The Legend of Starved Rock

The Illinois River is still too full for barge traffic

This week daughter #1 and I had the pleasure of exploring Starved Rock State Park, voted by the citizens of this state as one of the seven wonders of Illinois. Entrance to the park is free.

Daughter #2 would have come with us, however she is, as Woody Allen so famously described himself, "two with nature."

1200 war ships went through these locks during WWII,
including 28 submarines

We went for a day of hiking along the Illinois River and to see the park's sandstone canyons that make it such a fun and pretty place to hike. The hiking patch for the state park describes the park as the place "where Illinois began."

Starved Rock, Plum Island and Aldo Island

Here is the late 1700's legend that gave Starved Rock State Park it's name:

Pontiac, a great Ottawa chieftain, had gone down to the southern part of Illinois to negotiate trade agreements with the French. During his stay he was murdered by an Illinois of the area. Word got back to his tribe and they wanted to avenge Pontiacs' death. So the Potawatomi and Fox, sub-tribes of the Ottawa people, paddled down river and attacked the Illinois village by Starved Rock.

For several days the attack raged on. By the end of the attack the Illinois people were reduced by half and the Potawatomi and Fox returned to regroup. The Illinois knew that in order to survive they had to leave the area. They decided to seek refuge on top of the rock. They climbed up to the summit of the rock hoping that the Potawatomi and Fox would by-pass them on their way southward. Unfortunately, the plan backfired and the Potawatomi and Fox surrounded the base. As the Illinois tried to get water by lowering buckets with rope the Potawatomi and Fox would cut the ropes or shatter the buckets with their arrows. They also climbed up on top of Devil's Nose and showered them with arrows. As the Illinois grew more desperate, some tried sneaking down, but they were murdered. The rest that were left on top starved. Since then, the rock has been known as "Starved Rock."

There are 13 miles of trails exploring
18 different sandstone canyons

This sort of burl growing on a tree is beautiful
when "carved" on a lathe

We chose to hike to St. Louis Canyon and back;
it's about four miles

The park and it's environs are home to a fledgling colony of bald eagles that are attracted by the easy pickings of 2' long catfish which are visible everywhere surrounding the dam and in the creeks coming from Starved Rock's sandstone canyons. Each bald eagle comes back to the same nest every year.

St. Louis canyon

In the spring, the waterfall can quadruple in size

I like how this sandstone just sheered off this wall

After cooling off under the falls

Motivation when you need it - somebody wrote on the post:
"155 steps, Just do it!"

Wildcat Canyon

The Starved Rock Lodge was built by local men
in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the
National Park Rustic Style

All the furniture is handmade
and original to the lodge

The CCC was a program started by
U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
during the Depression to give
jobs and hope to millions of unemployed

Each man earned $30 a month:
$25 was sent home to his family,
and he kept $5.

People come from as far as Chicago
for Sunday Brunch on the veranda each week

Nothing Runs Like a Deere

The two-cylinder tractor that can cause
a Midwestern man to sigh with love

Years ago at my local Rotary club, an area doctor got up to give a speech not on his specialty, but his collection of vintage John Deere tractors. As soon as this was announced, you could practically feel the room vibrate and buzz, such was the enthusiasm of the men in my club for this subject. You would have thought the Ferrari dealer had shown up!

John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois

So it didn't surprise me to learn that the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois is the fifth most visited building in Illinois, hosting visitors from all over the world. John Deere has been rated one of the 100 most reputable and trusted brands in the world so this buzz must happen everywhere.

The famous leaping deer and an awesome dump truck

It was hard to find the Pavilion.  I only knew about it through word-of-mouth (obviously they are advertising somewhere) and there was no signage on Highway 88 telling me about it or where I should turn to get to downtown Moline to see it. I accidentally ended up at the John Deere World Headquarters because I missed my turn.

I would have deere-ly (yuk, yuk) loved to have seen the inside of that building because it was designed by world-class Finnish architect Eero Saarinen in the 1960s. It is supposed to have amazing art and murals inside and this giant wall of farm memorabilia from all over the world. The building is on the list of 150 most architecturally significant buildings in Illinois. Today though, we came to see tractors!

Daughter #1 admires a John Deere combine and attachment


Even at 5'10" there was still head room left in the combine tire

We got back on the highway and made our way to downtown Moline. Our first stop was the John Deere pavilion itself which has enough gigantic machinery out front to excite anyone's inner eight-year-old. My favorite was the dump truck. But there was also a giant combine (I think that's what it's called) with a retail value of $312,000. outfitted with a $37,000 attachment on the front. How farmers afford this, I don't know! Wouldn't it take a farm the size of a Soviet collective?

Insert the 'Green Acres' theme song here

Inside was a display on the future of agriculture focused on four different areas: population growth, sustainability, precision farming, and biotechnology (that last subject is probably for you Europeans - we know how it makes you go just a little bit over the edge, right?).

One kiosk showed the population growth rates for various areas of the world and the estimated amount of each type of food it will take to feed everyone. Three new mouths to feed are born every second. Here's the annual population growth rates for various locations:

The world +1.3 %
Italy -0.08
U.S. + 0.87
Brazil +1.24
Mexico +1.77
Iraq +3.20
Gaza +6.40

I also was able to compare my intake of each sort of food with U.S. averages.

Average annual amount of various foods eaten by U.S. Citizens individually:

Vegetables 173.5 lbs.
Fruit 126.0 lbs.
Coffee 6.1 lbs. (I am w-a-y over on this one)
Eggs 20.0 dozen per year
Sweeteners 150.0 lbs.
Red Meat 114.7 lbs.
Fish 14.9 lbs.
Flour 180.0 lbs.

I probably eat much less red meat and flour than the average, and hopefully less sweeteners; but who can tell with processed foods? The sweeteners are unexpected and hidden.

Learning that Americans usually eat only 14 pounds of fish a year seemed like such a market opportunity. I would eat LOTS more fish if I knew what had mercury and what didn't. I believe there are millions of dollars waiting to be made there.

The most fun part of the exhibit besides playing on the big machinery was trying out the planting simulator. Oh, did my lack of video game experience show. Every farm kid can now justify too many hours on the gaming console by yelling, "Mom, I'm learning how to plant!"

It's harder to drive those big rigs than it looks. On my first simulated planting I drove the machine into my neighbor's field. At harvest time, I drove it into the ditch! Luckily, John Deere equipment is outfitted with GPS systems that help farmers manage every inch of their field with auto-pilot. Every inch of the field is also coordinated with a satellite feed that creates yield management for each area. Only some corners of an acre get fertilizer and some herbicide. It's very cool and very high-tech. The simulator does not yet calculate who has the highest score or yield per acre. How could an important feature like that escape the male minds at John Deere?

The John Deere Collector's Center

Yes, you can get that old John Deere tractor rusting in the farm orchard restored in the paint and service department.
Then you can sell it on Ebay.

We then moseyed over to the John Deere Collector's Center, which is where collectors come to have their machinery lovingly restored. The two-cylinder engine is the one that creates all of the excitement. It has a sound that is very unique and beloved, just like a Harley. The day after we visited, John Deere announced they would close the Collector's Center and concentrate all of their tourism activities in the Pavilion. Gee, I hope it isn't because Americans aren't willing to walk the one block between buildings. The company is going to move the antiques to the Pavilion and show off more aspects of their business.

Waterloo Boy is an Iowa tractor company John Deere purchased

John Deere has used that leaping deer in it's logo since 1876. It's been a remarkably well-run company since it's inception, diversifying into tractors and then lawn equipment. It is now the largest agricultural machinery manufacturer in the world. Two of the most moving pictures in the Pavilion: a turn-of-the-century factory floor photo of the European immigrants who worked there, and then a present day team of Americans who had built the latest machine. If John Deere can keep all of this manufacturing in America, the Pavilion should teach how to do that too because they sure know something everyone in this country could learn from.

The product pride that the Pavilion celebrates made me tear up, and I'm not even a farmer! Daughter #1 visited the John Deere combine factory down the block from the Pavilion last Spring. She also was not raised on a farm, has no intention of living on a farm, but by the end of her combine factory tour she wanted to own one of the machines. Big colorful machinery is hard to resist, even for the ladies.

I can imagine the joy a farm wife gets from taking her
John Deere heritage picnic basket
out to the fields or to her church potluck.

A farm child's first John Deere

The gift shop was of course, an homage to all things Deere, with it's trademark green and yellow colors duplicated everywhere. I could see why John Deere souvenirs are all so popular. The brand and mood of the memorabilia is a celebration of rural happiness garnered from living a farming life with none of the feel of the farming's downsides. Having grown up in Iowa, I'm very familiar with the downsides. Those non-profitable days may be over due to high commodity prices.

Another expertise John Deere could share is it's branding expertise with the locals. What do you think of when you think of Moline, Illinois...? ____________________See? They need help.


You might also enjoy this other John Deere post: Nothing Plows Like a Deere

Nothing Plows Like a Deere

Okay, so I'm not yet in the Czech Republic. I might as well play tourist a bit more in Illinois before I leave. Besides, I wanted to take advantage of the fact that daughter #1 was home and would appreciate this -- she's an agricultural economics major.

Thirty miles from my home, on one of the most beautiful highways in Illinois, Highway 2, which lovingly follows the bends and curves of the Rock River, is the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour, Illinois. It's a spot so pretty that the Indians who lived nearby said the river bent here so it could look back on itself in admiration.

This is the spot where a young John Deere invented his famous plow which enabled pioneer farmers to farm the rich, black dirt of the Midwest.

As one of a widowed seamstress's five children in Vermont, John Deere used to help his mom as a child by polishing her needles so they could easily and quickly go through cloth. He came here to Illinois after receiving a first-rate blacksmith apprenticeship as a young man.

How poor was John Deere when he arrived in 1836? So poor that he didn't even have his own horse. He had to borrow the neighbor's horse to power the cogs in his new blacksmith shop.

What he found though was tons of opportunity. Not only did the locals need a blacksmith, but they had a central problem that discouraged their farming. They couldn't plow easily because the soil kept sticking to the cast iron blades they were using and the iron blades were so soft they often nicked and broke from field debris.

John Deere used a broken steel saw mill blade given to him by the local saw mill owner to create a new plow polished to a high sheen (just like his mother's sewing needles) that easily cut through the 'gumbo' soil without sticking. He only made one plow the first year, two the second, but demand kept growing and a new industry was born. His third plow now sits in the Smithsonian Museum.

John Deere moved his business to Moline, Illinois so he could be closer to the Mississippi which was used to transport the fine steel made in Sheffield, England for his plows.

His original one-room house he built himself that housed his wife and five kids plus a live-in apprentice upstairs (more rooms were added as the other four children came along), the archaeological dig showing the site of his original blacksmith shop, a new blacksmith shop with working demonstrations (here's the blacksmith waiting for us to enter so he could make us grateful we were born in the modern age), and a gift shop are all on the site. The staff recommend an hour-and-a-half to see the site completely.

We marveled at the manual labor pioneers like John Deere did. No wonder they were never overweight! Next to his house is the 35-foot well he dug for his family and encased in limestone rock. You could see how rigid gender division of labor made a lot of sense back then. There was just so much physical work for both of them to do.

Afterwards we had a pretty picnic along the river at the picnic area immediately opposite the site before proceeding to Moline, Illinois to see the John Deere Pavilion. Visiting the John Deere Historic Site could easily be combined with seeing the Ronald Reagan boyhood home in Dixon, Illinois five miles away.

My wish for you: Freedom

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Hello World! Hello Czech friends!

Today is the 4th of July, the day Americans celebrate our declaration of independence. It is impossible for me to read these words without awe - they move me that much. Thomas Jefferson wrote those words in his Declaration of Independence and they were unanimously adopted by men who were willing to risk their lives and property by signing it.

I remember when my Czech friend Kate said that Americans take seriously things the rest of the world has developed complete cynicism over - things like government of the people, by the people and for the people. It's true. When it comes to the ideas around the "idea" of America, I have the faith and belief of a child. I don't believe Czechs are any different about their belief actually - witness the Prague Spring, the Velvet Revolution, and the Velvet Divorce. Czechs are no less outraged than we are when the ideal is not realized.

Here is how I will celebrate my country's holiday in Illinois.
I think it is very typical:

Yesterday I went to a symphonic concert of patriotic music that started with everyone singing the Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem. The concert was held under the stars in a spectacular, recently-built outdoor amphitheater.

At Independence Day concerts, it is traditional to play the anthems of all the military services and for the veterans of each service to stand during their military branch's anthem. When these 60-80-year-old gentlemen stand, it humbles me and makes me grateful. You can literally feel the passion behind that phrase "the last full measure of their devotion" immortalized by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address.


There must always be at least one piece by John Williams, a composer who is a national treasure (non-Americans may be most familiar with the movie music he wrote to accompany Jaws and Star Wars). This year the maestro chose the theme to Indiana Jones movies.


This year a new talent's work was featured called "Reflections on Rushmore." Written by a young Iowan named Michael Gilbertson when he was eighteen years old (two years later he is now studying composition at Julliard), the piece was an homage to the four Presidents featured on Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. Originally commissioned by the Houston Symphony Orchestra, this was only the second time "Reflections on Rushmore" had been performed. My local symphony is going to play the world premiere of his next work. Ironically, when looking for an image of young Michael Gilbertson, I found this wonderful Czech music project he was involved in - click here.

While I adore patriotic music, my favorite part of the concert was featured medleys of Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck. My least favorite was a medley of Beach Boys tunes. The Beach Boys were not meant for symphonic arrangement!

All 4th of July concerts I have ever seen always end the same way with the "Stars and Stripes Forever" featuring marvelous piccolo solos, enthusiastic hand clapping, and fireworks. Watching the fireworks from under the open roof made the booms just that much more powerful and fun.


Tonight I will make a very simple 4th of July dinner of brats cooked on the grill, corn on the cob and fresh green beans. Then I will join thousands of other people down at the Rock River for a truly AWESOME fireworks display. It is even more magnificent than Chicago's because the space it is delivered in is much smaller so the fireworks appear much, much bigger.

I wish anyone reading this: freedom.

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood..."

Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will themselves not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die."

~Daniel Burnham, American architect and urban planner

Contemplating moving to a new place makes me want to enjoy the present moment in my current place even more. I've just discovered a cool website that helps culture mavens find wonderful places to visit in Illinois. There are interesting things to see EVERYWHERE in the world.

The website is called illinoisgreatplaces. It was created by the Illinois Chapter of the American Association of Architects to celebrate the 150th anniversary of their existence. I was pleased to see that I had visited every great place in my community but there is tons of stuff I haven't visited within a very short driving distance.

For example, there is an Egyptian Theatre in Dekalb, Illinois. Who could resist Egyptian Deco? Apparently, it was a big trend in architecture during the 1920s after King Tut's tomb was discovered.

I wonder if the desire to build great buildings can be caught. What makes a boom of architecturally-interesting facilities get started and continue in a city? I understand that the wealth of a period is instrumental, but wealth can be spent many different ways. Is the desire to create architectural significance viral, like obesity has been found to be?

What makes a committee of people working on a public building move forward together with boldness in one location and not in another? Do friends egg each other on? Are current builders having a conversation with past builders much the way Alan Ginsberg and Langston Hughes were conversing with Walt Whitman through poetry? If I was in the AIA, that's what I would want researched because the first thing greatness needs is THE WILL.


Chicago is an AMAZING architecture town. Everyone there is a fan and a critic. It's impossible not to be because greatness is everywhere. The AIA Foundation has outstanding tours everyday showing off Chicago's treasures. This picture is of Marina Towers, familiar to everyone who has seen the Blues Brothers movie. Chicago is blessed with a visionary mayor right now, Richard Daley, who is ALL WILL.

So much of architecture expresses a very masculine personality. Not that there is anything wrong with that. This is the Sears Tower, Chicago's tallest building. As more and more women become architects, will we some day be able to look at a building and instantly know "a woman designed that!" I hope so. It would be cool for my daughters and granddaughters to say "wow, that building is so feminine."

The illinoisgreatplaces website isn't perfect. It shows that there are only two significant theatres on the front page but actually six were chosen. The list of 150 places must be a fantastic upselling tool for architects. Imagine sharing this list with a customer and saying, "why build good when you can build great? Only six of your kind of building has made this list. Shall we try for greatness? Would spending 25-50% more result in 100% greater return to your community because of the traffic generated?"

There should be some sort of "amazing architecture" tax credit because the return to the community continues long past a developer's ability to recoup the cost. After all, what defines the thousands of communities across the world but their buildings?


Bengt Sjostrom Starlight Theatre in Rockford

Whoever heard of Bilbao, Spain until Frank Gehry designed the Guggenheim Museum there? What picture instantly comes into everyone's mind at the mention of Sydney, Australia? The opera house. There are something like 14 or 15 cities in China with populations over 1 million yet no one has heard of them because they haven't yet expressed their collective personality through building. Hey Chinese cities, the world is looking forward to your self-introduction.

I was asking a friend active in the architecture association if there was a '150 web site' for every state. He said the Illinois chapter led the nation in doing this, but it was such a great idea that the national association has created a list of the most architecturally-interesting places in America. Fantastic!

My Travel History

I knew I needed to get out of the country when I looked at my expiring passport and I had only one stamp. Over the last ten years, I left the country only once! How did this happen? That trip was fantastic too. It was my first trip to the DR: Dominican Republic. I heard constant happy, melodic island music plus had a wonderful dream fulfilled of riding a horse at full gallop down the beach with my friend. Now that was fun.

Prior to that trip, my adult travel was an amazing month in Europe as a high school graduation present from my mother when I was seventeen. I went to Spain, France, Monaco, Switzerland, and England. Absolutely fabulous! That was the first time it dawned on me that another country could do something better than mine. That thought never occurred to me growing up because Americans constantly meet tons of immigrants who work very hard to get to our country. It must be better, right?

So what did the continent offer that America could learn from: anything the French made with flour (baguettes, croissants, Napoleans...) and Parisian and London mass transit. What a gift it is to provide safe mass transportation to the tween and teen population! Wait - what a gift it is to their previously-chauffeuring parents!

I also went to Cancun, Chichen Itza, and Tulum, Mexico when I was married to enjoy the beach and Mayan ruins.

In my childhood, my favorite out-of-country travel was a deeply memorable trip my family took with friends through Canada on the train. We started in Winnipeg and went west. The adults had private rooms to sleep in and we kids had berths.

How cool we thought we were to sleep in those berths! Cracker Jack candy had done a commercial back then where two people passed a box back and forth between a berth so we had to do it too. Nowadays, there probably isn't a mom alive who would let their kid sleep in a berth with only a curtain protecting their child from anyone walking through the sleeping car.



Chateau Lake Louise in Beautiful British Columbia



Empress Hotel, Victoria, British Columbia

One of our family friends who went with us had this thing for fantastic five-star hotels. Vivid memories of that Canada trip include the Banff Springs hotel, the Chateau at Lake Louise, and tea and crumpets at the Empress Hotel on Victoria Island. Truly, I was blessed as a child.

Actually, group travel with friends is a blast. It's so hard to accomplish since budgets vary. My one cruise was with seventeen people (split evenly between kids and adults) to the Bahamas. In way, for my kids, it was like the train. I let them run all over the ship because it seemed safe. Every meal we would sit with someone different from our group. Everyone could do their own thing or hang with each other. A perfect arrangement!

About a month after we came home from that trip, it made the news that the ship we had been on was repossessed for lack of mortgage payment. All of the passengers, over 3,000 people were unceremoniously dumped in the Bahamas. Ouch. Glad it wasn't me.

I am more broadly-traveled in the United States. When I visit Alaska I will have seen all 50 states. There is still so much to see in my country! I could never tire of it. There's a brand new National Park I haven't visited - the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado. Only about 200,000-300,000 people visit it each year.

I am currently living in Illinois and there is TONS I have yet to see here: the new Lincoln Presidential Library, Starved Rock State Park, the Palisades State Park along the Mississippi, actually the entire river road on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, the exhibit the Mormons created at Navoo, Illinois documenting their massacre (always important to expose myself to someone else's point-of-view), and all the ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago. Actually Chicago is so fantastic I could spend a month there and still not see everything I want to see. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Chicago.



Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan

In every state, it seems there is this secret, hidden part of the state that is fairly non-commercial that only natives know about. In Michigan, it's the western coast of the mitten. What drop-dead gorgeous scenery! Only Michiganders and Chicagoans are in on the secret. The rest of the country thinks Michigan is all about declining manufacturing and union troubles because that's all the news they ever hear about the state. In Illinois, the secret place the natives know is the southern forests. Most Illinoisans don't even get down there.


Sunset on Garden of the Gods in Southern Illinois