ChimpersCage

August a month that is normally one of the most hated in central Illinois for it's terribly hot and humid weather has finally arrived. But wait! There is some redeeming qualities for the month. School starts. After the hustle and bustle the first 2 weeks, it's off to the books and classrooms for the anxious and sometimes frustrating tots, leaving the stay at home moms time to meet at the local coffee shops to muse about the upcoming school year, summers vacation, and the start of the holiday season (maybe a little early to mention that)without the whining and crying of all the teens and little ones. For all the working class, it's time to concentrate on those upcoming projects and other items that have been neglected during the summer when family vacations, a few rounds of golf or tennis matches were sprinkled in between the days taken off for home repairs and lawn work. My student is back to college. It's been good to have him home, but it's always good to ge...

In today's economy it really amazes me how little people pay attention to the details that keep one in business. On Thursday, I dropped off my pickup truck at a local tire shop with instructions to do a front end alignment and rotate and balance all the tires. I have to say that when I called for an appointment on Wednesday I was impressed when they said they could get it in the next day. I don't think that had ever happened to me before. When I picked it up on Thursday evening, I paid the bill, just short of $100 and was told that it was good I had come in as the alignment was so far out that it was almost not recordable. Having driven vehicles for 35 years, worked in 3 dealerships and a couple of other automotive oriented establishments, I found that kind of odd because the vehicle was still tracking almost dead on when driving and removing the hands from the wheel for a short time. But, I was happy and in a bit of a hurry so I didn't question it. On Friday, I finally ...

I've lived within 20 miles of Bloomington Normal since I was 3 and in Central Illinois all my 50 years. Seems like there is always something new to see. Growing up I remember seeing the hawks, vultures and other raptors when driving through the country. By the time I was in my late teens, DDT had cut their numbers to the point that they were a rare sight. Eagle in Illinois during that period were limited to the northwest edge of the state along the Mississippi River. Today, the raptors are back and I almost always see one a week somewhere - even when I don't get out of town. Eagles are as close as Starved Rock State Park or the Illinois River at Peoria and Pekin. Once in a while one will even spend time at one our our county parks. Yesterday it was a moth that appeared on the brick siding of my home. Turned out to be a female Imperial. What a beautiful creature. It hung there for a few hours, then disappeared as mysteriously as it had come. Imperials - Images by Alan ...

On Saturday (June 20), the Kellars of Ridgeview got together at what may have been their last family basketball event. Rodney, Teri, Michael, and Lauren have been a basketball family for a long time. Rodney is the 23 year coach of the Ridgeview Mustangs. Teri, his wife plays many roles at the school in addition to a full time position at a local corporation and mom to Michael and Lauren. Michael graduated about 4 years ago and has one semester of student teaching left before getting his degree. That student teaching will take place at Ridgeview Jr. High. Michael has also played baseball during college. He pitches. While attending Ridgeview, Michael was a multi sport student playing basketball and baseball. He's currently being scouted for some major league and independent leagues to continue with the small round ball. Lauren just graduated from Ridgeview. While there, she was also a multi sport athlete. She practically grew up on the basketball coach, often seen after ga...

Well, the late spring and summer are generally down time for sports action photography in Bloomington Normal, at least for me. In late June, I normally cover the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All Star games, but other than that I get to work on personal projects. Those could be anything from home repairs, car updates to photo shoots. One photo project I work on when I get time and some good weather and light is my collection of landmarks in the Bloomington Normal area. See the slideshow below. Recently added were some shots from downtown. The old McLean County Courthouse, now the Mclean County Museum of History and the State Farm Downtown building and a few others in that vicinity were my recent takes. Also some stitched panoramics of Miller Park on Bloomington's west side. Downtown is of real interest. It's been dying an agonizing death for years. I'm sure there are people that have moved in to town a dozen years ago that have never been down there!. The old buil...

Just east of Bloomington Normal is the Twin Grove Wind Farm. This electricty producing farm is the largest in the nation and has just started the paces of getting larger. It's also the subject of many people with cameras. I don't go out there very often that I don't run into someone else stopped along side on of the blacktops taking photos. I first went out there a few years back when they were still installing the turbines. they basically are built using 3 components - 3 prop blades, the turbine housing and a multi-part stand. All is trucked in from a rail yard. The trucks are so long that they had to build very large corners on all the roads so the trucks wouldn't be dragging the back end through the ditch. There are so many mills in this field it's really hard to figure out what to shoot and also pretty hard to not get at least one good shot if you stick around for a hour or so. Last night, there were some scattered clouds and I got there a couple hours be...

Yesterday (May 27) was one of those weird days. I spent a couple of hours in the dental chair getting a tooth ready for a crown. Normally I would say that was a bad thing, but in this case it gave me a rare opportunity to see a day time Cubs game. Yes, the dentist has a TV within viewing site of the chair. Carlos Zambrano (Big Z) was attempting his 100th career win for the 2nd time. No, he didn't get it - he got tossed in the top of the 7th instead, leaving the game with a 2 - 2 tie agains the Pirates. Here's the deal: The Pirates had one on third. Carlos threw a wild pitch which sent Giovanni Soto chasing. Z covered the plate, placing his right foot between the plate and the base runner. Soto corralled the ball and tossed it to Z, who applied the tag as the player bellf-flopped a slide in. The camera angle and zoom weren't sufficient for me to tell if the runner was safe or out. The umpire called him safe setting off Z. Now for the real tricky part. Z got tossed for making...