Fog Rolls In ...

Time to quote Carl Sandburg again:

"The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over the harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on."

I wasn't going to post another sunrise series (since I posted one on Sunday) but this morning's sunrise was pretty cool. Along with the sun came a fog bank rolling in from the North. First it looked (to me) like sand dunes taking over the lake and Navy Pier. In the last one it almost looks like a giant wave crashing over a tiny Navy Pier sand castle.

To see a winter Fog Attack that I posted a while ago: Click here

All Sunrises are Different

Three Days, Three Sunrises: August 3, 4, 5

One More Refrigerator

This 1970s Kenmore Refrigerator, also part of the Fine Art Fridge series on Michigan Avenue, has been artsy-ed up by Chicago artist Kathryn Trumbull Fimreite. This one is called Green Lifestyles. In keeping with the name, it is covered with little pictures of "green" things people can do -- like the ones shown in the collage: riding public transportation, eating local, and using re-usable grocery bags.

Cold Feet

Is it a planter?

No.

Is Nature just taking over a lost item?

No.

It's another Fine Art Fridge on Michigan Avenue. This one is called "Running Down, Out to Pasture" by Mike Helbing. Before it was art, it was a 1952-ish General Electric Refrigerator.

Voodoo Retro Rod

I almost missed this Fine Art Fridge. This one is called Recycled Voodoo Retro Road by VooDoo Larry Grobe, a custom hotrod car designer and detailer.

It used to be a refrigerator (specifically a 1953 Philco Advanced Design) but now it is a work of art. And, according to the sign, whoever used to have it is presumably saving about $150 a year (the estimated cost of running an inefficient old back-up refrigerator) and got $25 rebate from ComEd's appliance recycling program.

Refrigerator Madness

Another make-art-out-of-some-odd-object display has taken over Michigan Avenue.

The new one is interesting, although it may not generate the tourist interest like the cows or the globes or even the furniture. (Yes, we Chicagoans like to put old stuff out in the street in the summer, as well as in the winter).

It's refrigerators. Specifically, old and inefficient ones. Commonwealth Edison is sponsoring the Fine Art Fridges display to draw attention to how much excess energy old refrigerators use. These old refrigerators are usually found in basements and garages - having been replaced by newer models in the homes. But, since the old ones still work, people tend to keep them around for use as a freezer or to keep water and soda cold. According to the accompanying sign, using that back-up old refrigerator can cost a typical household up to an additional $150 a year. ComEd, however, will take your old refrigerator away, recycle it (another reason why people hesitate to discard the old refrigerator: How do you deal with safely getting rid of that coolant stuff), and give you $25.

Or, you could decorate it and haul it down to Michigan Avenue. If you do it now, no one may notice. (I'm kidding!)

This one is called ColdSpot: A Gulf Story.

It is by artist Nicole Beck.

She created a oceanside scene on a 1956 ColdSpot Super-Mart Refrigerator

A scene on one side of the FineArt Fridge

A message on the other side of the FineArt Fridge

The front of the ColdSpot Fine Art Fridge

Summer (Traffic) in the City

Two reasons why I prefer walking to driving in general and definitely during the summer in Chicago.