Some other photos you might find interesting...
The Monolith. It has the 1:3:9 proportions as the monolith from "2001". Solid black, made of plywood, 2x12's and 2x4's, it appeared quite mysteriously on the grounds of Governor's State University one night. Anonymously donated to their Sculpture Garden.
Now that the statute of limitations has run out on any illegalities associated with anonymously donating the Monolith, I can confess that Gary and I did it.
Hunting for coal age (Pennsylvanian & Mississipain period) fossils among the old coal mine slag heaps in Braidwood, Illinois.
Once upon a time I was working on a bachelor's degree in biology, so I could go on to get a master's in vertebrate paleontology, and dig dinosaurs for a living. Got burned out staring at "little critters" under microscopes, though.
One of these days I'll find the rare "Tully Monster", a marine animal they aren't sure how to classify. It's found only in the Mazon Creek formations around the Braidwood area.