We spent the weekend in Chicago for my niece Amanda’s wedding. Got to see some family in a really fun city. Major sleep deprivation but it was a fun time. The wedding was right in the Loop, at the Chicago Cultural Center. Right across the street from Millennium Park and the Bean.
We got to see the adorable Stella, the newest member of Clan Schools. And Anita brought some good Pennsylvania neck pumpkins, the absolute best pumpkins for pies. Back home, when you say pumpkin pie, the assumption is neck pumpkins. There’s no other to use. The Jack-o-lantern style pumpkin is known as a cow pumpkin, not something you would feed to company. She didn’t bring any scrapple though.
Baby Stella.
Neck pumpkins with Fido for scale. They are pumpkins, not squash or gourds.
The wedding ceremony was interesting. It took place in the Chicago Cultural Center, the beautiful former Chicago public library. Mainak DasGupta, the groom, is a Captain in the US Air Force with deployments to hot sandy places under his belt. So there was an Air Force honor guard with drawn swords. The first reading of the ceremony was Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion in the Obergefell decision. The best man was deployed in Afghanistan and Skyped in to do another reading. In a nice touch, both Amanda and Mainak dedicated the wedding to their deceased grandparents.
We also had a little time to play in The Windy City. Downtown Chicago is the most photogenic city I can think of. I can, and did, spend hours just wandering around. The general rule in photography is the best light is early morning or just before sundown. All rules are off in Chicago. The shapes, surfaces and patterns give you something to play with any hour of the day. And we got a new bird for the year too. A very late and lost gray-cheeked thrush was in Millennium Park. I’m pretty sure it is trapped there. During south bound migration it probably dropped into the only green it could see at dawn after crossing Lake Michigan. Then it couldn’t figure out how to get past the skyscrapers ringing the park. Prognosis for surviving the winter isn’t good unless it buddies up with the starlings.
Anita’s back, Anita’s reflection, and Ed’s reflection at the Bean.
The reflection of Lise messing with Ed at the Bean.
The Bean’s view of Chicago.
Ed inside the Bean.
Pipes and fire escape.
Millennium Park stage.
Millennium Park stage and skyscrapers.
Skyscraper patterns.
Skyscraper patterns.
Season’s over, Navy Pier.
Season’s over, Navy Pier.
River-walk at night in color.
River-walk at night, black and white.
Downtown at night in color.
Downtown at night, black and white.
Downtown reflections.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 