What is the Christmas season. Sleigh rides. Defying gravity. Gravity defying you. The way things look in the snow. Snowshoeing. Snowy peaks. Sweet ice carvings. Santa Claus and crying kids. Ice skating. Being the sheep in the churches Christmas play. Gold stars and little angles. Family. Advent. Christmas decorations. Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve service. Christmas day. The reason for the season.

november round-up

Holy freak Batman where did November go? I don’t know Robin, but it sure isn’t November any more. I’m not sure where November went either, but boy did it go fast. And now we are already one week into December.

So, what happened in November? Well – an African American was voted president – of the United States – for the first time – ever! And on election night, I was there – to witness it all. Besides that though it has been a pretty low key month with time spent with family and friends. Also, even though it didn’t “technically” happen in November it happened over Thanksgiving weekend – I had the worst road trip back from Michigan to Chicago. Although it is a funny story now that it is over, it matches up with me flipping out once while driving across the five mile Mackinaw Bridge in a snow storm.

Interesting enough: I got to go to my favorite restaurant twice this month, Tre Kronor, and in some genealogy research I found an additional three-hundred years of family lineage.

pollution is bad - here's proof

Hi!

So, last week I posted this photo from the new Google archive of pictures from Life magazine. It’s a great photo for many reasons. I’m not quite sure why there are a bunch of cars in the water, and the picture gives no explanation other than to indicate where the photo was taken. Is the river a graveyard for gutted cars? Here is a similar photo of the cars in the water. Although the photo says it was also taken in May of ‘68 it was certainly not. When you compare the foliage of the trees they are clearly taken at two different seasons of the year. There are no leaves on the branches compared to the first photo where there is full foliage. It sure would be interesting to know what river the cars are in and to do a comparison of the area today.

The car graveyard surely isn’t the only pollution that was documented in Life 1968. Here is a dumping ground into a lake.

Some pollution stays the same. In the photo you can see the build-up of oil, algae, and random beer cans and worm containers (for fishing). In many of the recreational lakes in Michigan you can still find the same build up of trash.

I wonder what is in the water that is pouring out of that pipe? And what is up with the tires and other random trash?

When cars took over the world, trains were just abandoned, literally. I’m sure these trains are no longer here. Michigan has been converting rails into trails for years.

One take at this picture and you know it isn’t natural.

Its proof that the cartoon movie Wall-e could actually happen.

And that’s not snow flowing down the river.

This is a really neat photo. Until you notice all the pollution pouring into the canal.

Here a few others: This cover of Life is a little scary, but when you compare it with this photo it is even scarier. Please, please don’t eat the fish? Ralph – that’s what the river is doing.