Monochromatic or With Color - Random Photos Stolp Island, Aurora, IL - MyShadowProductions #232

Hola amigos (just practicing:) !!

I hope September is agreeing with everyone? You know, cooler mornings and evenings, some Sun, some Clouds, some Rain, some Fog, all those things we have experienced before but the variety never stops, mother nature is hard to keep up with.

I have a question (as “they” say, there are no dumb questions:). In the “beginning” was everything (whatever everything was :) monochromatic (basically black and white), and was color created as an afterthought? Remember, flowers have only been around for the last three hundred thousand years or so (instead of millions). That seems like an afterthought by Mother Nature or just a very delayed part of the “original plan”, kind of like humans, :), we all learn to live with our decisions, Mother Nature included, lol.

I bring this up as an introduction to my latest use of the “filters” option when editing my iPhotos, the “Mono” filter. Here is an example:

Mono Filter applied                     Original      

CLICK HERE for my “Monochromatic or With Color” video created from my photos/short videos. (The “static” you may hear is part of the “music”)

For an overdue change of pace I want to share some photos from Stolp Island here in Aurora, IL since I usually focus on Garfield Park Conservatory and the Chicago area and places I sometimes travel to. 

Click Here for my Video - Random Photos September 2026 - Stolp Island, Aurora, IL.

Now, I think this may qualify as a “fun fact”?? In early Spring at Garfield Park Conservatory some of the glass roofs and windows are “sprayed” with a white mixture to filter some of the sun’s rays to prevent overheating the interior spaces and plants. The mixture slowly fades over the summer and begins to allow more light and warmth for fall and winter.

Here are some photos of some of the structures, the spraying equipment and empty buckets of the mixture:

The Desert House horticulturalist is named Ray, I imagine he might have a few of these buckets hidden away :)

FULL BLOOM AHEAD - WILL WE HAVE AN INDIAN SUMMER ?? 🌻🌻🌻

Rogers Park Chicago - Sensory Garden + at GPC -- MyShadowProductions #231

Howdy everyone and Happy September (it arrived just as expected, immediately after August :)

If you don’t mind - one quick reminder/suggestion. When I “create” my blog posts I use my iPad and in my opinion it is best to view the Blog and Videos on an iPad or laptop. In addition the “Web Version” has the “Subscribe/Follow” and “Comment” options. Ultimately, a little enjoyment for you as a viewer is the goal so whatever works for you is great!! THANKS!!

Speaking of August, on August 15th I ventured out to Rogers Park, the northernmost community area in Chicago. Chicago has 77 distinct “community areas” which include 100’s of smaller unique neighborhoods. My trip was to the Rogers Park neighborhood within the “community” which is considered a “vibrant, bohemian lakeside enclave” boasting over 60 languages spoken and a “mile of murals”, etc.

After the Metra from Aurora to Union Station I walked about 20 minutes to the Monroe Station on the Red Line “EL”. At Monroe it is a subway line and continues that way north, under the Chicago River to just south of Armitage on the North Side using a portal located near Willow Street where it is elevated the rest of its way north. I got off at the Morse Stop and was immediately in the “action” of the Glenwood Ave Arts Fest. The area was pretty crowded and it just didn’t work for me to get photos of any of the art being displayed, I find that they kind of frown on that anyway (:( ??) but luckily there was plenty of “street art” to catch my attention. An extra bonus for me was that Lake Michigan was about a 20 minute walk east (even stopped for an ice cream cone :) and the long Beaches were totally accessible to the public (not always the case).

Luckily for you I took a lot of pictures and a few short videos so I could create a Video that will better portray the day than my verbiage. CLICK HERE for my ROGERS PARK Video. (I slipped in a street photo from a different day, can you spot it?)

There are plenty of things to make a return trip for in the future: Jarvis Square, a Frank Lloyd Wright house, variety of global foods like Caribbean, Turkish, Smack Dab Breakfast, etc., Howard St and the huge CTA rail “turnaround” (my word:) for the Red line and also continuations of the Yellow and Purple lines.

Somebody designed that !!

Yellow and Purple and Red Lines, FYI

In the next portion of this Post I want to share about a section of the Garfield Park Conservatory (GPC) that has “reopened” with some fresh features. This area is the Sensory Garden which had been closed since at least summer of 2024 ??.. I was fortunate to help with some of the “cleanup” and the area brings its own style of “color” to the outside gardens, along with a Labrynth that draws a lot of attention. Just this week a new Sculpture exhibit has opened in the Sensory Garden. It is called “Soul of the Stone” and features sculptures from the Shona people in Zimbabwe, Africa. The artists use locally found hard stones from the Great Dyke region, such as serpentine, dolomite, springstone, cobalt, butter jade, verdite and leopard rock to name a few.

Click Here for details of the journey to acquire the sculptures by Andre and Frances Guichard, owners of Gallery Guichard. (Click on “About” under the heading)

There were similar exhibits back in 2003 called the Chapunga Exhibition at GPC and other USA sites.

Denver was one of the sites and it so happens that one of my favorite spots in the Denver Botanic Gardens features a Shona Stone Sculpture - “So Proud of My Children”:

The exhibit also reminded me of a couple of sculptures I saw in Savannah, Georgia (click for those posts), they aren’t Shona Stone from what I can tell, but similar I think. If you check out the old Posts the Denver Shona Sculpture coincidentally shows up :)

I created a Video from my pictures in the Sensory Garden since March 2024 to the present and a few other “bonus” pictures from GPC in general, if you want to explore Here It Is !!

Also, the demolition near the Green Line Clinton Station is nearing completion and soon it will most likely be a “temporary” parking lot until negotiations with the Dunkin Donuts building are successful, then who knows, hopefully an interesting new structure to “watch” as it is constructed :)

September 5, 2026

Fair warning, I am working on a Video of the demolition sequence, start to finish :)

FULL BLOOM AHEAD !! 

Summer isn’t over yet :)

I tackled this web of dead and live Creeping Juniper branches on Saturday at GPC, sadly I made one mistake and cut a living branch - I never could have been a good surgeon !!

Dead Branches trimmed and the “mistake”

Looks like the crabapple tree shade was the culprit.


This is Cool !! Bananas in Horticulture Hall !!

Beach Hazards Day - Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool - Northerly Island, Burnham Harbor & Lakefront Trail -- MyShadowProductions #230

 Bom Dia !! Remember? That is “good day”, “hello” in Portuguese if you remember my trip and blog posts from late January into February of 2025. I mention it because there were several days there that the weather said “severe coastal event” which meant large waves. On one of those days I took a bus from Lisbon to Arenhas del Mar to see some large waves, here is a Link to that Post which includes a Video.

Ok, I will get to the point :) Several times here when I check the weather for Chicago it will say “Beach Hazards Statement” and it details some forecasted large waves and rough currents. This is Lake Michigan, not the Atlantic Ocean, so the wave heights aren’t as dramatic, 15ft + vs 5-8ft, but I still wanted to see it :) 

So, on August 2, 2026 I started my wave adventure north of downtown near the Chevron Sculpture and Fullerton Avenue walking my way South past the Concrete Beach, North Ave Beach and the Oak St Beach. Then a crowded 20 minute bus ride south to the Adler Planetarium area where there are a few trails along the Lake leading to the 12th St Beach.

Maybe this map I scribbled on will help you get an idea where I wandered/wondered :)

Click Here for my Beach Hazards Day Trip Video along the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago. The cool thing is that every day the free “wave/water show” is unique based on the wind velocity and direction and season of the year :)

Before crossing under Lake Shore Drive on Fullerton Ave I visited the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool which is a cool “hidden gem” adjacent to the Lincoln Park Conservatory grounds. It seems like it was a day for artists there, I enjoyed the views that they were painting. I didn’t have the nerve to ask any of them if I could take a picture of their art but I think that would be a nice addition to my Video, “next time” :)

Here’s my short Video walking through the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool site.

That was before the wave adventure and then after the wave search I was very close to Northerly Island and just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to walk the trails there. Remember “White Saturday” (click for reminder) there?

CLICK HERE for my Northerly Island - Burnham Harbor - Lakefront Trail Video created from my photos.

Totally unrelated, but maybe not, is there a difference between wAnder and wOnder besides the a and o?? Maybe?

Bob Seger has a song called “I Wonder”, it doesn’t answer the question but his Music Video for the song might be a good starting point? 

Click for “I Wonder” by Bob Seger. (FYI, Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky).

It has been a while since I shared anything about the Food Pantry, still helping out there on Mondays, they haven’t fired me yet :). Here are a couple of interesting items:

Santa Claus Melon or Green Gulyabi Melon: White interior like cantaloupe/honeydew, very good, I didn’t get a picture of inside, sorry.

Hearts of Palm, Angel Hair/Spaghetti gluten free “pasta”, I liked it, good Al dente texture.

I better sign off before we all have too many things to wonder/wander about :)

FULL BLOOM AHEAD !!

GPC has FLOWERS - Shimmering Summer at Chicago Botanic Garden - Bonsai at CBG -- MyShadowProductions #229

Howdy All !! You already know this but it’s SUMMER :)

Summer means a lot of things in a lot of different places and in a lot of people’s lives. At Garfield Park Conservatory and Gardens I think it means a wide variety of flowers in their unique way (I can’t define it, it just feels “unique”). 

When I say “flowers” I am including perennials, annuals, flowering trees, temporarily outside desert/tropical plants, invasives, aggressives, native, non-flowering plants, volunteer sprouts and even weeds.

This just happened in Spring didn’t it? Yes, and the Spring blooms have faded and made room for Summer’s blooms and their riot of color or just a calm, subtle burst of just the right color in a planned or unplanned setting.

Click Here for a Video created from my photos of the Summer Flowers at GPC (I didn’t get them all, it seems to change daily).

At the Chicago Botanic Garden this Summer they have an art installation called EVANESCENT by Ateler Sisu. “They are giant, inflatable, and iridescent sculptures that look like real soap bubbles”. Some are 26 feet tall and each of the dozens of “bubbles” mirror the sky, trees and visitors and shine in many colors. Pretty impressive but in my opinion Mother Nature just welcomes the “guests” and puts on its own Shimmering Summer Show.

This Video created from my pictures on a hot Summer Sunday will hopefully give you an idea of the Shimmering Summer at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Chicago’s Botanic Garden also boasts a collection of over 200 Bonsai. They rotate them in an outdoor display during warm months and have a show in the winter. I walked through the recent display of 18 bonsai trees and you can CLICK HERE for BONSAI Video created from my photos.

Meanwhile, work continues on the “controlled” demolition of the loft building near the Green Line Station on N Clinton St. It has been interesting to watch twice a week as I head to GPC. Looking forward to making a Video from start to finish :)

I saw this boat while walking back towards downtown from the Lakefront Trail:

CIAO FOR NOW !! Have a GREAT WEEK !!