BY ANDREW MORKES, FOUNDER OF NATURE IN CHICAGOLAND Nature in Chicagoland Readers: This is an extremely challenging time in America, and I hope you won't mind if I take a break from nature to discuss the events that are currently happening in the United States. We live in a strange and disturbing world in which … Continue reading America 2020: Thoughts On the Murder of George Floyd, Marching for Justice, and Looting
BY ANDREW MORKES, FOUNDER OF NATURE IN CHICAGOLAND March in Chicago: Dreams of baseball (the games that count…boy, the White Sox would have been good this year)The St. Patrick’s Day (I mean week-long…I mean month-long) celebrations in full swingGreening grass jazzing up the color tones of monochromatic gray Chicago winterEarly spring flowers breaking through the … Continue reading Life in the Time of COVID-19: Thoughts on Baseball, Hoarding, Being Thankful, Accountability, Gardening, and Hope
Today is the two-year anniversary of my blog, Nature in Chicagoland. In the last 730 days, I’ve published nearly 80 articles about the great outdoors. I've covered everything from eagle watching and views of the mighty Mississippi River at Mississippi Palisades State Park, to remnants of the Manhattan Project and great wildlife viewing in Red … Continue reading Celebrating the Two-Year Anniversary of Nature in Chicagoland
It’s so cold today in Chicagoland that [fill in your punch line here]. So, today is a perfect day to…stay inside and read some of my favorite all-time posts at Nature in Chicagoland and dream of warm weather, summer skies, forests of green, happy dancing deer (okay, maybe I have mental frostbite), and all the … Continue reading 15 Nature in Chicagoland Stories to Check Out on a North Pole-Like Day
The beautiful blue Earth rising above the barren, chalky surface of the moon in the darkness of space. That’s what astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders saw on December 24, 1968, from the cockpit of the command module of Apollo 8. These men were tasked with completing a challenging mission that involved testing … Continue reading Earthrise 1968: Thoughts on the Past and Future of the Environment and America
BY ANDREW MORKES, FOUNDER AND AUTHOR OF NATURE IN CHICAGOLAND UPDATED AUGUST 2023 Massive bugs are everywhere at Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center (3609 Spring Road, Oak Brook, IL 60523, 630/850-8110), which is located in Fullersburg Woods Forest Preserve. A five-foot-long praying mantis perches atop the entrance to the center, a large grasshopper peers down … Continue reading Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center: Big Bugs, Tons of Fun Activities for Kids, and Great Hiking Trails
BY ANDREW MORKES (updated July 2021) Breaking News: There’s a wormhole near Ogden Avenue and I-294. When my 8-year-old son and I were pulled into it on Tuesday, we were transported back to 1852. In this year: Millard Fillmore was president of the United States. Chicago was not even 20 years old. Levi Strauss had … Continue reading Graue Mill and Museum: Learn About Life in Illinois in the 1800s, the Underground Railroad, and Much More
That’s what Michigan resident Caleb Stevens did in 2017. The now 23-year-old, who spent two years at West Point, decided to join a Kurdish militia allied with the U.S. that was fighting ISIS in Syria. Yes, that ISIS. The one that beheads, burns, rapes, otherwise tortures, and kills people, and that once controlled large swathes … Continue reading Would You Travel 6,200 Miles to Fight Evil?