Wednesday, May 25

I spent what I expected to be a very stormy day working from home. The hostas are completely open now and still very lovely with their ridged leaves.

Now I'm caught up, for the first time in nearly two months!

Tuesday, May 24

Even with the backlight not working on the Canon, I can see the LCD well enough to do some composition. We had a good ride even with cool temperatures and a fairly strong wind (nothing compared with Sunday, though).

Monday, May 23

I tried playing with some of the wind-blown plants in the garden, but liked this blue false indigo by the back of the garage better.

May 16 through May 22

Monday, May 16

Street light and shadows outside Woodman's food store in North Aurora.

Tuesday, May 17

Our BIG group of cyclists. Unfortunately, this was the last night my little Canon SD870IS worked correctly - the next night, I discovered the backlight was out. Probably a loose connection after carrying it on the bike.

Wednesday, May 18

Our group pulls out onto a busy street.

Thursday, May 19

These lily-shaped tulips are beautiful even when they're a bit past their prime.

Friday, May 20

Having company from out of town made a good reason to visit the Arboretum. Here, a whimsical crocheted "lichen" covers a tree.

Saturday, May 21

My dear friend and National Vice Minister Elaine gives us words of advice at the end of our triennial visitation.

Sunday, May 22

You'd think I would've taken pictures on our bike ride (58 miles in very strong winds) but I didn't take my (now broken) camera. So the orange cat gets his picture taken again.

May 9 through May 15

Driving home at dusk from shopping with nothing much in mind, I stopped on the Wilson St. bridge over the Fox River and framed the river through its bars.

Tuesday, May 10

One of our fellow cyclists, ready to roll.

Wednesday, May 11

Oops - no picture! I really thought I took at least one...but I was getting ready to go out of town the following day, and I guess I didn't take one at the bike club meeting. Oh well, I almost missed other days, and this one was a complete accident.

Thursday, May 12

At Our Lady of the Snows Shrine in Belleville, IL, for the National Formation Workshop of the Secular Franciscan Order.

Friday, May 13

At the spot where Our Lady of Guadalupe is honored.

Saturday, May 14

Jesus waiting for the little children in the play area.

Sunday, May 15

Evening, back home.

May 2 through May 8

Monday, May 2

Buds opening can be dramatic when silhouetted against the sky. Not too bad for a gray evening!

Tuesday, May 3

The drizzle started as I was putting my bike in the car to go out for the club ride. I hoped it would stop, so I drove on to our meeting point. No such luck - rained out.

Wednesday, May 4

A MUCH nicer evening for a bike ride - and a beautiful sky at dusk.

Thursday, May 5

An oddity seen alongside the highway.

Friday, May 6

Another of the spring beauties in our yard - the serviceberry.

Saturday, May 7

I was looking for something to photograph in the short time between a morning at our Franciscan candidates' retreat and leaving for a friend's 90th birthday celebration. I found it in the unfurling hostas in front of the house.

Sunday, May 8

I was VERY glad I had a camera with me on our bike ride when Dave brought me to this beautiful garden! What a gorgeous place.

April 25 through May 1

Monday, April 25

Waiting for the train to get by, with no real prospect for "good" pictures...so I played with the moving train.

Tuesday, April 26

Back to the industrial park where I photographed the flags in the wind - a good place to view the late afternoon sky.

Wednesday, April 27

Another late-night, last-minute photo, of the orange cat doing one of his favorite things, leaning on a human.

Thursday, April 28

Back to the park on the hill, for a sunset over the basketball court.

Friday, April 29

My Franciscan fraternity went on retreat to Cardinal Stritch Retreat Center in Mundelein, IL. I don't know who this is, but a photo of the stained glass in the chapel, before it got too dark, seemed appropriate.

Saturday, April 30

It was a beautiful day despite high winds. When I set out to walk around the lake, I quickly met this doe.

Sunday, May 1

On a final walk around the grounds, I enjoyed seeing the morning sun through the bright green spring leaves.

April 18 through Easter Sunday, April 24 - Holy Week

Monday, April 18

Continuing last week's theme, here are buds opening.

Tuesday, April 19

Back to cats...hard to get more comfortable than Krissy is here.

Wednesday, April 20

Now THIS was a last minute effort. I was actually in bed when I realized I hadn't taken a picture. This is simply the street lights through the fancy glass of the front door. One shot and back to bed!

Thursday, April 21

It's no wonder people with allergies have so much trouble in the spring. Never mind the tulips and daffodils, the trees are loaded with blooms (and pollen).

Good Friday, April 22

Taken before the evening Good Friday service started, the grainy image suits the bare church just fine. The Easter Triduum was a time when I very much remembered my mother and her last days.

Holy Saturday, April 23

From the somber to the silly - this is a real street sign.

Easter Sunday, April 24

Nature celebrates new life as we celebrate Christ's resurrection!

April 11 through 17

Monday, April 11

I stopped at a park on a hill on the way home to get a good view of the sky.

Tuesday, April 12

It was getting VERY dark by the time we got back from our evening ride. This was taken on a pedestrian/bike bridge over the Fox River.

Wednesday, April 13

This time I turned to our garden - a reliable source of photos, especially in spring.

Thursday, April 14

I was very surprised to find that my office mate decorated the office for my birthday! It reminded me of days long ago when we moved decorations from my office to the offices of other team members with April birthdays. It was very nice.

Friday, April 15

Herrick Lake in the rain...with ducks.

Saturday, April 16

This colorful spring leaf is on the parrotia "bush"/small tree in front of our house.

Sunday, April 17

I love the change from bare branches to small leaves! This is a variety of willow.

April 4 through 10 - starting to catch up

While I have continued taking pictures each day, I haven't had much time for making posts in nearly two months! That's partly because cycling season is taking hold, but also because I've just been really, really busy. I'm going to start catching up a week at a time.

Monday, April 4

I was looking for something after work and found this in the industrial park near our house.

Tuesday, April 5

Left far behind by some of the other riders (who took off far faster than the rated B-C pace of the ride).

Wednesday, April 6

Dave was riding around before the club ride started from Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve.

Thursday, April 7

I took a picture of the very small flowers of the vernal witch hazel after dark.

Friday, April 8

 This was after an evening ride on a Friday night. Only a few of us went out because it was quite cold. The flash lights up our reflective clothing quite well.

Saturday, April 9

 We saw this toad while waiting for more ambitious riders to climb a steep hill.

Sunday, April 10

Ready to ride! (I guess this means that when I have a limited number of ideas, Dave gets photographed if the cats don't.)