Lighten Up

This bear looked how I felt

yesterday!

In some ways this has been a real rough week. 

What a start though! Fantastic mornings, runs, glorious rides, and bicycling along with the usual mundane but necessary things.

My house became spotless.

Ever Anger-Clean? Or Stress-Clean?

I did that! Charlie hid on the porch and tried to bury himself under the rugs and blankets I tossed outside to hang in the sun.

The smell of vinegar and furniture spray permeated the living room.

I'm a CareGiver. Some days my giving takes its toll in trying to make another person understand things.

Sometimes I am met with an attitude of a 3 year old.

It goes with the territory.

Up and down.

I got frustrated. And sometimes when I get frustrated and don't have a way to release it. Well.

I keep it quiet because yelling and throwing things don't really work.

I shrug. 

Finally I finished my daily chores and skipped my work out. It didn't suit me to do it.

I attached Charlie's collar to him and we skipped out the door. I jammed some toy Dinosaur skeletons in my bag that I'd ordered. My intent is to share the bag of dinosaurs with my Grandson. I get to play with them first.

I almost left them behind because I was still in that bad place.

I got the 90 questions. Where are you going? When will you be back? What's for supper? What do you have in your bag? Are you taking Charlie? Does he have his collar? I can't find anything to watch. Do you have your phone?

Where ARE you going? Why?...

Wow.

I stomped ahead and got through the first pasture gate before I felt like I could suddenly breath again. Charlie trotted ahead of me while I monkeyed around with my old Olympus Camera. Parts of it are having a slow death. Aperture and Shutter keep flicking back and forth as if the tiny computer chip inside can't figure out where it wants to be. I can only use it on Program or Manual. 

Now the LCD monitor is having its fits. Sometimes it is so dull I can't see to use it. I switch to the EVF and everything looks great. However, I rather like using the monitor, especially while doing low to the ground shots. 

I give it this...the camera is a 2012 model. It has put up with my extreme abuse for 8 years.

I finally got the EVF to work properly and then just stuck it back in the bag. I wasn't going to mess with it much. 

I'd brought the little Red Tough Camera.

When I reached our destination: The Creek, my phone gave off an alarm letting me know I was literally in a Dead Zone.

Perfect.

Charlie and I wandered up to our favorite spot and I sat down on a rock.

The water rolled over the rocks and we were in a deep green lush forest.

And like magic, I felt this dark cloud leaving my body.

Charlie hung around while I set things up and explored a bit.

I took these with my cell phone so I could send them to my youngest son and Buddy.

Then I just couldn't resist.

They are fun little toys. 

I can't name what sort of dinosaurs they are supposed to be, but as I set them up in different places I chuckled a bit.

I sat near the stream and watched Charlie wander around checking out all of the smells.

He'd stop and look over at me then continue investigating scents.

I knelt down and studied some moss on a rock.

Moss is neat. So tiny and unassuming. Yet when looked at closely the mosses are different.

The color is pretty neat too. When all else fades, the moss keeps its green colors.

When I got home I felt very relaxed. I'd found some odd fungi along with some Indian Pipes.

I was doing better.

I had an inspiration for a project while sitting on a mossy rock...

more later...

Pandemic Play

What can I say? My closest neighbor and I call ourselves the Lockdown Ladies. We come up with ways to socialize distantly.

We talk with our electric fence between us. When we have something for one another we have worked out the Stump Exchange at my place or a designated spot near her house.

Her children love adventure and love going to my creek.

So I worked out a game for our two households that includes 'no contact' and lots of fresh air. It ties in well with learning for both myself and the neighbors.

We call it Treasure Hunting. An old game. We write clues down on paper and leave it in a plastic bag on the Exchange Stump. She texts me when they are ready for a creek walk and I stand outside and wave. 

Sometimes the clues include a type of tree. Sometimes the clues include the names of fossil rocks or fungi. We include upstream and downstream. 

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out a couple of clues the kids left me.  

Each child takes turns writing clues. I can see that from the handwriting. I have to say that it is a delight to have this 'game'. I get to spend time in the creek hiding toys and items, and they get to splash around in the cool waters on a hot day!

The game gives each household a purpose. I can get creative with these old toys and they can too.

Yesterday I was thrown by a couple of clues. I actually resorted to tracking the bent grasses and weeds to ferret out where the Truck was hidden.

They were clever, I was clever too!

It was not an easy find as it wasn't right in the creek but the description was a Great Fallen Tree by the Orange Target. If I'd read it properly the first time, I wouldn't have had such a hard time with it!

I searched high and love for the Creepy Doll without a face [these toys are left in the forest and apparently a squirrel or some other varmint decided to chew on its face.]

The Teddy Bear in the tree was pointing to the Creepy Doll which was 'upstream' from there.

So I looked in the area where the Teddy was pointing his face. I searched up stream and around to no avail! I was going to give up. But I went and stood in front of this sapling and pulled up the photo of the Teddy. HIS arm was pointing behind him!

How insanely clever!

The Very Creepy Doll was exactly where the Teddy was pointing.

Now it was my turn to hide the items. 

I used this time with the toys to experiment and get my photography fix for the day. The rest of my day was slated for my workout, cultivating the garden, mowing, and weed wacking.

The Pink Dozer is

trying to remove a log.

I think it may be too Big!

That Pink Pony

is resting on the 

Large Oak that is

bent over 

the trail!

Meanwhile, the lonely

Teddy Bear

decides to sit and 

chat with the 

blue 

Stegosaurus,

downstream from the desk.

The John Deere truck

has gone to work.

It is building a

dam just upstream from

the crossing path.

[Maybe you should stop and 

help him build a dam?]

This poor fellow was building a

dam too to make a

tiny waterfall! 

I think he fell 

into the creek!

This part of the creek is so

strange!

The Very Creepy Doll 

likes roots and rocks not 

far from the tree with 

huge roots!

Percy prefers a nice safe 

rock ledge to sit

on.

One time being lost

 in a flash flood was enough

for him!

Crazy Zombie Doll is hiding.

Not far from the place where the

rocks look like stairs.

The Orange Dino has decided 

to build a rock fort.

He thinks his brother the

Green Dino was picked 

up by a raccoon!

And once again, it is your turn!

Morning in the creek

This world of late...

has left me a bit uninspired.

I turn to the easy stuff.

You know, photography and light.

Hiking and working on pastures, yard, and garden.

I always feel a bit left out of something though. As if I am missing.

Missing what?

It could be the length of time we have closed ourselves off to the outside world.

86 days. But who is counting?

Who wants to see/read the news? I want to write how I feel about it and found myself trying to explain this verbally to Rich last night.

That didn't go well. I was watching peaceful protesters from all around the United States.

I understand that there are so many factors that have bubbled up and over-spilled into our society right now that it is a cauldron of simmering emotions, feelings, and indignation. 

I tried to explain it to him.

And I found myself really not very good at it. 

I know I feel unease inside of me. Some of the same horrified unease I had in 1968 when I watched Martin Luther King, protests, riots, calls for peace and not War. I wasn't sure of what to make of it all then except to know that things were very wrong.

And all that wrong-ness has not really changed. It has just simmered under the surface to pop up here and there.

So I take a walk down to the creek. The day is going to be hot. I walk along in partial darkness looking for some light.

I walk with Charlie up and down a small stretch of the creek exploring it through the view finder.

It takes my mind off this troubled world. It is my escape.

And in turn I look for beautiful things.

There are the rocks...

...and Greens

And..
then
the light
begins to appear through 
the
forest...

And then I begin to feel better. 

Refreshed and renewed.

At least for a bit.

I whistle.

Charlie and I head home.

Finding Chance...The Amazing Rescue.

He was spotted when the Kenosha gang and I walked through the creek with the dogs.

Four pairs of eyes can sometimes be so much better than just one set.

Suddenly I heard a shout.

"Found HIM!"

I turned around and there he was. He hadn't been swept that far down stream, perhaps nearly a quarter of a mile, but there he was tangled in roots and debris.

He was snugged in tight between some roots.

As you can see, just one portion of him remained white. He was put in a backpack and we headed further downstream to where the chair was embedded in the dirt under a huge log.

That chair it was decided quickly, would have to wait until another flood let it loose. We continued the walk using sticks to poke around at other debris piles.
No Creepy Doll.
Well, I didn't feel a loss as she wasn't cute like the bears.
We made it to the snow mobile crossing which was now an open pit of water.

I wanted to come back and take a shot of this wide open place where the flood waters must have swirled in circles cutting a wide pond into this space before moving on.
[Method used, 3 exposures...no filters. I'm sort of enjoying that method and still experimenting]

We hiked back towards 'the beach'.

The Teddy Bear Reunion was something to behold.

Percy hugged him tight and I thought I heard a whisper.

"I'm so glad you are back Chance. That sure was a rough ride..."

Maybe it was the wind, maybe it was the water flowing softly over the rocks. Maybe I imagined it.

New Year's Day Hike and ON1RAW2017

New Year's morning came in just like any other winter day. Except we hadn't gone out the night before. We aren't the party type any more.

The sun broke out as we finished up the morning chores. Note to self and husband. The new/used skid steer did not impress me. Since hubby can't put the ice picks on both sides of the steel tracks, it doesn't have the traction it should. It made putting out large bales and fodder to the cattle very complicated.

I think New Holland designed their newer skid steers for comfort more than practical use. Well, at least for our place. Going up a steep icy hill with a huge bale is an issue. The old skid steer had no problems with it. I am not impressed.

With all the watering done, I made venison backstrap, eggs, and toast for an early brunch. Then I gathered my super light tripod and Olympus OMD E M5 camera and headed out with the intention of walking to the east end of the valley.

Intentions are sometimes a bit confusing. I got to the creek and changed my mind. I walked west and discovered some beautiful ice formations glistening in the sunlight.
Morris was not with me so I didn't have to keep an eye on him.

This is where Ariel had built a snow fort for Doe, Deer, and Fawn. I moved on and turned back towards the east with every intention of getting to the end of the valley.
However.

I stopped and spent quite a bit of time exploring the frost on the leaves and grasses in the creek bottom. Up on the ridge it was quite warm. In the creek it was much colder.

I then got sidetracked by the sandstone wall. The ice formations were growing.

I used a timed exposure so the snow and ice above the water would reflect... hopefully on the water.
It worked!

Then I thought, how could I take a photo of me doing some things I liked? The Oly had a remote but it has to be plugged into the camera. So I focused on the wall where I thought it would work and set the timer for 12 seconds.
After a few shots, I got what I wanted.

That worked out so well that I thought I'd set up another photo. This time an action shot.
I focused on a spot where I thought my boot would land and then set up the timer again for 12 seconds. I got it in 2 shots.

I edited all of the hike photos in ON1RAW2017. I have ON1 10.5 which is a dynamite program. The newer RAW program is still a bit 'buggy' but I really like it.
My 'concept' here was to look as if I were leaping from one 'world' into another. My thought is this. Go out to nature and leave the boring world of electronics behind and you will see the wonder of the natural world.

Well there you go. A fun concept even more fun trying to create it.


ON1 10.5 is the preferred method also of doing some heavy editing. Which I did in this self portrait from a few weeks ago.

The woods are in me...

Of course I got side tracked in exploring the frost and the creek in just a small area. I had to get back home as the sun was beginning to fade out of the deep valley.

It would soon be chore time again and time to make supper.

However, I managed to take a photo of Pete, the run away Morris Toy for the story I am working on. I managed to take a shot of Fawn for those kids who love to follow The Doe Story and headed back towards home. My fingers and toes were frozen.

So I leave you with a few shots I got on my New Year's Day hike.

Enjoy

Happy New Year.