Weekly update: gatherings online and in-person and two parks

 [Next post will have quilting updates and the one book I managed to finish this week.]     

The 75th International Convention of the P.E.O. Sisterhood was held virtually this week. Because it was virtual any member could 'attend' at no charge. I registered months ago and fully intended to tune in -- but Life In General intervened.  I did watch the opening ceremony on Wednesday and one of the workshops.  Now I need to go back to see the results of the voting on amendments. There were many.  Like so many organizations P.E.O. is striving to improve its diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

I did take a selfie for the online photo booth.  The seven founders' names are on my t-shirt.  

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It was wonderful to see AAUW, P.E.O., and GFWC friends at the first Clara Cummings Book Club luncheon since October, 2019.  Clara Cummings is a book club in name only -- it's a luncheon gathering with a literary-based program or historical portrayal.  (I gave a book talk several years ago). The presenter this time was Jenny Riddle who appeared as Catherine the Great based on the biography by Robert K. Massie.  Jenny dispelled a lot of "myth-information" about Catherine. 

The Zion Woman's Club participated in the 30th annual Beach Clean Up sponsored by the Alliance for the Great Lakes . We had checklists to indicated what trash we picked up--foam pieces, plastic bottles, cans, cigarette butts, etc. (Someone found the rusty barrel of a BB gun.)  21.5 pounds! 

It's been sunny, warm, and (still) dry -- great for our park explorations.  Stevens and I revisited   Fort Sheridan.  The forest preserve is adjacent to the old-new Town of Fort Sheridan. When the lakefront property was decommissioned as a fort (1992)  it provided a superb opportunity for nature preservation and historic preservation.  It's on  the flyway and there were hawk-watchers (volunteers counting and documenting the hawks they see). 

 

Clockwise: toadflax, a hillside of asters, tall boneset, Maximilian sunflower and asters, and vetch. 

This gives you an idea of the height that Fort Sheridan is on.  (Farther north our section of the lakefront is very flat and marshy.) 

The quarters of Fort Sheridan have been redeveloped and renovated as upscale housing -- single-family and condominium. 

   Moraine Hills State Park is just over the county line in McHenry County.  From the website: "Major acquisition of the Lake Defiance area began in 1971, and construction of park facilities took place in the spring of 1975. The present Moraine Hills State Park opened in October 1976.​ The park name is derived from a geologic formation known as a moraine, which is an accumulation of boulders, stones and other debris deposited by a glacier. The 48-acre Lake Defiance, located near the center of the park, is one of the few glacial lakes in Illinois that has remained largely undeveloped, maintaining a near-natural condition."

Clockwise:  false Solomon's seal (aka false spikenard or Solomon's plume); a gall on a goldenrod stem; oriental bittersweet vines; sunlight on a mossy log; Japanese rose hips. 

Top:  Lake Defiance.  I walked 1 mile of the north loop -- maybe half way? - and turned around.  

Where will we go next week?  Stay tuned!