Fort Sheridan: Late Summer

Yesterday was Labor Day, the official end of the summer season. I spent this long weekend balancing matching up on one million in-flight projects, both personal and professional, and making sure this summer had a proper final accord. It was a very busy one, but I took as much of it as I could.

Since the beginning of summer, Igor and I have been planning to go to the Dunes on Labor Day, but then the weather forecast showed dropping temperatures. First, we decided to give up. Then, there were signs of hope, and we decided to go in the afternoon when it should have warmed up. And then, in the morning, it was so cold and windy that I texted Igor to call it off. Besides, I remembered that there was one more thing I hadn’t had time for since May, and I won’t have time till mid-October: going to Fort Sheridan. So I decided to go there in the afternoon.

Since I was going North and close to the Lake, I was sure it would be colder there (as it usually is), so I even put an extra layer in my backpack. Forgot about the lake effect :). To my surprise, it was much warmer than in Rogers Park, and it was even less windy.

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Ann Arbor: Greenview Nature Area

On Sunday, August 21, we spend the whole day in Ann Arbor. Lena suggested an early morning walk to the Greenview Nature Area, and it was a total delight!

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Sailing In The Finnish Gulf

Friends took us on a short sailing trip, and it was the best sailing trip of my life! Nothing like motion sickness, enjoyable weather, amazing views and a dog on my lap 🙂 Thank you, Zoe!

Fort Sheridan In May

Even in May, you can still see that Fort Sheridan is further to the North than Rogers Park – although everything is green, the prairie flowers are just starting to bloom, and in most cases, I can only guess what is about to bloom in a couple of weeks.

Fort Sheridan: Early Spring

I am so glad that I planned a trip to Fort Sheridan for this Saturday! I put it on my calendar several weeks ago, thinking that I needed to have it on my calendar; otherwise, I won’t go at all because there will always be something more important. I was thinking for a while that I needed to take my mom there because I knew she would love it, and that although she can’t tell it, she misses nature outings. It turned out that she almost forgot our Deer Grove Forest Preserve frequent walks, but she enjoyed that one just the way I hoped for – she said that it can’t be captured on camera and can’t be described – you need to experience it.

I will take a picture of this tree each season!

Spring Prairie In The City

On a more cheerful topic, on Saturday, after our visit to the Art Institute, we went to Millennium Park and took a detour to the Lurie Garden. I never checked it out in spring, and it turned out that the spring prairie was it full bloom! I was running from one flower patch to another and couldn’t get enough of it. I have nothing else to say, just pictures:)

My Lake, My Love!

I didn’t take pictures of Lake Michigan last weekend, although the view was spectacular: The lake was so much warmer than the air that it was steaming like a giant cup of hot tea.

I saw it from the car window when we were heading to the Aquarium, and I couldn’t take a good picture then, and I couldn’t make myself get out of the house one extra time. Yesterday, it was already much warmer, so I went to say hello to the lake.

Fall Colors At Fort Sheridan

I went to Fort Sheridan for the second time, and this time, I liked there even more. Yes, it’s not as close to me as Deer Grove was when I lived in Palatine, but when I am there, I feel so good! I am inhaling the feeling of being there, being united with Nature. Yes, I am a city girl, but I miss the forest and the prairie, and as it turned out that time, I miss the prairie the most!

Last time, it was my first exploration, and this time, I ventured into more different paths, and made a bigger loop, and walked and walked! I decided that I was not trying to “make” the next train, and I would stay there as much as I wanted, and if anything, there is always Uber.

Fort Sheridan has some similarities with Deer Grove – the prairie in the middle and the surrounding forest, but the presence of the Lake makes a gigantic difference! Also, I noticed that even though nature restoration is in the initial stage, there are way fewer invasives (I think it’s because there was never a farm! )

And now, I am done with talking and switching to the pictures showing!

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Camping

I spent a weekend in a very non-typical way for me: camping with Anna, the girls, and Anna’s friends in the Harrington Beach National Park. camping is not my kind of activity, but since this weekend was supposed to be girls’ weekend, and since I already cleared it out, and since after twelve days of complete and partial isolations, I was eager to do something outside the house and my comfort zone in general, I went for it.

It was great, although the heavy rain on Saturday night made it challenging, and at some point, we all were unsure whether it was a good idea. Then the rain stopped, and we had a great time by the campfire (and we had a really nice walk before the rain started). there was more rain during the night, but at about 8-30 AM, the sun went out, and life was beautiful again:).

I enjoyed the nature walk and being close to Lake Michigan at yet another point. 🙂

It was close to impossible to pass this apple tree and not to pick even one apple, not even the ones lying on the ground!

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Helsinki Day 7

On Sunday, we met with my friend Natasha and her family, had a nature walk, and visited the Technical Museum. It was a relatively long hike, mostly on a boardwalk over the salty water marshes. We stopped at a couple of observation stations, but it was difficult to see the birds without special equipment.