Chicago, Sublime and Ridiculous
October 2, 2022
When my daughter and daughter-in-law picked us up in Chicago for the drive to their home in Madison in August, we made a brief stop at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Having gotten next to no sleep the night before (we got up at 3:15 the morning to catch the train), David and I didn’t last long. But we were there long enough for me to catch a few photographs. On the reverse trip, we were able to spend a little time in downtown Chicago. Be prepared: the last photo is scary.
1 The garden included many kinds of lotus plants, with variously colored flowers. I didn’t catch the name of this one.
2 The garden had at least as many waterlilies. Again, I didn’t get the name.
3 I got the name of another water lily but, alas, no photograph of the lily, which is a reddish color according to what I found online. The dragonfly appears to be our old friend Blue Dasher.
4 I really failed at noting plant names at the garden; I’ll blame it on sleep deprivation. I wish I knew the name of this water plant. I’d never seen square leaves before. Update of October 3, 2022: Take a look at the suggestions offered by Gabi Weinert and nannus in the comments section. Either plant mentioned seems to me like a possible match.
5 The main visitor building at the garden featured dried plants and flowers hanging from the ceiling.
6
7
8 I probably wouldn’t be comfortable living in downtown Chicago, despite that being my childhood dream.
9 But I do like visiting and photographing there. Given more time, I’d have gathered many more images.
10 Seeing this building made me feel as if I were in a science fiction movie. It was all the more frightening knowing that it was not fiction.
Romancing Reality 
Wonderful shots, Linda. The light on the lead shot and #7 is fantastic. Years ago, I attended the McCrone Institute and spent some time in Chicago. I loved every minute. I didn’t have a car so I got around on buses and the “L”. It’s a great town for anyone, especially one with a photographic eye. As for Trump, he’s not as scary as those that believe him.
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October 2, 2022 at 3:11 PM
Thank you, Ken. Good to know you loved your time in Chicago. For many years I attended a December conference there and always looked forward to being in the city. Unfortunately, it was before my return to photography, so I have no photos from those times. I agree about Trump’s supporters. They are giving him power he wouldn’t otherwise have. Still, his name in those huge huge letters seemed surreal in a bad way.
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October 2, 2022 at 8:24 PM
Given that the flower in your first photo is a lotus, it would seem to be Nelumbo nucifera, the Asian lotus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nucifera. As Ken noted, you caught especially nice lighting on #7.
Five years ago when we visited Chicago we took one of those boat rides along the river. I remember seeing some of the buildings you’ve shown.
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October 2, 2022 at 8:42 PM
You may be right about the lotus, Steve; sure looks like it. I took #8 shooting right across the river, so I’m not surprised that you saw that one.
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October 4, 2022 at 3:01 PM
Thank you for taking us with you through sharing these nice impressions!
The tender and beautiful water plant sould be a trapa natans or Ludwigia sedioides. These are different plants, the first one has white flowers, the ludwigia yellow ones. Trapa natans also produces fruits (curious looking water chestnut)
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October 3, 2022 at 2:39 AM
Thank you, Gabi. Since the water plant was not in flower—at least I didn’t see any flowers—I can’t choose between the two plants you mention. Nannus (see his comment below) goes with the second one you name. They both have those square leaves.
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October 4, 2022 at 3:04 PM
The plant with the geometric swimming leaves seems to be this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwigia_sedioides.
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October 3, 2022 at 9:00 AM
Thanks for weighing in, nannus. It is a beautiful plant. Have you seen it in person?
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October 4, 2022 at 3:05 PM
No, never before, at least not that I remember. I just did a little Google search. Did not take long. I just found it intriguing and interessting and so I wanted to find out what it was.
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October 4, 2022 at 3:25 PM
Thank you for Googling, nannus.
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October 4, 2022 at 3:40 PM
The mystery plant is very intriguing – I’ve never seen it before. Having worked at the NY Botanical Garden and visited other botanical gardens I was delighted to see such a unique plant growing in Chicago. Just the squarish leaves alone would have been enough, but for them to arrange themselves in rosettes – outrageous!! I googled both suggested plants with ‘Chicago Botanic Garden’ and L. sediodes came up in a FB post. Someone said they saw it at Chicago Botanic Garden in 2017 as part of a ‘Brazil in the Garden’ theme. Whatever the identity, I’m grateful to you for photographing it in your diminished state. 😉 And you’re completely forgiven for all the missed labels. The progression from water plants to dried plants arranged very deliberately to city buildings and their (wavy) reflections is nice. I love photographing buildings like those, except for the last one. My stomach turns when I see buildings with that name in NYC and elsewhere. Ugh. But the rest of the images make up for it. 🙂
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October 4, 2022 at 9:52 PM
Thanks, Lynn. I argued with myself for quite a while before posting that last photograph. In the end, I guess I did it to share the pain. If the man hadn’t been in politics, I think I might have blown off his name dominating the building as a silly narcissistic waste of money—as I wrote off his NYC tower when I saw it many years ago. But given the man’s political position, it’s downright frightening.
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October 5, 2022 at 11:13 AM
Beautiful photographs, Grasshopper. But the Trump Tower gives me the creeps.
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October 5, 2022 at 9:00 AM
Me, too. Seeing that name in letters so large made me feel like I was in a Big-Brother-is-watching-you moment. Hmm. “Grasshopper.” I think I know you.
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October 5, 2022 at 11:05 AM
Yes, you know me from roughly forty years ago at the University of Michigan. I can’t remember how I stumbled across your book “They Breathe Iron” and your blog, but I’m pleased to see you are still hale and hearty, doing things you clearly enjoy.
Bob
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October 5, 2022 at 11:32 AM
Thanks, Bob.
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October 5, 2022 at 11:50 AM
Your photographs of the dried botanicals hanging from the ceiling, particularly #5, are amazing! I have been back several times since you posted to look at them. The layers of color, form and texture in #5 are beautifully shown…really nice!
It’s good that others seem to have identified the plant in #4. My first thought was spearmint Chiclets 🥺…
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October 7, 2022 at 2:00 PM
Thanks, Mic. Those dried plants made me want to do something similar—but where?—and don’t I already have enough interests, all competing to see which can distract me the most from the others? Ah, the tragedy of a curious mind. . . . Yes, Chiclets! Are they still made? I can’t ask a question without trying to find an answer. So I Googled and found a Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiclets. Interesting, if uncertain, information.
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October 7, 2022 at 2:24 PM
I bet you could find space to hang a small panel of slats similar to the ceiling in the photograph but yes, I also understand the competing interests. Remember though, the real tragedy is having a mind but no curiosity.
Chiclets!? Where did that thought come from?…50 years since I’ve had them, maybe more.
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October 8, 2022 at 10:38 AM