Groundhog Day is a uniquely American holiday. It is also one of the most relaxed. There is no pressure to meet all your in-laws, write hundreds of cards or get your kids the best costume. You don’t even have to put up decorations (of course you can if you like). You can wake up at […]

Cult following. It’s really the best way to describe Great Parks’ Winter Hike Series. It consists of a group of die-hard hikers, volunteers and staff who don’t just brave – but embrace – the cold to go out hiking together on Saturday mornings in January. The program was begun in 1985 by Naturalist Penny Borgman. […]

I did not know Warren Wells, a former Chief Naturalist of the park district, but recently I had the privilege of leading a small group of hikers off into the 40-acre preserve at Winton Woods that bears his name. Towering ancient trees and flowing creeks and ravines beckoned us as we explored under a canopy […]

Assessing whether it was time to add lye to the lard boiling over an open fire, I was careful not to get too close while wearing my long petticoat. Determining that it was not time for lye, I trudged up the hill for probably the hundredth time, fatigued from lugging iron pots, firewood, buckets of […]

I have worked for Great Parks over 17 years now. While I have enjoyed my time at each park, it is actually the walking and hiking trails that have provided me with special memories. I met my future wife while I was working at Sharon Woods, and the trails there became part of our weekly […]

August is not a very exciting month. No holidays, hot sticky weather and back-to-school looming ever closer. But there’s a strong tie between August and I. One that would ultimately lead me back to the park. It was on August 3, 1996, that I lost one of the most influential, significant and precious people in […]