Commuting with Nature

Over the beautiful 3-day weekend, I took a little trip west with Dr. B to do some hiking at Starved Rock State Park.

I haven't had a change of scenery since my business trip to Lake Geneva and brief weekend in New Jersey in early June. I don't count those trips because they were very busy, hard work, and let's face it - New Jersey is... well... New Jersey.

There are no pictures of this trip -- sorry. I just wanted to experience some relaxation instead of photographing it. Besides, the coolest things about the trip couldn't be photographed.

For example, I saw my first hummingbird. I seem to remember from some class in grade school that they beat their wings at 80 beats per minute. However, I don't remember learning that they are so tiny! They are the size of dragonflies; adorable little things, really.

We also saw a deer and her fawn. These little ladies were so tame; they stood chewing their leaves about 100 feet from the trail. It is probably a bad thing that they were so comfortable with us, but I don't think I'll get much of a chance to see a tiny fawn up that close again. Not rushing up to touch her was difficult. She looked so soft and cute. Just like Bambi.

The park is beautiful, and I was glad to be out of the city. However, however... I know there is a rich history behind the name of the park,(Starved Rock) but I would have named it after the canyon and not the rock. The rock is kind of no big deal and takes about five minutes to get up to. The view of the damn is so-so. The canyon was just short of
spectacular. The waterfall was going full blast, and if it weren't for the screaming children, it would have been very peaceful.

After about 4 hours of walking around in the park, up and down stairs (they say the rocks are too slippery to let us climb around au naturel,)we decided to go find the lodge and get some dinner. Wonderful food, great service at the S.R. Lodge, by the way. Right outside I got a nastywasp sting on the neck. Wanna know why I got the sting? The whole timewe were out walking, I didn't get a single mosquito bite. Stupid me, I announced the fact. "Oh, wow, I haven't gotten a single mosquito bite." I know that is an invitation to the bugs, I do know that! When will I ever learn? Anyhow, the hostess at the lodge was very sweet. She brought me ice, and just about everything from the first aid kit.

The next day we went to Matthiessen state park and went horseback riding. I loved being on a horse again - I used to ride a lot when I was a kid. I would have preferred to get off the trail and take that baby for a spin through the park, but I was good. I stayed in formation and let the horse crawl as slow as he could.

Then we took a short detour through the booming metropolis of Sandwich,Illinois. They are supposed to have a wonderful antique mall there, which I guess they do, but it is only open every other week. And of course, we arrived on a week where there was no antiquing to be had at the mall.

We did find a cute little store though, that among other things, had a book called "Fun with Our Friends." This book was my first-grade reader. I remember it so well, because I still have that book. It is a Dick and Jane type book with a very, very catholic bent. (One chapter I remember is about the "blessed mother's" birthday). Out of curiosity, I inquired as to the price of the book. $80! I've got a little treasure at home.

The remarkable thing about this store though wasn't anything on the inside. It was the vending machines on the outside. The first one in a line of four was a normal Coke machine that sold all sorts of coke products. The machine next to it had a big picture of a fish on it. It sold, no shit, live bait. Night crawlers, meal worms, grubs, and all sorts of nasty bugs were to be had from a vending machine.

We couldn't leave sandwich without eating one, and we found a cute little shop off the main drag that was very earthy-crunchy vegetarian friendly. If I could remember the name, I'd recommend it to you. They put yellow tomatoes on my sandwich, which is pretty damned exciting.

As we doubled back from Sandwich, we saw many corn fields giving way to strip malls and luxury housing. I know that is the way of the world, but it was really sad. The poor hicks who live out there, just about 70 miles from the city, have no idea what's coming their way.

It was a very pleasant trip, but not one that I would categorize as too short or inadequate. It was just the trip I needed to last me until the big vacation in October.