McHenry County Blog

If you have noticed a dearth of local, breaking news since Independence Day, it was because our family was in Missouri on vacation.

No need to go anywhere to see fireworks. Neighbors on each side were setting them off.

I asked about local restrictions and got a very libertarian reply from the chairman of the village board (my brother-in-law). The big village news was that the cost of cleaning up after the ice storms was twice what the federal government thought it should be. FEMA thought it could be done for $3-4,000, but the lowest big was almost twice the estimate.

We stayed at Joplin's Hotel Desmond, much more than a bread and breakfast, because my gracious little sister and my brother-in-law run it.

We were treated to a Grand Lake, Oklahoma, 4th of July Saturday. There were games for the kids. Lots of water on slides and in balloons...until they broke. Above you can see the free for all to get rid of the extra balloons.

The rest of the day was spent in an undeveloped cove of this 66 mile long man-made lake.

My son was enchanted by the Undercliff Bar and Grill south of Joplin. We went twice. It had a toy scoop money grabber that guaranteed a prize, even if it was a piece of penny candy. He eventually got the bracelet he wanted.

We went to the Dickerson Zoo in Springfield, up I-44 from Joplin. The highlight (pun intended) was seeing folks feed the giraffes from a raised platform.

The same day we visited the Fantastic Caverns. The latter were fantastic because one does not have to walk.

We guys--my son and I, plus Grampy Desmond and his three grandsons--went to see Big Brutus in southeast Kansas coal strip mine country. Big Brutus is the second largest drag line in the country. It has been preserved and folks can climb to the cab. My adventurous brother-in-law climbed all the way to the top last time. My son was about 5 and quite disappointed that one had to be 14 to climb that high.

Now it's impossible. Insurance company restriction, don't you know.

My Illinois in-laws joined us late in the week and we went together to the Precious Moments Chapel. I have to admit not wanting to go the first time around back in the early 1990's. I thought the Precious Moments statuettes were "terminally cute."

The figurines still are, but the Chapel is worth the trip. And, if you are ordering any of them, do so through the Chapel and they might be able to continue giving free tours. They are no longer subsidized by the parent company, but operate as an independent foundation.

Next, the two sisters decided it was time to visit Branson, which is about as far south in Missouri as Joplin, but without a direct west-east connection.

All I remembered about Branson was the truly horrible traffic and our Friday night arrival lived up to expectations.

The rainstorm after we arrived was one to remember. Over 2 inches of rain with winds of up to 60 MPH. (A hurricane starts at 70 MPH.)

I managed to avoid going shopping Saturday afternoon by going swimming with my son and playing miniature golf.

Sunday we ate at Andy Williams' Moon River Cafe. He was out playing golf, the bartender told us as he was serving our meal at the almost empty restaurant.

That night, I enjoyed the joint show of Paul Revere and the Raiders, plus Bill Medley, the remaining and deep-voiced Righteous Brother. The one with the best voice was his 21-year old daughter McKenna.

And, who was in the audience?

Andy Williams, Ann Margaret and her husband Roger Smith. They were sitting way up top, but I didn't bring my camera.

My son simultaneously enjoyed a magic show put on by Kirby and Bambi VanBurch with his mother and grandfather. A Bengal tiger, a jaguar, a panther and a leopard were on the stage, too. Naturally, we have another stuffed animal--a big white tiger.

On the way back to Crystal Lake, my son somehow managed to convince us to stop at his favorite museum, the Illinois State Museum. On the first floor are dioramas depicting how Illinois looked at various stages of earth's history. In addition, there are videos about its various climates.

One of them said something about the only thing being constant about Illinois' climate is that it changes.

I did get a lot of reading done. I

• finished Brad Thor's "The Last Patriot,"
• Richard Harris' "Imperium" (a fictional biography of Cicero by his slave scribe which has all sorts of political angles),
• James Rollins' "The Judas Strain" and, unusual for me, his new hardback,
• "The Last Oracle," which is splendid...better than "The Judas Strain,"
• Robert Ludlum's "The Janson Directive" (it wasn't until page 120 that I figured out I had already read it; what a terrible memory I have for content) and
• and half of Ted Bell's "Assassin."

Labels: Big Brutus, Branson, Dickerson Zoo, Fantastic Caverns, Grand Lake, Griaffe, Joplin, McKenna Medley, Missouri, Springfield, Undercliff Bar and Grill

Not the shiny one in Chicago.

Haven't got a photo of it yet.

This one is from Springfield's Washington Park right north of South Grand.

The kids first noticed it when one stepped on its seed pod.

It was squishy.

My adventurous son brought it over to the picnic shelter and started dissecting it.

It was messy.

When I saw the bean that came out of the seed pod, I recognized it from my childhood in Easton, Maryland.

I couldn't remember what tree it came from.

I'm still not sure.

“Horse chestnut” came to mind after a while, but when I Google the term, the seed does not look like it comes in a bean pod.

So, I looked up images of “bean pod, tree” and think I found the answer.

It's a castor bean.

When you rub them on the sidewalk, they retain heat from the friction.

Then, you can torture a classmate by touching them with the hot bean.


At least, the kids doing the touching thought so.

Labels: Castor Bean, Springfield, Washington Park

BIG bubbles.

These were produced in Washington Park in Springfield, Illinois, during a playing hooky day for the kids of three families.

Grandfather Marty Walter always beings toys for the youngins when we go down for the Old Capitol Art Fair.

Kites, a blown up pizza disk and bubbles were the hits this year.

We went on a picnic on Friday.

There were all sorts of school age youngsters there. I asked a group why they were not in school and the answer was, “We're on a field trip.”

Right.

That's what we were doing, too.

We were taking a field trip to the Children's Tent at the Art Fair and to the Illinois State Museum where a crotchety “greeter” brought one of our girls to tears for using her water bottle to wash her hands.

“We don't throw water in the State Museum. Empty it in the bathroom!”

But the bubbles were fun, whether enormous or small.

Next time, we'll remember glycerin and Dove liquid detergent, which are supposed to make the big bubbles easier to make.

For a really big look at the bubbles, click on the pictures.

Labels: Illinois State Museum, Old Capitol Art Fair, Springfield, Washington Park

The Daily Herald’s “Animal Farm” blog is reporting that Jacobs High School graduate Bethany Carson, who now covers the State Capitol for Illinois Issues, a magazine published by the University of Illinois, put off her June 30th wedding when the General Assembly did not adjourn “on time.”

She re-scheduled it for August 4th.

The General Assembly still has not adjourned and doesn’t look like it will until at least August 4th.

Carson has learned the all-important lesson that Chicago media taught during the 1990’s by its lack of coverage of things Springfield:


She’s a fast learner.

Labels: Algonquin, Bethany Carson, Illinois Issues, Jacobs High School, Springfield, State Capitol

Some in the flock of our newly nominated state bird, the pigeon, will fly away to other states at the threat of higher taxes and products.

That has been occurring for decades.

They may be the luckier ones, as they flee to avoid the new penalties Illinois Democrats are planning to place on the Illinois economy.

Or Illinois pigeons may act like the ones in Downtown Springfield did last year at the Old Capitol Art Fair.

About lunch time, a raptor decided it wanted a tasty pigeon. The flock flew thither and yon. My guess is that all but one escaped.

The rest felt safe enough to stay in Springfield for another year.

Labels: Illinois, Old Capitol Art Fair, Pigeon, Raptor, Springfield, State Bird

We rode up on the elevator to the fourth floor of the Drury Inn together.

He was dressed more colorfully than the youth softball teams staying at the hotel.

I asked if I could take a picture of his leather vest.

He said I could.

I took pictures of its front and back.

From the front you can see he is the president. If you click on the picture, you can make it large enough to see where the group has taken trips. I see several for Starved Rock, for instance.

I also see many pins saying, "Toys for Tots."

From the back you can see the organization is called the "Mean Machines, Chicago #1." Notice the fringes and how long it is.

As you can see, it had all sorts of pins on it.

Then, I asked permission to take a photo of his tee shirt.

The tee shirt says,

Old Bikes
&
Good Whiskey
...both get better with age

He opened his vest wide so I could see what was on it.

And the bandanna.

I couldn’t get it in one frame, so I took two.

I introduced myself and asked if he had been to the Art Fair at the Old State Capitol.

He said he had been to the Art Fair that morning.

He said his name was Bruce, but most people called him “Stagecoach.”

I asked him if he had been down the same weekend last year and stayed at the Drury.

He said he had.

I doubt I looked familiar to him, but what he was wearing certainly looked familiar to me.

He said 300 of "my guys" had come down to Springfield with him and they were going to have a cookout that night (Saturday).

As we were leaving Springfield on Route 55 where it merges with Business 66, I think we saw two member of his organization tooling back to the Chicago area.

Labels: Drury Inn, Mean Machines, Motocyclist, Old Capitol Art Fair, Springfield, Stagecoach, Toys for Tots