cute little guy

little tug boat

hello new day

a little morning glory 2

hello new day

a rainy june

quiet river sunrise

The summer flooding of the Illinois River has finally begun to recede. Illinois has had record rains in June, so hopefully we will be entering a bit of a drier weather pattern in July. This park is still closed due to the swollen Illinois River.

waterworld

rain, rain go away

river trees

A week ago we had a terrific rainstorm that featured record sized hail for our area. That was the beginning of a few days of torrential rain that resulted in swollen creeks and rivers and flooded roads all over this region. This is the Illinois River, at William G. Stratton State Park, in Morris, IL, a favorite destination that is featured in many posts on this blog. The image below was taken with my phone and gives you a sense of the flooding at this park.

flooded IL river

riverside family

riverside family

in a quiet moment

quiet moment

in a quiet moment

winter barn

winter barn

Another favorite spot along the I & M Canal. This beautiful barn looks great all year long.

the not so bleak

the note so bleak

To follow up the previous post (bleak), here is a winter moment with a different kind of beauty. A cold, crisp, serene sunrise along the banks of the Illinois River. Here at home we are just digging out from an apocalyptic snow storm (frighteningly names “Linus”), so I will visit this spot early in the morning to see a new, wintry sunrise. I love this beautiful world.

january river

january river

I have been enjoying the relatively warmer weather for January in the Chicago area (34 degrees is like a heat wave!) by taking some bike rides along the Illinois River. After being rather inactive, I am looking forward to some more exercise and racking up the miles!

river ents

river ents

Took another ride today…. the weather is unusually warm for January…. I waited to see if these Ents would say anything…. they didn’t.