2008 Independence Day Parade, Barrington, IL
Here's the proof; not only does the new President of the United States call Chicago home and Garden Bloggers' Spring Fling will be held in Chicago this year, but now comes that venerable British magazine, Gardens Illustrated, with a story about local heroes Barrington's own Citizens for Conservation, a not for profit organization (yes, I'm a member), and their efforts to restore prairies and preserve open spaces. I've posted about their Grigsby Prairie twice when my kids' classes went there for a field trip (see here and here). (The Gardens Illustrated story is in the January 2009 Issue 145, page 72.) As the maestro used to say, "Bravi, tutti!" To put it more prosaically, you guys really rock!
Moreover, Gardens Illustrated is sponsoring a trip this September to Chicago, including a tour of the Lurie Garden, the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Morton Arboretum, and a walk around Oak Park, some of the same places we'll be touring with Spring Fling. Oh, yeah, they're also going to go to the Missouri Botanic Garden.
So even though it's snowing again and there is already over two feet of the stuff on the ground right now, I just can't imagine living anywhere else. (Except maybe in Italy.) Don't you wish you lived here too?