Taking Pictures at the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

May 21, 2014

On Sunday, I trekked over to the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool with Liz and met up with Michelle, Mike, and Meg for some photos. The girls had all been working on knitting the same cardigan, and as is traditional… got together to take photos of their completed work.

It’d been a long while since we were here last. This was a favorite spot for me and Liz, as we had some of our wedding photos taken here.

Hanging out a bit in the shade, in between shots. L to R it’s Liz, Michelle, Meg, and Mike.

Three lovely ladies and their three lovely cardigans. If you’re curious to learn more about the project, each one of them has more photos (and details) on their respective sites. Check out Liz’s recap, Meg’s recap, and Michelle’s recap.

Afterwards, we all trekked over to Bobtail Ice Cream for some ice cream and milkshakes. Or, as Liz and I called it that day: lunch.

As we drove back down Stockton, near the Lincoln Park Zoo, Liz spotted some baby chicks hanging out in the grass. We turned the car around, got out, and then spent the next 20 minutes just standing around watching these little guys.

The adults were remarkably relaxed despite the cars and motorcycles whizzing by in the street, along with the pedestrians walking down the sidewalk. From time to time, someone would get a little too close and the adults would lift their heads straight up and begin hissing.

Another family emerged from the water nearby. This was the most literal version of Animal Crossing I’ve ever seen.

The two groups intermingled for a little while, but then one of the bigger chicks started to peck at some of the smaller ducklings. There was some chasing (and I’ll be honest, a small moment of dread where I thought the larger chick might end up killing [eating?] a duckling it was pursuing). And then the groups kind of split up again.

It was kind of like they were two gangs sharing the same turf. Not rivals, necessarily, but not necessarily friends either. They co-existed well enough, but there seemed to be one troublemaker in the group.

There was a small path that led to the pond nearby, and it was awesome to be able to hang out nearby and watch everyone climb in/out. The path was pretty narrow, so it allowed us to stand fairly close without causing any of the usual hissing “get-away” noises.