Ring in the New Year 2006

It seems like only days ago that I was looking forward to 2005 and now the year has come and gone. 365 days is like a long time but with each passing year the time moves more quickly. It might have something to do with getting older but it just might be the pace of our lives.

Looking back this has been a good year. There were many achievements personally and for my family. My daughter successfully made the transition to college and is anxious to start her second semester at Marquette. She has many new friends and one very special one. At work we've acheived some great accomplishments and now are moving forward more strategically with plans for the future. Personally this has been a year of growth, in learning to care and to be patient to wait for the good things that are to come. I have made many good friendships in my short time here and feel that this is truly where I belong.

What's ahead? Well, last year for the first time I tried resolutions and most of them never happened, not for want of trying. So this year I'm going back to my tried and true approach to the new year and just be open to the possibilities. Not trying to make anything happen but celebrate and embrace it when it does. 2005 was a good year and 2006 will be an even better one.

Good wishes to all who stop by to read my bog....Happy New Year!

Christmas is coming soon

With winter coming to northern Illinois a little sooner than I expected everyone is getting into the Christmas and holiday spirit in a big way. Its a busy time of year but also a lot of fun shopping and preparing for good holiday times. My tree is up but yet undecorated and I hosted the first of the season's holiday parties last night that was attended by 20 or so friends. We enjoyed lots of good wine, champagne, and many delicious things to eat.

Last Sunday I was at Marquette visiting Jourdan when we got her new boyfriend Jeff to take our holiday picture. The recent snows in Mke provided a perfect backdrop on a chilly late afternoon. Christmas is always a magical time. When I was a kid it was the lure of Santa, all the presents, decorating the tree, and enjoying family. Many of those same things remain part of each year for me with the added benefits of having wonderful friends and many good memories of past Christmases as well as hopes and wishes for Christmas times to come.

Happy Christmas!

The Falling Price of Gasoline

This week I had the pleasure of traveling to Peoria, IL for a work related meeting. Its nice to do a road trip but unfortunately a lot of this day I spent fighing high winds and blowing snow. Early winter in Illinois is not fun.

But a good thing about my trip was the last 50 miles twisting and turning across rural roads and little towns. Little towns like Washburn and Cazenovia were delightful spots along the way. In Washburn I stopped for gas and found the cheapest prices I've seen in months. It was a photo opportunity I couldn't resist in this day and age.

Northern Illinois Fall

Fall continues to slowly embrace the air in northern Illinois. While the colors aren't as brilliant as in some years, what we have is a visual treat to my eyes. Tones are more muted but nearly as spectacular. The light on some afternoons has just been perfect. Clear, warm, crisp. This photo is from Duefield Pond near Woodstock, IL. Just a little wetlands area not too far from the post office and Jewel shopping center. But there it is, peaceful and spectacular just a turn off a main road. I'll never get over fall. I think each year it is the season I look forward to most. I savor each opportunity I have to be out to experience it. I roll down the windows in my car when driving past a pile of burning leaves. I guess it brings back my childhood but its more than that. Its fall. The end of a life cycle but such a glorious thing.

The pond at Veteran Acres Park

The last Saturday of October was probably the nicest fall day so far of the season. Pleasant temperatures, a light breeze, the faint smell of burning leaves, and colors that are still short of peaking made this a beautiful day in Crystal Lake. Late in the afternoon I visited the pond at Veteran Acres and captured this image.

On the Air

Here is the new Thursday morning radio host standing outside the studios. The Breakfast Club can be heard on Marquette Radio from 8 to 10 am CST. Follow the link from this page to the listening site. You'll be glad you did.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

Wow does that saying ever ring true. After spending seven years hosting college radio at a school back in Indiana I am proud to say that my college freshman daughter Jourdan has taken a page from her dad's book...and written her own by hosting a morning radio show at Marquette University.

Marquette Radio is one of those "cool" college stations where students who volunteer and meet minimum requirements can actually get a chance to be on the air. Not all college stations have such an open approach. But my fearless daughter signed up during the first week of classes and accepted the challenge of hosting a show on Thursdays. Mind you, its not the best slot for a college station unless you think everyone is up at 8 am, but in the radio biz its really "morning drive" and that is a hell of a time to be airborne. She plays an eclectic mix of indie/alternative rock along with some of the "have to" songs required by the station format to meet certain college radio station requirements.

For MU students its easy to tune in on cable at Ch. 96 but the rest of us can hear via the internet. Follow the link on my page for Marquette Radio and when that page loads click on "listen." Its simple and easy but sometimes the "listen" page takes a few minutes to load. For two hours you will hear some really good songs and you'll get an earful of information on bands you may never have hear of like Death Cab for Cutie, the Shins, Wilco, and Chad Vangaalen.

Images of Fall

The skies are more colorful and the light is different. There is a chill in the air and a scent that is unmatched at any other time of the year. Fall explodes upon us here in Illinois so suddenly and is then gone in a minute when that late windstorm blows away the leaves leaving the trees to stretch out their limbs naked in the sky. A country road heading west on a Saturday afternoon.

Fall is Here

Whenever I talk to people about their favorite season of the year more often than not they say its fall. What is it about this season of endings that makes it so compelling for so many people? Is it the cooling off that comes as the sun's rays slowly move southward and the days grow shorter? Or is it the scent in the air on an chilly day. Maybe its the pallet of colors that God has prepared for us to enjoy. Mixed with faint traces of burning leaves I am instantly carried back to my childhood and a time when everything in life was different. Safe!

Even though I've thoroughly enjoyed our long hot summer in Illinois I was happy to wake up today to cooler temps. The chill in the air seems to invigorate me in a way that nothing else does. Sure I'm not really looking forward to slogging through all the snow and mush we'll have on our streets all too soon, but if I could have my way there would be a very long and pleasant fall season. Full of color, scent, and feeling.

The light changes at this time of year too. Skies are clearer and bluer. Light coming from the sun seems warmer and cleaner. Its a perfect time for pictures and likely I'll be in the city sometime this week end shooing images for my photography class and taking advantage of this beautiful season of the year.

This is my first post in awhile. More to come and I'm hoping to figure out how to add more pictures or links to another photo website. But one step at a time.

Signing on

Today is my initial leap into blogdom with a half baked idea to start something related to music. Its always been an interest of mine and for 7 years prior to coming here I hosted a folk/acoustic radio show on a college station in Indiana. OK, big yawn but it was a great opportunity to get to know some of the best and most talented people in the music world. People who are dedicated to their music. Often with day jobs to support their work. Struggling but enjoying driving half way across the country to play to a living room full of neighbors. Or a small bar full of drinkers who only half listen. Coffeehouses where students barely noticed what they were missing.

Names like Richard Shindell, Ellis Paul, James Keelaghan, Jeffrey Foucault....Lucy Kapansky, Dar Williams....so many. They are all still out there and occasionally from my outpost here northwest of Chicago I get to hear them as they past through the Windy City on their way.

But this has also opened up opportunities to hear new groups. Local bands, alternative, indie groups...and others doing much them same thing in one or another genre of music. If time permits and the opportunity presents itself I'd love to find a way to blend all of this together in some kind of listening format. Not just what I write but what I would share with you in the music itself. Time will tell. Perhaps this blog will go nowhere. Or maybe it will take off.

Reflection from the Metra station. 

On the steps of the Newberry Library in December.