Taking a Moment to live in the moment

This is how I can live in the Moment. For whatever reason the other day, I opened up my video stuff and this came up. 'Wisdom at 96: Life Advice'. 

I thought, why the heck not? I decided to watch it. The lady was calm and interesting. No advice on living the right way but living in the moment. I just liked what she had to say and I found her so calming and so inspirational in a quiet way. 

The next morning, the winds howled the rain slashed the windows and it was cold. I thought "What a horribly yucky dismal day."

But after chores and cleaning and getting stuff out for supper, I decided to go live in the moment and do something that would use up all my brains cells. Something that wouldn't allow for outside world distractions and worry.

Can you make something out of nothing? 

And so the toilet paper tree began.

So in truth, it all started with an empty TP roll and some cheap foil.

Hubby walked into the room and gave me the side eye. 

'And what are you doing?'

Obvious! I am building a tree!

He shook his head, 'And I am the one they say has dementia and mental health problems.'

Well with twisting and shaping pieces of foil and a bit of hot glue, I made this odd looking tree with curly cue roots. I was/am hoping to make it into a fantasy tree that is small enough to use with Lego People.

And she seems to fit in there just fine. Since the top of the tree doesn't matter, I didn't put branches on it.

Now, how to make it look -- tree-ish. I wanted it to be a dead tree. So the first thing I should have done was spray paint it black.

But with howling winds and driving rain, I opted to just paint it with a mix of Modge Podge and black paint.

Hmm. What now? I know! Try to add some color and texture with some brownish, orangish, reddish mixed paints.

Ewww, it looks nasty and ugly.

The cool thing is, I can bend the foil a bit to reposition it. 

And perhaps with the right lighting and background it may even look cool instead of butt ugly.

However, Wanda seems to like it.

Later in the afternoon when the sun came out, hubby had placed her on a spot at the top of the tree. 
Actually this looked really cool in the bright sunlight.

Well now. She needed to have this tree in a haunted forest.

What do witches need? A pot to boil stuff in. A creepy forest. A creepy tree. Magic crystals.

What? Magic Crystals???

Back to the thinking box.

Wanda needed magic crystals. [See how this mind works? It isn't ADHD. I have flights of ideas....I prefer to call it: positive constructive daydreaming]

If Magic Crystals are involved, then dragons must be involved, if dragons are involved, sorceresses must be involved...if good is involved, then evil must be involved...if....then there must be wizards too, right?

Phew. I had to put on the brakes and prioritize.

The Old Creepy Tree, a weird forest. Crystals... 

Did you know you can 'make' crystals with Borax and water? 

The smaller ones are coiled pipe cleaners. The large one is an actual rock.

Maybe the forest needs a couple of crystalized trees?

Stay tuned! 

Wanda is really quite happy!

Wintergreen Trail in November

Sunday morning came and the rains had stopped. I looked at the weather and it appeared that it would be decent for most of the day.

I put some things together in my little backpack which included mini snacks for Charlie and my camera. We took off at 8am. I like to hike the Wintergreen Trail early in the day if I go on a weekend. It is a short trail that is beautiful and has many views of the Kickapoo River. The trail head is right off the parking lot to the Visitor's Center so it gets a lot of midday traffic.

I always take my time while walking this trail. I am very familiar with it. I hike it in the winter and fall because I can view the river more clearly.

I always stop at what is called the 'Look Out'. It is a bluff with a view. 

To get out on the edge takes a bit of maneuvering. It isn't the sort of thing you hop over and down onto the small ledge. Most people don't do it.
I carefully climb down to the spot where I can sit and just gaze south.

I never tire of the view in any season. Below is a shot with my feet in the frame along with the edge of the bluff.

Here is the bluff taken from across the river on a x-country ski trail. I think I took this in 2018. I was on the lower ledge where you can see snow in the photo. The river's edge below the bluff was frozen.

Charlie knows the trail by heart now. He has done it so many times. He knows that he has to sit and wait while I monkey around or pause to look at something. He also knows that I will take advantage of exploring. 

I went below the bluff on the north side. I couldn't get down next to the bluff and the river as it was too muddy and sandy. I had to stand on a little hilly formation to get this side.

I found it interesting with all the different kinds of lichen and ferns growing on it. Obviously there are geological layers showing also. I can't ID them, so I will just admire their beauty.

I can't help but photograph this odd tree formation every time we come through this part of the trail. I am afraid that one year, the tree will fall and I won't get to see it...

This August:

Over the years, I've gotten to know the best spots to look for spring flowers, the best spots to observe the river, and where unexpected rock shelters are. I look forward to seeing them in the winter as the water drips over the rock and forms an 'ice sheet' that can convert the shelter into an ice cave.

Once we hit the Wintergreen rock bluff, the path goes straight along the 'hogback'. The trail is lined on each side with pines and Hemlocks. It never ceases to stun me.

I always stop and the end of the trail and take time to sit on a log and just listen to the river and the sounds of the wind through the trees. It sighs just like I do.

Though, this Sunday we didn't get much quiet. In areas around the Reserve, it sounded like a firing range with all the different farms and at least two shooting ranges I know of that where sighting in their guns for next week's deer season.

Charlie turned himself inside out with anxiety. I had to carry him for a while as he literally shook and vibrated.

We still managed to have a great hike. We traveled only 2 1/2 miles total but took at least 2 hours to do it. There still is so much to see and observe even in November.

Yep. Not sure why there were pencils stuck in a log!

I could have spent most of the day just exploring....

And so now the new week is ongoing...

Rain rain rain...and flurries tomorrow? 
Looks like a good few days to do laundry, cleaning, dusting, washing, and a bit of crafty stuff!

Well I'll be durned!!!

Thanksgiving is generally the 3rd week of November right??? The third Thursday of November.

Deer Gun season always starts on the Saturday before. 

So I was talking to the grand daughter last night and she informed me that I was wrong! What? WHUT?

Well I looked it up and indeed, Thanksgiving is on the 28th. Duh. I was wrong wrong wrong. However, I did get all of my outdoor work done for the gun season I thought was starting this weekend. It isn't, so hurray for me. I got everything done a week ahead of time. That includes most of the ingredients for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Maybe I was having a Miss Merry Moment! 💖

Well, that actually made me very happy in so many ways! I have another 7 days of being able to go out to the woods and play! [Um, hike...I mean. Hike. Yeah.]

The trail cams have really been capturing a lot of very cool bucks doing some fun things right in front of the trail cam. I'm glad I turned on the option for short videos. It really helps me study what the deer are doing.

Two different large bucks are walking right up to a little branch in front of the camera and rubbing their faces on it. Later in the night there is a doe that stands under the branch and smells it intently. 

Does that mean that the bucks are leaving a scent on that branch as a message to the ladies? Maybe. I am no deer expert. So I looked it up. Bucks do rub their faces on branches to mark their territory. They also lick the branches to leave markers for the ladies.

Until I had a camera that could take some video, I had no idea. I knew the 'marked' territory, but I thought it was just like dogs and coyotes did. By peeing on things. In a buck's case, maybe peeing and scraping his antlers on trees. 

I learn something every day!

So this buck does exactly that .. and later on, a doe comes up to check it out! 20 second video.

I think this is the way the way a white tail buck leaves an email on his dating app!

Well. I'll be durned!

Have a neat weekend.

Using Junk for fun

Junk diorama.

I've enjoyed the challenges of making something out of nothing. I've watched some great videos about how to make dioramas out of junk. Below are pieces of stuff I was going to throw out. Medicine vials, parts of a defunct humidifiers, CPAP hoses, Toilet Paper rolls, soda caps, and miscellaneous card board boxes and pieces.

That is what the 'creative' table looked like before photographing the characters.

Below is what the photo ended up looking like.

The minibots are actually cheap cake toppers from the dollar store a few years ago. Except for the Lego Droids that I picked up at a yard sale, the cost of this whole set up was $1. Of course I got out my old paints and enjoyed giving everything a look of rustic old pieces of junk.

I keep these pieces in a box with fake rocks I made out of Styrofoam board I found in another junk pile in the shed. I keep thinking I should toss it out...but.....

The fake rocks were used to make this scene of an Ogre and Orcs meeting in a cave. The 'fog' was made with a long exposure of mist from a face mister.

When I get stuck inside all day, I busy myself while my hubby naps. This is something I can do with headphones on. I listen to music and rearrange my junk so I can make a new scene.

This included some of the previous junk stuff. The figures are cheap Hasbro Droid figures from the Star Wars series. I like robots and droids, they are cool. The light in the back is simply a medicine vial that I sparsely painted and set over a balloon light.

The possibilities are endless at my little creative table. The fun part is that  I can set things up and tear things down constantly. 

This next shot is a set up for a Dragon and Rock Monster portrait.

I do say that I make a lot of adjustments and mistakes before I get one shot that I keep.

Many years ago, I swore I'd never 'shoot' anything involving still life. But I took an online class specifically for that just to challenge myself. I enjoyed the class much to my surprise. Still Life can be very technical or very simple.

Since delving into the fun world of toy photography, I've decided that this is so enjoyable and presents with so many creative aspects. I'll keep on keeping on!

I'll never stop enjoying nature photography, but this is a great way to practice the art of photography when I cannot get out in nature.

Uffdah. It is almost that time of year again.

That time of year when I am banned from the woods for 9 days total. As the little video shows above, the bucks are pretty silly with the rut season. This guy is a hoot and loves to stare right into the camera.

I've had a camera in this spot of my woods now for nearly 6 years. Over the years, I've spotted every creature we have in the forest using the trail near this camera. Coyotes, Bobcats, Turkeys, Racoon, Possum, and of course deer. The deer like to nap in this spot also. 

They don't seem to mind the camera at all.

Over the years, I've gotten some rather amusing photos.

I am not opposed to deer hunting at all. Their herds do need to be culled. On my morning walks now, I generally 'jump' up a herd of 6 to 10 does by just walking up my driveway. Farmers see them as pests, motorists see them as hazards. Insurance companies see them as headaches.

And then? I love to watch them. I love to photograph them. 

What a conundrum. I have a love/hate relationship with them don't I? 

Yesterday, revamped the fencing in area where I keep the equine during gun season. It is close to the house and we can keep a close eye on them.

Sundance is always curious no matter what I am doing. Yesterday she followed me around the winter pasture while I pulled t-posts and straightened them before the ground froze. 

What better time than the present to fix it?

Did you know that mules like pumpkins?

They do. Each year I've tossed my pumpkins before they rot into this pen. Immediately, it draws the girls in.
They demolish the pumpkin and tromp the seeds into the ground. Come spring, they have planted and fertilized my new pumpkin patch.

After I did winter repairs and set up the water tank heater, I headed up the lane to the meadow out back. Something, probably that large buck had torn hot wire down and busted six insulators. Ahhh, rut season, how do we love you???

I fixed everything and put the wire back up. 

In the valley, I often have to replace a lot of insulators in the spring. I don't keep the fence hot in the valley during the winter as the mules don't have access to that area.

I wonder how many more times I'll have to fix fence up in the lane this winter?

So this is the time of the year where I drag out a Lego build for the 9 day gun season which includes Thanksgiving.

This year we will be constructing the Medieval Village. 

Since we don't do anything for Thanksgiving [I make lasagna and we have pie]. I like to pick a project that I can do with hubby. I've found that hubby loves sorting pieces for me by color. He does look at the instruction booklet and sometimes he can catch mistakes I make.

Last year, we completed our Christmas Village. I'll take that out of the Hutch some time in December to decorate things for Christmas.

In the mean time, I have a few things left to do outside and in the forest before the hunters come on each side of us and begin the season of gun hunting.

Our property is 500 feet wide and 1/2 mile long. So the reason I don't dare go out is because our place is too narrow to escape stray shots. And believe me, on opening day I spend as little time outside as possible.

However, hubby used to be our hunter and he would always get one or two for us to supplement our table in years past. I'll never forget helping him put up a last minute deer stand the evening before the 2010 deer season. Link below....👇

A Hateful Woman or Stupid Man invented the Deer Stand

An Amazing Friend and Adventure Part II

 

The day grew darker and a bit more dreary when we got to the south end of the ridgetop. The Hogback Ridge opened up into a larger and flat plateau like area. At different times, the State Land had been rented out as farm land. 

We walked around this field and entered the old oak forest. Jason kept looking for an old trail he knew he'd used a couple of years ago.

He said that he hadn't done this part of the hike alone because he didn't feel safe in case something happened to him. He has trouble with his knees and had surgery last year.

This type of landscape is something I've hiked in for the past 28 years. I often scramble up and down rocky and dirt dry runs. Looking for handholds while climbing over roots and rocks is something I don't even have to think about any more.

I took this shot below after we had an incident with Jason's older dog. While negotiating this animal track on the hillside, Felix lost his balance and rolled down the steep incline. He rolled into a log. Jason was upset. Felix got up and shook while Jason called to him.

Felix had decided he wanted nothing to do with that trail and did not want to follow us stupid humans. [In the mean time, Charlie and Jason's other dog Piper sat and watched]

Jason called and called. Felix ignored him and started slowly started to climb the steep hill with a slippery bed of oak leaves up and away from us.

I'm a fast scrambler, so I took off after Felix. I used trees, rocks, and balance to get ahead of Felix. Jason warned me not to grab Felix by the collar. He'd bite me. Felix is a pretty laid back dog except when he is upset. He is a rescue 'off the street' dog. Jason calls him his High Dollar Doggy for all the vet bills they have had.

I positioned myself on the trial so that Felix couldn't get by me except by climbing over a huge log. I offered him one of Charlie's dog cookies to interest him while Jason came up to put him on a leash.

As expected, there was quite a tussle getting Felix leashed. We eventually made it to the main attraction.

We took several minutes to just chill out, get the dogs some water, and sit quietly on the floor of the cave.

Jason suffers from PTSD and Anxiety so I understand his need to be able to just sit and breathe when something happens. He has to process things differently than I do. He just recently had doctors diagnose him with borderline autism. His life long struggles with processing information and relationships now make a bit more sense to him. That said, he is a brilliant geologist that no longer works in that field. He is smart and articulate but needs different rules for conversation and friendship.

Let's say, we get along just fine.

I pulled out two Lego Minifigures and set them up on a rock shelf to take their photo. I presented the one minifig as Jason, one as me...and one little Charlie.

Jason pulled out something from his backpack and handed it to me.

I quipped with delight: You are so prepared! You brought along Guardians of the Galaxy in case we needed Superhero's!!!

With things settled down we had some fun. Jason tried to crawl back to see how far the holes in the rock extended. The shot below is an infrared shot in black and white. I really love how one can see the details of the rock that was washed and eroded by underground water flowing millions of years ago.

And after that, silliness happened.

Jason wanted a photo of himself doing silly things. Jumping up and down...

A silhoutte.

And the last bit of fun silliness. Charlie and Jason's dogs were curious when Jason started jumping up and down. Charlie wouldn't get out from under Jason, so he scooped Charlie up and continued to jump!

We found a better trail to climb up and out of there and started back towards our vehicles. With Jason, I never have to think of something to say as he is always chatting. That's fine, listening is a good skill to have.

He says he enjoys my friendship and hiking with me because he doesn't have to worry that I can't handle myself. I bring emergency gear like he does and have some good knowledge of woodcraft.

On our way back Jason had to take a few rest breaks. Apparently, Charlie adores the heck out of him!

We got back to the parking area as it started to drizzle. Both of us were a bit sad that the hike ended but I had to get home to hubby. Jason had a two hour drive to get back to Madison.

Lots of hugs and promises to get together to explore together again with our dog pack.

Until the next time....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One last bit.  
While standing on the top of the ridge, Jason explained the development of the historical geology of this particular area.

Direct, copy and paste from his FB post explaining the Hogback Ridge.

This is the floor of a formerly underground sandstone cave that was exhumed and eroded away including the ceiling and walls. The sandstone has various dissolution textures (vertical pipes, polished surface, lots of eroded fracture sets) than can only happen by groundwater. It’s a very unique rock and unlike the weathering textures seen in sea or ice caves. There’s more of this a few other places. I like this spot the best.

An Amazing Friend and Adventure Part I

The photo above is of my friend Jason. 

We met December 31st on New Year's Eve. Other folks go to parties or whatnot. Jason and I ran into each other while searching for Ice Caves. Link to our first meeting: Totally Unexpected

We have continued our interesting friendship since that afternoon in 2021. State Natural Areas are the places he explores. He and his dogs are always going on adventures.  Piper and Felix get along well with Charlie. He calls them...our gang.

He lives two hours away from me, but manages to get out in my area every once in a while to go for a hike. 
Jason used to teach Geology and take students on field trips to SNA's in our area to study the incredible rock formations and teach others about the history of the driftless area's formation. 

In the shot above, Jason is explaining how this Hogback Ridge happened a gazillion years ago. [Not his words, but mine since I don't recall all of the scientific words he used!]

Pictured below is ... in Jason's words ... is one of the longest meander scars. A Meander Scar is a geological word for a feature of a remnant of a wandering river channel. It is now called a Hogback Ridge which is a dry prairie. Locally called a Goat Prairie. 

I don't think this place is often hiked. I would never have done it as it doesn't look that interesting at first glance.

But then Jason took me up to the top. We stood 300 feet above the valley below.

The view from the ridge was simply amazing. I felt like belting out the Lion King song and beating my chest. I didn't, but the feeling of being overwhelmed by the height and the incredible landscape stayed with me all along the narrow ridge. Seriously. In places it was only a several feet wide!

I thought, there are no trees along here to make things interesting. But everything was interesting. The colors of the different varieties of Lichen were beautiful.

The shapes of the rocks [Jason explained the reason behind the shapes] were beautiful and curious.

This section of rock has 3 different layers and kinds of rocks in it. Jason named them all [it mostly flew over my head]. I do recall that one of the layers was Karst. That was a name I recognized.

The dogs had a blast. Piper led, Charlie found a sweet spot in between Jason and I, and Felix followed...mostly. Felix is a rescue dog of Jason's with his own ideas about things and a few health issues. We often stopped to get Felix back on track and to chat. 

Here, Jason is pointing to something I should notice. I think I'd have to visit this place again to really take it all in.

See those trees in the distance? That was where we were headed. We actually were going to walk through an oak forest to the end of the ridge and drop down to see some amazing rock shelters.

Here is Piper doing her impression of the Lion King. I went up there with Charlie to get a good view also.

Jason's photos of Charlie and I... 

We stopped to look at rocks and of course the plants and Lichen. We joked about Liking Lichen.

On the narrow ridgetop, there was single track trail through the grasses. Many spots were dotted with rocks to negotiate through and around.

There was Bittersweet growing in some areas of the ridge and as we headed to the south side we went into a forest.

That's where things got really interesting.

I'll go into that in Part II...