I can’t believe it’s already time to flip another calendar page
& time to change our clocks this weekend!

Another beautiful Fall day in Chicago!

More Autumn Fun at the orchard! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Indian Corn… or I think we now appropriately call it Ornamental Corn… still on the corn stalk?! Plus a lot of apples no longer on the trees!!!

Also intrigued by the not-quite-pretty pumpkins… whether they’re still on the vine & just not ready yet… or have somehow “gone bad.” Like withering away, drying up, being eaten in the field or just simply rotting away. It’s kinda like “roadkill” in the pumpkin patch!

So much fun at the pumpkin patch on a beautiful Autumn day! So many to choose from… colors, shapes, gourds, warts & stems!!! Celebrating NATIONAL PUMPKIN DAY!

With some much-welcomed sun streaming through, I was enamored by these little pink berries I had never noticed before?! I believe the plant is an invasive vine/bush called “Spindle”???… at least according to my phone’s plant app!!! Still cute though!

Yesterday was a great day for wandering. I spent most of the day hiking at Rock Cut State Park in Rockford. There’s a special fondness for this place as we camped there frequently as kids. Nice to have fond memories as you hike around the lake. Taking your time to see the colors & appreciate Mother Nature’s handiwork… especially as the colors are starting to change!

Last night was kind of AMAZING!!!

I got a late night text from my friend Tiffany asking if I was “outside.” I had just gotten home from the studio, changed clothes & settled in to enjoy a night of SURVIVOR. She said you can see The Northern Lights over Lake Michigan… and even sent me a photo to “prove” it!!! So I immediately hopped in my car, zoomed over to the lake, parked, got out… and saw nothing but black sky?! Wait… what?! Did I miss it??? Nope!!! Apparently you can only see it through your phone’s camera??? Weird. So what else is my phone seeing that I can’t?!!!

Anyway, I got there in time for about 15 minutes of The Northern Lights sky show!!! It was pretty cool… but I was a little underwhelmed just cause I only saw black skies myself?! But I guess it’s “real”?… ‘cuz my phone told me so??? And I’ll take it!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!

A beautiful day for a bike ride north along the lafefront, past mansions & scenic vistas… past lighthouses & Ravinia Festival. Through Openlands Lakeshore Preserve & Fort Sheridan. Pedaling north until the “Path Ends” much like a Shel Silverstein book. HA!!! Then a quick lunch at Waukegan Harbor, and then a return trip home.

Only after hanging out at the Waukegan Lighthouse… where you could actually see Chicago way off in the distance!!! Funny I’ve never noticed that before?!