There is nothing like changing landscapes and a new city to stimulate the creative juices and ones sense of adventure and wonder! The nearly 6 hour train trip was relaxing yesterday. Annie napped and read, and I wrote, and wrote….

And doodled…

And generally soaked it all in.

I glimpsed plenty of the Illinois farm land, empty in winter.

The were plenty of small towns, in both good and bad conditions, and of course in the Land of Lincoln, Springfield shined with it’s lovely capitol building.

And a short while later, we were in Chicago.

View from the hotel!

We toured Chicago by night, exploring The Chicago Art Institute and Millennium Park, which is really cool with all the lights!

Bean by night!

Obligatory Bean selfie!

And now aafter sleeping like a brick, it’s time for ALA!  I’ll have more to write when it’s over, but I need to share my excitement over seeing the first public showing of Kyle Cassidy’s photo project: Alexandria is Still Burning.

At last year’s Midwinter, he did portraits of various librarians, and in a Slate article shared “This is What a Librarian Looks Like.” It was well received and went viral rather quickly. Through a Kicksarter, he was able to turn it into a larger project, and this is a first glimpse at the results! Yes, I’m fan-girling a bit as a follower of Kyle’s work, but it is still an important project. It challenges us to break down preconceived ideas and stereotypes while showing why libraries, literacy, learning, and the people who make it all happen are important.

More to follow, but now I return to my explorations!