SOUTH CHICAGO — Patrick McParland has taken photos of sunrises, swans and ships from his favorite spot on the 92nd Street bridge.
But photographing a Christmas tree stuck on the ice in the Calumet River Tuesday afternoon topped them all.
"A Christmas tree in the river, that was baffling," said McParland, 59, of East Side. "It's an interesting and unique thing to see."
McParland, a South Chicago native and engineer with the City of Chicago, has been snapping pics from the 92nd Street bridge for decades. He was driving home Tuesday when he saw the tree in the middle of the frozen river and almost "caused an accident jamming on my brakes," he said.
The tree was resting near the famous 95th Street bridge of "Blues Brothers" fame. McParland, a former Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class in the Navy, had no idea how it ended up standing upright in the middle of a ice-filled waterway.
"Maybe somebody had to walk out there and put it there," he said.
