Striking Out on Our Own

So, what are we doing during the Chicago Teacher's Strike? We are reading, doing the remainder of our Summer Bridge activities (which we were too busy to do during summer), and we were sightseeing around the city. We stopped in the other day at one of our favorite sites. The Garfield Park Conservatory. It's a gorgeous place to visit...in an unfortunate neighborhood.

And we picked a great time to visit. They have ART! Art amongst the plants. This is something that they have done a lot in past years. I remember seeing the Dale Chihuly sculptures when Hannah was still in a stroller. The conservatory is over a hundred years old, and Jens Jensen was one of the movers and shakers in its inception, but it was very badly damaged by hail last summer. They're still working on restoring the plants and rooms, and replacing the glass.

One of the great things about the conservatory is that I am always surprised by the creativity that they manage to put on display. This year, instead of importing an artist, the conservatory employed twelve different Chicago artists to make art installations throughout the conservatory. We had a great time finding them all. Although I didn't manage to photograph everything, here are a few of our favorites.

There were the hanging fruits...they looked like tomatoes hanging from the ceiling, but they were planters. They also looked like little round squid, or an alien about to drop on your head, but hey, it's art!

There were towers of caps from detergent bottles. It was really kind of neat. I never would have done it, but I don't pretend to be an artist.

There was this...net thing. Balling wire, screening, and...well, we thought it was a cocoon from which a large butterfly must have emerged. This thought was enhanced by another display that looked exactly like a large rice-paper cocoon prior to the emergence of  a super-sized butterfly, but I didn't get a photo.

But even without the artists, there is plenty to contemplate and observe at the Conservatory. Like These melon shaped things. I don't recall what they were, but the kids were kind enough to stand beneath them looking thoughtful...or angry. Or thoughtfully angry because their mother put them in danger of being brained by mystery fruits and they really question Mom's judgement sometimes.

The Conservatory is more than plants inside. Outside, we were able to not only interact with nature, but also with traffic cones. The kids played conservatory bingo, looking for everything from rabbits to goats. This unusual sculpture was not on their bingo card, surprisingly enough.

The traffic cone sculpture from a distance. The lily pond is gorgeous.

These goats were on our bingo cards. The placard explaining the presence of goats on the west side of Chicago was, unfortunately, written in chalk. I was unable to read most of it. They appear to be at the Conservatory as part of an urban farming experiment.(?) To the credit of the goats' proprietor, you can't get much more urban than the west side of Chicago.

A lovely Morrocan fountain. More beautiful art...and more interactive than you'd think. I saw someone washing their hands in it after they ate lunch. 

My kids are fascinated with the idea of meditation. Lucky for us, there is a labyrinth that is well-maintained here with instructions for walking it. They waited until another lady was done with the walk, and they took off--reasonably slowly. Hannah later said that her favorite part was getting her shoes wet in the waterlogged beginning and ending. I guess that if that's how she achieves inner peace, I can't knock it. I just wish she hadn't been wearing my shoes.

Precious, precious fishes! Actually some really honking huge koi. We always have to visit them.  We were even allowed to feed them once. It was a highlight. I think the kids like to hang out here just in case we're ever asked to feed them again.

The kids and I wandered around the Conservatory for several hours. Hannah and Caleb insisted on travelling apart from me for most part of our visit. I didn't mind. I like it when they get along; it happens so rarely these days. The quiet was soothing to me, and the ultra-oxygenated atmosphere is good for the lungs. 

Did we learn anything? I'm sure we did. I'm just not sure what yet. Sometime knowledge takes time to sprout and grow. Like the plants there. The Conservatory is growing a lot of new plants after the destruction of the hail storm. It's going to take awhile though. They have the huge Show Room closed so that it can be used as a makeshift propagation house because several greenhouses were mostly destroyed. It's going to take time to regrow and rebuild. 

Damage from the hail storm on a greenhouse roof.

The Fern Room after the hail storm.

The Fern room today.

But in the midst of this rebuilding, regrowing, and searching for elusive knowledge there's always room for fun! The Museum of Contemporary Art has an installation right next to the gift shop. It's a room filled to the ceiling with balloons. White balloons. Thousands of white balloons. Visitors to the Conservatory are invited to go inside.

So we did...
...and we got lost in the art...
...and it was a great place to spend the afternoon. I think I want to go back. Funny that something that's been around for 105 years can feel new all the time.

Mr. Lincoln, I've been thinkin'....

Where do you go when you need a break, but not too much of a break? When the well of creativity is dry and you just want to get out of town--but you still want to be able to count it as school time? What do we have to study that we have sadly neglected? Local History of course. State History, to be specific. So where did we go on our last field trip? You can guess. We went further afield than we have in awhile...

Springfield Illinois! The Land of Lincoln--literally. The site of the only National Park managed property in Illinois--the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historical Site (and yes, I got a stamp in my National Parks Passport.) It's a nice little town, but as two days wore on we noted a theme amongst the places we visited. Springfield is not only home to the Lincoln Home, but also the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the Lincoln Depot, the Lincoln Law Office, the Old Capitol Building (where Lincoln delivered the "House Divided" speech), the Lincoln Pew (in the Presbyterian church), the Lincoln Ledger in the archives, and of course the Lincoln Tomb. Just outside of town is New Salem where Abraham Lincoln lived as a young man, and if you want to complete the list there's even a town named Lincoln just a few miles past it all.
We had great weather and the kids earned their third Junior Park Ranger badge while visiting the Lincoln Home NHS. They now have badges from Sequoia NP, Acadia NP and the Lincoln Home NHS. At this rate, they will be able to earn enough badges to trade in for a National Park pony or bison or something. At the very least they should be fully fledged rangers by the time they're fifteen or so.

George, Abe, Mary, Hannah, Willie and Caleb

There were memorials to Lincoln all over the town. The kids really liked the life-sized Lincoln family statues. I was more impressed that we managed to park all day for less than ten dollars. Sweet!

Trying on Tad's Hat

Hannah found a friend

We even took a ghost tour of Springfield on our second night in town. It was really more of a historic tour with some ghosts thrown in for color...Caleb kept asking the tour guide when he would get to the "spooky stories." I'm afraid Caleb was destined to be disappointed.

Notice that I didn't mention visiting the Capitol? We didn't. I had considered going--contacting our state senator or legislator, but I didn't. This was on purpose. I had considered it, but when I mentioned it, Hannah demanded of me, "The state capitol? Isn't that were all the thieves work?"

I suppose that I have to take a more definite line in distinguishing my editorial commentary from our school lessons. I don't want to think that the only thing I've taught my kids in the past year is how to be cynical. So in the interest of keeping the tour guides at the state capitol free of my daughter's demands ("I'd like a list of everyone who is currently under indictment, and the crimes that they are accused of") we took a pass on the present and concentrated on the past.

On our way out of town we stopped at Oak Ridge Cemetery to visit the Lincoln Tomb. Oak Ridge is a beautiful setting, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. There were several buses at the tomb when we arrived, so we passed on an immediate tour and looked around some other places in the cemetery first. We saw a lot of really neat memorials--much of them very traditional (weeping angels!) but there are quite a few modern burials in Oak Ridge also. This memorial was puzzling for us. The man buried here was a dentist. What was this? A set of forceps? Elephant tusks? Teeth spreaders? We were stumped.

Then we noticed the shadows. It was obvious what these were; they were angel wings.

Hannah Angel

Caleb Angel

Rock on, Angel.

When we returned to the Lincoln Tomb, the school groups were gone and we had the building to ourselves...mostly. There was the Peru Illinois Ladies Auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Union* on their annual Lincoln pilgrimage, but I didn't think they would be poorly behaved in the tomb. Caleb, however, was not quite so forgiving as I was. "They're as loud as kids," he informed me. (To be fair, it's difficult to be quiet when you are surrounded by as much marble and granite as is inside the tomb.)

To anyone who hasn't been at the tomb, it's an impressive edifice. The outside is stunning, but the inside is really quite something. When you step through the public entrance you are in a small rotunda of marble and palladium with ironwork grilles with a corn motif (symbolizing Illinois, of course) and with columns and stars representing the states that were part of the Union when Lincoln was President. The hallway curves around with niches that have small statutes representing various aspects and stages of Lincoln's life. There are plaques with parts of his Second Inaugural Address ("With malice towards none; charity towards all...") and the Gettysburg Address. 

And then there is the burial chamber. There are niches where Mary Todd Lincoln, Willie, Tad and Eddie are interred--they really were a tragic family--and across from them is Lincoln's resting place. There is a large (very large) monument above his grave. I'm assuming it's his final resting place. The poor man was disinterred at least six times because of problems with the tomb, grave robbers, and doubt that he was actually dead. 

The Peru Illinois Ladies Auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Union* was behind us on our first pass through the burial chamber. Caleb asked if we could return. "I just want a little bit of silence," he informed me. "I can't read when everyone is talking. I can't think." So we waited until the ladies had left and we returned to the burial chamber.

"Do you have more questions?" the very nice docent asked us. 

"No," I explained. "My son just wants a few moments of silence back here."

The lady smiled softly at Caleb. "Sometimes I come here early in the morning so that I can have a few moments of peace with Mr. Lincoln, myself," she confessed.

So Hannah knelt before the tomb respectfully. Caleb bowed his head and closed his eyes. We spent a quiet moment in front of the memorial to the man who was arguably our greatest President--definitely one of this country's greatest men. After a few moments, I nudged Caleb. "Is this enough?"

He looked curiously let down. "Yes. Thank you," he told the docent as we left. I'm sure that she went home that night with fond thoughts of the respectful children who stopped by to pay their respects to her Mr. Lincoln...but I had my doubts.

"Caleb," I asked him as we exited into the sunlight. "Were you listening for a ghost?

"Yes," he admitted. "I'm not sure, but I might have heard footsteps. It's hard because everyone is so loud!"

With or without ghosts, we had a wonderful trip into our nation's past, and our state's history which, per the State of Illinois Board of Education Leaning Standards, is something that they have to study. Funny, but it didn't feel much like studying.

(*Peru Illinois Ladies Auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Union--I made this up. I have no idea who they were, or where they were from. They were very nice.)

Membership Has its Privileges

First, let me say that I am happy to report that my children fear nothing. By nothing I mean dead animals and live bugs (unless said bugs are arthropods that begin with a 'centi'- and end with a 'pede.' They also fear tornadoes, but that's another blog.) 

Cadaver beetles eating a dead bird.

Caleb and a dead bird.

We went to the Field Museum member night this past weekend. The member nights alone are worth the price of membership, and whenever we are members we try to stop in for one of the nights that they open the back rooms to we curious and intrepid explorers who want to know more and see more than there is room to display in the museum. So Friday night we headed downtown.

Hannah and a dead bird.

I learned a lot in our hours exploring the museum. I learned that Hannah's shoes don't fit any more. She complained about it quite a bit. This is important because we just bought her new shoes and I am not pleased. Her feet hurt by the end of the night, and so did mine, but my shoes fit just fine.

I also learned that Caleb's hair is long enough to put into a ponytail. This coupled with his purple shirt had several people address him as "little girl." He got a kick out of it. "Little, eh. Maybe," he told me. "Girl, no way!"
"Get used to it," George griped.

The back of Caleb's head. Note the ponytail.

The kids got to hold a live tarantula and a hissing cockroach. I was busy in the anthropology department learning about X-ray spectrography and Girl's Day in Japan. I'd rather look at dead people than hold a tarantula. However because of this hangup, I didn't get any photos. There are some on George's phone because he likes bugs a lot more than I do.

Because one of the big draws right now is the Genghis Khan exhibit, they had Mongolian dancers. It was very cool, but Hannah and Caleb were not as entranced by the music as wereGeorge and myself. It was a great moment to talk about different tonal scales and how different cultures have more limited musical tonality than western cultures. I think they got it. In any case, George and I liked the music. We all liked the dancers.

Three dancers (not yet performing)and curious onlookers

Mongolian dancer. Skulls on her head and three eyes. Very cool.

I didn't discover this, but I was reminded that this is a pretty cool place to live.

Daffodils in Winter

Caleb in the daffodils.

Two tone with small trumpet

I love all of you crazy people who like to read my stuff. You make me happy to write. I guess I just crave the immediate feedback and attention. It's one of my weaknesses. I have a very hard time with delayed gratification. I'd rather do something immediately. Read something immediately. Buy something immediately. Eat something immediately...have I mentioned that I've put on ten pounds in the past five months? Urk. Yeah, I'm jogging again.

Magnolia Tree

It was the first day of spring when we went out to the Arboretum again. I have to say, my lessons have been very uninspired this week. I hate to say so, but the weather has gotten under my skin and I've been having trouble motivating myself to do anything. When in doubt, arrange for a field trip or two. So the kids and I went out to Lisle to see what was up at the Arboretum. We've gone there at this time of year a few years running because the Arboretum is beautiful in the spring. They have groves and groves planted with daffodils, and when they bloom, they are simply gorgeous. With the early spring, the Magnolias are blooming too, so I went out to see the blooms before they are gone--either blown or nipped by a late frost.

more magnolias--a bit blown

We cataloged at least six varieties of daffodils. I say "we," but the kids did much of the finding. Looking for differences amongst the blooms kept them busy and interested while we were drizzled on. I hate taking the kids on trips and then hearing: "It was fine until we got bored." No boredom. Not today.  The (very) early spring showers and early spring blooms gave me respite from my early spring gloom and we finally got back to the task of reasonably effortless learning.

Bright yellow-large trumpet

"The hills flat-lands are alive with the sound of music!"

Trillium-not quite there yet

We spotted Trillium (not blooming yet) and Shooting Star (blooming) as we walked through the woods.


We saw wild strawberries (no fruit) and the aforementioned daffodils in great abundance. As we walked through the woods spotting hawks, ground squirrels, squirrels and robins, the kids and I relaxed together. "Hey Mom," Hannah laughed when we encountered a dozen or more robins on the path in front of us. "It's a robin 'hood. Get it?"
After showing Caleb several varieties of Trillium, he shook his head. "I think that I know why biology was invented," he informed me. "This is too much to remember."

Double petal variety

Angry Bird

Just as it began raining, this hawk landed in the tree right in front of us. I wish I had a better photo, but if you can spot him, please know that he's in a tree about 15 feet up. He was huge! He just stared at us, annoyed, as we insisted on taking his photo.

Cream with a large yellow trumpet

cute, tiny daffodils

Young magnolia tree--protected from deer with fencing

We came home to our own daffodils which are already dying as the early spring turns to late-early spring.