Chicago

Safe Haven

August 8, 2009 by kathi

I know this isn’t a current events blog, so I promise I’ll get back to the dogs and computers after just one more local news post. I saw this on the news tonight:

Baby Found In Garbage Can On Southwest Side

I am so glad this baby will probably be fine, but there were already some cases earlier this year where abandoned babies were not so lucky. With all 50 states and the District of Columbia now having some form of a Safe Haven Law, which allows for the anonymous safe relinquishment of infants to designated Safe Haven providers, usually including hospitals, fire stations, and police stations, it is hard for me to believe that anyone would choose to leave even an unwanted baby in a garbage can.

We have had a Safe Haven Law in Illinois since 2001 and it was made permanent in 2005. The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation is the local organization that spearheaded the drafting and passage of Illinois’ law and all of the information about our law is on their website. Still, there are people who are either unaware of the law or do not believe it is truly without consequences. I am not an A-list and maybe not even a Z-list blog, but if this post’s links can make a few more people aware of Safe Haven Laws in Illinois or elsewhere, I’m good with that.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 8 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 196 of 274)

A long-lost warbird is heading home

June 20, 2009 by kathi

I am not the history expert in our family. That would be my husband. Still, I was once a member of EAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association, with an interest in military aircraft, particularly the Warbirds of the World War II era. So you know a story involving a long-lost warbird being recovered from the depths of Lake Michigan off Waukegan Harbor to eventually return to Hawaii would catch our interest.

SBD-2 Dauntless, February 1942 (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons by William T. Barr, photographer’s mate, USN)

The Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless dive bomber raised from Lake Michigan on Friday, much like the one in the photo, is the second one recovered this year. Three hundred planes are estimated to be at the bottom of the lake. These planes were used for aircraft carrier qualification training. They flew out of the now-closed Glenview Naval Air Station and the aircraft carriers were at Navy Pier. Some of the training planes had been used in combat. This one had been at Pearl Harbor, and will end up there once again at the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island in about three years.

So many interesting facts about the plane’s history and the people and organizations involved in the recovery are detailed by reporters from Honolulu and Lake County. Very cool for me to be able to read coverage from newspapers in both of my hometowns:

Honolulu Star-Bulletin: Crew to recover bomber with local ties from lake

Lake County News-Sun (a Chicago Sun-Times News Group paper): ‘Hula blessing’ greets dive bomber pulled from lake

We have not yet visited the Pacific Aviation Museum, and perhaps we will wait until this plane gets there to do so.

(NaBloPoMo | June ‘09: 20 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 147 of 274)

Life in the food chain

June 19, 2009 by kathi

“Check near the back gate for dead things before you let the dogs out. There’s a hawk… no, probably a falcon… killing something on top of the garbage can.”

What an uplifting start to the day, huh? Even though you don’t usually think about seeing birds of prey in a residential neighborhood in Chicago, we do have quite a few urban falcons and hawks in the area. It was probably a peregrine falcon, like this one (although we have seen the occasional red-tailed hawk nearby):

photo credit: stirwise

It was also considerate enough to eat or haul away its entire kill, except the feathers… a LOT of feathers… clinging to the top of the garbage can.

No time to play CSI: Norwood Park because the day’s thunderstorms were on the way. No rain yet by the time I left for work, but the wind had kicked up. Axel was standing still in the back yard and his ears were flapping in the wind like he was about to take flight. Okay, that’s not really funny given yesterday’s post about the Rottweiler in a tornado. But they were flapping pretty good.

There were a lot of areas with storm damage and power outages. Happily, we were once again unscathed. The dogs and I never actually got wet despite the torrential downpours. We managed to time all of our outdoor excursions between the thunderstorms.

This is what my commute to work looked like as I hit the Ohio Street offramp. Looking to the south, it was very grey but there were still some patches of light and almost-clear sky:

Looking to the north, the clouds were dropping lower and turning black and threatening:

I did get inside the office about a minute before the clouds made good on their threat of a drenching rain.

(NaBloPoMo | June ‘09: 19 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 146 of 274)

Nothing much to say tonight

June 7, 2009 by kathi

I have a number of things I should be doing on the computer, both online and offline. Instead I am writing this post and watching the weekend replays of older CSI: NY, CSI: Miami and Cold Case. Well, maybe not Cold Case as I would like to be asleep by then.

Somehow I missed tonight’s CSI: NY episode, “One Wedding and a Funeral,” the first time around. The storyline sends Mac Taylor back to Chicago and as the episode closes, he is getting a mysterious phone call just after he’s looked at some of the rock pieces from famous places that are embedded into the wall of the Chicago Tribune Tower (in the CSI: NY storyline, they are clues in a puzzle that started out in New York).

My first job in downtown Chicago was in the Mandel Building, which no longer exists, but was right behind the Tribune Tower. I always enjoyed taking a minute to look at some of the rock pieces before or after work. I still don’t work all that far away from the Tribune Tower, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve been around there. I never have seen the piece of steel from the World Trade Center that is now in the wall. Maybe I’ll walk over there one day this week if the weather is nice.

(NaBloPoMo | June ‘09: 7 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 134 of 274)

Dog days

May 22, 2009 by kathi

I enjoy watching almost all sports occasionally, but I’m not a real fan of any Chicago sports teams. I really don’t care for baseball at all. So it’s no surprise that once again I missed the White Sox Dog Days on Wednesday, May 20. I’ve always thought I might like to go once, just so one of my dogs can walk on the field. And I have always had at least one South Side or south suburban born dog, so I suppose they would not have objected too strenuously to being dressed in Sox garb. Well, maybe a bandana or cap at least. Axel was born in the south suburbs and Freya in the northwest suburbs, so there would actually be a cute Sox-Cubs rivalry dress-up thing we could do there if they’d put up with clothing.

Maybe next year!

I want to take a second to look back to another Sox Dog Day, though: the one ten years ago when they almost banned Rottweilers and Pit Bulls from attending. It was one of many times I’ve seen the power of the Internet at work. The listmembers of Rottie-L, a Rottweiler e-mail discussion list, went into action at the urging of one of the Chicago area listmembers. Hundreds of emails and faxes went to the promotions manager of the White Sox. Rottweiler and Pit Bull people were also lucky to have radio host Steve Dale’s support. When he found out that the Sox were planning to discriminate against these breeds, he informed them he would not be participating should they go that route. The Chicago Veterinary Medical Association also pulled their support of the event. Ultimately, the Sox admitted their error, and the event has been open to all breeds ever since. As it should be. It really is the responsibility of dog owners to determine whether their dog, of any breed, is well trained and of suitable temperament to attend and enjoy a large group event like Dog Days.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 22 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 118 of 274)