My Life in Elgin Update

The entire point of this blog is for me to write about my life in Elgin, but I haven’t been doing that lately! Partly because of some bad news I’ve been in denial about: MY CAMERA IS BROKEN. Still, without photos I can give you a quick rundown of what my summer in Elgin has been like so far:

*A fair amount of eating at Al’s Cafe with a couple of trips to In the Neighborhood mixed in for good measure.

*Bike rides up and down the Fox River Trail.

*Quality strolls around Festival Park. How fun it is to see all the kids running through the water! Also, my new favorite past time is to call out to ducks in the Fox River. Some of them talk back!

*To be honest, probably a few too many nights imbibing while listening to bands or playing video bowling at the Gasthaus, mixed in with a few nights of talking over drinks at Elgin Public House and Prairie Rock Brewery.

*Thrift shopping for fun summer clothes at Elgin’s Village Discount and South Elgin’s Goodwill.

*Going to my first Bandits softball game. If you go, do it on a Friday! The fireworks are unbelievable and rival those from the 4th!

I also participated in Elgin’s Amazin’ Race and attended Brewfest and went out of town a couple of times. The summer is just speeding by!

Tags: Al's Cafe, Bandits, bicycles, bike, bikes, Brewfest, camera, Downtown Neighborhood Association, Elgin, Elgin Amazin' Race, Elgin Public House, Festival Park, fireworks, Fox River, Fox River Trail, Gasthaus, goodwill, IL, Illinois, In the Neighborhood, Judson, Prairie Rock Brewery, Shopping, softball, village discount
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Fox River Trail South to IL Prairie Path

A couple of weeks ago I rode my bike south on the Fox River Trail and then on the Illinois Prairie Path (my first time!). Here is a video of some geese that blocked the path while I was still in Elgin:

An “information” sign on the Prairie Path. It must be some sort of koan.

The sign welcoming me to DuPage County.

A video of a man-made waterfall in Wayne:

Tags: bicycle, bike, DuPage County, Elgin, Fox River, geese, goose, IL, Illinois, Prairie Path, Pratt Woods, trail, waterfall, Wayne
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Beautiful gardens around Gail Borden?

I’m not sure that the Courier could publish an article that would excite me more. Click here for the full thing.

Water and wind turbines, a fish-watching spot, interactive games, rooftop gardens and babbling brooks could one day wrap around Gail Borden Public Library.

…

Hornig’s design includes cisterns that would capture water from the library roof. The water would then be directed into small streams, which would turn small turbines. Another spot, toward the Fox River, could have small windmills, which also would produce a small amount of power.

That power could be used to run an outdoor electronic game. “It’s like the game Simon,” where players must touch lighted screens in time with the game, Hornig said.

On the banks of the Fox River, the plan includes a fish library — a floating wetland in the river that would provide a habitat for the fish found in the Fox. To make that area accessible to people, a glass wall would be built into the bank.

Awesome!

Tags: Elgin, environment, fish, Fox River, Gail Borden Public Library, games, gardens, Illinois, nature, news, outdoors, rooftop garden, water, wetland, wind turbines, windmills
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