Time For Trout Lilies

Finally a day so warm that I broke a sweat while hiking up the steep hills and into the lowlands of Baird Creek.

Wish you were here...

The weather has still been iffy as of late but everything about today made it feel very much like summer. It really is amazing how much things change in this part of the world inside of a month's time. Just 30 days ago the forest still felt quite lifeless but now life is everywhere.

To begin though, I had been feeling less enthusiastic about returning to the creek after having spent SO much time behind the camera in this place in 2009. Yet once I arrived and set off down the trail and began taking it all in, I realized all over again that just being here at this time of year is absolutely worth the effort whether or not it results in worthwhile photos.

As for the all too familiar photographic subject to be found in these woods, well, I managed to find some new ways of seeing my old friends and it felt really good just to flatten out on the ground and be at eye level with a bunch of Trout Lilies once again.

And, in the end, I came away satisfied with a few of the photos ...a nice bonus.

I'll see you again somewhere down the road....

I'm Whiggin' Out

Hello from the Mill Creek Bar in Appleton, WI. Wish you were here...

There has been a LOT of buzz about The Whigs lately. I'd been meaning to check them out online to see what I'd been missing from this band that one article suggested should already be HUGE...but soon will be.

I finally visited The Whigs Myspace page to hear some of their music and was very impressed by what I heard..and as I perused the rest of their page I suddenly realized they were actually playing a gig at a club just 40 miles away on this very night!

I felt like to miss this show could lead to some serious regret in years to come, having had the pleasure of seeing many up and coming bands play intimate venues only to later blown up into superstars, so off I went...and am I glad I did.

Not only was I excited for the chance to see and hear an exciting new band but I was also looking forward to the photo op. However, as expected, the club's stage was relatively poorly lit and once the band took the stage and I saw how wildly the members thrashed about, I knew clear photos would be beyond impossible...so I decided to concentrate on capturing nicely composed blurs. And in the end I felt like this photo sort of captured the essence of this show.

I'll see you again, somewhere down the road....

A Fruitful Walk After All

Hello from the Green Bay shore. Wish you were here...

I took a walk this morn ing...just slowly wandered in hopes of encountering perhaps Bluebirds nesting in houses erected in the reclaimed nature area within view of the water or shore birds such as a Snowy Egret or Blue Heron down along the marshy areas at the edge of the bay.

A half hour's walk revealed a lone goose or two, some small ducks and a fat woodchuck that headed quickly for his hole the moment I appeared but I saw no sign of my intended photographic targets. As I neared the end of the trail, I was kind of disappointed not to have come away with at least one worthwhile image.

But maybe I try to hard because the moment I resigned myself to the fact that the time spent looked to have been fruitless beyond the simple pleasure of being "out there" I glanced to the right into the trailside trees and saw two small eyes looking back at me. On a branch sat this Mourning Dove on it's nest. Surprisingly, the bird did not abandon the nest when I became aware of it, allowing me to get into position for the shot. Most birds I've ever tried to get closer to in this situation are quick to leave, even with those precious eggs beneath them. Brave little thing.

I'll see you again somewhere down the road...

Fonferek Glen

Water flow ing. Green things grow ing...

Wish you were here.

Down In The Glen

Hello from Fonferek's (MY) Glen. Wish you were here...

So, I needed to get away this morn ing...needed to do something...be occupied. I made the quick trip out of the city to revisit this place where last year's photo project ended. It's sort of hard to believe just a few short months ago, when that last photo was taken, this waterfall was a solid mass of ice.

Now it's flowing nicely again although without substantial rainfall the sort of volume coming over the cliff at the moment will be short lived as winter's meltwaters are greatly diminished due to lack of snowfall this year.

Cloud cover provided good light for photographs when I arrived but within the hour the sky began to clear and the sun appeared. I had my shots done by then so the added warmth was welcome. Above me a strong, chilly wind blew, but down in the gorge, with the sun shining in, it was just perfect.

Nobody else came. I had the glen all to myself.

All told, I must have spent two hours shooting and exploring.

I do wish you'd been here but I did alright on my own. Places like this, though most often experienced alone, never feel lonely to me.

I'll see you again somewhere down the road...

But..But...Winter is supposed to be OVER!

April 8th...

Typical of the transition period between winter and spring in Wisconsin, 5 inches of snow fell overnight. Sure it's not been so long since the last of the snow melted but it just feels wrong when your winter parka feels scratchy against your SUNBURN.