Thursday, January 31, 2013

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES .... 24 LITTLE HOURS ....

Hi, all,

Happy Thursday everyone.  First I would like to thank the hosts for the RE-INTRODUCE yourself bloghop.... you know who you are.... It was an amazing experience. I almost managed to get to everyone, but I needed to take a breath to post AND edit... LOL

I generally don't post on Thursday, but I didn't get the chance to post this yesterday. When I was coming back from a client's home on Tuesday I decided to walk through the Lincoln Park Zoo... I live just a few minutes away from there. The temps rose to an astounding 65 degrees! Now anyone who lives in the north will truly appreciate this... CHICAGO? 65 degrees? in JANUARY?! NEVER!

Although rainy and foggy, it was still warm... I happened by the pond area and a bright coral stunned my eyes.... Out, enjoying the weather were .... you will never guess .... FLAMINGOS ... I had NEVER scene them out in winter. WEll, here they are in their full color...

Aren't they stunning? Especially on such a GRAY day...

I hung with them for a while. What a cast of characters. If you ever get the chance to observe these creatures up close, make sure you do. They are so worth watching. Their wing span is amazing and features black under feathers. Nice contrast with the coral. The legs are hysterical. They almost defy gravity, you almost expect one to tip over at any moment.

They bicker and squawk at each other too. So funny.



Yesterday, I had errands to do, mainly picking up fabric for said client, and something had changed .... Frost howled through the winds. No longer were Flamingos stepping about .... I mere 24 hours later, look ....

WINTER had returned ...                          

WELCOME TO CHICAGO.





28 comments:

Unknown said...

Beautiful pics, Michael. The weather has been crazy here as well ... 88 on Tuesday, 60 on Wednesday. Nuts.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

We were in the thirties earlier this week, and then yesterday it was high seventies. Not unusual for the south, just annoying. Give me back my winter!

Gina said...

I LOVE that zoo! Miss it. Yes, the weather has been crazy weird this week and tomorrow is supposed to be brutally cold. Only in Chicago! Great pics.

Anonymous said...

Lovely pictures and post Michael, here in the UK yesterday it was much warmer, didn't need a cardigan.

Yvonne.

Al Diaz said...

I like flamingos very much. Mostly that silly dance they do. Could watch them for hours! :) Here winter wasn't what I expected but that's good. Fire dragons don't like cold.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I would love to visit Chicago and see all the wonderful sights you photograph and hang with my wonderful friend, Michael, maybe hit some gay bars, and just have some fun.

Natalie Aguirre said...

I live in Ann arbor and went through the same weather changes as you. So hoping for weather at least in the 30s.

Morgan said...

I swear your life is a movie... I can just see you wandering around enjoying the sights, the city, after overcoming hardship and pursuing your dreams. It's all there! Maybe you need to write a memoir???

Anstice Brown said...

Hi Michael, nice to visit your blog again. Thanks for dropping by as part of the re-introduce yourself blogfest. Wow, what unusual weather. It was snowy and icy here in the UK last week but now it's about 44 degrees, fine but very windy. You captured a great shot of those flamingos, very unusual to see them out and about in the winter! It's cool that you have a zoo on your doorstep.

Rachel said...

Hi Michael- thanks for visiting my blog during the re-introduce yourself blog hop. So nice to meet you!! It is crazy weather, even all over the world. Here in Boston it was just 60 degrees then the next day it snowed then the day after it was 60 again then it dropped to 30. SO BIZZARE! I also love that you wrote fantasy as your first book, so great. (Today I wrote a book review on my blog if you are interested)

Trisha said...

Those birds are just gorgeous! And I love winter, so...I'm envious. ;)

I agree, the Re-introduce Yourself 'fest was awesome!

mshatch said...

Don't you just love those surprisingly warm days in the middle of winter? And those flamingos are so pretty - much prettier than those horrid plastic plastic ones!

Danette said...

Well, if you're getting what we had yesterday, it doesn't stay long. We had 45 temps today and it's supposed to be back up in the upper 50s by the weekend. It's been such a mild winter here it's scary.

Ella said...

Michael, so happy you had a tickled pink moment! I remember the first time I saw these birds, when I moved to Florida. They are amazing...
I know the weather is wacked! It was 75 at my house, yesterday tonight 39 and suppose to snow by morning?!

I loved that you had a stop and smell the roses moment :D so glad you shared-great pics!

Unknown said...

Spectacular pics, Michael! I bet it is hilarious to watch them bickering back-and-forth. I'm glad you enjoyed a warm day. Maybe it's a sign that spring is on its way. Fingers crossed. :)

Mark Koopmans said...

Hey,

Boy, you got that right with the weather thing....

Over here it was 85 on Wednesday and 84 on Thursday... Brrr.. I went to take a look at a picture of one of my sweaters (in case I needed to go hunting for it :)

Bring on Spring, I say (it'll be 86 then :)~

Ciara said...

We were in the 70's a day or two ago and it will be 22 degrees today.
Wait, I thought you lived in Miami.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I went to college my freshman year at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and although I'm from Illinois (central part) I had never experienced such frigid temps and miserable unceasing wind as that area. Key reason why I transferred down to the U of I in Champaign after that year. They don't call Chicago the Windy City for nothing!

Roland D. Yeomans said...

The alternating cold with warmth is giving everybody's immune system an overload around here. Great pic's. I actually saw a pink flamingo in flight as I drove the Creole Nature Trail on a blood run the other day. Its graceful flight took my breath away.

Anonymous said...

Lincoln Park Zoo? Ah, spent much time there way back when.

P.S. So glad to know that I'll get to meet you later in the month!! <3

Heather Kelly said...

Hi! I dropped by from the querying dojo. :)

I live in the Boston area, and I WORE SHORTS yesterday. In January. Crazy. And, now it's back to freezing. So nice to have a couple of days respite from the cold.

Good luck querying--it's not easy in the trenches.

I get out to Chicago once a year--can't say I'm a huge fan of the weather you guys face. Hot hot in summer, brutal in the winter....

Don't I just make you feel better about everything? Maybe I should just stop typing. :)

Glad to meet you!

Laura Eno said...

Argh. Blogger ate my comment.
Flamingos are lovely birds with silly-looking legs. :)
Stay warm out there!

DEZMOND said...

I had swans near my old house like that.... when winter comes they used to hide in the nearby moors and lakes skating on frozen water. Always lovely to see.

Unknown said...

Lovely pics, Michael!
You really know how to cease the day.
oxo
Anna

loverofwords said...

Blue Jays here, three kinds, but the Stellar Jays are the best -- they look like the Rock group, Kiss, with their black heads and white streaks, like Kabuki makeup. A pleasure to meet you.

Unknown said...

The weather has been changing fast here as well. Never seen Flamingos in Norway, we do get regular visits from Swans though :)

LTM said...

Yeah, our weather's been back and forth BANANAS, too! But wow! Flamingos! I didn't know they were out wild like that! I've only seen them in the zoo. Gorgeous.

Hope you're doing grreat, BB! <3 *hugs*

PK HREZO said...

Glad you got a little nice weather in between! Hope to see you down in sunny FLA soon! :)