Spend a night in the box

In the clasic prison movie Cool Hand Luke there is a quote from Carr the floor walker "Them clothes got laundry numbers on 'em. You remember your number and always wear the ones that has your number. Any man forgets his number spends the night in the box. These here spoons, you keep with ya. Any man loses his spoon spends a night in the box. There's no smokin' in the prone position in bed. To smoke, you must have both legs over the side of your bunk. Any man caught smokin' in the prone position in bed spends a night in the box. No one will sit in the bunks with dirty pants on. Any man with dirty pants on sittin' on a bunk spends a night in the box. Any man loud-talkin' spends a night in the box."

The box is the prisons solitary confinement cell.

I spent almost three hundred dollars to voluntarily spend a night in a 6 foot long 5 foot wide 5-foot-tall plywood box.

You may be asking why would I drvie 792 miles to spend a night in the box?

After wintering in northern Mexico, Texas and New Mexico One million Sand hill cranes (80% of the worlds population) from late February to early April make their way to Nebraska's Platt river Valley to rest and refuel on there way to ther breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and Siberia.

The best way to see and photograph the cranes is to go to Gibbon Nebraska and the Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary and spend a night in the box on the edge of the Platte river.

I was driven out to my box (they have 6) around 5:30pm, unloaded my gear and was left alone until 9:00am the next morning.

The sun was shining, the temperature was 50 degrees as I set up my camera gear, ground pad, two sleeping bags, put on my long underwear, down jacket and every piece of warm clothing I owned - the temperature was expected to drop to 29 degrees overnight, but the view was great.

Fossil records place sandhill cranes in Nebraska more than 9 million years ago, 80,000 cranes a day can be on the Platte river.

The sun was setting, the temperature was dropping and a 3/4 moon was rising and there were no crains to be seen. I waited.

I leand out one of the 4 rectangle cutout's to photograph the rising moon when I heard the loud, rattling bugle calls of the sandhill crains that can be heard from up to 2 1/2 miles away. I crained my neck to look for them when a small group passed between me and the moon.

I could hear the "whooshing" of the flying cranes as they passed over my box and landed on the other side of the river.

The sounds of cranes flying and bugling filled the air when they crossed back over the river and landed on the sandbars Infront of my box.

The sun had set leaving me no more light to photograph by so I sat a listened to sandhill cranes chattering in the moonlight.

I awoke before dawn crawled out of my sleeping bag, looked out my window and hundreds of cranes were still there, quietly waiting for the day to begin.

As the sun rose the more vocal the cranes became filling the air with their prehistoric calls and it was amazing to be a part of. All of the sudden something caused them to take flight, cranes heading off in every direction the sound was symphonic.

Check out time for the box was 9am so I began packing up my gear, said goodbye to the cranes and headed back to my reality.

Reflective confusion

A mirror of time and place spiral into a maelstrom of complacency while my shadow and I wander a snowless swamp.

A normal month of March in northern Wisconsin brings hope of spring warmth to melt the customary accumulation of snow.

2024 finds this intrepid photographer capturing images of a cluster of carnivorous Pitcher plants uncovered and waiting for insects to eat.

A possible slime mold (I think?) glows bright in the sun pondering why it is not asleep under a thick blanket of snow.

And I wonder how this dried out minnow found its way to the rock?

Ice, water and sun combine to mesmerize the photographer.

And the frozen water encapsulates a twig and if you look closely, you will see the intrepid photographer frozen in time.

Feels like spring

The sun rides higher in the sky and you can feel its warmth making the shadows and Reflections come out and play.

And swans lull away the day.

Into the shadows

It's that time of year when we pin our hopes on shadows to predict the future, our optimism in the silhouette of a fury 14-pound rodent that is for one day relegated into celebrity status alerting us to the proclamation of what lies ahead.

Should we look for signs in all shadows?

Are shadows foretelling the future?

Or are they just shadowing us?

Into a new year

Winter has finally arrived in northern Wisconsin bringing snow and below zero temperatures adorning all it can in frost and snow.

The sun shines bright but gives no warmth as it travels low across the horizon casting long shadows on the silky snow and across animal tracks.

Water that has not turned to ice gives up its heat in the form of vapor creating a mysterious backdrop.

In the unfrozen waters ducks feed and wait for a spring break.

the cattails of last year stand lookout for next year’s rhizomes to sprout.

A crisp wind blows over a bridge and across the stream biting at my face and hands siphoning the life out of my cameras battery as I get the last 2 shots off, one in color and one in black and white while my mind and body request hot chocolate.

Cheeres to a new year!

As we exit the old year this could be the time to make a resolution or two

We will drive down new roads.

And take paths less taken.

Have discussions with new and old

Climb to new personal heights!

I myself have been trying new things with my photography that I will take in to the new year.

Taking away all the colors except one.

Trying to gain more awareness of parts of the whole to better understand the uncensored.

Enjoy more of the photos and be entertained by the new year.

The Christmas Otter

The holiday season is here even though in Northern Wisconsin we are lacking are usual amounts of snow. The Christmas cookies have been ... bought and I will not lie some have been eaten.

The sun made an appearance, so I went on a favorite hike to see how Mother Nature decided to decorate for the season.

Ice ornaments were hung with care as the sun highlighted them.

And I Whitnessed the tracks of the Christmas Otter where it slid across the ice not that long ago.

I walked further down the trail when through the trees I spotted an eagle sitting in a tree on the other end of the swamp and I wondered what he was doing there?

As I tried to stealthily get closer for a better photo I noticed the eagel was watching something. On the ice bellow him I saw the Christmas Otter had come out of the ice with what might have been a small fish and the eagle was hoping to steal it.

The egale took flight, the Christmas Otter went back under the ice and I kicked myself for not bringing along a telephoto lens to get a better photo of this amazing experence.

But I had seen the Christmas Otter and felt the warmth of the winter sun as I turned taking the trail back to my car and back home to maybe have one more of the Christmas cookies ... shhh don't tell anyone.

From sea to mountain to into the sea

On my recent trip to the west coast trains seemed to be a theme, from riding them to being on their track.

I was where the sea and the mountains have mingled for melena making it easy to go from one to the other it a short amount of time. Biking on the shores of the Pacific one day and hiking on Mount Baker the next.

And some time to aimlessly wander and adventurer around the city of Bellingham photo’ing things not in guidebooks.

Catching the sunset from Taylor dock and shaken it to Sunset Silent Disco.

The ocean temperatures being in the high 50's and the sun helping warm the air into the 70's I had to put on the snorkeling gear where I encountered these creature's before, I had to crawl out and warm myself in the sun.

ALL ABOARD!!!

Having driven croos country and flowen cross country I thought now would be the right time to go on an adventure and ride the rails the 1,932.2 miles from my home in Wisconsin to Bellingham Washington.

I caught the Amtrak train in Portage Wisconsin named the Empire Builder and headed west parrelling the Candian boarder for most of the route.

I passed the time starring out the window watching the vastness of the great plains roll by.

There were brief stops to get out and stretch your legs.

Then back to watching as the past passed by.

My mind found time to be quixotic triggered by the sight of windmills and cattle.

I tried to capture out the window the everyday oddities of the small towns we rolled through on the train.

Nearing the end of my journey in Everett WA.

Fall color and colorful dogs

The autumnal equinox arrives on Saturday and the sun carries itself lower in the sky signaling to the trees to prepare for winter and the trees signal us humans by bursting with colors.

And with signal's going off all around us like a gate and lights at a train crossing we head out on a family hike and dog walk to enjoy this fall day.

Roman and Willow are always prepared for fun and we should follow their example.

The sun highlights the trees causing the fall colors to leap from the ground.

And Roman in his fall excitement charges happily through a mud hole turning him in to a two-toned dog.

The hike continues on, the fall colors continue on, and our awe continues on.

Cosmic signs

I am not one to go against the cosmic alignment of signs in the universe so when I read my horoscope, and it told me "You need a break from your everyday life so if only for couple of days get out of town."

So, I made a quick call to a small motel in a small town on the west side of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The motel did have a room for two nights and that there would be no one around to check me in so the key will be in the door - it is a small motel in a small town. The small town that was a long time ago a bigger town with a shipping harbor for copper and a bike ride through its cemetery tells of its varied and rich past.

Not far from my motel live a merry band of monks who reside on the shores of Lake Superior and are very popular selling jams, muffins, cakes and other sweet items to make their living. it is always a fun stop in and stock up on the jams they make from local fruits and berries that can help to get you through a long winter. I also enjoy spending time wondering their flower gardens and the rocky shore in front of what they call Poor Rock Abby.

The Keweenaw is home to many a town that was large and vibrant with life brought on by the mining of copper and when the copper boom went bust the towns were caught in that moment in time to slowly decay into history. The wheels of time go round and round and now these towns are being pulled into the present. In a now defunct church, I laid back with my eyes closed on the stage where the alter used to sit and listened to the churches pipe organ come to life and reverberate out and along the stained-glass windows of saints before I went back to wondering the town where the past and the present silently collide into the future.

Summertime and thats alright with me

Summertime and nature is putting on a show just for you.

Binge watch all the amazing things going on around you.

You will never get bored the scenery changes every day.

Natures Fireworks

When the sun comes out from behind the clouds …

Life opens up with a burst of energy like the summer flowers and nature provides us with her fireworks - get out and enjoy - it’s free.

Their world

The ice has come off the lakes of northern Wisconsin, the water has warmed, and I have started snorkeling again.

The fish have constructed their nests.

And laid thier eggs.

Some eggs have begone to hatch and the fry are ready to fly - the nest.

Painted Turtles are out exploring and I wonder if they are curios to what I'm doing?

The old fishing dock waits for repairs.

The aquatic plants bloom.

They share their world with me for a moment in time.

Roll out of spring into summer

Plants instinctively realize that spring is rolling out into summer like the fiddle head fern.

Birds search for food to feed themselves and their young.

Insects are busy eating and breading.

A spider takes a break to hang out.

Life bursts forth to enjoy the warmth of the sun and we should fallow its example.

Spring is springing.

the ice has finally retreated from the lakes but snow can still be found hiding in the cool dark shadows.

Plants are starting to bloom, and bugs and bees are busily working them over.

Another first sign of spring is the arrival and blooming of Skunk cabbage.

And Pitcher plants wait for bugs to fall for their pitfall trap to be digested in 12 to 24 hours - the cycle of life and death.

Me the eight-year-old adult cannot wait to get into the water and I almost step on a tiny newborn snapping turtle or hatchling.

Won’t go away

Like the dishes you don’t wash or the bills you don’t pay the winter of 2023 won’t go away.

As of this posting there is still snow on the ground and ice on the lakes.

I did get in the first bike ride of the season, and I took pictures to prove it – and yes that is ice on the lake behind me.

There are signs of spring, the geese have returned and so have the robins – they seem a little confused by the weather like the rest of us.

This seems to be the longest winter since the last one however there are still opportunity’s to adventure about and capture photos.

Between the guardrails

Have you ever questioned if guardrails are there to protect you or the things around you?

Or are they just constraints we construct to give us some mental structure to explain why we do the things we do or not do the things we want to do giving us a sense of false security?

Do we need to peek out from the trees to see the forest?

The compass of my mind points in all directions while my camera only points in one as I try to detain the singularity of the moment as the earth laps the sun.

Down the Allequash

Winter storms keep rolling at us in northern Wisconsin like the waters down Allequash creek.

In-between the clearing of my driveway of snow one of my preferences to hike on a sunny day is around Allequash creek.

The snow lines its banks and fills the trees making for some dramaturgically exaggerated reflections that twirl around rocks drifting on eddy’s and waft their way to trout Lake.

I scramble through the deep snow, down to the banks of Allequash creek and try not to tumble into the icy waters while twisting my body, laying or sitting in the snow trying to get that perfect perspective for a photo. 

Ides of March

March is here and so am I as you can see from the photo above.

I recently adventured up to Lake Superior to a place called Little Girls Point.

This winter has been a rollercoaster of cold and warm, snow and rain, sun and clouds, wind and calm and this has an influence on the ice formations on this great lake.

On this shore all this commotion has sculpted the ice into unbalanced hollows and voids, mountains and planes forming a frozen moonscape that changes with every blowing wind, sun beam and snowfall.

I took some of these photos in black and white and in color so that you can compare and contrast the same visions of nature’s ever changing toil.

Learning from observing nature we to should toil on.