Mini Road Trip

Well. Saturday morning I wanted to get out and go to the ponds where I'd seen the Swans. I brought my long lens along and a different one in case things didn't quite work out.

They didn't.

The Kickapoo River Valley had decided to fill with fog.

I could see this from our ridgetop when I got to it. The valley and low areas were filling in with fog. I decided to go and explore anyway.

The drive along the highway in the valley was slow because of the fog. Well, the fog and the deer. 

Taking that drive near dawn on a Saturday morning meant that I wouldn't see a lot of traffic. I could take my time and stop if the mood overcame me.

I pulled over in the low lands. I've always wanted to stop and 'shoot' as it looks like something out of a movie. It reminds me of the Swamp of Sorrows in the Never Ending Story movie.

I couldn't decide if this should be in color or black and white. I am actually leaning towards the color version which shows the bright yellow grasses as they are fading. But the black and white version is the mood I get from passing this wetland on foggy mornings.

I hoped that I could get above the fog at Warner Creek and look down from the small bluff that overlooked it. Maybe if I waited a half hour or so I could have.

For fun I tried out my ND built in filter to take a 1 second exposure of the creek. I set the camera on the bridge railing and held it still. In the fog and rising sun, the colors in the weeds and brush along the creek shone with colors of fall.

Charlie was happy to get out of the car and take a little walk with me. 

My inner clock of 10 years said it was time to turn around and get going. I got in the car and we started back down the road. Fog had cleared in parts of the area, but when I went over Jug Creek Bridge, I saw something amazing with fog and light.

I was going to pull over but thought better of it with a truck that had come racing up my tail. So at the next road, I signaled and pulled off to go back. I'm glad I did.

Jug Creek was the winner of the amazing views of the day.

This shot was looking east on top of the bridge and down at the creek.

I walked across the bridge and took this shot. The shadow of the bridge darkens the bottom of the photo.

In the distance are the hills and bluffs that I have climbed to watch the sun come up.

I looked down at the creek and took this next shot. There used to be an equine trail that crossed the creek so that no equine had to come up on the bridge and deal with motor traffic. I'll never forget the time we rode with a group and a gent's horse decided that the creek was a great place to cool off.

The horse laid down in the creek and the fella jumped off. His boots still had water in them when we got back to camp. There are fond memories way down...there....

By this time the traffic was picking up and I decided to find another spot to turn around. I went down Jug Creek road and was presented with some more glorious fog opportunities.

I drove up to the next intersection and turned around. The fog was lifting.

Oddly enough, the fog remained pretty thick on the drive back home along the river. 

But I didn't stop or take any more detours as it felt odd to be away from home. Plus I had chores to get done, a cabinet to finish, and paperwork to fill out.

In the mean time

I am slowly learning to expand my boundaries. I am an early early morning person. So just before sunrise, I decided to go look at a different place than our ridge to watch the sun come up. It wasn't really going to be a fantastic brilliant dawn.

But I thought, let's just drive around the countryside a bit and take a look.

This is a gravel road called Brookville Road, I drove down this road years ago when I took it to get over to the highway during bow hunting season to get some donuts at the bakery in town.

In September and October, this road at dawn has so much to offer in fall light and fog.

The shot above was at the end of September 2017. The camera was a point and shoot camera that had a pretty cool zoom on it. [I wore that camera out by 2019]

Saturday morning I thought I'd go back to the ponds to see if the Swans were still there. I grabbed the big lens and brought a smaller one. By the time I got into the river valley, I realized I wouldn't be able to see across the pond because of the fog. 

So, Charlie and I took our time and drove through the hills and valleys looking for something amazing and interesting. We found that and spent about an hour finding valleys, fog, trees, rays of light through the fog, and whatnot.

But I'll share that later. 
When I got back home, I got to work on my storage project. For all of our years, hubby insisted on having a large trunk in the house. It was a huge ugly shipping sort of trunk. It took up too much room in our tiny house and served no purpose other than to hold some of his Highschool books and an old Teddy Bear that was his when he was something like 6 years old.

Let me tell you, it smelled inside of it. Musty and icky. I rarely opened it other than to confirm that nothing in it was something I needed. This had been a bone of contention ever since I'd first lived there. A behemoth of a trunk that was not useful. 

I did later learn that Rich had stored this in his barn for years where he and his first wife had lived. [ewww, explains the musty smell]

These are photos that include a portion of the trunk from before our house remodel. To hide the trunk, I often put a table cloth over it. The TV sat on it.

Well, we no longer have Morris [the dog] or the bricks, or that heater.

Here is the living room now. The blanket on the couch is for the little dog how likes to hop up there. With the trunk gone, the room has opened up so much!

This was in the kitchen area for ever. This shot is from when I was trying to decorate for Christmas. I used the trunk to display my polar bears doing things. In the summer, it was a place to drop mail, keys, and junk. By the time we added several bottles of 02, the walker, and other items this summer, the space on and around the trunk became a disaster area. The little table on the left is an old farmhouse entry way table.

I've kept that. I'm going to find a nice spot for it somewhere and add the old water pitcher and washing bowl to it along with towels.

So to make a long story short.

I decided to order this....

After all, I've built really hard Lego Builds, so how hard could this be?

I sure learned a lot about cabinets, hinges. and drawers while making mistakes and doing it over again.

I learned how to fix and replace the hinges on the Lazy Susan by studying the hinges on this thing.

And finally, I got it all cleaned up and put together.

Tah Dah!

Done. Finished.
I'm getting another one to go around the corner from this one and replace where the trunk was. The storage really helps me with things that were just stacked around the place. Now the house/kitchen area looks very tidy. 

In another week, Ill be building again. I guess I do like 3D puzzles.

I wouldn't have taken on this task at another point in my life. But I thought this would be a good thing. Yes, it isn't top quality, but it is useful and I like it.

One of the weirdest things

Today I went back to fixing fence and prepping for Fall and Winter. I change things up a bit when I do that. I re-arrange a few fenceposts and change gates also.

I noticed that a boxelder had twisted over the wires but wasn't touching them. This was a job for hubby always. It was a chainsaw job. The tree part that was over the fence was 6 inches in diameter. I started with my little reciprocating saw that Rich bought me years ago.

I trimmed off all the little branches that were in the way and then started working my way back to the thickest part. Back in the day, hubby was the chainsaw operator and I was the picker-upper. Now I got to do it all.

I couldn't get through the large part of the branch I wanted to take down. I made some headway, but my little saw just wasn't going to do it. I have a 6 inch little battery chainsaw, but I didn't want to use it at the angle I needed to.

What to do? Dang it, I was not going to call a neighbor up to ask them to cut through 4 inches of wood. Nope, not me. I remembered that we had a series of little hand saws for when we were riding in the woods and came across a snag.

Bingo! 

I walked into the house to make lunch and tend to Charlie and found myself talking to Rich in my head. Explaining what I was doing and where I was doing it. 

I nodded as I made my sandwich as our conversation went on. 

"Yep," he'd say, "use that little hand saw that way you won't be taking off your leg or something. Those boxelders are a pain, and by the way...trim up the branches that will knock me in the head when mowing while you are at it."

Okay. The conversation took place in my head, but his voice there was clear as a bell.

That's the strange part. I didn't even think it was strange.
For the past 10 years, I've always run things past him before I doing it. We'd discuss the pluses and the minuses and he'd give me tips at how to get things done.

After I made lunch I looked out at the yard thinking about mowing at least the ragged part of it. I could hear his judgement on the matter. "It might be a bit wet yet. Maybe later and... besides, it doesn't look that bad yet."

This guy taught me how to cut up limbs, fix fence, run his country clipper, fix a weed whacker, hunt with a hound dog [dawg], fish, watch for critters, trap varmints, and use a lot of common sense.

It may be weird to some, but to me it makes perfect sense. I often went to him -- even in his last months of life to get an opinion or help on a farm project I was working on. I wanted him to know how much I respected his ideas.

I will however completely fail at being any sort of mechanic. If something won't start, and it is an engine. I am completely and hopelessly lost. He could look at it and fix most things without hesitation.

Give me a problem animal and I can usually turn it around. Engines no. Animals yes.

I did finish cleaning up the mess, rewired the fence, replaced the broken post, and mowed a section of the yard.

Charlie and I then enjoyed some quiet time on the porch.

Lucky us. We saw our first monarch of the year.

Looking to find normal

 or something that might be normal. I imagine people who have lost a loved one go through this also. I found myself this morning just standing in the kitchen area wondering what to do next.

I felt as if I was stuck there. Stuck to the floor with the kitchen sink staring at me. I blinked. I sighed. I wondered, did a few moments go by while I was in 'Stuck Land'?

I shook it off and decided another morning walk would be the right thing to do. I needed to go check the pasture fences even though no mules where in the meadow.

This is one of our morning views. Fog branches trees, a large wild meadow....

I didn't have my zoom lens I use for wildlife with me, but this guy showed up in our meadow. I did crop this hard. The buck is a 10 pointer. I will only admire him with photos. Though I wouldn't mind some venison myself this winter.

Sunrise in the fall is magical. The heavy fog and dew create a magical place for photographers.

My 'friends' the orb spiders are still building nightly webs in the east meadow. I am enjoying walking among them and feel slightly honored to be able to photograph them up close and personal.

I had a lunch date with my MIL's cousin who may be in her late 80's but is no frail flower. She is a force to be reconned with. We often try to meet up at least once a month through the spring to fall months and have lunch together. She is stubborn and strong like ... well myself. She has opinions and insights and is just an amazing woman who is struggling with her husband's Alzheimer's. 

She is an independent cuss just like me. She doesn't speak Bull-it, she speaks her opinions, for that I love her. 

We missed 6 months of lunches but made our date today. She is an elder that I have the utmost respect for. She has lived most of her life with her husband who lived on the road and has an independence streak that would put most elderly ladies to shame.

I see her and I feel comforted. We are comforting souls.

This afternoon I had a Pet Trailer for my bike delivered. I like bike riding and there are several choices of nice flat riding trails within 45 to 60 minutes from my house.

I figured it was NOT fair to Charlie to leave him home alone all day while I went exploring. So I did this....

He isn't too sure about the whole thing, but he likes the treats he finds inside the trailer. 

Charlie is now my soul-sole companion. We can adventure together. We can watch out for each other.

I think I will find out how good my leg muscles are soon after not having much exercise for the past 6 months.

My ex daughter in law sent me a card today and I took her letter and card to heart.

The pain of a loss
Reflects
How deeply our Hearts
Have Loved.

A walk

 You could technically call it a hike, but we weren't putting a lot of effort into it. The hardest part was the mosquito-y portion right by the river with a muddy path flanked by waist high weeds. 

The new management has had a shortage of people working for them in this year and it shows in places where they used to do some weed management. I imagine with the 69+ miles of trails, it is not an easy job to keep things trimmed back.

Anyway, we made it out to the first set of ponds and there really wasn't much going on in the ponds themselves. 

Charlie chose little trail that heads off to the bird blind area. I wasn't going to take it as I was sure I'd be carried off by giant skeeters.

But in the end, Charlie made the best decision. Sometimes you just need to follow the dog!

There was a pair of swans at the other end of the pond where I'd take a photo of a pair this spring. I think they may have nested there, I can't be sure since I couldn't get back to this part of the reserve for the past 6 months.

The surprise however was this! Is it a young mute swan? I don't know. I will look it up. However, I didn't get a close up shot so I could see its face. It was too far off. 

It just means I'll have to come back one morning without Charlie so as not to alarm them. Yes, he is small but his dog tags alert birds to his presence.

We walked along the paved bike/hike/cross country ski trail and admired the fall beauties we found. I think these are white prairie asters. The bees were having a great time with all the fall wild flower choices.

We stopped after a couple of miles and decided to hang out on the floating dock that has a bench to sit on. Charlie needed the rest and a big drink from my water bottle.

I think we sat there a good long time just watching the scenery around us and the changing light and the moving duck weed.

Charlie had a great time. He sat quietly next to me in his 'car seat' and rested up on the way home. All afternoon we worked on weeding out my flower patch to the outhouse.

Some things I have decided to get done to assist myself with the empty house syndrome.

I started to look up state parks in my general part of the state. I've actually found 3 places I have been to long ago but want to go back and explore to them intimately.

Governor Dodge, Perot State Park, and Wyalusing State Park are all about an hours drive from my house. State Natural Areas are also on my list.

I checked out what the cost would be to camp in my car or get a room (dog friendly).

Now, instead of listening to the roaring silence in the house, I have some goals for exploring.

This week I am adding a little dog tailer to my bicycle. I think Charlie would like to go with me when I am biking on those nice flat railroad bed trails.

Cheap affordable hiking is what I need to do to start feeling like myself again, I think. It feels weird to expand my hiking area to an hour travel time away. Once I conquer that, I could go futher!

Charlie this evening, we've been getting rain for hours along with nonstop thundering [which he hates].

Bumper Crop...and what else....

 

Since there was a bumper crop this year once again, I am opening up my pumpkins to anyone on the ridge or friends of mine who would like some free pumpkins to decorate their porches or yards with.

Why not? I enjoy growing them and I really enjoy the fun when the kids come out and pick some pumpkins up.

I have a row of my own on my porch and some decorating parts of the yard.

I'm still trying to find my way through each day. The times I really miss him are the times we'd sit together and watch some Britbox on TV. Hmmm, or when we'd chat over coffee, or when he'd ask for popcorn, or ...well, he is always on my mind.

Most of my mornings involve some coffee and then a nice walk along the ridge with Charlie. So many September mornings start with fog. It is visually beautiful.

I think I'm doing pretty okay. With the yard, fences, pastures, all under control for now, I have time to take some hikes.

Sunday seemed like a perfect day for that.

Bikes make friends

I had to make another run to the funeral home to deal with a spelling error in the death certificate and drop off the thumb drive that Rich's daughter and I put together.

I didn't want to waste the 26+ mile trip on just dropping off paperwork again. So I'd put my bike in the back of the 'Ru and thought I'd tried a bike trail that Rich told me about. The Richland Center Bike Trail. It runs from Richland Center town all the way to a place called Lone Rock. It's an old train bed that was converted into a trail. 

I'd picked a parking spot to the trail head in a place called Twin Bluffs. My thought was to ride towards a town called Gotham [Batman!] and then see what the trail looked like headed then back towards Richland Center.

The trail was fairly well maintained and obviously had some damage to the wooden bridges from the snowmobile traffic in the winter. 

Basically it was an out and back ride. It felt nice. What was even stranger was when my inner clock that told me I'd been gone too long it made me feel odd. I had to resist lookin at my watch.

Then I ignored it. I had all the time I wanted. Yes, it felt pretty strange.

When I got back to where I'd parked, there was a guy sitting on a picnic table that had a roof over it. The shade looked inviting, so I asked if I could share the shade with him. He waved me over.

Actually we'd just passed by each other when I walked out of the funeral home. His 3 wheeler E-bike was parked on the sidewalk by my car. I admired it because I figured one day, I'd be using one.

I said, "Geeze, we walked right by each other at Pratt's!"

"Yup," he replied.

"Wow, you have an awesome bike or trike. It looks great!" I nodded at his 3 wheeler when I sat down at the picnic table we were sharing.

"I may get one in the future, how do you like it?"

His name was Tony. He'd recently had a stroke and he liked to get out in nature so after wearing out a homemade E-trike, he'd gotten this one. 

He shrugged and smiled. "At least you didn't say I was cheating by using an E-trike."

I blew raspberries and said, "Dude! I am jealous!"

We discussed that a bit and I told him that what he was doing was awesome. His balance was poor as well as issues with his knees.

"What a perfect way to get out and see nature," I told him.

We talked a good long while and he told me about the wildlife I could see while riding this trail and where the best places were. 

We were different athletes with common goals. Ride bikes onto a bike trail to enjoy nature and the peace it brings us.

We then talked about the other trails that the dude at the funeral home had suggested. There is one near Preston MN that was paved and beautiful along the Root River. We both discussed how we'd love to ride that.

I commented that his trike was an excellent choice for him to get out and find the peace and joy he could find in the outdoors. I told him that I was considering a pet trailer for my little dog. 

He then said he didn't ride on weekends because there were too many people zipping by and telling him he shouldn't be 'cheating'.

[There was a look of hurt in his eyes when he made that comment.]

I told him that his physical injuries were invisible. I said, "I wonder if you wrapped yourself up with bloody ace bandages and painted on a black eye, if people would be more understanding."

Tony suddenly went motionless. "You get it." He chuckled.

I said, "I do. My husband was a Veteran with invisible injuries. People didn't understand. But I did."

I ate my snacks and we talked some more. Trails, maintenance, the bridges, the river, the weather, and nothing important.

I stood up and shook his hand. 

"Tony, I sure hope to run into you again on this trail. It has been a pleasure to meet you and your awesome bike."

Tony shook my hand and smiled. The Grizzly ol' Tony seemed to have found something other than just nature to smile about.

"Yeah. I hope we run into each other again."

Some cell phone shots from today.

Heading east on the trail.

 Oh what wonders! I stood here for a long time watching 

the Monarch butterflies who danced around my head!

Some of the areas of the trail were covered with shade

from a thick canopy above.

It also seemed to be a perfect day to use my Infrared camera and enjoy some colors of another light spectrum.

These are photos of the Pine River that runs through Richland Center and along the bike/multi use trail. I have another 10 or so miles to explore of this trail. 

My new acquaintance told me where the best views of the river were. 

I was so relaxed and chilled out when I got home that I was able to finish up some weed whacking and hand mowing. I agree with Mr. Tony. Nature brings a bit of peace to our lives.

A little bit of kindness and consideration go such a long way. Don't judge a book by its cover.

I like my bike. I liked his bike/trike. We enjoyed conversation. 

It was a good day.