Monday, October 30, 2006

Travels with the Curmudgeon

Today is a glorious Fall day in Chicago and environs, the kind of weather that people think of when they think of Fall -- and which occurs in our area perahps on one or two days a year.

Maybe.

It's in the high 60's, maybe low 70's. It's breezy, but bright and sunny and I've been behind the wheel of the car all day... and shortly will be again.

Today I was out in Oregon, Illinois, the county seat of Ogle County, South of Rockford along the Rock River, due West of Sycamore (DeKalb County) along beautiful Illinois Route 64.

The last time I was in Oregon, in fact, more than five years ago, I took 64 all the way back almost to Chicago itself -- to First Avenue, or Cumberland, depending on which way you turn. But 64 goes almost all the way to Lake Michigan -- in Chicago proper it is North Avenue and, among other things, forms the southern boundary of Lincoln Park.

Today I almost regret not having a camera phone because there was a haunting picture I would have stopped to shoot just East of Oregon: A graveyard -- a small, country graveyard, marked by a flag and a handful of stones, surely no more than a half acre in size, and probably smaller than that, bounded on all sides by farm fields, with the stalks on the North and on the East not yet removed, waving in the wind. The grass in the small graveyard was all the greener by contrast to the surrounding fields. And there was no church in sight. It may have been a long-time family plot.

I had no time to investigate then. I have no time to ruminate now. I'm off to pick up Youngest Son from school, then Younger Daughter (who's serving out a detention), then deliver Younger Daughter to work.... Then I can come home and check my email and my messages from the day.

And why is The Curmudgeon on chauffeur duty you ask? Long Suffering Spouse got tagged for jury duty today....

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

well lucky you.... a nice ride on a beautiful day, how much better can it get? bee

Mother Jones RN said...

I thought there were only two seasons in Chicago. The first is winter, and the second is road construction season:-)

Anonymous said...

I was in Chicago in late November last year and nearly froze to death.

I will be there again in about ten days and I hope the weather is milder!

The Curmudgeon said...

Bee -- it was nice, but I was tired after all that running around.

MJ -- You are entirely correct. To have an actual "season" it has to last longer than a day. The glorious Fall of yesterday is done now, replaced by biting winds and temperatures in the mid-40's. It's still sunny -- but it's that brittle Winter sunshine that never warms but only teases.

Heather -- I hope you have nice weather when you come here, too -- but prepare for everything anyway.

Anonymous said...

Oh WOW.. I'm about twenty miles from Oregon, IL... Wish I'd known you were headed this way.

Shel and Central Scrutinizer

Lois Lane said...

How is it that you drove RIGHT BY MY HOUSE and didn't come over for coffee?