Diving into summer

Only an hour north of New York City, bliss can be found in a small lake, where youthful laughter signals the beginning of another season of lazy, hazy days.

Wonderfully wicked

They say you are wicked, and I believe them for I have seen your painted women under gas lights luring farm boys...

That lad Card Sandburg had a way with the words, eh?

Ronna and I spent the weekend in Chicago, our kind of town, for a double celebration -- her milestone birthday and the Hawks' long overdue capturing of the Stanley Cup.

We arrived downtown in time for the aftermath of the parade and rally.

We discovered that even at the Art Institute, hockey fever had gone to the heads of art lovers.

And we vowed to change the medication after checking out the Cloud Gate, better known as The Bean.

A good time was had by all.

The drought ends

A few years ago, we many long-suffering Chicago Blackhawks fans could barely find team merchandise to purchase, let alone display. The 49-year drought is over, and now summer can begin.

A child's view

There was something compelling about this child looking through a window as the world passed by him outside. In fact, although he seemed isolated, he was watching the crowds of bargain hunters converge on the Trash and Treasure sale in Vankleek Hill.

A fallen hero

Sylvie Lormand takes a sneak peek at the memorial dedicated to her son, Corporal Patrick Lormand, who was killed at the age of 21 while serving in Afghanistan last fall. The newly-created playground at Pleasant Corners Public School, midway between Hawkesbury and Vankleek Hill, Ontario, has been named Patrick Lormand Park. Since Patrick's death, we have all in our own way been sharing his family's grief and their celebration of his life as a fun-loving, caring daredevil whose motto was "Share The Luv." When I look at this shot I took of Mme Lormand, I wonder if her first instinct was to return the blanket to its original place and bundle up her son.