Photo-of-the-Week #79 - The Navy Pier and Lake Michigan in the Fall, Chicago, Illinois, October 2012

A beautiful fall morning in the Windy City. Sure, most of my photos are of nature in a variety of countryscapes. But, every once in a while this writer, who has made it known he is not a big city lover, enjoys a scenic cityscape. I took this photo from my client provided room on the 26th floor of the Swissotel on N. Wacker Drive overlooking the Chicago River and this beautiful scene.

It's rather ironic that I captured this beautiful scene with the sun shining in Chicago (where it's been my experience to find rain or snow, overcast sky and wind). It was just a few days later that Hurricane Sandy, also known as Superstorm Sandy, devastated the east coast of the U.S. from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the coast of Maine. My home state of New Jersey was unbelievably destroyed along with the New York City metro area, Long Island and the southern shore of New England along the Long Island Sound. The storm was so huge that it impacted about 23 states including 20 to 30 foot waves on the shores of Lake Michigan in the same area that I took this photo.

For those readers who live in the U.S., we live in a great and diverse country from sea to shining sea. For those living in big cities like my friend, author of Reinventing Your Retirement and founder of www.retiredbrains.com, Art Koff, a Chicago city dweller, Chicago is a lifestyle. Those who live in our nation's other cities feel the same about their homes. Likewise, those who live in less populated areas and the small, rural towns of our nation, are just as attuned to their lifestyle. I hope the readers who live in other parts of the world feel the same about where you live.