The Loose Lightbulb

I had a fun discussion with my friend BJ on Sunday. We talk every Sunday without fail. How we ended up being long distance friends is really bizarre. It came about by the love of Daschund type dogs.

I mentioned to her that I'd had a project brewing for many years that I called simply The Project. It was to have been observations of how the creek in our valley changed over the years.

Our conversation turned to questions like: What inspires you to write?
What inspires you to photograph certain subjects?
What inspires you to study something you have never studied before?

Writing is like a loose lightbulb connection. You jiggle it and it goes out for a while. Whack it, and sometimes it shines brightly.

There can be long periods of boring nothing-ness and then a sudden insight.

So, with the delivery of the Giraffe Toy, my inspiration exploded into what BJ called a huge ADHD Bomb. 

I had to run around Saturday with a bag of toys to capture photographs while the bulb was shining brightly.

Here enters the ADHD DD H D AA dd a ddd...ddddd... or whatever. 

This morning I was browsing through my Flickr albums in search of my old Teddy Bears and The Project Album caught my eye. So I got sidetracked and began to look through photos in my album called The Project.
The original intent was to observe changes in the creek over a year.  Actually I have been recording changes for about 8 years. Because I just kept adding to the photos and never ended up compiling a project regarding The Creek.

Morris and I 2013

Hunting season 2013

2015

Just after the 

great floods 

of 2016.

All the mosses 

are washed away.

Summer 2016

A new tree came down across the 

creek during the summer storms here.

2017

And the trees keep sinking lower 

and 

lower...

Winter 2018

After the floods of 2019...

the mess of new trees fallen

and washed into 

this spot.

2019

Below, a shot of this same spot just 

beyond the mess and tangle.

Summer 2020

This spot in the creek has always intrigued me. I always stop here and take a comparison shot. It is fairly easy to find in my album because I think I keep renaming it The Spot.

My intent years ago was to combine all these into some sort of study of the creek. I'm not even sure what that means. I've observed the the creek for years and observed how the seasons change the creek and how flash floods change the route each time by rearranging leaves, logs, and rocks. Sometimes the change is so subtle and sometimes it is dramatic.

See? In conclusion, I am like that person who has so many ideas that are scattered here and there in my brain. Once in a while an idea pops up and I chase it.

Maybe I will compile my thoughts and notes about the creek and it's life because it is such an interesting and vital part of our valley and forest.

Just like BJ said. She was ADHD and had to address an idea when it came to her like a lightening bolt. 

I like that explanation because it fits me perfectly. Just like the loose light bulb. I may just be motivated to work on the project now that it gets dark so soon.

Perfect.

I'm going to work on my Loose Lightbulb. May it shine brightly.

Cold Weather and All That.

Well yesterday the thermometer read -4 F or -20 C.  That was without any 'wind chill' factor.  If I'd looked that up I may not have gone out for a walk with Morris.

Morris enjoyed getting out in the woods after being cooped up for several days while I was out of town visiting.

He probably put on twice the mileage that I did.  Of course it is his duty to sniff and 'mark' anything of interest that he can find.
Twice he buried his face in the snow trying to sniff out mice.

We hiked down into the creek bottom again.  It wasn't bad there.  We were out of the wind, but in the shadows of the hillside.

Ice and snow formations are making the creek a bit more interesting than the last few visits.

Here is a shot of the same spot in the beginning of November:

And another spot further down the creek.

Unfortunately, Morris got pretty cold waiting for me to set up the tripod and  making some attempts as some longer exposures of the little falls.
He started to quake and shiver.
Of course it could have been the fresh coyote tracks that were in the snow, or the fact that he'd been walking in the creek... and then the snow.

He climbed onto my lap where I was sitting, waiting for the 15 second exposure finish.
I realized that the poor ol' guy was just plain cold.

So after a few quick shots, I picked him up and carried him back to our ridge road.


Then it was time to run water into the stock tank and drain the hoses.  Everyone was sunbathing and snoozing except the elder mules in the pen nearest the house.

Last thing before going in was to take down the laundry I'd hung out before talking my walk.  The clothes had mostly 'freeze dried'.  
They smelled wonderful.

I opened the door and the scents of the roast I was cooking greeted me.
Nice to come indoors and have delicious smells!

Morris immediately took a nap on the couch.  I hung up some items that were not yet dry.

Cold weather is hard on machinery and it makes most of the chores seem to take forever.  But I don't mind the cold as much as I dislike extreme heat.

According to the National Weather Service, it is going to get colder today, not warmer.
I'm glad I walked with my neighbor this morning.
We had a lovely pre dawn walk.

Mona & The Project

Mona, the 9 yr old black and tan hound that was so ill 10 days ago is making a miraculous recovery.

Of course she is not being spoiled at all by staying in the house.  Wink...wink!

I had a picnic yesterday outside and Mona attended.  I put the camera on a self timer and then ran over for some Mona hugs.  She is very good at them!

Morris however is rather put out by having to share attention with Mona.  He didn't want to come outside yesterday and instead pouted on the couch.

After hubby got back from walking the woods and seeing NO deer.  I took my camera and tripod down to the creek bottom.

I was going to try out my Olympus E 420 on some long exposures.  It is an older DSLR but it is handy.  

I got this facing west.  

I happen to really like the colors in the dirt and the reflections off the water.  This was a 6 second exposure at ISO 100.  I used a 4X ND filter.

I then turned around and took a photo upstream, facing west.
See the lines in the water?

Those are from bubbles that are coming up from a hidden little spring.

It was a very productive session with the camera and tripod.

I'm starting to get the feeling that in order to really photograph this little creek, that it is important to show the 'motion' of the creek also.
While walking along the creek, one doesn't think about how the water flows.  Mainly because most times the creek is so quiet.  
The graduation of the downward flow towards Black Bottom is not obvious either.

Yesterday I found tons of tracks along one section of the creek.  The ground was churned up into mud.

I identified coyote, raccoon, possum, squirrel, and deer tracks.

The Project

"As the crickets' soft, autumn hum
is to us
so are we to the trees
as are they
to the rocks and the hills."

Gary Snyder 

It was this Haiku that I heard last year by Gary Snyder that set me to thinking about my next project in book form.

My photo-journey books are nothing more than wonderful projects I think up that involve two of the things I like the most.

Well, two things I like to do a lot?

Photography and writing.

Oh I guess my list could be much much longer.

Hiking, exploring, riding, dogs...but you get the point.

Everything I do in my adventures of hiking and riding seem to cross a small seemingly insignificant creek that runs approximately one mile from the spring to where it joins a larger creek.

Here is a trickle of water that gently moves over rocks and earth.  It follows with the path of least resistance...always seeking lower ground.

The creek fascinates me in so many ways.  It can have a quiet little murmur as it makes its way down the valley or the the loud deadly roar from a flash flood.

The creek is vital to the valley's wildlife.

It is there.

The creek doesn't participate in the drama that may occur on its banks.  It ignores the death throes of a doe caught by a pack of coyotes or the wandering of a raccoon or 'possum looking for an open spot of water to get a drink when it is 20 below.

The creek is steady.

It is the live blood of the surrounding valley.

So I'm going to work on a project of how it changes with the seasons.

After all, I nearly cross this little creek every day.

 

And so starts my journey about something that seems so insignificant, yet ... is not.

 

“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” 

Gary Snyder