A beautiful sunset as seen from inside Chicago’s Navy Pier while working on some “holiday magic” at Winter WonderFest.

Another dark & gloomy morning…
Until…                                               wait for it…

For about seven minutes this morning the sky was awash with beautiful red clouds.
A short-lived sky show of color.

And then gone… and back to gray.

This morning started very early… about 5:30am meeting up with friends Chris & Leona. Soon enough we were on our way downtown on the EL. Lots of other runners were up & about with us, as the train quickly filled up with runners in layers of moisture-wicking fabrics!

We decided what we were going to wear for the day and dropped off extra clothing & stuff at Gear Check. Them we were ready to get going… kinda chilly. But we knew we would warm up quickly once we started running. Unfortunately, we needed to wait a while for our Corral to cross the starting line. About 45 minutes… waiting… as Wave by Wave before us started the race…

Finally it was time to start…

We were moving closer… and watching footage on the JumboTron.
FORTY THOUSAND RUNNERS!!! All flocking to Grant Park for today’s festivities.

And there it was… finally… the Starting Line!!!
And we’re off…

A leisurely 15 kilometers later we crossed the Finish Line… that’s just under 10 miles.
Chris & Leona were ahead of me, and waiting at the Finish Line. Let me just say, this body is not made for speed. I’m more of an endurance kind of guy. Nonetheless, it was great to see them waiting for me as we got our 15K Finisher Medals.

Then we were off to the Post Race Party for our congratulatory HOT CHOCOLATE MUG & CHOCOLATE FONDUE!!! Along the way, I found my friend Pam. She did the 5K and had already done her chocolate celebration!!!

Chris, Leona and I finally made it the goodies… and it was well worth the run!!!
A fun Hot Chocolate Mug with hot chocolate, marshmallow, chocolate fondue, banana, Rice Krispie Treat, pretzels and sugar wafers… oh yeah, and a wet-nap!!!

The wind was gusting… and I was trying my best to get every drop of chocolate…
apparently, not doing so good at it…

I wasn’t the only one with chocolate on my face…

Back at home, I unloaded my goodies… took a hot shower, did some stretching and went on with my day headed back to the studio! Another fun day… and another 15K under my belt.

Another dark morning. Cold. Windy. Cloudy.
With no chance of a sunrise this morning!!!

After the storms on Halloween, there are still stretches of the bike trail that are showing damage. Sections have been re-paved with fresh asphalt, while others still have “sheets” of asphalt & piles of rubble that were washed right off the cement trail.

After yesterday’s crashing waves, looks like there’s some residual damage along the bike path. It’s going to make this stretch of my morning ride a bit “bumpier” than normal!!! Let’s hope they fix this stretch between Oak Street & North Avenue quickly!

Today we had a crazy amount of “weather” going on around.
Some scary stuff for this Halloween!!!

Drastic drop in temperature. Gusty winds. Rain. Sleet. A bit of snow.
And some huge waves along the Chicago Lakefront. So much so that they had to close down part of northbound Lake Shore Drive!!! Look closely at the top photo, from left to right, southbound lanes, northbound lanes, bike trail with waves over them, crashing waves, lake!!! Yep – been there… on that stretch of bike trail many a morning!!!

More crashing waves. Sadly, I was busy working this afternoon so I didn’t get a chance to go out and play in the storm. I would have loved to get some photos of my own. Although I’m sure my Mom is breathing a sigh of relief that these are someone else’s photos!!!

Looks like THAT curve of the bike path is a bit more treacherous than normal?!!!
Good thing they posted the signs… I’m sure there are still some people trying to get through!

Kinda looks like a frozen tundra out there… say it isn’t so…
but really, it’s still only October!!!

After yesterday’s STUNNING sunrise spectacular… this morning was not.
Sure we had clouds. Sure we had some drama. Hope you like blue…
because that’s what we got. Not quite a sunrise.

And here’s what’s left of the boardwalk that used to take you about 20-feet from the water’s edge. Now you can get extra close to the water at the “flooded beach.”

And then the sky started to lighten up, and I must admit I was still thinking there might be a chance for a cool sunrise. I was wrong. Just more clouds…

Today may have had the MOST INCREDIBLE SUNRISE of the entire summer!
It started out with great clouds, which then splashed color across the morning sky.
So much drama. So many colors. So incredibly beautiful. A perfect Fall sunrise.

I’m sure there’s some “meterological” reason why Fall sunrises are so much more dramatic… but I’d like to think of it as a wonderfully “magic” sky show. Don’t really care how or why… I just LOVE that it happens. Making my mornings even better!!!

This morning I found myself down on Navy Pier when the sky began changing colors. It started with dark colors mixed amongst the gray clouds. A perfect backdrop for the flags & anchor at the east end of the Pier.

Then the sky started to turn shades of red, pink & orange…

And then brighter pinks…

Then onto oranges, indigos and purples…

And then the oranges brightened up, glowing low on the horizon.

Soon enough, the tumultuous rolling cloud formations seemed to be ablaze with colors.
Crazy. Amazing. Colorful. Could it be any more incredible?!

Each transition getting better than the one before.
I just couldn’t stop taking photos – as each one was better than the next.

And then, almost as quickly as the sky turned red & orange, it changed back to shades of blues & grays. Sky show over. At least for today…