Good bye May...

That's a wrap for May 2024.

We made it one more month!

Spring did its Springing and babies were born. I saw a newly hatched Sandhill Crane! I saw leaves sprout and come out in full force!

Yesterday, after checking fences, I saw a fawn standing in the pasture staring at me. When I pulled the photos from the trail camera in the woods, I saw another fawn. They are cute little buggers aren't they?

I found 3 morel mushrooms.

I found several meals of Golden Oyster mushrooms!

We saw some amazing lights in the sky with the Aurora Borealis.

We had rain. Rain, rain...

and for the first time in a year, we had water flowing in our creek again!

Our Ridge had a new human birth! Now the little ones out number the elders on the ridge!

We mowed our yard more often in May than we did all last year.

I took a sneak peak at my 'logged' hikes/walks which are not terribly accurate because I don't always take my cell phone with me when I go check fences and whatnot. This month I had 27 miles of hikes that I actually was mindful of 'logging'.  

I enjoyed 4 great hikes. Two at Duck Egg and two at KVR. All of those hikes were meandering hikes up and down hills while searching for spring flowers.

I'm looking forward to June.

Tomorrow I am doing a long hike which I've done before a couple of times. Two ladies from the gym are joining me. So this should be very interesting.

One youngster is a nurse who visits our local nursing homes. She is easily 20 years younger than me. The other lady is closer to my age. She raises show quality sheep. We kayaked together last year on the Mississippi River.

We aren't going to try and break hiking records, but are going for fun and I'm sure the conversations will be interesting. Put three ladies together on a journey and you each learn more about each other.

Goodbye May.

Welcome June. 

Interesting Times

Interesting times

I'm just leaving that up there because yesterday afternoon I was actually glued to watching History being made.

My thought is this. I couldn't get a job with a driving infraction, or any kind of arrest or charge at my last job. Yet a criminal can run for the President?

Enough.

Meanwhile in my little succulent garden...

It looks like an invasion of Lego Aliens!

I really should get a copy of this next week:

A man of convictions....

Some Infrared Photography

 Of all the paths you take in life,

make sure some of them are dirt...

John Muir

I love all sorts of photography. Some people can play instruments, some people can sing. Others can draw or paint.

I enjoy the power of the camera's creativity. I started exploring Infrared years ago when I got a filter and stuck it on my camera.

At that time I had no idea what I was doing. The filter made everything so dark and off color. The 720nm filter I purchased created super long exposures with a black and pinkish tint to everything. I soon learned that the way to go Infrared was to have a camera modified.

I found a place where they sold a used pocket camera that was modified. I figured it wouldn't be overly expensive and I could try it out.

For the first several weeks that I had the camera, I carried it everywhere turning it on just to look at the back screen and enjoy the view of seeing everything in a different light spectrum. I didn't understand how it worked really, but it was fascinating to see green turn to white in the camera. Or greens turn blue and skies turn orange.

The Infrared works best on very sunny days with foliage. These are the times when a regular camera in our visible light spectrum doesn't work as well. Suddenly I found myself taking the pocket IR camera everywhere and trying it out on everything I could find.

I admit, shooting in a different light spectrum can be very challenging. The photos come out with a strange color to them. The photographer can choose to edit the photo or leave the strange colors in. No matter what, the photos become an experiment in magical, mystical, and artistic formats.

My first Canon ELPH shots were of everything and anything around the farm.

The grass looked like snow, the sky had some incredible depth to it. 

I read that IR photography was popular only in the spring and summer. Yet I found that I could have fun with it in the winter.
What was a boring mid afternoon photo turned into something a bit different.

Eventually I took my old Olympus camera and had it converted to 'Full Spectrum'. That meant I could use different filters for Infrared on the lens.

The most amazing thing about infrared and its different light spectrums is that sky details are more intense. The shot above was taken in the winter. The trees and some of the dead plants had a tint to them. The spectrum of light picked up clouds I could not see with the naked eye.

Last year, I sort of left my IR camera at home and didn't pick it up very much. I was really focusing on toy photography and macro photography. Besides, with our drought, everything was so dull and uninteresting.

Then this past week, the weather proved remarkable. 

Another foggy morning with sunbeams shining through the light fog. 

A storm approaching...

This was when we had a severe storm warning, with possible gusty winds and hail coming in with the front.

The last shot was done inside on a rainy day. I took a photo of a red geranium. I lit up the geranium with an Infrared Flashlight and got this beautiful ghostly blue tinted flower portrait.

Infrared Photography to me is an outlet for creative art. 
Watch out...I'm finding my groove again in IR.

I'm doing it again.

3 years ago to celebrate turning 65, I did this awesome long hike. I took Charlie with me and it was a hot hot day.

I ended up carrying him for half of the hike. That would make it about 4 miles, give or take. Charlie is 6 now and very sensitive to hot days, so this year I am not including him. I just want to walk or hike at a leisurely pace.

Map of that hike at Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

I mentioned that I was going to do this hike again while at CrossFit the other day. The nurse who was hanging on the rig next to me said: "Count me IN! I want details!" I informed her that I intended to do a Joy Hike. 
Not running, not for time, but for the simple joy of being alive.

Yes, the map shows the hike to be about 9 miles, give or take the accuracy of the MapMyHike program I used.

But if you are not in a hurry and are just out for the enjoyments of it--really, it is doable if you are mobile.

So I posted the plan on our private group of gym folks. 

No hurry. Things needed:

Water. Lots of water.
Snacks.
Good shoes.
Bug Spray.
Happy Attitude.

A refresher for those who may not have followed me 3 years ago. The Hike.

I love hiking almost more than anything else. The equipment needed:
feet, backpack of stuff, and a good attitude. 

[Maps and compasses do help]

I know not everyone can do this, but I've had folks ask me a few times to take them along hiking. Most of the trips I've done with other brave souls are 2, 3, and 4 mile hikes. 9 may seem like a lot, but it isn't if you take it at your own pace.

We'll see if I go solo or with some friends.

Recently I offered to go walking with a friend of mine. We've known each other for years. She said that she wasn't up to my speed. I answered "But I can match your speed!" Sometimes the hike is not about how hard it is or long. It is about walking and friendship in nature.

You keep me safe, I'll keep you wild.

Move the body, still the mind.

So it goes

Have you ever felt like you are going in multiple directions at once? Or do you stand in a room sure that you came in there for one thing and then discovered that you are actually going to do several things?

You pick an item up and then walk to another room to put it away and suddenly you are reorganizing a spot that you didn't intend on doing?

Oh wait? Wasn't I folding that pile of laundry that I tossed on the bed? Hmmm. Easier to throw it back in the basket and just pick out a few things I need.

If I put the battery charger away for the electric weed whacker, shouldn't I just take the battery out to the porch and start whacking away? Oops, no, I need to feed the birds.

But when I feed the birds and clean the hummingbird feeders, I get an idea of another sort.

Geeze, how does such a little dog like Charlie shed so much? A quick vacuum to catch the dog hair balls...and then another trip to the kitchen to finish what I originally started.

Wait. Wasn't I going to make a grocery list? Oh yes. I keep a pad on the table so I can add things as I come across them.

Oh darn, there goes a reminder on the phone to call in meds and another reminder to go to the gym tomorrow. Hey, wasn't I going to move the mules to another pasture?

I get out to the pasture and go back to the shed to get the scythe. How did those thistles grow up like that overnight?

Oh crap, wasn't I going to get my bike out and clean the dust off from it? The tires need air.

When my days get like that, I have to sit down and make a list of things to do and an order that they should be done.

I open the frig to grab the milk to make my cereal before the other half gets up and...oh yes...

I was going to go get milk.

So it goes....

My friends

Some days I get the best of jobs to do.

Two of my neighbors on the ridge were not home for part of the weekend. I got to visit with their animals and help out with them.

Rupert and Tijo belong to the neighbors at the top of our hill. They are friendly and such well behaved dogs. My neighbors sometimes take trips where they don't take their dogs [and cat] so they ask me if I don't mind helping out. I'm always happy to take care of their pets. 

They have tried to offer me money or some sort of compensation for caring for their critters. I've refused. After all, the husband has helped out by doing chores when we went to Kenosha for the weekend and when large dead oak fell down over the fence last year, he was right there to help cut it up.

Be good to your neighbors and they will generally reciprocate. 

Years ago we had folks that lived in that house that were not nice neighbors. We've had 5 different families live in that house in the past 28 years. Only once for 4 years, did we have folks we didn't get along with. I'll leave it at that. We ignored them, they ignored us.

Anyway, here is Rupert on our sunny Saturday morning walk:

Rupert is carefree, he is the essence of doggy happiness. He is joyful at all times. He bounces and just begs to be loved and show his undying love for humans.

Here is Tijo, the serious one. Although he seems reserved and aloof, he really isn't. He is a Baesenji mix. They are known for being a barkless dog. He is curious, quiet, and very affectionate. I've never seen him have the zoomies like Rupert. 

He is stunning.

Since they know I carry mini dog biscuits, I am also their best friend on our morning walks. I walk with them so I don't loose them. Since we are surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmlands and forest, I don't feel comfortable just letting them out.

They walk with me along a dead end road and do their business. I give them plenty of time to sniff and explore and then shake my baggy of treats and they come running to follow me back to their home.

I think the neighbors think it is a burden for me to do this. It isn't. I enjoy their company.

My other neighbor on top of the ridge was in the hospital giving birth to their second son. Could I check on their mini cow, Doreen?
Of course!

Doreen is a tame little cross between a mini bull and a Jersey, I think.

Say hello to Doreen:

I pulled grass out of her mouth to take her portrait, but as soon as I grabbed the camera, she grabbed some more.

Well, now ... this is her nature. Eat. Eat. Eat. 
She is doing what she does best and was giving my camera the stink eye.

This was my Saturday morning in the Dairy State. A walk along a dead end road with my pals who were great company even if they had nothing to say.

Sometimes, animals can be the best pals.

Once upon a time...

Musing on Aging by Sandra made me think a little about how we change over all the years. We do age and it comes as a surprise to us in many ways.

Can we recognize all the changes we've had in our lives. How do we see aging now? Well, when I was in my 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's, I didn't even think about aging. I was really just working, living and busy with other things in life.

When I was a kid. I didn't think about adults. Grandma Pearl was an old adult. I mean, Grandma's were considered old. That was just a fact. 

Me with the glasses at my Aunt's house, I think. Yes, I started life with bifocals.

School photo and shot that my dad took when my brother tied me up in the yard with jump ropes. Sometime in the 1960's.

I have many shots of me growing up, but that isn't the point. Here I am in the shot below in my early 20's with my firstborn son.

Years later with my first born grandson.

2020 during the Pandemic. Self portrait of looking out the window. I don't like photos of me, but this was done for a class.

Last 4th of July at the track with my grandson that was in the above photo.

I like the photos of me when I was young much better than the photos I have now. But it is what it is. 

Lastly, a shot of me this week at Mobility Class. We have all ages doing this together. Tory is next to me, she was the little girl who rode last week at my house.

The other folks are in the 40's and the gent is in his mid 60's.

How about recognizing those who grow older and change with age? Some folks change a LOT. Some don't.

 I looked up one of my previous foster sons just for kicks. I'd last seen him while he was in high school. He now runs a business and I wouldn't have recognized him at all except there was a photo of him on his SM page of his teen years. 

People change, some people don't change much.

Inside me? I don't feel changed at all. I can see the effects of aging outside on my skin and changes in my body. But in my mind I don't feel really that different. I seem surprised to find out that I am not quite the same person I was in my early years. 

I know people see me as aged and older. 

I used to freak out at photos of me that showed my wrinkly beat up skin. Funny, how we reach an age or reach an attitude where perhaps our once youthful looks don't really matter any more. 

I am who I am now and I am okay with that.