For my little pal...

While I was putting the elves in their clubhouse I thought...I'll make a little story for my neighbor's son, Aiden who is nearly 2 yrs old. 

What if Santa decided to try a truck to make deliveries in our area?
Gosh, what would happen.

Santa Gets Stuck...

A Good Samaritan Arrives

 That didn't work...so

they called on the Elf

with a magic sled...

Oh my, guess who

showed up to give a push!
And the Reindeer pulls!

Santa is on his way

thanks to all

the help!

I sent this series to my little pal's mom and she said he loved it! What child wouldn't?

Dang its gonna be HOT

 When the weather sucks, 

I like to divert my attention

to other fun things.

So I'm going to catch up with what's up with Squatch. Sometimes things in my imagination get side tracked ... and sometimes I go off on a tangent.
Well here it is:

Squatch was feeling pretty down. All the hiking an hunting for relatives seemed fruitless. So he decided to take a nap in a bird nest.

"Hello, there! What are you? You certainly are not a fledgling bird!" a voice said to him.

He woke up and was staring at a tiny fawn.

"I'm a Squatch, not a bird."

"I see that. You are hairy too. I almost didn't see you because your camouflage is better than mine! My name is Fawn."

Squatch sighed, "Well, I came here looking for others like me. I was hoping to find some but so far I've been out of luck."

Fawn said, "Oh golly, can I help? I can ask my mom, Doe, and my pop to keep an eye out for your kind. There's lots of my kind in the forest. I can't imagine being without family!"

Squatch said, "Well, I've had my friend Hobby out looking and she just can't seem to find any trace of them."

"Oh," said Fawn, "I know Hobby. I see her in the forest a lot, but most of us wild critters avoid anything that resembles humans. I mean, we know she is supposed to be harmless and...but we still hide from her."

"Wow, that would be helpful. Hobby is a nice person, she has been very a very kind friend to me. You should meet her," Squatch replied.

"Ahhh. Well. Hmm." Fawn thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, we can arrange it but I hear she shoots..."

"That is just a camera, not a gun!" Squatch said.

Fawn nodded and then ran off. 

Squatch sat in the birds nest and wondered again...

would he ever find any of his family? What an odd little creature Fawn was could he count on Fawn's help? 

To be continued....

Side note:
when I was a kid we used to make up stories for our toys. All toys had a story. Imagine making up a story about a yellow rubber eraser dragon who became friends with a pink kitty eraser.

I imagined that my stuffed animals that lived on my bed came alive when I was at school and had wonderful adventures. The six foot stuffed snake would watch over the kangaroo and the zebra. I was sure that when I slept, they watched over me or went on magical trips.

Toys without batteries was a rule my father had. The toys had to be operated by imagination.
I think it was a wonderful rule.

And so it goes... ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Pretty Birds and critters

I took the bird feeder down a while ago when the DNR in our area notified the public regarding the Avian Flu that was in our state. However, this little tub is my boot tub where I rinse the mud off from my boots before going on to the porch.

I'm kind of anal about keeping the porch clean. 

We were having our morning coffee when I spotted some color on my porch rocks and the boot tub!

I was lucky to have my camera right next to me and I had removed the screen from the window to take shots out the window this winter so I got some sort of clear shots of these guys!

They are Yellow-rumped Warblers that migrate through our area and head north. 

Chalk this up to another bird I've never seen before.

The one below should be either a Hairy or Downey Woodpecker. All the woodpeckers love this tree!

Here is Sven, the goat in the new little lot that he is supposed to work on cleaning up. He seemed more concerned about the new area and where I was going than eating.

And here is my 24 yr old red mule lazying about:  

Sunshine.
Yes she is wooly! The mules are just starting to shed.

Deer. 
This one looks pretty thin. The hot wires are on my side of the barbed wire fence that separates my pasture with the neighbor's pasture. He rarely maintains his fence so I put up a hot wire to keep my guys from going through to his side and getting caught in the barbs.

Our littlest mule used to jump the fence and browse on the neighbor's land and then jump back when he wanted to be with the rest of the herd.

At 37, he doesn't jump fences anymore. Poor old fella he is running out of teeth but no one makes dentures for aged mules. He is really starting to lose weight. His comparison to human years could make him about 105 years old. 

Well, that is the farm report.

Nothing too exciting here. Cold weather and cloudy. 

I worked on the fencing back in the woods. Clipping back multiflora rose and briars is not a job for those with faint hearts or those who don't have heavy gloves.

Hiking with Aurora

I was pretty excited to be able to hike with Aurora again. This time I'd get to meet THE Tank!

This was a view of fog along the river bottom on my drive to KVR. This spot is considered a small backwater for the Kickapoo River. The highway twists and turns along this river with multiple bridges to cross. 

During floods most locals know which back roads to use to get around the low lying areas that have water across the highway.

I brought my crappy little IR camera with me just for fun along with my pocket camera. 

We hiked out of Willow Camp and headed down towards Old 131. I hadn't taken this particular route since last winter with Bill. It is a great hike to stay out of the winter winds.

Tank [in infrared]! 

One of the most entertaining labs I've ever encountered! 

And yes, he adores sticks. To see him in person was so much fun.

Tank was Mr. Playful and seemed to carry a smile on his dog face no matter what the situation he is in. I hate to admit it, but he made me miss my days with my big dogs. I just wanted to get down and hug the heck out of him.

The best part was having two vehicles so we could park in one spot and hike to another spot without having to do loops. Here is a screen shot from an app on my 'stupid' phone called map my walk. It works pretty decently and for a free app, it isn't too bad.

This is one of my favorite spots to stop and just take in. 

This spot I call. The Ponds.

There are actually two sets of ponds. This is on the west side of the trail.

First shot is in Infrared, 

second done with my pocket camera.

I tried so hard to get a good shot of the neat old oak on the edge of the pond, but it didn't really turn out very well. 

Here is the Quiet Kickapoo. It is a very deceiving river. It is mostly very shallow and slow. Except where it isn't. Two years ago two women had to be 'water' rescued not far from here when they got tangled up in a log jam.

The Kickapoo will trick you. With a few inches of rain it can become a raging river that covers roads. The Reserve was supposed to be a site where they would build a dam to stop the river from flooding those places south.

It never went through and we now have all these beautiful acres of land to explore. 50+ miles of trails to hike. I have two trails left to do before I've walked all of them. 

Most all of KVR's trails are well maintained, not something that was done when I rode mules on it in the 1990's. Back then the land was a free for all with local kids and their 4 wheel Monster Trucks and winches. Parties were held down near old Campsite G with a rope off the bluff to swing out and drop into the river.

I recall the Rainbow People overtaking the place one year and riding through a camp of drunk, high, and naked people ... some of them covered in Kickapoo Mud.

KVR has an interesting history. 

Now it is quite tame and well kept. 

We saw some pheasant hunters. I had to chuckle. The one dog we saw was hugely fat and obviously still hunting with his master. Both master and dog were aged, but still out there. 

I have no clue as how pheasant hunting even works. I had a coach at CrossFit who hunted with his lab/pheasant dog and he posted photos, but other than that? No clue.

KVR shares the land with hunters. In fact every county park allows hunting on its lands. It is a huge attraction for tourism and locals which is good for our local towns and B&B's.

Me? I used to hunt raccoon with hounds at night. I always thought that hunting the trickster at night was more fun. Those days are over of course. But I still pause if I hear a hound baying in October.

Whoops...that was way off track.

Our hike ended with about 4 miles of walking and looking around. We stopped at this last pond which is another one of my favorites because of the reflections it has to offer.

When it isn't wet [rarely], there is a trail that goes right around the edge of this pond. I was able to grab a few shots of Canada Geese nesting on one of those clumps of grass this spring.

Here is the same pond in the middle of summer but at sunrise with a lot of fog!

I guess I never will tire of visiting this place. 

It changes its looks with the weather and seasons.

January 1st I get to map out my plan of getting all of the trails hiked and turn in my paperwork for the Trail Challenge.

I have only two trails left to explore that I haven't done before. So I think I'll be well prepared for the challenge.

It is always more fun when I can share it with someone else. 

I hope we can do this together again. 

friluftsliv

 Norwegian

~~ Literal Translation : Free Air Life
or the connection with the outdoors.

Hygge:
~~Quality of cozy and well being.

I've never put names to it, I just know that being outside and in the surrounding woods are essential to my well being. Daily trips through my woods and along the creek let me observe the changes of nature around me. I always find something to make the trip worthwhile.
Sometimes it is only Caddisfly larvae 'homes' in the creek. Sometimes it is the ice that glitters or the way the creek flash freezes in subzero temperatures.
Or in spring, I note the first signs of Jewel Weed coming up in the creek. Later in the summer I am pulling the Jewel Weed because it chokes the creek!

I decided that it was warm enough yesterday afternoon to go for a stroll. I guess my intentions were to put on the snowshoes and take a slow walk back to the creek since I hadn't been there. Yeah, those muscles were not happy, however it had been quite a day already.
I won't bore you with details. 

The temperature reached 4 degrees so I put on my cold weather gear and snowshoes and headed out. 

I needed some Friluftliv or some fresh air and outdoors to keep me from going bonkers.

Imagine my surprise when I heard robins in the creek! What on earth were they doing?

I had to sit on a log for about 30 minutes and remain nearly perfectly still for them to land in the creek area. I was as surprised as all get out. 

I turned and decided to walk up the creek and take a look around. I was using my snowshoes as the snow in the valley was still pretty deep. I walked over 'submerged' rocks and logs. Stepping over logs with snowshoes takes a bit of practice.

Frost on roots near a little spring that was flowing.

The upper portion 

of the creek was frozen

solid.

I love the way the snow covers the boulders and makes everything appear soft. Under the ice the water is still moving along.

I eventually made it to the fenceline and then climbed up the hillside and through the electric fence to the summer woods. [It is disconnected]

I was happy to see the end of the trail in sight. I was tired and sore. But I was also warm.
Most of all, I felt happy and calm inside.

Or was it Friluftsliv?

Teddy Tea Party and Infrared Fun

Hmmm. I was going to start this particular entry with something on the lines of Deep Thoughts. Nah. 

I'm just going to have some fun here. I had a notion that it would be fun to go out on the cropland with Charlie and have a Tea Party with my Creek Teddy Bears. I grabbed Percy and Chance. I've had those two since 2018 and the Big Floods. I did find Percy 1/4 of a mile downstream in one of the first floods.

August 2018
After I found Percy...

Now my Teddies stay on the porch unless I am going to take them out for Tea or some other playtime. Looking for them after the flood was pretty distressing. I mean come on, I felt responsible for them!

These two even got names. Percy and Chance. Perseverance and Second Chance.
Dumb, I know, but I thought they earned it after surviving that flood and being found again.

Chance...scrunched into a pile of debris further down the valley.

August 2018

I have another Bear. He is larger than the other two. I really love his fur. This bear looks so lonely all of the time. Not sure what name to give him.

There, I got sidetracked again. 

There is an area in the cropland that is an 'island of box elder trees'. The neighbor kids call it The Tunnel. I wanted to take the Teddies there. Sometimes I have an idea in my head and I just need to try it out.

I grabbed my Tough TG6 camera and the little Infrared Camera. Why not? I had a satchel of Teddy Bears and tea cups. I really didn't want to carry much more.

Heading up the neighbor's driveway to get out to the cropland.
Infrared with Charlie in the road.

I couldn't resist trying the Infrared camera. I used the 665nm filter. IR works better when there are leaves on the trees. But I find colors still interesting with a channel swap in the winter. The oak leaves and some of the branches still reflect enough light to make things interesting. 

Below, original shot before

channel swapping

with my shadow.

One of the things that IR does produce in the winter months is stunning black and white shots. The light refraction is pretty cool.

The Tunnel

We haven't had new snow in over a week now, so the deer and other creatures have left the snowy fields full of tracks.

Oh what do I see? 

Bears in a Tree!

And yes, we do actually have a real bear or two around the area as well as many other forms of wildlife.

But these Bears aren't so Wild.

They like having Tea in the oddest of places.

This lonely Teddy was waiting for someone to show up. 

All alone in the field.

I think I'll bring Chamomile Tea in a thermos next time and sit with him.

In search of ...Fungi and Fun

Finally we have had some rain! It was hard to go out and find one of my favorite things to photograph because it was SO dry! So I went to the creek before the scheduled rains and looked around for...

Fungi....
Mushrooms.....
Tiny stuff found on the forest floor.....

I did find some extremely tiny fungi growing orange and red on moss...on a log in the creek. I actually could not see the individual forms without using the Microscope Mode on the Olympus Tough camera.

These were smaller than the point of a lead pencil!

This is what I found:

Ahhh, here is the totally cool Fungi I found! I love how they lined up on the log and there is a slug that seems to be visiting!

Fungi Family:

The supervisor was checking things out from the log above me:

Of course this was before the weather turned absolutely awful. The temperatures are in the 40's and there has been a bone chilling rain for 24 hrs. .

I pulled apart our cabin heater and cleaned it thoroughly, then got it started to warm up the house. 
Brrr! I cut up a small batch of tomatoes and some apples to dehydrate.
My loyal little soldiers are protecting my lids and jars so when I start making jelly from my summer haul of berries, I will have lids.

The tomatoes are slowly ripening and not many at a time right now.

So there it is. A very dull day. But I got a lot of indoor work done. Including attacking the cob webs downstairs. 

Meanwhile, if the weather stinks...

I'll look for things to do inside....while I wait for it to warm up later this week!