Denise Poloyac Photos

December 31

Year's end - and photograph #365 (It was a leap year!). For me, this was a great year filled with joy, adventure and activism. So what better photo to end the year with was our celebrating with friends at Gideon Wells. Mony returned this afternoon from a trip

December 30

Finally a sunny day – and not too cold either. I took advantage of it to take a walk through Albany Park and then in Andersonville. It felt so good - and I was not the only one out enjoying it.

December 29

I would love to finish the year with strong, good photos. But then there are days like today when it is 40 degrees out and it pours all day. I made myself venture out and even took the car so I could get a photo. But no one else wanted

December 28

It is so much fun taking photos of kids – so I had a great time with the camera when we visited friends in Ottawa and all of the kids/grandkids were there. It was a great visit, and the only hard part today was deciding which photo to post here.

December 27

It was another gray, drizzly day, so I did a short quick walk where I was most likely going to see people out and about – which meant another walk up Lincoln. This girl was having just the best time with her umbrella. After taking this photo, I followed behind her

December 26

It really was an express delivery – since he sped around the corner. It was a very quiet day, and this was about as interesting as it got.

December 25

You can have warmth or sun in the Midwest in the winter – but not both. It was in the 40's today – so again there was no sun. It was also a quiet Christmas Day – so Mony and went to the Lakefront for a walk. There were few people

December 24

It is Christmas Eve – so I had good photos to choose from including photos from exchanging gifts this evening and the trip to the Fish Guy where everyone was dressed for Christmas. But I couldn't resist a little Chrismas Eve activism. Starbucks workers have been striking a number

December 23

We spent much of the day cooking for Christmas Eve dinner. The star of the show will be the mole! There are four different kinds of dried peppers in the mole– and the first step is roasting them over the open grill.

December 22

I went to an organizing meeting in Pilsen this afternoon and then took a short walk before running some errands on the way home. It was another gray blustery day and not many people were out. In front of this antique store I found this statue chained to the door.

December 21

Liam took Mony and me on an adventure since it is almost Christmas and we have not yet ridden either the Holiday Train nor the Holiday Bus! So today we did both. We joined a lot of others at the Wilson Red line stop to take the Holiday Train downtown

December 20

There was a full day of work and then Indivisible work. Add to that having a cold and it being a dreary day, so we decided on staying in and getting take out. I took the photo while picking up the order.

December 19

At locations of labor disputes usually at constructions sites, there is often an inflatable rat that unions put out. However, this is the first time that I have seen this fat cat holding his bag of money in one hand and a worker in the other. There was no picket

December 18

No time for photos today. Hopefully I will do better tomorrow.

December 17

As we say at NWF, I fed 3 birds with 1 scone today: A took a walk, mailed some gifts, and took a photo! I certainly was not the only one mailing packages today!

December 16

As I was hurrying up Lincoln to meet someone for coffee, I saw her sitting in the window with her Santa cap and frozen yogurt.

December 15

I guess this bakery had been operating as a weekend pop up. I had see the lines, but didn't realize that is what it was about. Now, they just opened their own storefront. When I learned about it, I had to make a stop this morning. Definitely on

December 14

Mony and I did some shopping and went to Andersonville for a walk. Before we finished we stopped at La Colombe for a hot chocolate and this photo.

December 13

It has been a while since I walked up Lincoln to get my photo, but I found some time today. Lately, I have seen more people out and about with masks on. It could be for health reasons, but I also think people have discovered that masks keep us warm

December 12

Today was the rare day when I took only one photo. We made it to the grocery store. Grocery stores don't like photographers so I just snuck this one photo and liked it.

December 11

We still haven't made it to the grocery store after our week in California, so we made a stop for dinner after Liam's concert, which was my only photo opportunity. As I waited for our order I watched the other diners.

December 10

No postcards this time. But we brought together many of the same people to talk about the election and to plan the action that we will take together. I end up leading and facilitating most of the meeting, so like at the other ones, my only opportunity to take photos

December 9

Equality Illinois held a Forum on Keeping Sex Workers Safe as they prepare to introduce a a bill in January to decriminalize sex work between consenting adults. Mony was joined on the panel by Reyna Ortiz, a former sex worker who now works at Task Force Prevention and Community Services

December 8

Before we left to fly back to Chicago, we decided to go for one more walk. We stopped here briefly in search of another lagoon where there is a nice walk and birds. We did find it, and it was lovely, but the better photo was taken here where the

December 7

We drove to Encinitas to visit Mony's brother had his his family after Palm Springs. We went bird watching, had a great sushi meal, and then visited the beach near their house. The sun made everything warm – except for the ocean that was only about 60 degrees. So