Walkway along the canal outside of the Garden, as seen from The Fish Watching Spot For a long time I have been meaning to share pictures from my visit [...]
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 wonder what it means if I don't even notice anymore that my writing has gotten published? Have I reached a level of publication success where I can go, [...]
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, [...]
After featuring a renovated Shanghai lane house, I want to give you another insight into living in contemporary Shanghai with a few shots of the home of Patricia Lambert, [...]
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 [...]
These days I am craving some serenity (Our kids' school year is over and the summer chaos of camps, summer school and entertainment has begun.), so I thought I'd [...]
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 [...]
The Bund at night - the clock tower building is the former Customs House, farther along you see the green steepled roof of the Peace Hotel. Typical tourist pictures [...]
Just as the laundry hung out to dry on eletrical cables, parking signs and telephone booths, the prevalence of bikes in the streets of Shanghai struck me as so [...]
Outrageously kitschy and cute - baby ponytail holders at the Dry Goods Market in the Nanshi District of Shanghai. Being an indoor bazaar, the Dry Goods Market is indeed [...]
A tea shop - my favorite photo from our stroll through the market in Nanshi, the Old Town of Shanghai. This area used to be the old walled city of [...]
I really should have started my Shanghai series with sharing photos of this lane house in the Jing'an District, as it was the first place my friend took me [...]
It struck me that in Shanghai laundry is everywhere, except the strict business area along the riverfront. Otherwise, in any halfway residential area, laundry is hung out to dry. [...]
Old meets new in this view of Hongkou rooftops sharing the sky with the top of the Shanghai World Financial Center, built across the Huang Pu River in Pudong, [...]
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 [...]
Here's a different kind of writing for you: Candle Smoke Writing, or rather, historical graffiti. My son and I stopped by Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky on our [...]
Even though I don't celebrate Christmas, in December a visit to the Christkindlmarket downtown Chicago is obligatory - mainly because I can find favorite German delicacies there that I [...]
My 11-year-old son is off from school already this week, and he wanted to go to the zoo (Who knew?). So yesterday we spent the morning at Lincoln Park [...]
In Chicago you don't have to go to a museum to experience art. Rather, you'll encounter it on your everyday ramblings. Case in point: The other day I dropped one [...]
Sometimes life hands you bliss on a silver platter – but how to capture that joy? I will give it a try here by sharing a recent experience, and [...]
Then, as now, windmills dot the flat landscape. They provide the crucial source of power to pump up water. After catching our breath at the alpine views of the [...]
Mesa Arch @ Canyonlands National Park My son has this view as a wallpaper on his computer. I have to admit I always thought it was fake until I [...]
To quote my daughter: "This is cooler than Monument Valley." Some whining from my sons was involved because we were "hiking again" until they realized the arches offered climbing [...]
The Great Salt Lake as seen from Saltair at dusk My number one goal for our visit to Salt Lake City was to float in the Great Salt [...]
One thing I liked at the Hoover Dam: Those cool 1930s Art Deco towers. What to do in Las Vegas with kids? First of all, I must say Las [...]
Early morning drive north on SR-160 to US-95 in Nevada My daughter's number one wish for this road trip (every family member got one) [...]
Driving into Death Valley from the east on SR190 at sunrise - about 5:45 a.m. Going lower. Badwater Pond - salty rather than poisonous as it is fed by [...]
I haven't quite figured out yet what it means to visit great places like Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park a second time, except that it [...]
View from the Glen Canyon Dam down to where to floats disembark One way to keep family members happy on a long road trip is to ask beforehand what [...]
Bluff Fort: The only original cabin still standing sits on local sandstone slabs to keep the wood from rotting. And keep in mind: no chain saw to cut down [...]
The road trip report continues: Here I am in full hiking regalia, ready to tackle what turned out to be a rather tough climb to a plateau overlooking Pueblo [...]
My report from our road trip to the Southwest continues, this time with a program in contrasts: The Texas Panhandle is flat, so flat you feel some higher [...]
Some impressions from the Big American Road Trip with my family, driving from Chicago to explore the Southwest this summer. City Museum St. Louis - the name does it [...]
We visited the Memorial of the Oklahoma City bombing on Thursday. It saddens me how oddly fitting that visit now is given Friday’s rather similar tragedy in Norway. Visits [...]
Many years ago I took a writing class in which the instructor asked us to eavesdrop on a conversation in order to practice writing dialogue. One way to bring [...]
Last weekend I was in Charlotte, NC for the alumni conference of the Queens MFA Program in Creative Writing. I made a point of swinging by downtown and the [...]
My shot of the outside of the synagogue. I love the mix of palm trees and live oak! Today a short note from my travels: I spent [...]