Never on a Sunday

I finally got off the farm and out for a hike! Whoo Hoo! I got out to Duck Egg County Park. 

The footing wasn't very good. I would have done better with snowshoes which would have floated me over the rough tracks. Another rookie mistake.

I still made it from the lower parking area and out to the pond.

Photos from crossing one of the footbridges over
Springbrook Branch of the Bad Axe River.

My whole idea was to do a morning hike, stop in town at the Walmart and grab some groceries, grab some gas, and my last stop was to be Culver's for a nice salad and a Shrimp Dinner for Rich.

Walmart was a mess a total mess. Apparently they are getting ready to remodel also. Which made the weird Sunday crowd even worse. Everything was in the wrong place, departments were shoved together and some of the food shelves were empty.

It threw me for a total loop. I hurried through and got what I just barely needed and got out. I wanted to smack myself in the head for going on a Sunday during the middle of the day. 

I got into Culver's and got in line to order. There was that Sunday crowd again. Nothing against OLD folks, but wow. An old fella at the order counter was getting his undies in a bundle. It was super busy. I stood quietly waiting.

The old fella got loud and started cussing at the young man behind the counter who was desperately trying to figure out how to make up an order of 2 Pints of coleslaw and how to charge him. The old grumpy dude got louder and started to yell. 

I thought Dude! Coleslaw doesn't come in pints at a fast food place!

He started yelling for a Manager and indeed the Manager came out. At the same time one of our local fire fighters walked around to the counter and asked the elderly guy if he was okay. The old guy started getting loud again. It was a grand scene.

Long story short. The Manager calmly told the old grouch that he would not serve him today and he was sorry that he had trouble but he could not serve someone who was verbally abusing his help and causing a problem in the order line. It was done politely while us onlookers felt like grabbing the old sour puss and tossing him in a dirty snow bank.

But we didn't. The grouch was calmed down and shown the door and we all just looked at each other. The Manager addressed everyone in line with an apology and asked us to enjoy our meal and weekend.

Huh.

Just as I was ready to place my order, a lovely elderly lady with a cane brushed me aside and placed her order. I say lovely...because surely I don't think she even saw me. Besides, she was dressed up as if she'd just come from church. 

Finally, I got my order placed and walked out to the car. Forget the gas! I was headed home.

I thought to myself ... Now I remember WHY I -- don't go do things in town on the weekends.

And this song popped into my head....
I recall my mom and us singing this in the car.
Connie Francis---->

Never on a Sunday

And of course, now I can't get the song out of my head.

Ice Hunting

The Ice Hunt.

We left just as the daylight was starting to brighten the skies. It was overcast and dreary looking but we didn't mind. The cold snap earlier this week along with all of the extra moisture had created some near perfect conditions for Ice formations.

We drove out to one of the ruined bridges to get down into the stream to walk among the stream. There is public access to the stream as it is a trout stream with some beautiful deep pools.

Amanda getting close up

 and personal with the ice in 

the middle of the creek.

Below is a shot of the bridge,

it has been condemned by all the damage
done to its footings from  

the Historic Flood of

September 2016.

 The water flows fast here and

the water splashes up on the 

grasses and rocks forming 

what we like to call 

"Ice Fingers"

The flash floods created quite a mess but if one negotiates around the debri and downed trees, there is still quite a bit to find that is amazing.

We spent some time hunting ice formations and then got ready for the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.
We had another Ice Hunt planned for the afternoon.

View from the bridge looking North.

Stay tuned for Ice Hunting Part II.

All by myself

The world is about to go crazy.
I don't mean the 'world' news, I mean my private little corner of the world that involves my mother in law, sister in law, and husband.
MIL is going to come home from the Nursing Home Rehab today.
I anticipate some major changes of the daily routine yet again.

So on Sunday I decided to grab a some time by myself. I needed to stay pretty local even though I wanted to go back to Duck Egg. So I chose to go to the Double J Bridge. In September of 2016 we had a major storm with flash flooding. The Black Bottom Creek [that is the name all the old timers still call it] gathered the run off from the ridges and dry runs and it rushed down the long valley towards the Kickapoo River.
The JJ Bridge was over run with trees, trunks, parts of buildings, and the overwhelming power of rushing raging waters. The support beams are missing and exposed, there is a huge hole between the road and the bridge itself.
One more flash flood like that and I imagine the other bridges will be condemned.

Bridge JJ this fall:

And then on Sunday from the other side:

With such a dry winter and spring [so far] the water level has really decreased along this Trout Stream. There is no money in the budget as of yet for the township and the county to fix this bridge properly.

All of the bridges along 'Black Bottom' have been compromised, but JJ has been closed now since September 23, 2016. 

However, one can park nearby this bridge and fish for trout in the deep pools. I park and walk along the creek to look for pretty photos.

It was very cold Sunday morning so I was able to find some ice 'fingers' that develop from the stream water splashing upwards on to sticks and branches that are along the stream.

I really find them quite fascinating.

To get the two shots above, I did stand in the water. I wore knee high boots and the swift water came to just about my calves.

There is something very soothing about listening to the rushing water. 

I found a rock to sit on and just decided to enjoy the solitude for a bit.

Sticks, rocks, water. They make a tremendous soothing sound.

This was a long exposure of sorts.
I like long exposures. I like very long ones and shorter ones, depending on how I want to present something.
The shot above is 1.3 seconds. Just enough to give a feeling of the rushing water, yet not make it too smooth.

Then there is the 40 second exposure which makes takes on a different sort of character.
The water is smoothed out with patterns of white where the water splashes over rocks.
I look at the two and think I like the shorter exposure in this instance.

I did these two shots for fun. This one above is taken at 1/30th of a second. The rocks are nice and sharp. There is a sense of water flow.

Same shot, 1/3rd of a second. It changes the whole feel of the shot.
I feel this one shows a better sense of movement.

And...I leave you with a shot from the top of the bridge in 2010.

The stream has changed a lot since then.

I don't know how things are going to go from here on out but I will do as I always try to do.
Enjoy a bit of time by myself doing what I love.
Walking stream beds,
Walking the dogs,
Hiking,
or riding mules.

Even a small amount of time doing those things can make me feel recharged and ready to take on the world.
Well.
Sort of.