This is all I really wanted from our trip to North Dakota: The open road and wide, wide horizons. (That, and finally visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park, see [...]
For weeks my daughter had been nudging that she wanted to go hike trail 10 in the Indiana Dunes. She wanted to relive a childhood experience. We had taken the [...]
In these days of the Coronavirus Pandemic, urban unrest and ensuing heightened uncertainty, I have found trips down memory lane especially meaningful and calming. They connect me to my former [...]
Row Houses on St. Lawrence Ave, Pullman Historic District, Chicago Chicago is like that: In its farther reaches, bland wide streets lined with strip malls or highways with twisting on- [...]
View of Sand Beach, Acadia National Park, Maine, May 2019 Before we left on our recent trip to Acadia National Park, an acquaintance recommended I read Evangeline - A Tale [...]
"...when [you] remember feeling joyfully bound to the whole earth or even universe -- [those moments] are most likely to be associated with being alone, and often alone outside." found [...]
Not a place where we could eat, but it was still fun to see Paul Prudhomme's original restaurant still operational. I have his Fork in the Road cookbook, and his [...]
How can a public place can be so personal? How can I be so attached to a place I don't own, maintain, nor have a say in its very existence? [...]
Yesterday morning I had occasion to walk around the downtown Chicago neighborhood of Streeterville where I used to work eight years ago. It's always interesting to see how much it [...]
Temperatures have soared in Chicago, and so it's fitting that my beach article appeared on kveller today. The idea for it occurred to me many years ago while sprawled on [...]
From my traditional annual visit to Chicago's downtown Christkindlmarket, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! It's been unseasonably warm here, no snow flakes and icy cold to company my sipping [...]
My days as the writer-in-residence at the Hemingway House in Oak Park are drawing to a close, and so I decided to document my drive there. I have come to [...]
I miss the Osaka Japanese Garden; now is the time of year when I would seek it out on a spring time walk. My kids consider it "theirs." Goes [...]
I have returned to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), where I'm trying to be immensely productive during my two-week residency. When I get tired, or need to rev [...]
I consider living along the Chicago lakefront one of the great blessings of my life. The other day I went for one of my favorite walks, along Rogers Park [...]
My photo essay "Capture Magic that Hangs by a Gossamer Thread" appears in the winter 2015 issue of Bella Grace magazine, on sale as of today, December 1. Last [...]
It might look like I traveled to the Middle East to take this picture, but I only traveled to the far South Side of Chicago to peek into the interior [...]
Our Chicago - Eleven Writers on their City - Edited by Annette Gendler | Make Your Own Book I published a book with my students! Our Chicago is a collection of [...]
Our country property in Indiana is finally, gloriously saturated with green. I've never been so hungry and so thirsty for green! After this long hard winter and all its [...]
Drawing Room Lamp, Driehaus Museum Two blocks west of the Magnificent Mile, on Erie Street, there is to be found a marble palace. It is, from the outside, an stately [...]
I'm usually not a spring person, but this year I am hungry (hungry!) for spring flowers and vibrant colors, and so yesterday I took myself on an Artist's Date to [...]
This photo is from one of my jaunts during my time at the VCCA. Since I'm bummed by all the snow we've had, yet again, here at home in Chicago, [...]
President Jefferson's Monticello estate in winter While I was at the VCCA, I visited Monticello, President Thomas Jefferson's estate. It is near Charlottesville, a good hour's drive from [...]
Before winter became heavy, it came softly. Before we had 3+ feet of snow on the ground, there were just tracks of snow swinging through the woods. I really [...]
On Monday I treated myself to a walk on the lakefront. "Treated," because going for a walk is a major operation these days, involving long underwear, serious snow boots [...]
Oh, the serenity of a residency at the VCCA! I've returned to my everyday life in Chicago, and already VCCA's calm and focused atmosphere seems elusive. So I thought I'd [...]
I can hardly believe my good fortune to have been granted another residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), and so, when I arrived and temperatures were [...]
New York - January Beacon Theatre on Broadway - the announcement of the Groenemeyer Concert caught my eye and led to a wonderful concert experience later in Chicago. {related blog [...]
Pierce Hall, in its current state of half demolition For my Artist's Dates these past two weeks, I attended the two-evening Bookmakers program offered jointly by the Smart Museum and the [...]
My son and I had the most thrilling adventure on Sunday: After shopping at Bass Pro Shop for his upcoming science fair project, we stopped by a park down the [...]
Last week I treated myself to what Julia Cameron calls an Artist's Date, time spent by yourself in an interesting location to replenish the soul and gather images for the creative [...]
Open House Chicago is one of those events that delights me to no end because I get to explore and learn and discover beauty I never knew was there. Hosted [...]
The Make Way for Ducklings sculpture in the Public Garden in Boston, created by Nancy Schön Oh, the power of fiction! Especially children's fiction! It had my kids and me retracing [...]
Spinning wheel at the Steeple Building, Bishop Hill, Illinois On our visit to Bishop Hill, my friend Barbara and I spent a considerable amount of time in the Steeple Building, [...]
Bishop Hill Post Office These days I am itching for some serenity, probably because my family's summer schedule isn't really a schedule. As soon as I'm into a new routine, [...]
LaSalle Canyon Wall, photo taken by my friend Barbara Schlund Starved Rock is one of my favorite places to hike, and when my friend Barbara was visiting, we stopped by [...]
Urns in garden wall of Moore-Dugal Residence, built in 1895 by Frank Lloyd Wright Once in a while, it's fun to play tourist in your own town. While my kids are [...]
Cypress trees dripping with moisture on the way to the lighthouse at Point Reyes. Since today is November 1, and I have so far been celebrating fall with roaring colors, [...]
I am immensely grateful to our friend who sowed sunflower seeds on an empty spot on our property in Indiana, because the dry sunflowers now make great models for [...]
A hiking trip to Starved Rock State Park, a two hour drive from Chicago, is one of those traditions my daughter insists on. We just have to make it [...]
I took this snapshot while leaving the lobby of the Powhatan - I loved the red of the event shuttle bus as background to the two figures, the woman [...]
I'm thrilled that this photo of mine appeared on Shutter Sisters as part of their "weekending" series, so I figured I'd better share it with you all as well. [...]
Bonnet on a peg board at Shaker Village - if only life could be this tidy. Last weekend I stole away from the Kentucky Women Writers Conference and spent [...]
Pulling out of the dock, Alcatraz comes into view. We had the perfect slightly gloomy day when we visited Alcatraz on our family vacation to California in August. Touring [...]
Boy in a Bubble - my youngest was the only one in the right weight class to go walking on water. Going to the Porter County Fair in Valparaiso, [...]
Cruising onto Lake Shore Drive at 57th Street at 5:45 a.m. My kids and I biked Lake Shore Drive back in May. It's taken me this long to report [...]
Starved Rock State Park - Illinois Canyon in Spring This is the last day of May, and one could say spring is officially over, since in the U.S. we [...]
Going to the Maple Sugar Time Festival in the Indiana Dunes is one family tradition I started when the kids were little. Since we missed it last year, my [...]
Since I went with my two older kids when they were in 3rd and then 4th grade, a trip with my youngest, now in 6th grade, was overdue. So [...]
Mastin Batson House, 1819, on Franklin Street in Huntsville, Alabama This holiday season I didn't manage a photo trip to capture some of the kitschier Christmas decorations [...]