So...

Mother Nature is really having a hissy fit.

Thursday, the pups and I risked using some precious gasoline to go on an adventure to Goose Island in Lacrosse County. The weather was supposed to turn very ugly Thursday night with a major whup-a$$ storm coming in on Saturday through Monday.

We took this lollipop loop that goes around what seems to be backwater ponds of the Mississippi River and other spots where we could stand on the banks of the river and gaze across the wide expanse of water.

Hannah got her first lesson in 'leash walking'. She sure didn't like it at first. However, by the time we got back to the car, she was mostly walking alongside Charlie.

With both hands occupied, I had a hard time taking any shots at all.

I did tie Hannah up to a sapling to I could try a couple of photos and only really got one with my regular camera. Moments later, she lunged forward and her cat breakaway collar came off.

Well, we both learned from that! 

After chores and more outside play time, the two of them called a truce and fell asleep on the couch. In the old days pets were never allowed on the furniture. Hannah can't get there on her own, but she does ask to get up there and she does settle down quickly.

She was looking at me with her tongue sticking out! Charlie was guarding the squeaky ball and all was calm.

Around midnight, as predicted, the winds arrived. And they howled and howled. I live in a hollow of sorts and it sounded as if a C-130 was revving its engines above the house. I woke up around 2AM because of noises I heard. It literally sounded as if the large metal shed had been hit by a tree. 

I looked out into the living room and noticed that the heater light was off. I knew I wasn't getting back to bed so I put long johns on under my sweats and added an extra warm layer over my t-shirt. Of course Hannah woke up while I was hunting up my electric candle lights and headlamp.

We went outside in the dark [with my headlamp to light the way]. The dogs did their thing and we bundled up on the couch while I sat down with them to worry. Seriously, what else was there to do? The two little dogs snuggled in close and we kept each other warm.

The temps dropped to 48 degrees in the house by 7:30 when the power came back on. I'd done chores and checked our buildings. Everything was still standing. The mules were out of the winds and standing quietly. The fences were still up and despite the roar above, things were rather peaceful.

We survived! No damage. I was relieved.

At 9:30 my 'date' arrived. Not really a date, but a young man who is the son of one of my good friends. I've know Briar since he was born.

Briar was off school and had asked if he could come over to learn about photography.

He is a Lego Fan and so I told him that we would work on some Toy Photography and some Macro photography. He wanted to learn more about digital cameras. I showed him how to use his cell phone to to practice with. He doesn't have a digital camera. His older sister has a Nikon that I gave to the family a few years ago.

We set up a scene together and talked about composing photos to tell a story. The time flew by and we had a blast. He enjoyed composing scenes with some of my pieces of cardboard and 'junk'.

It was quite fun imagining a scene together and hunting around for parts to build it and analyzing it from different angles. The first scene was one he totally built. The rose shot was a quick lesson in how 'easy' it is to set up a macro shot even with a dried up old flower.

We had fun with the storm troopers and worked on the set up for that together. Briar learned some very basic lessons about depth of field and operation of my digital camera.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to stock up on water and get some food that I don't have to cook to make a meals if the power goes out again.

We may or may not be in for a doozy starting Saturday evening.