Just Go...Part 1

The idea was this. I get in the car in the morning and head south to southeast with an eventual destination of Kenosha/Racine county.

I got to Spring Green and saw an interesting road and went south. It meandered all over the place. It twisted and turned and led me past beautiful homes tucked in the hillsides. I saw mostly crop farms and almost no dairy. I came to an intersection of county roads. Road Closed, it said, BRIDGE OUT! Okay.
The tiny road to the left looked interesting and I followed it. 

I couldn't find a safe place to pull over and take photos. But that was not my intent anyway. I just wanted to go, play music and drive the backroads without a time frame imposed on me.

Eventually I ended up at Mt. Horeb and saw a sign for a county park. I followed the signs and we stopped. My idea had been to find a drive thru and grab something to eat. Instead, Charlie had some dog cookies and I had water to drink. 

We walked along the hiking trails and observed some Canada Geese. 

As we got back to where I had parked, a family pulled up and got out of their vehicle. The kids said something to the Grandpa and he told them to 'Ask if they could see the puppy.'

This was the first of many Charlie/kid/people/ petting encounters on our trip. 

We ended our road trip at my son's house. His dog Teslin saw Charlie and turned around and went upstairs to bed. Teslin is somewhere in the 16 to 17 year old range. She wanted nothing to do with a bouncy young dog.

My son took me for a drive and we ended up at Kenosha Public Brewery. I don't know if I'll get this all right, but there is a unique master plan to revitalize downtown Kenosha. And I have to say, it is working.

Now don't freak out. If you google Kenosha, WI, you will find all sorts of things about the riots, the shooting of Jacob Blake and the murders by Kyle Rittenhouse. I'm only going to say this. The town did not burn down. Yes some buildings were destroyed and people from outside of Kenosha caused a lot of problems. 

I do have a long range plan to move back to Kenosha. 

BUT it is a scary place! [I've been told all about it from folks who don't know this city] Yes, that is why [thanks for saying this Ed] Jockey International put there headquarters there. 

Okay. The building in the above photo is the original spelling of Kenosha. Kinoja or as this painted building says Kinoje. 

This photo is in an alley way as we walked between buildings to go to another pub.

Enough said about K-Town. It really is a rich and diverse place. There is always something going on. 

So.

I made it to Eddie's house just fine. 

The scenery and atmosphere was completely different than the farm. I could walk around with Eddie downtown and see the sites. 

And for the first time in nearly 500 days, I felt unencumbered.

I had checked in with Rich and he was fine, the neighbor girl had called down to see how he was and she brought him some homemade airfryer french-fries.

Insomnia, Fog, & Fun

First there was the fun. While driving back from town after CrossFit I took a county road that had been closed for almost 5 years while FEMA told our township that they would only pay for them to put the little bridge back to the way it was. Um. Yeah, the bridge that failed in the 2016 flash flooding that didn't make the news.

See the structure in the middle? Twisted and torn with the road washed out on each side. This was not the historic flood of 2018 which traveled down a different watershed path.

Annnnnywaaaaay. The Road was now open after 5 years of being closed. I thought I'd enjoy a drive up from the valley to the ridge.

The bridge was rebuilt without the support structure in the middle of the stream. Eventually all of the little bridges over Black Bottom should be done this way as all 4 of them have structural damage. But our township is poor and they just patch things up for now.

As I drove Up from the valley, I recalled why I didn't take this road up. The road is very nice, very curvy and very pretty. But the left turn at the top of the ridge is a blind ... very blind turn. 

I did stop and park to take these shots back down the road as they reminded me of that famous highway in Door County that everyone wants to travel to and take photos of.

Which begs the question. Why do so many people want to take the same shots of the same scenery? Why not find something new?

Since I almost never ever take a road shot, I thought this turned out pretty cool. Not Door County, just a back road in the steep hills of our county.

I woke up to Dense Fog the next morning. Fog so bad you cannot see the pasture in front of the house. There was a Dense Fog Warning on my phone/weather app.

Imagine my delight to wake up to a near white out and know that I did not have to travel to work 30 miles away this time in it.

I considered driving up the river road to explore but decided that since I could not see the 'Ru, it probably wasn't a good idea. So Charlie and I decided to take a walk.

I put the IRChrome filter on the modified camera. 

The intent was to get some coolo fog IR shots and some spider web photos.

So I put the macro lens on the other camera and explored.

There is something unique and wonderful about seeing those gossamer threads that insects create. I try each year to also 'shoot' my neighbor's oat field when it is wet with dew. I have to get up there with that zoom lens and see how creative I can get.

So.

Now it was time for bed. I'd worked out at CF, mowed yard, hacked and wacked weeds, and it was time for rest.

So of course I began thinking about the stars and the next new moon and the next full moon. So in my mind I began to plot how, when, where, I would try shooting it.

My mind would not SHUT up, so eventually I got dressed and hiked out to the ridge.

This is where I sometimes come for sunrises. I lit up the foreground with my cell phone as an experiment.

Nothing exciting here. Too much light and the moon would rise in a bit.

Could I try the classic self portrait of me staring up into the Milky Way with my headlamp? Um.

Imagine me sitting on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere just thinking and staring into the sky. The first few tries were epic fails. My light was not bright enough, too bright, or whatever. So I kept at it.

I looked like I was doing some sort of Pagan Ritual in one of the shots. I have to keep this in mind for Halloween.

Eventually I got something I could live with.

Did I get the light right? Did the increase in humidity help?

I don't know, but I loved it. [Yes...here I am trying the shot that so many others have created...the fun in it was figuring it out and the challenge will be to make it interesting and different than all the other photos like this.]

Then the orange/red partial moon started to rise and I wished for my zoom. Instead I just decided to be happy and listen to the coyotes and the night creatures while I shared my insomnia with them.

Out and About

Yesterday morning I felt like doing a quick look-see around what we call Tainter Land.
The roads in this particular area are all gravel and in such a deep valley that cell phones are totally worthless.
There is a certain appeal to no cell service right now.

Tainter Hollow Rd, Tainter Hollow East, Tainter Hollow West, and Tainter Road are the twisted lane and a half roads that wind through this particular area.

I knew that no spring plants would be evident, but I went to the Public Land anyway just to walk around.

The beavers have been busy again after the flood. They are rebuilding dams.

Near the edge of the road I found a deer carcass that someone had dumped. This happens often on the more secluded roads.
There is nearly no traffic on the Tainter roads as I think there are only 3 residential places.

The residential places are seasonal and one of them was flooded in 2016. I don't know if they ever came back.

The scenery is pretty typical for our area.
Creeks, streams, gravel roads, steep valleys, and ridge tops.

All within a few minutes drive.

The old timers who have lived here for generations don't build homes near dry runs or in steep valleys. Tainter Road is one example of the 'why'. It will get washed out at least once a year. The valley is so steep and the water rushes down the hillsides and across the roads.
Road destroyed until the township comes with gravel and replaces a road tube.

I stood on Tainter Road East and marveled at the flood debri still stuck in some of the trees above my head. I'm five foot three inches.

The day was dull and I'd taken about an hour of wandering around and simply enjoying the cold damp weather. So it was time to head home.

Things 'seen' on my way home.

I sure do love our back roads and try to take them to town when I am not in much of a hurry.

I think today is another day of errands and then I hope to spend at least one or two days at the farm. Hikes with Dixie and Charlie are surely in order.

The weather for the rest of the week will be a mixed bag. Heavy rains, thunderstorms, and then snow and sleet.

Welcome to April.

Return to Tainter...Land

Tainter Hollow is an interesting area. It has more than one very steep narrow valley and a creek named Tainter Creek that runs through it.

The roads are gravel roads and there are many little bridges that cross Tainter Creek as it twists and turns.
There is Tainter Hollow E., Tainter Hollow W., and Tainter Rd. Tainter Rd is closed still.

I had a bit of time yesterday and it was gloomy and raining. I couldn't do garden work, yard work, and my shoulders and forearms needed a rest from all the weed whacking I'd done. I asked Rich if he'd mind if I went down to Tainter Hollow to look for wildflowers to photograph while he took a nap.

He shrugged.
I put some things in the Subaru and went to Tainter Land.
At one of my favorite bridges to stop and take photos, there were surveyors marking out sections on both sides of the road. Orange paint markings were in the gravel.
The floods of last year caused a lot of damage to our many 'Tainter Bridges'  [one of the reasons that Tainter Rd. was still closed].

Dang. I felt too self conscious to share the bridge with them, so I drove on.
Up the road a ways there is a dairy farm pasture.
Here I found Besse and Wilma, they looked a bit perturbed that I'd interrupted their "udderly" fantastic conversation.

Harriet and Fern, meanwhile were looking rather sneaky about something. I wonder if the girls were planning something, or just really curious about the lady in the muddy Subaru.

I circled around back to Tainter Hollow E. and headed back to the Public Land entrance.

I'm not sure the bridges will do very well if we have any more flash floods.

Tainter Rd is closed due to the culverts being washed away and the road being destroyed in one section. The other bridges all suffered damage from log jams last September.

I parked and walked the footpath through the tall grass along Tainter Creek. In the early spring this is a nice walk. Starting in May or June, the grasses and other plants are nearly as tall as I am and can make for a less enjoyable hike.
However I found two nice places to admire Tainter Creek before I turned back.

Give me a whole day and another person to go with and I could really have fun exploring. Tainter Hollow is in such a place that there is no cell phone coverage and a GPS won't get satellite reception. Not an issue for me unless my husband needs to get hold of me.

I headed out and passed a residence on Tainter Hollow W. This person's house/cottage is built on the hillside and has stilts supporting part of it. I often wonder how it stays on the hillside.
Anyway this was parked on the road next to the creek.
I shot it through my review mirror.

Sort of overkill for a trout creek right?

My time was up, I needed to head back home.

I got a peek at a few critters along the way.

When I got to the top of Hinkst Hollow, I did pull over and compose a shot. This is one of the straightest roads in our township. And the view is always amazing to me.

Normally you don't get such vistas where I live. But there are a few to be found.

I didn't get the wildflower shots I wanted. Nope, not at all.
Instead I had a very interesting drive.

It was nice to have a small break.

Here is hoping that the rain and gloom ease up. Notice that most of the fields are not worked up. Our farmers are way behind in planting. And those that did plant corn have some very yellow sickly plants coming up.

Weather a very strange year so far.

We've swung wildly from very cold to just freezing. From frigid to mild with rains.

Thankfully the animals seem to be taking this weather in stride. 
The mules and horses refused to go to the stock tank on Sunday until we put down barn lime and a combination of sand and hay chaff.

We've had an ice event each week. 

Who came up with the name Ice 'Event'? 
Once a week the temperatures have swung to just above or right about freezing and it has rained.

Getting anywhere safely on the country gravel roads has become an issue. Our township is running low on sand according to the patrolman Rich talked to our town only has one bin left of sand/gravel.

I hope that is enough to get us through to a real melt down!

Traveling back and forth to work has become rather unpleasant. This is a shot I took -- yes I stopped-- of 'good' weather and good roads!

There are no shots of course of the bad places, the scary twists and turns that come down off the ridge at an 8% grade into the valleys.
It is trips like these that make me dislike working period. The drive to and from work is stressful. 

This is one of the roads I take to and from town or work. This is a nice sight to see on a slick day. Fresh sand and gravel over ice.

And...this is where I park when it gets like this. I can walk up to the ridge from home and I don't have to worry about falling off the driveway into the woods and wrecking the car.

Our road is a dead end road. It doesn't rate getting more gravel/sand on it as there is only 3 homes on it.

My neighbor on the top of the hill has purchased 'chains' for his and his wife's vehicle. He found out the other day that even the 'chains' didn't help. 
This is a shot of the road from our mailbox area. This is good winter driving!

Yesterday morning I took a sled-full of hay chaff, sand, salt, and screenings up to the ridge and spread it behind the Subaru so that my neighbor could park behind me. Our driveways were still solid ice. It is surprising how this mix adds traction to an area!

In the afternoon, the temperatures rose yesterday and the sun came out. 

Rich used the skid steer to break up ice around the stock tanks and then proceeded to work on the driveway.

I was so happy that I quit doing all of my catch up work around the inside of the house and came outside to enjoy the sunlight and the mud/ice.

Mud and ice! Snow slush! 
I know it looks like a mess. But it is much better than glare ice.

It was only in the places that the sun shone, but it made us very happy.

And it made Val-Barbie happy too!

Tell me should it be color or black and white?

Today I had a few hours to myself so I decided to take a detour to Tainter Hollow after dropping off my recyclables at the Town Shop.

I didn't even make it a mile from home and it began to rain.  I wasn't really worried, I had gone photo hunting before during weather that would alternate between down pours and sunshine.

I looked ahead on the gravel road, a tractor had recently come out of a field and left a mud trail.  I slowed and then stopped.  
Serendipity.
The sun broke out in a warm color.  And I saw this:

The first shot was taken with my elderly Olympus E-420 and a long lens.
The second was taken with my Nikon with the 18-55mm kit lens.

I envisioned both of these shots in black and white.
And so...

Just as I came around the corner I looked up at the clouds again and realized that this was going to be one of those days, when the weather changed rapidly.

I don't normally like telephone poles or electric lines in my photos but again Serendipity hit.  They would lead nicely from my perspective.
And again, I thought this sky would look fantastic in black and white.

The difference here is incredible.  I was able to add a filter that turned the blues to nearly black.
Now the poles had a reason to pull the earth and sky together.

I finally pulled into the small parking area at Tainter Hollow and did some exploring.

Tainter Creek is a rather nice little trout stream and I enjoy seeing the trout flit back and forth and then hide in the shadowed places.

Oh yes, I tried this out in black and white also.

I think it is amazing the difference in tonal value that black and white processing can make in a photo.

I found many more things while exploring today, but I'll just leave with with a parting color shot of one of my favorite spots to park and go walking with my camera.

I had more adventures when I explored Tainter Hollow, Tainter East, Tainter West, and Tainter Rd.
You could say that all those roads named Tainter are confusing.

Not to me, I've been exploring them for years.

Photo processing used, Topaz Detail and Topaz BW Effects 2.  Photos shot in RAW format and processed in AfterShotPro2 by Corel.
Just as a side note, I like the products and dislike renting from Adobe.