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.
Start of Darkness
Residing in Northern Wisconsin there are 2 days you look forward too.
One is December 21st the winter solstice, the day we go from losing daylight hours to the increasing of daylight minute by minute day after day until you can feel the warmth of the sun and see the melting of snow and expectation builds that spring will arrive.
And the second day you look forward to is February 2nd when an erasable lethargic quadruped skulks out of its lair to determine how much longer winter will last.
I celebrate February 2nd, Groundhog Day by doing what a groundhog would do – I slog myself out of my warm domicile into the outdoors to try and foresee the future.
I step outside to be greeted by Jack Frost laughing at my optimism and as I look down I see my shadow and my shadow says to me “what are you doing here?” I try to explain but my shadow disappears into the white gray of the snow in my driveway as the sun conceals itself behind the clouds.
This helps determine the photos for this blog post – a study in black and white as I enjoy what is left of winter and anticipate the arrival of spring.
Dog Days
I recently lost a cousin /friend/ encourager. She was a kind and caring sole who over the course of her life had 13 rescue dogs. She loved all animals and I remember her giving me hug after she witnessed me stop my car to let a squirrel cross the road.
I think she loved dogs so much because they are uncomplicated and nonjudgmental. A dog is thrilled to see you every time you come home even if you have only been gone 15 minutes. A dog is thrilled with excitement if you ask “want to go for a walk?” How many people will let you throw a ball for them to fetch and wait anxiously for you to throw it again. And when all the fun is had a dog is content with some kibble and to join you on the couch for a nap.
I think we should be more like dogs; enjoy this moment the past is gone, and the future is unknowable so go for a walk, hug a dog, become uncomplicated.
And when I come in contact with a dog I will think of and miss my cousin.
A New Year
Heading into a new year with resolutions of being a new you while dragging the old you kicking and screaming with you.
Off to the gym, and to the health food store or outside for a walk with the old and new you to figure out the best you.
(How many times can this guy use you in a sentence???)
Water can be a solid, a vapor and liquid and so can you – emblematically and emphatically.
Things come and go, time is on the clock and you can only be you.
I hope you have enjoyed my blog in 22
Come back and see what I have for 23
Tis the season
It was the days before Christmas and all through the land
Santa Clause new things were getting out of hand
People’s minds were filled with seasonal clutter
Must be here, must buy this, layaway, layaway! They could be heard to mutter
The season is for glad tidings and good will to man
That should be the plan
A child questions the holiday’s annoyances with style
But knows that the making of cookies always brings a smile
From jimsgibberis.com have a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!
Just go out and do it you don’t need a good reason.
In a World Where Seasons Collide
Fall in northern Wisconsin can be a mixed bag of palpable change, where animals and plants come to life before they go into a winter slumber.
A tale of one of these days came from out of a seemingly systematic day, not hot, not cold just an October day. The trees were still in full color and I wanted to hide from my everyday obligations and chores with the excuse that soon the leaves would be down and covered with snow so I must be out in them before they are gone.
With camera in hand I stared on a hike into the woods … and soon after I started it began to snow … and then snow harder. Snowflakes as big as the palm of my hand fell out of the sky and mixed with the color of the fall leaves, I had entered a dreamlike snow globe of amusement.
By the time I got back to my car it and the ground were covered in an inch of snow and by the end of the day most of the snow had melted.
Enter that world by taking a trip through my photos.
Thanksgiving and a fall tribute
Thanksgiving is here and if you look profoundly, you can find something to be grateful for.
I will commence this blog with photos of some of the 19 turkeys that wondered through my unraked yard a month ago as they gathered to enjoy a feast.
This time of year in northern Wisconsin the leaves have fallen off the trees and are hidden under a thin covering of snow so I give you a retrospective of a bike ride I took while fall was still in coloration.
Photos of Endless Change - Fall color part I of?
The warmth of summer lingered into October and November like a first date you didn’t want to end.
The trees could tell that the sun traveled suspended lower in the sky rising later, setting sooner and yet they appeared to be waiting like me to see if fall would ever come.
Time transforms and changes everything in its wake and one day you noticed leaves turning color here and there. With the passing days more leaves would transform in to falls rainbow of colors and before you knew it the trees were in an eruption of one of the best fall color shows in memory.
I hope my photos and blog posts can articulate the extravaganza of colors that Nature puts on in Northern Wisconsin for only a couple of weeks in the fall.
Enjoy
The not Frozen Tundra
October 2nd, 2022, the calendar said fall, but the air temperatures were still summer like, and a modicum of leaves had started to change color. I was invited to go with this nice couple to see The Green Bay Packers play the New England Patriots.
When you think of Lambeau Field you think of snow and cold and the wearing of long underwear, substantial coats and gloves. On this day I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and carrying a sweatshirt in case I might need it by the end of the game.
The game starts off with a fly over and the singing of the national anthem.
The game is only part of the spectacle of being at a Green Bay Packer game.
There is people watching and comradery with thousands of other Packer fans, food and drink, cheering and anguish and at half time there were parachutists trying to land on the 50-yard line.
Then back to the excitement of the football game and a win in overtime.
Adventures in the Keweenaw
The long sun filled hours of summer are coming to an end and rumors of the last days of Lake Superior being warm enough to swim are fading fast.
The windows of opportunity to swim in Lake Superior are short and sometimes nonexistent so when I heard tales that some of the lakes 30 quadrillion gallons of water being in the mid 60’s to low 70’s I had to find out for myself.
I tossed the camping gear in the back of my car and drove the 3+ hours to the East side of the Keweenaw Peninsula. I set up my tent and then set out for a snorkel and a swim a surprising 50 minutes until my bones and joints began to ache from the cold.
Becoming a human solar panel, I recharged and warmed up on the sand under the sun before I made myself a nice dinner that included cucumbers and tomatoes from garden.
As I ate a full moon began to rise up out of the lake where it had been sleeping all day. I started a campfire and watched as the moon and stars filled the sky.
The chortle of Sandhill cranes wakened me to the fact that now the sun was rising out of Lake Superior where it had been sleeping near me all night.
The sun was shy as it started its day surrounding itself in a vapor of fog.
I was not as shy as I forgo a still damp and chilly swimsuit but still wrapped myself in a beach towel I had been using as a pillow and headed out for a morning plunge.
I had not seen or heard another human since I had arrived at the campground so I figured my nakedness would go unnoticed.
I scanned the beach to make sure I still had the place to myself, dropped my towel and jumped in and swam out to meet the sun.
Hunger and cold reminded me that it was time to get out and come up with something for breakfast. I edged myself out of the water and up onto the sand shoreline and tried to shake myself off like a wet dog and that’s when I heard clapping.
I looked up to see a middle-aged couple standing on a grassy bank above the beach applauding and the woman informing me “that is very brave.”
I’m not sure if she meant swimming in the cold water or being naked or both?
I gave a shy wave as I grabbed for my towel and when I looked back up the couple was heading back into the trees.
The rest of my camping trip was less action-packed with just more swimming and snorkeling, reading and napping in the sun enjoying what was left of summer.
The Friendly Skies
I spent time traveling in the past through the present.
The past was a 1929 New Standard D-5 Biplane, and the present was two weeks ago.
I had gone past the grass airfield with a sign out front reading “Biplane Rides Today” a couple times this summer every time thinking – I should do that!
I woke up early to the sun rising through a cloudless cerulean sky and nonexistent winds and I thought this was the morning for a Biplane ride. I grabbed my cameras and drove the 30 minutes to the grass airfield.
With the exchange of some money, we were off down the grass runway and up over the town of Manitowish Waters.
Then we circled over the cranberry marshes.
Then it was off to enjoy the friendly skies and local topography and lakes of the area.
Then it was time to head back to the grass airfield.
And the thumbs up from my pilot after another successful landing.
Now what for the next adventure?
Patience?
My brother informed me that he was going to be out of town for the day so would I mind letting his dog out. I arrived waking the old timer from his nap and after a large yawn he got off his couch, had a good stretch and out the door we went for a pee and a walk.
After our walk we both enjoyed my brothers garden – the dog appreciated a good roll in the recently weeded dirt and I searched for cucumbers, tomatoes and zucchinis to “barrow” along with admiring all of the flowers.
The flowers also enticed bees and hummingbirds; I considered this to be a great time to get the ultimate hummingbird photo.
Hummingbirds can flap their wings 50 to 200 time per second – could I get my patience to last longer than that?
The dog was taking a nap in the shade as I set up a lawn chair and waited for the hummingbird’s cameras at the ready. They put on a show of flying acrobatics that had me trying not to frighten them as I tried to focus on their rapid voyage through the air.
I will have to try again these are not the award-winning photos I had hoped for, but it was fun to be a part of a hummingbird’s day and to practice my patience.
A tree falls in the water …
I am not sure exactly when it happened but the centennial of time white pine was reaching for the sky last fall.
The white pine had been there so long that it just blended in and was just a part of the background of nature.
On my first trip to snorkel here this summer I looked out from my put in point and I noticed something had changed in the framework that encircled the lake.
Time and winter storms had brought down the pine snapping it off at its base and now instead of pointing to the sun it reached out horizontally pointing across the lake.
Now the things that lived in the lake noticed the pine and made it their home.
Fish lived in its branches like birds had done just a year before and toads hung rings of their eggs off the dying needles, and you could even find an intrepid photographer.
