1. My neighborhood about eight blocks south and slightly west of the State Capitol building.
2. A closer look at my house, Villa Vine, the only one with a black roof.
3. The nerve center for state government, despite Governor Blagojevich's best efforts to move it all to Chicago so his family won't have to move into the Governor's Mansion. We are looking north and slightly east. The Stratton Office Building is in the lower left; the State Library in the upper right.
4. Under the dome inside the State Capitol Building. This is the UNcommon picture which I took to compare it with the cliche picture which appears later on this page.
5. Another view from under the State Capitol dome. I deliberately looked into the sun for this, and the lens flare on the upper right is intentional.
6. State Republican Party leaders meet to consider viable candidates for state offices in the 08 election. The sparse appearance of the Capitol grounds is a result of budget cutbacks, necessary to permit Governor B'ich to commute almost daily to his family home in Chicago.
7. And as the sun sinks slowly in the west, a statue of Abe Lincoln surveys the scenic tableau looking east down Capitol Avenue.
8. Jennifer Jenkins is a long-time friend, major activist for the elimination of the Illinois death penalty. She is too-infrequently a part of the Springfield scene. I photographed her during a 2002 visit to meet with members of the Illinois General Assembly.
9. Tony Leone is a major player in Illinois government; owner of Pasfield House which has replaced Susan Lawrence Dana's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house as THE BEST party and reception venue in the state of Springfield, Illinois. He even attended my historical society presentation about Vachel Lindsay.
10. A meeting at a Decatur art gallery in 1999, great conversation and emails, her visit to Springfield at a time when my heat had been disconnected, and nothing after that but void. Still, the good memories remain.
11. Maximum Labrador was the first pet to grace Villa Vine. There have been other pets, all black Labs, and just about all but my present pooches, Thelnious Dog and Slick Richard, have learned how to climb the hurricane fence. Pictures of TD and SR will appear here later.
12. This gentleman embodies the physical appearance of Elijah Iles, an early founder of Springfield. He appears at historic events in this city, and is masterful in his sharing of local history.
13. This stunning countenance (photograph only slightly retouched) was a regular part of poetry readings just a few years ago.
14. A group of good people, among them, those pictured here, meet downtown on Saturday mornings for Writers' Bloc a creative writing discussion group.
15. Spotted on Sixth Street a few years ago, this Triumph TR-4, a mid-60s sports car, was parked in exactly the proper place for a picture.
16. Steve Meyers was a friend of mine in junior high school. A few years ago, he happened to be dining downtown at a local pizza place that hosted a poetry reading, and we re-connected. He spent most of his life in Washington state, but said he was moving back to Springfield.
17. View from my office. Maximum Labrador seems pensive . . . for a canine at any rate.
18. When 11 mayors from cities of Ukraine visited Springfield, I was privileged to write a story about their time in this city. Here Stepan Tirpchuk (or something like that if my memory is correct) rubs Abe's nose for good luck at the Lincoln Memorial. I think of the mayors from that new nation often, and hope that they and their fellow citizens are well.
19. This is the cliched picture from under the State Capitol dome. I say "cliched" becuause it's the most natural, view -- just get the "bullseye" in the middle and snap the picture -- and even though there is something to say for almost perfect symmetry of it all, I like the pictures from inside presented earlier, especially number 8.
20. The penultimate harmonica player wails (or , if your name is Herman Melville, "whales") at a recent open mic in lyrical downtown Springfield.
21. The puckering gentleman on the left is Richard Strode, about the only local male hummin' bean I call friend as the new year begins. This picture has been slightly retouched.
22. Richard is a competent model airplane builder and a model airplane kit collector. He grew up in Springfield and flew USMC RF-4s in Vietnam. Today, he and his wife Annette are adoptive parents of several exotic birds.
23. This space was not intentionally left blank. To get an idea of the story behind the blankness. . .
24. . . . email me
writer@eosinc.com
25. This view of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum (on the left) and ALP Library (on the right) was taken in September 2005.
26. The ALPM closer.
27. View of the ALPM from the southwest with the ALML in the foreground left.
28. The ALPL.