Crescent Moon and Venus, Too

Glanced up in the sky yesterday and saw the crescent Moon.
It looked like it was smiling or laughing.
(It must have seen the weather forecast that calls
for rising temperatures. This time of year the 30s are a heat wave.)
I figured that the tiny bright spot
toward the bottom of the picture was a planet.
I did a little searching and figured out it is Venus.

Buoys will be Buoys

So this is where the buoys go to hibernate!
Come Spring, they'll be dancing around Monroe Harbor,
marking the places where the boats are supposed to tie up.

Surf's up

This is another one of those "When did they put that there?" realizations. This is a relief carving on City Hall that I recently noticed. It's incredibly detailed with a lighthouse in the background and a hermit crab just to the right of the swimmer.

Apparently this is one of four relief carvings by the entrance to City Hall that "represent ... four principle concerns of city government: playgrounds, schools, parks, and water supply". This is probably the water supply panel. Now, I want to go back and look for the other three.

Agora Phobia

This a public art composition at the south end of Grant Park. It is called Agora and it is by an artist named Magdalena Abakonowicz. It consists of 109 nine-foot tall iron sculptures. The sculptures are just the legs and they appear to be walking around.

There were articles about it when it was installed. I didn't really think much about it when I saw pictures. Seeing it "in person", though, tends to creep me out a bit. That's not a criticism of the work since art, I think, should evoke some response. I certainly appreciate the amount of work - both imaginative and physical - that it took to create this.

Reflections in a Miniature Bean

Many people take pictures of the skyline reflecting in Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) in Millenium Park.


This weekend I stumbled upon another source for skyline reflections.

I know I've passed by this reflecting ball at the far east end of Pioneer Court a number of times but never noticed that it reflected the buildings around it. There is a possibility that the sun's angle at this time of year turns it into a mirror. Perhaps you don't get any reflections when the sun is higher in the sky during Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Breaking Through

Here is another shot of the James J. Versluis, an 80 foot tug
that breaks ice on the Chicago River in the winter.
I was on the bike path crossing the bridge on Lake Shore Drive
when it was starting its ice breaking work.

On Ice

A few days ago, I posted a picture of a Chicago Fire Boat breaking the ice on the Chicago River. Yesterday, I got to see another ice breaking boat from a different perspective.

Taken from the lower level of the bridge at Lake Shore Drive, this is the James J. Versluis, an 80 foot tug built in 1957 in Sturgeon Bay.

I just happened to be walking on the bridge/bike path when I saw it leaving the Coast Guard Station. I hung around to take a few more pictures that I'll post.