Bustin' out

Iggy is growing again. He's eating like a maniac-- 24 crickets yesterday-- and is literally growing out of his skin.

Funny how he was the runt when we got the pair, but now he's The Hulk and Seb's the little guy who's going to get sand kicked in his face.

In his defense, Seb has been brumating for the last four or five months so he's not growing. Similar to hibernation, brumation is when the bearded dragons seek out cooler, darker places, sleep most of the time, and eat very little, if they eat at all.

Could you imagine taking a five month nap and not even waking up for a snack? Me neither.

Rustic beauty

This is the dining room in the lodge at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois. The dining hall and the lodge itself were among many Civilian Conservation Corps projects built in the 1930s. As the the nation was coming out of the Great Depression, the CCC provided jobs to young men to work on public projects.

I would like to see the US return to this type of "workfare" public assistance. That is: we need things done, you need money, you help us and we'll help you. I think it could be a win-win situation.

Look at the wonderful and long-lasting beauty of this magnificent dining room. Alas, if only the food was half as good!

Sandstone canyon

Thousands of years of water from a tiny meandering stream only two or three feet wide slowly carried away piece after piece of the soft sandstone, leaving this curving canyon wall.

Picture taken in Starved Rock State Park, Utica, Illinois.

Rural Illinois

This water tower is directly over a used car dealership in Sullivan, Illinois.

I stopped to take the picture to share with a friend named Sullivan. When I stopped my car to take the shot, the unoccupied salesmen looked at me rather suspiciously. I wonder what they thought I was "up to"?

Sezai

I LOVE this picture!

This is son John (in black and gold) when he was nine or ten. He was a fierce competitor who loved soccer (still does) and always worked his hardest.

His nickname, Sezai, is what it sounded like when he tried to say "John-John" when he was really young. I always thought it would be cool if he grew up, played professional soccer and used Sezai as his Brazilian-style one-name soccer name.

Gin

Pretty blue bottle.

Lake Shore Drive

And there ain't no road just like it,

Anywhere I've found.

Runnin' south on Lake Shore Drive,

Headin' in to town.

Just slippin' on by on LSD,

Friday night trouble bound.




from Lake Shore Drive
by Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah

In Memory

A great man passed away today.

John H. Vogt was the epitome of a gentleman. I will miss him and feel genuinely honored to have known him.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

"We sometimes meet an original gentleman, who, if manners had not existed, would have invented them."

John Vogt was that man.

Rest In Peace.

Before and During

The project has begun. Here are two views from upstairs. Top shot is a week ago. Bottom shot is after Day 1-- The Demolition.

12:20 at the Logan County Courthouse