Sherrill 1 Studios: Screaming on the Skyway

Hello

my friends,

I hope all is well with you.

Al and I made a "whirlwind"

trip to Chicago this last weekend.

What a trip it was.

We drove to Chicago and back in about 24 hours.

Our reason for the trip was to watch our son graduate from college.

Of course my camera went along for the trip.

I am always looking for things to paint

and my camera

is a very important part of that process.

The shore line view from the Navy pier.

On our way up 65 we stopped at Fair Oaks Farms.

It is a large dairy operation that invites

visitors to have a look at the business from the inside.

This is part of the herd going for a ride on the carousel.

It was really pretty interesting.

The cows get on and off the carousel by themselves.

While they are on their ride the workers stand at floor level

and attach the milking machines.

They wait patiently to get out of the holding pen. That bar across the top either keeps them back or moves them forward as needed.

I have never seen so many cows in one place in my life.

We watched a cow have her calf. This worker was ready to

pull the calf out of the afterbirth. Now, THAT's a job.

What a miracle to watch a new life being born.

Freshly born. Look at that eye seeing the world for the first time.

We stayed for a few hours and then we were on our way on to Chicago.

__________

Could you hear the screams?

That was me as I drove over the Skyway.

You see, I don't like heights.

No, not at all.

And I was driving.

But, we made it.

We shelled out around 8 dollars

in toll fees to get to the hotel.

Four dollars of that were on the Skyway alone.

BUT

we made it to the hotel.

We were ready to get out of the van, so that was nice.

After dinner (twenty bucks a piece) and a little rest

we traveled down to Navy Pier

for a look around.

Al having a "session" with Bob Newhart.

We parked in a parking garage about a half mile away

and walked into the pier area.

To say there was a lot of people would be an understatement.

Wow.

So many people.

People of every shape

and size.

I am sure that I looked quite the small town bumpkin, as I walked and stared with my mouth hanging open.

We could have just sat down and watched the crowd go by and that would have entertained me for the night.

This gentleman wore his pants so low that he had to hold them

on his body with his hands in his pockets.

His entire underwear covered rear

was out for the world to see.

That was new for me.

Granted, I live in Kokomo,

but I had never seen them worn this low.

Dinner cruises were available. There were three boats at the dock that night.

They advertised dancing, dinner and a cruise.

The lines of people waiting to get boarded were long, but happy.

It was obvious that a good time was ahead for these folks.

This young man drives a

bicycle "taxi".

For a fee he will drive

you around the city.

There were a group of about 15

of these guys waiting

on fares by the

entry gate to the pier.

What a wonderful view.

We discussed riding this.

We decided against it due to fear of heights.

We ate gelato instead.

What a show.

By the way, parking for an hour and a half was $24.00.

Oh.... life in the big city.
It just seemed that every time we turned around
we were shelling out at least $20 for some goods or service.
Maybe all big cities are like this.
Or, maybe it was because we were tourists
and didn't know how to "survive" in that environment.
How do people live were things are so expensive?
It makes me appreciate little old Kokomo.
Little old boring, cheap...Kokomo.
But it was nice to get out and see new things.

___________

The next day it was time to get ready for Ian's graduation.

I know that I have already discussed a lot of these things on Facebook, but I think this bears repeating. As I stood there and ironed my husband's trousers, I thought about how many of the women in my family before me had ironed their husband's pants. BUT

I think that I am the first to do it with a view of the lake. My life better in many ways.