Fall Creeps In Slowly - Montrose Beach Area - MyShadowProductions #233

Howdy everybody !!

I have been fussing over some videos for a week or so; are they too long?, not the right music?, I don’t have a “story” to tell, blah, blah, blah …….

I have decided to let the pictures/videos “speak” for themselves and I am confident that all of you know how to fast forward or mute to your heart’s content :)

By the way, Happy Fall 2026.

The first video in this Post was created from my photos as I started to notice “fall things” happening right next door to “late summer stuff”. Nature gets along that way, your turn-my turn-plus some surprises.

Click Here for Fall Creeps In Slowly 2026

Speaking of nature and seasons, each new place I explore in the Chicago area has been interesting and yet I can’t help but think what it would be like in a different season, almost like each place becomes four if you follow.

The Montrose Beach area was just that way. I explored there 2 days in early October and saw the Natural Areas, the Dunes, the Beach, the Pier, the Harbor and the Lake with some really cool Chicago Skyline views. I missed the migrating birds (early morning is best?), the prairie flower blooms had passed (should be worth a visit next summer for sure!), large waves and ice and snow would be cool there and so on ……

Montrose Beach is located in the north end of Lincoln Park in the Uptown Neighborhood of Chicago.

This Video shows what I saw, it is over 10 minutes long (edited down from 16 :). A lot of colors and nature and thinking how did they construct that Pier? That would be a MyShadow video for AI to create if that’s possible?? :)

CLICK HERE for my Montrose Beach Area Video.

Here are some pictures of a very worn information sign in the Dunes area but I think it is interesting??

Cool part about the Plants reappearing on their own!

Ok, if you are still with me, check out this “find” at my Food Pantry volunteer shift:

LION’S MANE Mushroom

Google said it would taste a little like crab or lobster when sliced and cooked in a dry pan for a few minutes and then adding olive oil and garlic. I tried that, maybe texture of lobster but my cooking failed to deliver any noticeable “taste” but it was interesting I guess :)

CIAO for NOW !!

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 !!