Category Archives: Outdoors

The Balbo Monument consists of an ancient Roman breccia column on top of a plinth. It commemorates a difficult transatlantic seaplane crossing by the Italian aviator Italo Balbo. The column dates to the period of Julius Caesar, and comes from … Continue reading →

A beautiful summer morning here in Chicago, and I went for a bike ride through the park. The Lyft people maintain a fleet of rental bicycles in the city. There are several thousand bicycles and hundreds of stations where you … Continue reading →

It turns out that the beach behind our building is a popular place to launch fireworks on the Fourth of July. And after two hours of listening to concussive blasts and watching the flashes light up the entire beach, my … Continue reading →

At the height of the Cold War, the US Army maintained NIKE anti-aircraft missiles at Montrose Harbor. When the Army left, the remnants of the launch structures were taken over by sand and flora, including the famed honeysuckle hedges. This … Continue reading →

Weather-wise, that is. Mid-January, but yet sunny, with temperatures above freezing. I walked along the beach and out onto the pier. A few more years, and we’ll have palm trees growing there. It will be like Miami beach without the … Continue reading →