Chicago Surprises its Residents

A longstanding St Patrick's Day tradition was assumed to be cancelled because of Covid and concerns for crowds. However, we all awoke (well, those of us who sleep in) to the news that the river had already been turned green - Surprise! It did keep crowds down, but when Jim dropped me off there so I could walk home and photograph, there were a lot of folks milling about. Many unmasked and certainly hard to socially distant. I admit I was far more comfortable than I would have been without being fully vaccinated. And what a joy to see something unusual but positive!

[Richard Brown]

Great shot although part of me is a little uncomfortable with it being died green!

[Taffy]

@rjb71 A justified concern, but we're told they use environmentally friendly ingredients these days. We can only hope!

[Gerasimos Georg.]

great shot!the cloudy sky,the high rising buildings and of course the green river

[Issi Bannerman]

What a lovely surprise! Great image Taffy.

[Casablanca]

Great surprise, what a super sight!

[Richard Brown]

@taffy yes hope so as my eyes are telling me something different!

[Kathy A]

It certainly looks spectacular

[summerfield]

so strange with that green opposing the beautiful blue sky. will it last until wednesday?

[Asli]

Great scene!

[Mallory]

A fabulous shot - love the bright blue sky

[Pam Knowler]

Stunning image! What a great surprise!

[Mags]

Wow! That's really green!

[Kathy]

If people think hard enough some traditions can be maintained. A very green river.

[George]

Most unusual. I didn’t know they did that!

[Milanie]

That has always fascinated me - glad they were able to continue it.

[Terri Morris]

So nice to see a little normal in Chicago. I am sure my daughter will be enjoying it.

[Glover Shearron, Jr.]

Love to see evidence of this annual ritual each year! Hopefully, this is a harbinger of normalcy to come.

[Lou Ann]

Awww this is wonderful. So glad fun things are being done, we desperately need some fun in our lives.

[LManning (Laura)]

Makes for a striking photo!

[Jane Pittenger]

Wild and wonderful. Happy st Pat’s

[Harry J Benson]

What a nice surprise.

[Rick]

Awesome capture. Can't believe that they dye the river like that.

[Rosie Kerr]

Such a hopeful gesture!! Wonderful of the city to keep up the tradition. :)

[Diana]

Such an amazing capture and sight.

[Lois]

Fantastic surprise!

[eDorre]

Wow! That's green!

[CC Folk]

Very cool!

[Kat]

Great image, interesting story.

[Nicole Campbell]

That is a very vibrant green

[Poppo Livy]

A river of slime. Very Ghost Busterish

[Leli]

Interesting shot on two levels for me. One is the contrast in the architecture between the bridge and the skyscrapers and the second is the contrast between the green water and the blue sky. How do they manage to dye so much water?

(catching up)

[Merrelyn]

That's a very bright green. Hopefully the "environmentally friendly" dye isn't doing damage.

[Lynda McG]

Looks amazing!

[gloria jones]

Excellent capture

[carol white]

Amazing

[Benno]

I've seen this before but the color always amazes me

[Kathie]

Such rich colours.

[haskar]

What a lovely surprise. Amazing capture.

[Elizabeth]

Beautiful green water and what a fun early St. Patrick's Day surprise!

[PhylM-S]

Ahhh yes! Super!

[Kas]

Wow! How on earth do they manage this? It is amazing.

[RonM]

Freaky. Certainly discourages drinking the water, and encouraging something else on St P Day!

[Helen Jane]

Now that is a strange and unnatural looking sight, but a lot better than the dull murky green colour of the water that generally carries us through the winter on our river.