My previous practice walks have been singletons; yesterday and today I walked parts of the Des Plaines River Trail: from Allison Woods to Potawatami Woods and back yesterday (about 8 miles) and from Big Bend Lake to Allison Woods and back today (about 10 miles). Both surprisingly unpeopled for being so close to so many people and on such beautiful weekend days. There were singleton bikers and walkers, but mostly pairs and groups, and I was struck by the high proportion (and variety) of non-English conversations that passed by. The Census data for surrounding towns shows 20-38% of residents as foreign born, but it seemed like closer to 50% of the conversations I caught bits of were non-English. Are immigrant Americans more likely to socialize in the woods than native-born Americans? More generally--what is the sociology of Cook County Forest Preserve usage? I imagine someone has investigated that--it would make a good thesis topic.
Interesting factoid from the Des Plaines River Trail info board at Big Bend Lake: the bedrock under Des Plaines contains a 5.5 mile diameter impact crater estimated to be less than 280 million years old (currently buried under 75-200 feet of glacial till).
Hmm--I've gotten side-tracked--the point of this post was to see if I can upload photos directly from my camera. . . .the answer appears to be "no." I'll need to enlist my IT consultants' assistance.
[Success! Note from IT Consultant the elder: I'm not sure what the earlier problem was, it was pretty straightforward. I placed the SD card into the reader, waited for the computer to register its presence, and then went to blog spot and uploaded it. Good luck with future tries! -J]
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