Afternoon in Monticello, Illinois

That post-holiday desire to stay in and relax, followed by a bout of the flu, and some more relaxing has finally morphed itself into: cabin fever. I was puttering around the house yesterday, and suddenly said to myself, "Self, there is no law that says you have to clean this house today." I donned Cuddl Duds under sweats, threw on a stocking cap, grabbed my camera, and hit the road.

I went to Monticello, IL, fully intending to mosey around downtown, and then head to Allerton Park. I ended up wandering, however, for 3 hours within a 10-block radius of the town square, and never ran out of subject matter. That is, Allerton will have to wait.

Here are few from my day.

Watch that first step; it's a doozy.

On a whim, I crossed the street to look over the railing of a small bridge. I was so glad I did; I found this guy. My attempt to take his photo set him into flight. He landed further down the creek, so I changed my course to follow him for a few more.



Here's a table set at "Out of the Blue," a little shop that sells gorgeous handcrafted Polish pottery.



I stepped into the Steeple Gallery to discover there's Bluegrass every 3rd Saturday. This is a little antique store, art gallery, & coffee shop in an old church. It was warm and cozily lit, and this group sounded very good together. The woman singing with them had a voice like a bell. What a treat.



It was a bright sunny day, but this gives you an idea of the temperature. I was still over-dressed, peeling my scarf and gloves as I sauntered around.



I met these boys downtown, and they were thrilled to be my subject. They shouted out their email address to me, and I promised to send them photos. Unfortunately, my email to them bounced back, which made me feel kinda bad.



I imagine they'll be back some other Saturday; they ended up practicing in a lot on the main drag in town. Since I covered so little territory in town, I'll head back on the next nice day, and take some prints with me. I imagine I'll find these kids again.

It was good to get out of the house, and into the outdoors for a few hours. I never fail to marvel at what finds me, when I look for it...and to wonder what I'm missing when I don't.

The rest of the Monticello shots can be viewed on My SmugMug Page.