Postcard from Tucson–Merry Christmas

Wishing You A Very Merry Christmas

Postcard from Arizona–More Rocks

It’s been a while since I have shared any of my rock photos with you, although I guess you could say almost all the photos I show from the Southwest are rock pictures.

But these rocks were in a large barrel in a rock shop in Quartzite, AZ. I stopped there about three years ago on my way to Yuma and started shooting rocks in a barrel (even easier than shooting fish in a barrel…sorry, could not resist).  Anyway, I just loves the colors in these rocks.

If you remember, Quartzite is that small town in the middle of the desert that gets over a million visitors a year…thanks to rock shows, RV shows, and on-going shows of all kinds. I am sure it is in full swing now as it is snow bird season. There, our friends from the north camp out in RV’s in the desert with no water, sewer, cable, or even electricity.  Generators supply the juice, and trucks come in every so often fill up their water tanks and empty the waste tanks. Satellite dishes supply the entertainment. It’s quite a life style and fun to see.

If you are ever down this way, be sure to stop in Quartzite and enjoy the “wild life.” It is located at the junction Arizona Highway 95 and I-10, very near the CA border. It is worth a visit in the winter months. 

Postcard from Yosemite - Tenaya Lake

When I get nostalgic, I somehow always return to Yosemite. I when I get real nostalgic, I think about Ansel Adams and his many years of photographing the park in black and white. So, I guess I am feeling nostalgic.

Tenaya Lake sits right on the Tioga Pass Road, at 8,150 feet in Yosemite’s High Country, on the North side of Yosemite Valley . (FYI, Yosemite Valley’s elevation is right at 4,000 feet). So its easy to get to, at least when the Tioga Pass Road is open. It is not maintained in the winter and shuts down as soon as the first snowflake falls. Just a few days after I took this photo, the first snowflake did fall and the road was closed. I would love to shoot the lake in winter, but I don’t ski.

The lake is supplied by a network of creeks and springs. Water exits the lake on the southwest side and becomes Tenaya Creek. From there it flows directly down Tenaya Canyon into Yosemite Valley. Its first stop there is famed Mirror Lake, directly below Half Dome. Eventually, it merges with Merced River, the main waterway through the valley.

Tenaya Lake is named after Chief Tenaya, who met the Mariposa Brigade near the shores of the lake. Tenaya protested that the lake already had a name: Pie-we-ack, or "Lake of the Shining Rocks." This original name is now attached to a granite dome to the east of the lake.

On two separate days, I hiked around the lake (where I could) and took several different shots. I have shown you a couple of the colored ones here before as there was a variety of quality colors in the shots. This one had limited colors, so I chose to do it in black and white…a good decision I think. I used a digital red filter to darken the sky and the lake.

If you ever travel the Tioga Pass Road and see the lake, be sure to park, get out and do some hiking. The best views are off the road.

Postcard from Island in the Sky–Green River Overlook

As you know by now, my friend and fellow photographer Dave Forster and I were up in Moab, UT a couple of weeks ago, shooting the beautiful landscapes that are all around this southeastern Utah city. Late one afternoon, we were high up in the Arches National Park scanning the sky trying decide where we wanted to be at sunset.  It did not look promising.

The places we had on our list all needed direct sunset light, but the clouds in the west were becoming thicker and thicker. Our prospects looked bleak. Then Dave came up with the brilliant idea of going to the Green River Overlook in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park. This is the same park where we shot Mesa Arch two mornings prior. With all the clouds in the sky, we might get lucky and have a fiery red sky at sunset…and this overlook is one of the most scenic in the park.

We drove about 40 miles to get there and arrived well before sunset. We scouted for the best view, then set up our cameras on tripods and just waited…and waited and waited.

The problem with shooting this scene was the canyon itself was already in deep, deep shadows before the sun even set. And if the sky lit up liked we hoped, the values between light and dark would be huge, far more than the camera could capture.  We both set up split neutral density filter…a glass plate that is very dark on top and clear on the bottom.  This allows less bright light into the camera helping with the exposure with no loss of colors. I also decided to shoot multiple exposures of each shot with a range of +1 to –1.  As it turned out, even these settings and filters were not enough.

After a long wait, the sun finally set, but the light still wasn’t right.  We had to wait even more to see if the sky would light up at what we call “second sunset.” Our patience was rewarded with a fierce red and yellow sky that looked like the entire sky was on fire. Both Dave and I shot, and shot, and shot until the fire died away after about 10 minutes. It was well worth the trip and a beautiful site to see.

After getting back to Tucson, I started working on the multiple exposures to try and create one HDR image. It turns out my exposure corrections were not quite enough.  Through the magic of Photoshop, I had to create a 4th and 5th exposure and combine them into one. It still was not enough to create the perfect picture, at least in my view. The canyons below were still too dark…which of course, gives them a bluish cast. 

So I played and played with some of my other filters to create the image you see above. It isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I do like it a lot.  It stands on its own. The ground picked up some of the red from the sky, which came out through the filters. And, of course the sky itself is amazing. But, at the time I shot this image, the ground was in total darkness to the naked eye. I am just glad the camera was able to pick up some light. PS: It took over three hours of playing to create this image.

And by the way, this is one of the best overlooks in the park. Don’t miss it if you happen to be in the area…sunrise, sunset, or any time in between.

Postcard from the Arches–Double Arch

I know that I’ve shown you Double Arch before in this blog…that being from my trip two years ago. This image was taken only a couple of weeks ago on my most recent trip. Not much has changed here in two years, except the sky. Still this arch remains my favorite of them all.

Double Arch was formed a bit differently than most of the arches in Arches National Park. It is what is known as a pothole arch as it formed by water erosion from above rather than more typical erosion from the side. The largest opening has a span of 148 feet and a height of 104 feet. It was also seen briefly in the film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” although the cave seen in the film behind it does not exist.

It’s only a short 1/2 mile walk from the parking lot to it and there are no barriers to going under the arch or all around it. And as you can see, I am also almost directly underneath it.

Since the last time I showed you Double Arch was in color, I decided to give you a black and white treatment this time.

Postcard from the Arches–Balanced Rock

Sometime ago, I shared a photo of Balanced Rock at sunset. In that image, you could only see the profile of the rock set against a fiery sky. So, I decided to show you the rock in daylight, although it is getting towards sunset in this image. It is quite a remarkable sandstone formation and is one of the most famous landmarks in Arches National Park.

Balanced Rock is about 128 feet high, with the balancing rock rising 55 feet above the base.  Until recently, Balanced Rock had a companion…a similar, but much smaller balanced rock named "Chip Off The Old Block", which fell during the winter of 1975. You can see the pedestal where it stood to the right of Balanced Rock. One day, its big brother will fall also. Such is nature.

Getting to the rock is easy as it sits right by the main park road. There is a parking lot there so you can hike all around it if you wish. The snow covered mountains in the distant background are the LaSalle Mountains.

This is another in my experiments with HDR photography.

Postcard from Chicago - Legs

If you ride the #6 bus into downtown Chicago, as I’ve done many times, you turn onto Michigan Ave. from Roosevelt Road. There on the corner, in the lower section of Grant Park, are 106 headless and armless cast iron sculptures. It is a sight that first amazes, then intrigues the first time tourist to Chicago.

It is called “Agora,” by its creator, Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz.  The name Agora refers to the meeting places of the Ancient Greek city-states. Each sculpture is about nine feet high and weighs about 1,800 pounds. They were cast in Poland over a two-year period, then transported to Chicago. Installation took place in November of 2006.

The figures are similar in general shape, but differ in their details. Models for each figure were made by hand. The surfaces of figures are like a tree bark or wrinkled face expressing a different individuality of each sculpture. They all appear to be walking in different directions. As Mayor Daily once pointed out, one really needs to walk through it to understand and feel its meaning…and I agree with him.

Chicago is filled with such interesting works of art, many of which you have seen here, from crazy shaped bridges, to giant lattice works, legs, and even eyeballs. I have said it before, it is a wonderful place to just wander and see the diversity of people, neighborhoods, and, of course, art. Definitely put in on your to-do list if you have never been there.

Postcard from the Arches–The Fiery Furnace at Sunset

This picture was taken on my trip last month into the Arches National Park. It shows a very small part of the Fiery Furnace section of the park, set against the LaSalle Mountains.   For two days, we were very fortunate to have a haze-free unobstructed view of the mountains…not always possible.

The Fiery Furnace is a large series of small canyons, many of them dead-ends, set inside many, many fins.  Inside you will find both small and large arches. It is highly recommended for newbies that you take a ranger-led tour inside the furnace.  Having done that, I will tell you it is the only way to go. It would be so easy to get lost in there.  If I went back in, I would still only go with a ranger. Its an arduous hike through there, and some time I will tell you about my experiences, but what is inside the furnace is well worth the hike.  By the way, on a hot summer day, it’s the coolest place in the park, in spite of its name.

For this photograph, I again experimented with HDR photography, using 5 separate photos to come up with a composite photo that shows the best exposure values for each part of the photo. Only this time, I didn’t shoot 5 exposures on site…I only shot one.  In Photoshop, I created 5 separate images using a full one stop value for each. In other words the exposures went from –2 to +2, with the original photo as the 0 point.  Then using a program called Photomatix, I combined all five into one shot.

Of course, the final image had to be tweaked again in Photoshop as they never come out of Photomatix perfectly. I like some of the things I can do with HDR and will be experimenting with it more in the future.  Stay tuned for more in the future.

Postcard from Yuma–Swastika Bridge

Travel about 20 miles northeast of Yuma on Laguna Dam Road to where the pavement ends. Travel just a few hundred feet past that point, and you will find this bridge, covered in swastikas.  Not painted mind you, but cast in concrete on both sides of the bridge.

Swastika on an American bridge? How can that be? The mind boggles with possibilities. Was it built by German prisoners of war during the Second World War as there were POW camps nearby? By Nazi sympathizers prior to war’s outbreak?

Actually, the truth is stranger than fiction.  You see this bridge was completed in 1907. Hitler was only 18 years old so the Nazi Party wasn’t even conceived yet. That was at least 21 years in the future.

No, this bridge was built by the United States Government…specifically the Department of the Interior through the Bureau of Reclamation (then called the U.S. Reclamation Service). This bridge spans a now-unused agricultural spillway that was part of the first dam ever built on the Colorado River.

To make a long story short, because of existing geological considerations, the design for the dam was taken from an existing dam in India. While there, U.S. government representatives heard the story of the ancient Hindu God, Indra, who at one time, represented thunder, lighting and rain. Indra (who had four arms and was represented by the swastika with its four arms) had the power to control water. 

There were those in the U.S. government who thought the swastika would be a fitting symbol for the Bureau.  During its early years the United States Bureau of Reclamation used the swastika for its symbol. The swastikas on Laguna Dam are a legacy of that period. The Bureau also designed a Reclamation flag with a large swastika at its center with the U S R S letters in the four corners.

During WWII, guards had to be posted round the clock to protect the bridge as local citizens threatened to destroy the bridge, or at least remove the swastikas. Today, the bridge is the only government project left standing in the United States where swastikas are an integrated part of the structure. 

As I said, it is a strange, but all to true tale of our past. I thank my son Eric who first told me about this bridge and did the initial research.

Postcard from Yuma - Tank

While this photo may look like it was taken during the North African campaign in 1942, in fact, I took it less than a week ago at the Yuma Proving Grounds, a large military testing facility (1,300 square miles) located just north of Tucson. There, just off of Highway 95, there is a large collection of tanks, rockets, and artillery on display for anyone to see.

The YPG has been around since 1942. Much of the equipment on display here has seen action in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and even the Gulf War. They were all tested here prior to being put into action.  If you go there, you may notice a lot of dust off in the distance from moving vehicles…more than likely current model tanks on training missions…and don’t be surprised if you hear some rather large booms as they also test artillery and bombs here.

I just could not resist this shot of one of the older tanks with a longer gun barrel, using a wide angle lens. Now you may notice that this photo looks a little different than most photos. That is because I processed it using some new Photoshop filters that recently acquired. It gives it a bit of a painterly appearance, although, in my opinion it remains a photograph. Once I began playing with this new filter, I started doing some other photos, some of which may appear here in the future.

I really like this picture very much. If you ever get down to the Yuma area, be sure and visit the YPG’s display of military hardware. Also, look to see if you can spot the secret airbase that the Army says does not exist.

Postcard from the Canyonlands–Mesa Arch

Every morning, exactly at sunrise, something special happens at Mesa Arch. For a few minutes, the bottom of the arch takes on a bright orange glow, giving photographers who get there early enough, a chance to take a special image they will treasure forever.

On this day, only a few days ago, I got my second chance to see the glow. Two years ago, I was there, but the sun rose behind some clouds, giving the glow a very muted glow. But on this day, the sun rose in all its glory, unobstructed by clouds, or anything else for that matter…and Mesa Arch lit up.

Mesa Arch is located in the “Island in the Sky” section of Canyonlands National Park, on the edge of a cliff that overlooks some marvelous Canyonlands scenery. It is off the road by about 1/3 of a mile and requires a hike in darkness to get there before sun-up. My friend Dave and I made the hike and arrived in plenty of time to set up our tripods, mount the cameras, and select our lens and image settings. We were not the first to arrive as another photographer had beaten us there and was set up, ready to go. Before the sun came up, we were joined by 8 other photographers.

You see, Mesa Arch is not unknown in the photography world.

Never-the-less, we were ready for the sun to make its appearance…and it finally did, in all its glory. The arch lit up and soon thereafter, the canyons below also got enough light to make a great image. We all shot and shot and shot until the glow finally started to fade.

It was a glorious morning made better by the fact I got the shot I always wanted to get. By the way, this was Dave’s 4th attempt to get the shot and he was happy also to finally achieve his goal. Life is good.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Postcard from the Arches–Turret Arch

 

I am back in Tucson after a nearly week-long photo expedition to the Moab, Utah area. With this comfortable little city as our base, my friend and fellow photographer Dave Forester and I traveled to both the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Both of us have been this area before, but it is always great to come back here for the beauty and to capture specific images that we did not get before.

We did the greatest portion of our shooting at sunrise and sunset, the so-called “Golden Hours” of photography. On some days, the light didn’t work out…on others, it happened exactly as hoped. So, all-in-all it was a successful trip. And you will be seeing some of the results here.

One of the things I wanted to experiment with was HDR photography, which stands for High Dynamic Range. This is a relative new area of photography, made possible by special software and multiple exposure shots. 

To be more specific, HDR is the post-processing of a series of images, combining them, and adjusting the contrast ratios to do things that are virtually impossible with a single shot. To accomplish the photography part, you take anyway from 3 to 5 exposures of the same scene at the same time, each one at a different exposure. In my case, I shot 3 quick exposures…one +1 stop, one at –1 stop and one at the normal exposure. I let the camera’s on-board light meter determine the exact exposure.

This is Turret Arch at sunrise, right after the sun’s rays first fell on the arch. Again, I combined all three exposures to come up with this photo…and in comparing it to a perfectly exposed single shot, this is a much better image. The big difference is that a one shot photo could not capture the brightness of the sky with so much of the ground in shadows. The ground would be way too dark or the sky way too bright.

It is close to what I saw with my eyes that morning…remember a single digital photo only can capture an image with a variance of 3-4 stops…while the human eye has a range of 10 stops.  That is quite a difference. HDR photography allows one to make an image close to what the eye sees.

There will be more HDR photos coming your way soon, so stay tuned.

Postcard from Chicago–The BP Bridge

Another fascinating architectural wonder of Millennium Park is the BP Bridge, a 935 foot-long pedestrian bridge that snakes it way up from the Park, across Columbus Parkway, then down to Daley Bicentennial Plaza, Grant Park and Lake Michigan.  And snakes is the operative word here as it winds its way up over and down.

It is difficult to photograph the bridge as a whole unless you are in an airplane or helicopter…so I can just show you parts of it here. I find it to be a photographers dreams because of its unusual construction and its twists and turns.  Its fun to create images from different angles both on and off the bridge.

For a pedestrian bridge, I found it quite wide as you can see from the second photo. The walkway is covered with weather-resistant Brazilian hardwood boards.  It has a gentle 5% grade which makes it easier on folks with handicap issues and there is no railing along the sides. The sides of the bridge are made of stainless steel.

Photo #3 shows the bridge crossing Columbus Parkway and how close it is to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion…and how the bridge and the pavilion designs blend together.

After the park opened, some of the bridge's foibles became apparent. The bridge has had to be closed during the winter because freezing conditions make it unsafe. Since the bridge is over an expressway-like trench of Columbus Drive, shoveling the snow onto passing cars is not an option and the Brazilian hardwood would be damaged by rock salt. The city not only mandates that the bridge be swept and washed daily, but also that the parapets be wiped free of fingerprints.

It is called BP Bridge as British Petroleum (of gulf oil spill fame) paid $5 million for the naming rights.  Believe me, there was some controversy over that.

If you would like more in-depth information about the bridge, its design, construction, aerial photos, and controversies, check out the interesting article on Wikipedia.

Postcard from Chicago–More from Millennium Park

 

In my last entry, I showed you the Chicago skyline as seen through the trellis works of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Now, here are 2 photos of the pavilion itself:

The first photo shows the pavilion as seen from the Great Lawn. Now, you can see how the trellis connects to the stage…and by having people in this photo, you get a better feel for its immense size. As I said last time, the Pavilion itself seats 4,000 people and the Great Lawn, under the trellis, accommodates an additional 7,000 people. The Pavilion stands 120-feet high, with a billowing headdress of brushed stainless steel ribbons that frame the stage opening and connect to the overhead trellis of crisscrossing steel pipes. It was designed by Frank Gehry.

The second photo, which I photographed last spring on my first visit (which explains why there are tulips in the photo), is the side of the pPvilion.  The structure which rises above the stage needs to be seen from all angles to be appreciated.

As I wrote this blog, I suddenly realized how much a role architecture played in my last visit to Chicago. Besides Millennium Park, I saw photos on display at the Chicago Institute of Art of the many buildings designed by Louis H. Sullivan as well as architectural remnants from his buildings that have been demolished over time. But, I also got to see a few of his buildings that still exist today. Amazing structures…way ahead of their time.

In addition, I also visited the home of another famous Chicago architect and one-time apprentice to Sullivan, none other than Frank Lloyd Wright. A future blog will cover my visit to his home in nearby Oak Park. 

Postcard from Chicago–Millennium Park

Millennium Park in downtown Chicago is an architectural wonder…amazing structures that defy description and must be seen to be believed! You have seen some of those wonders here before…the Fountain with the changing faces of Chicagoans, the Bean (of course) and a few others I have not shown you (but will).

I love this picture of part of the Chicago downtown skyline as seen through part of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, home for concerts and music festivals. In a future edition, I will show you the stage which deserves its own blog to be really appreciated. What you see here is a huge trellis that connects to the stage. The trellis supports the sound system, which spans the 4,000 fixed seats and the Great Lawn, which accommodates an additional 7,000 people.

Enough of the explanations…just enjoy this photo…the vertical straight lines of the Chicago skyscrapers as seen through the curved lines of the pavilion's trellis. It’s a photographer and artist’s dream…straight lines offset by beautiful proportional flowing curves, with some lovely autumn colors thrown in for fun…so pleasing to the eye.

Such a beautiful downtown.   

Postcard from Chicago–Marathon

We were up early and out the door by 7:00 AM on Sunday Morning, 10/10/10. My friend Susan and I took a bus to a Green Line elevated train station, then headed north into the Loop to transfer to a Pink Line train.

So what were we doing up so early to get a Pink Line train? We were off to watch the Chicago Marathon from the Pilsen Neighborhood as the runners came by at mile 19. Chicago’s Marathon is one of the biggest and most important marathons in the world (one of the five top marathons)…38,000 runners competing to run 26+ miles in the fastest times possible. Of course, only a handful of world-class runners are part of that crowd and they are in it for the money, competition, and glory. The rest are just amateurs who want to push themselves to the limit of their endurance and better their existing times.

In Chicago, the Marathon is a big deal…streets are shut down, bus routes are changed, a hundreds of thousands of people line the 26 mile raceway. For us, it is an exciting and moving experience to see this event, and even in our small way, to participate. More on that later.

As we rode the elevated train through The Loop, we could see thousands of runners crossing the Chicago River on the LaSalle Street bridge heading north on the first part of their journey. That in itself was amazing to see.

We chose to go to Pilsen as it is mainly a Hispanic section and we were told they really put on an extravaganza for this event….and our information was correct. Pilsen residents were cheering, banging on drums, holding signs encouraging their favorite runners and celebrating this major event.

We got there just in time to see the lead runner heading down 18th St. As I said earlier, the runners had already done 19 miles when we saw them. We joined in the crowd cheering them all on. Most looked in pretty good shape, but a few showed signs of exhaustion. Ambulances and police were there to assist any runner who needed help.

Soon, the number of runners passing us got larger and larger. Walking down 18th Street, we came to the Gatorade and water stations where runners could refresh themselves.  There were a ton of volunteers to help with that.

Soon, we came to a number of large children’s swimming pools, filled with water and sponges…and volunteers handing out water-soaked sponges to any runners that wanted them. They appeared to be short of volunteers, so Susan and I grabbed some sponges and started handing them out.

That morning, we gave out hundreds of sponges to runners. Some of them had enough energy to thank us, which I found amazing. For that moment in time, I was part of the Marathon and part of Chicago…and it felt very good.

The Marathon itself lasted long into the day. We even saw runners down on 33rd St. as we headed home in the late afternoon on the El. Of the 38,000 who participated, just about 36,000 finished. All 23 of the wheelchair participants also finished…as did 8 runners from the Achilles Team of Wounded Veterans. The first nine finishing runners were from either Kenya or Ethiopia. Those guys can run.

It was very special to see these runners and wheelchair participants from all over the world. It was a highlight of this Chicago trip, for sure. When I get some extra time, I will post some of the best photos from the Marathon into an album and post them to the Net. Will let you know when it is done.

Postcard from the Cascades - Autumn

It was around 92 today here in Tucson. As usual, I was running around in shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals. I took a short trip this week to spend time with my son and his wife in Yuma, where it was in the mid to high 80’s. Let’s face it, I live in a land where summer lasts 6 months and the rest of the year is like a warm Spring…Which of course explains the existence of snowbirds.

Anyway, I was talking to a friend up in the Northwest where the temperature was in the low 50’s today and heading down…and I began to miss the beautiful autumns I experienced up there in the Cascade Mountains for so many Octobers. Thankfully I have many photos from those times, a few of which I have shared here from time to time.  Here is another.

Another friend of mine, who was born and raised in Maine, came through the Cascades one year to visit and he remarked that Maine had nothing on the Cascade Mountains. It is spectacularly beautiful…so I hope you forgive me if now and then I share a photo from that area.

Postcard from Rome–The Coliseum

I am taking a break from my Chicago trip to show you an image from one of my trips to Rome…the famous Roman Coliseum. I love this image as it reminds me of all my special times in Italy.  It was shot on slide film, then converted to Black and White.  It was photographed at sunset.

This most famous structure of the Roman Empire was completed in 80 AD. It was originally called Amphitheatrum Flavium (Latin), or the Flavium Amphitheater. It is located in the center of Rome, at one end of the Roman Forum and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering.

In the days of the Dark Ages, after the fall of the empire, it was stripped of all its marble, and much of its stone…not to mention the bronze clamps which held the stonework together. These were pried or hacked out of the walls, leaving numerous pockmarks which still scar the building today. What makes it even more remarkable is the the structure is still standing as it should have collapsed with these supports removed. The Romans knew how to build.

Originally, it was used for gladiator combat, animal hunts and other such Roman entertainments. It was once filled with water and used for a naval battle with real ships. But, contrary to the belief of many, it was never used to burn or crucify Christians during the days of persecution. But funding for the construction did come from the booty collected during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

The original structure must have been a site to behold. But even in its current condition, it is a major tourist attraction. I hope you can all see it in your lifetime.  As the old saying goes, “When in Rome…”

Postcard from Chicago–The Drug Deal

Today’s blog has nothing to do with the picture you see here.  This photo is of “The Bean” in Millennium Park, which I‘ve written about here before...and while this photo shows one of the best parts of Chicago, my story concerns a more seamy side.

It occurred on my last day in Chicago…in fact, my last few hours. My friend Susan and I were riding the #55 bus that starts at Jackson Park along Lake Michigan and travels along 55th Street, all the way west to Midway Airport. I was headed back to Tucson and Susan was riding with me to the airport.

As we caught the bus early on its route, we were sitting right up front with my suitcase.  The ride to the airport takes about an hour…and while the bus route starts in Hyde Park, one of the more beautiful areas of Chicago, it also passes through some of the lesser desirable neighborhoods of Chicago.

Somewhere along the route, a young man in a baggy t-shirt got on board. I didn’t think anything unusual about him. He sat down near us and shortly began talking on his cell phone. As his voice was loud, it became clear he was talking to someone he was going to meet and that his friend had a somewhat limited intelligence.

He began telling his friend what bus he was on and to watch for it. He had to explain several times what street the bus was on and which side of the street it was on. As the bus approached the appointed rendezvous, he had to keep shouting to his friend that he was in the front of the bus and to look down 55th Street so he could see the bus.

His friend apparently figured it out and was waiting for the bus as it pulled up at the stop. The man on the bus (let’s call him the dealer), stood by the driver at the front of the bus. A couple of other folks were there also, ready to get off. As the doors opened the dealer allowed the two people to get out, then stepped down to the bottom step by the door and held out his hand, which I could see carried a wad of cash. His contact, the drugee, reached in with his hand, took something, then took off running down the street.

The dealer then stepped back and resumed his seat on the bus as if nothing had happened. It all happened so fast that it didn’t register for a few seconds what was going down. At first, because I had seen the wad of cash, I thought he was lending a friend some money, but after a few seconds, I realized it was a drug deal. Had to be. It was a move that had been practiced several times and the drugee was probably a regular. We guessed the drug passed off was crack as it is a cheap drug of choice for many poorer drug users.

After a few more stops, the dealer finally got off the bus and we continued on to the airport. Nobody on the bus said anything, not even the driver. I figured it happens many times a day on buses all over Chicago and that the driver would put her life in jeopardy if she said anything.

It was something to see and we had a ringside seat…and I hope never such a thing again. It was a reminder that Chicago and other cities are not just all peaches and cream for tourists like me. There is a darker side of big and little cities alike that haunts us all.

Postcard from Chicago–Here’s Looking at You

Now this is something you don’t see everyday…and you won’t be seeing it for much longer if you live in Chicago.

This is a 30 foot sculpture of artist Tony Tasset’s eyeball. “What?” you say. True enough. It’s a piece of art designed to help attract tourists, or so its rumored. Well, it attracted me anyway…the Tucson tourist. It’s made of steel reinforced fiberglass and it costs somewhere in the six figures, though Tasset is not very forthcoming about specific dollar figures.

The sculpture is installed at Pritzker Park on State Street in downtown Chicago, but will be taken down after Halloween (how appropriate is that). So if you are in Chicago sometime in the next two weeks, be sure and drop by. 

I will have more images and stories from my most recent trip to Chicago coming soon.