And the airfield is still there. Which at first blush sounds completely nuts, because Countryside is a fairly densely developed area. Nevertheless, I checked out the area using the Yahoo! Maps satellite view, and by God there it was, less than a mile and a half from my house. Amazing.
So of course I had to see it for myself. I had Saturday off, and it was a beautiful day, so I grabbed a camera and went for a walk.
According the the map, the airfield lay at the end of this private drive, located at the corner of Algonkian Parkway and McPherson Circle. I'd seen it before, and had always assumed it led to a property that predated the Countryside development and owned by someone too stubborn to sell. I walked down the road as far as I could; eventually, I found myself faced with a locked gate that made it clear I should go no further. And there it was! And here isn't a photo of it, because I screwed up the picture I took of the landing strip from my side of the gate. Curses! But you can infer it's there from the sign visible in this picture (click to enlarge):
Luckily, I had taken photos from another vantage point. Walking back to the intersection, I made my way through the neighborhood to Selden Court, a cul de sac the end of which just happens to abut the airfield.
You can't tell from this photo, but there are some Obama signs in the yard on the left. Take it from someone who has spent some time distributing yard signs, the end of a cul de sac is not considered a prime location for a yard sign. I walked to the end and looked over the hedge seen behind that white car.
Neat! And still a little hard to believe.