light – Page 29 – Yip Abides

Dunelands

Chicago’s Loyola Park is graced by an extensive beach. As large as it is, in the days before ubiquitous air conditioning, one could expect it to be heavily occupied. Think of it as a human Serengeti Plain with herds of various humans replacing African wildlife. With concerns about skin cancer and other, cooler alternatives, the traffic in the 21st Century is not so heavy.

Somewhere around the turn of the century, someone at the Chicago Park District had the bright idea of recreating the dunes that once lined the shores. With less summer traffic, there would be space to plant dune grasses that would anchor the sand from wind and water erosion, letting nature handle some of the work of beach maintenance. With less summer traffic, there would be room for dune grasses to be protected from being trampled. As it is a “green” project, much of the work of planting and weeding might be done by volunteers. In many ways, it’s a project lifted out of the pages of McHarg’s Design with Nature.

200xloyolapark — I don’t recall the date but sometime around the turn of the century, a section of the beach was loosely fenced and dune grasses were planted. Photo by Roman.

I wish I could tell the story of how this project came to flower, but I don’t know it. And that’s not what this post is about. Rather, I want to explore the beauty of the dune grasses and the wonderful way photography can lie.

2003-041 — It’s early 2003. The grasses are just beginning to remake the beach into a dune. The camera makes it look like an endless plain, but it’s no more than a few hundred feet. Photo by Roman.

2006jul-055a — It’s July of 2006 and the grasses are becoming more various and the sand is accumulating. Once again, the camera makes it look a nearly endless expanse. Photo by Roman.

2006jul-067 — Another look at July, 2006. Photo by Roman.

2006may-005 — The developing dune earlier in 2006. Photo by Roman.

2018. Notice the roped pathway on the left; dune grasses do not tolerate much traffic. Also, this is a home for nesting birds. Photo by Roman.

Above

Photo by Roman.

North Park Village Nature Center

A few days before Christmas, a friend and I paid a visit to the North Park Village Nature Center. This is located between Bryn Mawr Avenue and Peterson Avenue along Pulaski Road in Chicago. Extending eastward to Central Park Avenue, it occupies 46 acres of the 155 acre North Park Village campus. North Park Village is senior citizen housing.

The Nature Center is a Chicago Park District facility. Most of it, I’m told, is an Oak savanna: lightly forested prairie dominated by one or another species of Oak. Competing trees and underbrush are kept down by fire or poor soil or human intervention. There are also two ponds in a wetland area. As you might imagine, it’s a good place for watching birds and deer. (The geezers feed them.)

dsc01196a — A nice example of an oak savanna. (Pretend the background buildings are a glacial moraine.) It was shortly after noon, but the winter shadows were long. Photo by Roman.

dsc01198a — Fallen trees were common, including snags that leaned precariously on the living. There is something about living wood in winter that glows. You can almost see it here. Photo by Roman.

dsc01205a — Moss or lichen? Oh woe for my high school biology teacher that I cannot remember! Photo by Roman.

dsc01210a — At times, Chicago was not obvious. Photo by Roman.

dsc01213a — I keep trying to capture the shining golden quality of withered leaves, but it comes out brown in photos. Photo by Roman.

dsc01216a — Here the glow is almost captured by the photo. Photo by Roman.

Freezer Burn

should have known better…

Let this be a warning to all young trees who stay up long past bedtime in the Autumn!

The Light

Shaped by Wind

Tree shaped by the prevailing winds, Morse Avenue near Wayne. Photo by Roman

Casual Shadows

I plead no contest to the charge of being fascinated by shadows and the odd perspectives they inspire. Fall (and Spring) are good times for shadow:

201811shadowa — Sheridan Road near Morse Avenue. Photo by Roman.

Self-portrait in absence. Photo by Roman.

Waves

While Lake Michigan often gives unwary visitors an oceanic feel, it rarely comes very close to the mountainous rages of the real thing. This is about as lively as you’re likely to see, though the Lake can do better. Nonetheless, it was an odd Fall day. Both the Lake and the clouds seemed to come in waves, and the light did strange things with the air. It gave the afternoon a magical feeling of expectancy.

If this were fiction, it might be the setting for a story about a forlorn ghost that searches for the answer to a simple question: Why?

This isn’t fiction. But for the air and the light, it was a mundane afternoon.

Why? We still don’t know. Photo by Roman.

Under a Sodium Vapor Moon

Some experimental* autumnal low-light photography of the neighborhood:

20181108d — Under a sodium vapor moon. Photo by Roman.

20181108h — Outside the Red Line. Photo by Roman.

20181108i — The Rapture? Photo by Roman.

20181108k — Late for home. Photo by Roman.

* continuing to look at these photos constitutes consent, absolving Yip Abides of any responsibility for aesthetic or emotional side-effects. You have been informed!

I’ve often wondered why, in the “Arts”, the term experimental is meant to be good. And why the consumers of such material are never asked to provide their informed consent nor informed of any potential issues consumption might bring… unlike in medicine, for example.

The Light! The Dark! The Day!

and Captain Beefheart…