2012 Chicago Air and Water Show

  It's that time again...the Chicago Air and Water Show will be hitting the lake and sky this weekend.  Prepare for large crowds and lots of entertainment.
  This huge event is completely free and runs from 10am to 3pm this Saturday and Sunday (August 18th and 19th). 
  The headliners include the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, the U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights, and the U.S. Navy Parachute Team Leap Frogs.  Other entertainment includes the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team, Kirby Chambliss in the Red Bull Edge 540, Sean D. Tucker and Team Oracle, The Red Bull Air Force, Dave Dacy in the Super Stearman, the Firebirds, Lima Lima Flight Crew, Bill Stein's Airshow, Chuck Aaron in the Red Bull Helicopter the Chicago Fire Dept. Air/Sea Rescue, plus a large amount of Military Aircraft.
  Enjoy the weekend in Chicago!

Another Early Morning Smile

Yesterday morning I saw a brief moment that touched me and started my day off with a smile.  Every day I come out of Union Station on Madison Street and there are usually a couple of people standing near the bridge asking for money.  Yesterday morning there was a young man sitting on the ground near the crosswalk.  I noticed that another man had stopped nearby and had opened up his themos lunch sack.  He pulled out a small bag of chips and handed it to the man on the ground.  Almost every day I see people giving money to the poor but this really touched me because this man was sharing his lunch with someone less fortunate.  It's the small things that count in life.

Early Morning Smile

  There are towers on the corners of the Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago River.  There are doors that lead into these towers that I presume are for city workers.  On one of the steel doors, someone had written in black marker "Prosecutors will be violated".  For some reason that just made me smile.

My New Travel Blog

  Thank you to everyone who has been following my Chicago blog.  I have recently started a new blog that I would like to share.  Over the years I have done some traveling to Europe, Central and South America and within the United States.  I wanted to create a blog that would share my experiences and provide information to people that would like to visit these same places.  My new blog is:

http://carpediemtraveling.blogspot.com/

Target on State

  There's a new Target opening July 29th on the corner of Madison and State Street.  Yesterday and today Target has a stand set up in the plaza by Ogilvie Train Station where they are giving out free iced coffees.  Yesterday morning they were also giving out free $5 Target gift cards which was a fun morning treat.  This new Target Store will be a convenience for many people living and working in the Loop/Michigan Avenue area.

It's Hot Hot Hot Out...

....so how are Chicagoland gardens doing?  I don't know about every garden in Chicago, but so far mine is hanging in there.  Despite the heat, the plants seem to be growing larger and some are even in the early stages of producing veggies for me.  The tomatoes seem to be loving the sun the most while the peppers seem to be a little stunted by the heat.  I've been vigorously watering every day to every other day and I've kept my garden pretty green except for a few brown spots here and there.

My garden

Peppers are a little stunted compared to the huge tomato plants

 Yellow flower waiting to turn into a pumpkin...with a couple flowers that shriveled from the heat.

Browning leaf

Tiny zucchini - can't wait!  

A Half Hour Storm Leaves Many Hours of Destruction

  Yesterday a quick but destructive storm hit the Chicagoland.  Most of the destruction seemed to be in the Western suburbs but Chicago itself did get some wind and a little rain.  Below is a photo I snapped of the sky before I closed and locked our patio door so that I wouldn't blow away.  Luckily our property had very little damage but other damage in our neighborhood included siding coming off a house and a large fallen tree blocking a neighbor's entire driveway.  There were many other trees that were knocked down and branches were all over the roads.  We also lost electricity for a few hours which made me panic because of the heat and all the frozen food in our freezer which was no longer being kept cold.  No frozen food was lost and so far I haven't heard of any serious injuries from the storm.

Possible Metra Delays Due to Heat Today

  FYI for Metra riders:  There could be delays on the trains today due to the high temps.  Possible delays are estimated at about 15 minutes.  I can deal with that as long as they keep the air conditioning pumping!