Monday, May 08, 2006

Spending some time outdoors

Yesterday I took about a two-hour walk through the woods at a forest preserve near my house. It was a beautiful day with perfect temperatures and gorgeous blue skies. I had been feeling the need to get out of the house and be outdoors, and my walk in the woods was just what I needed. I took my digital camera along with me and took a bunch of pictures. These are some of my favorites.






12 comments:

Mayden' s Voyage said...

Really lovely...the older I get the more I love this time of year.
Good photos, specially the 4th one with the long stretches of green laid out before you.
Hope you get to do it again soon! :)

Gordon Hackman said...

Thanks. I think the fourth one is my favorite too (though I'm partial to the dead tree and the underwater one as well). I love wide landscape pictures in general, and I like the way that one has the path going right up the middle and around the cornerout of sight. It gives it a sense of symetry and of possibility.

Peace,
Gordon

thekid said...

I totally dig the up close flowers and especially the dandelions gone to seed. Seems like some of those ones that homeowners usually curse for their overabundance on the lawn but I remember being a kid and thinking how wonderful they were/are. Thanks for sharing a little bit of spring!

Gordon Hackman said...

Hey sis,

Thanks for the comments. I agree about the dandelions. I was actually thinking about that when I photographed them. They may be a nuisance in some sense, but they definitely have their own kind of beauty, both the yellow ones and the gone to seed ones.

As for lawn owners, I think it all goes back to my previous entry about the limitations to our control of nature. Of course there is nothing wrong with cultivating a beautiful lawn to enjoy, as long as we don't lose our sense of wonder, and fall prey to the delusion that we can or should live in a completely perfect and totally controlled environment.

steve said...

I had no idea that there is a place like this near your home. I often imagine that you are in a bustling metropolis but, in fact, you are not very near the city, are you?

I have really enjoyed reading your posts, Gordon. I am hoping that sometime before autumn, I will be able to travel to visit you.

steve

Gordon Hackman said...

Steve,

Always good to hear from you. Thanks for the encouraging words concerning my posts. I would totally love it if you could come out here for a visit.

I actually live about 25 miles away from downtown Chicago. It's pretty much one big sprawl between me and there, but most of the townships have parks and/or forest preserves. Some of them are pretty big. The one where I took the pictures is a big one which is about 10-15 minutes west of my house. It has a 125 acre lake that is also a bird sanctuary and a lot of prarie and forest. Chicago is southeast of me, so if you go west from where I live, things basically keep getting more and more rural. Having places like this close by is what keeps me sane. :)

Peace to you,
Gordy

Jeff's Blog said...

Hey Gordon- What up? Hope all is well with you.... I remember taking some "girls" to some of those forest preserves while at TEDS. Are you sure you were alone?

Gordon Hackman said...

Jeff,
So good to hear from you! Hope all is well. I'm doing okay. Still washing windows and being involved with my church here. Those two things define most of my life, though I'd like to get out of the first one at some point in the not too distant future. Not sure where to go at this point though.

Forest preserves are a great place to go with a girl, but I was alone on this one. Alone is how I usually am, and while that's lousy in some cases, on this particular day it was just what I needed.:)

Say hi to Ashley for me.

Peace to you,
Gordon

Gordon Hackman said...

Jeff,
I tried to leave a comment on your blog but it won't let me. Anway, I left you a short repsonse above.

Jeff's Blog said...

Gordon- contact me at jplakin@adelphia.net

I have a possible adjunct teaching position that may give you some easy $.....

Mayden' s Voyage said...

Gordon...
Time to blog again! :)
-Cora :)

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