Keep up two legged person! ~by Charlie

She was pretty sure that I wouldn't like the new fresh cold stuff she calls SNOW on the ground when we went to do chores this morning.

OH! How much fun is this? Run through the cold stuff and have it brush my tummy! Run run run! Spin and run! Stick my nose in it and run!
It made her laugh and laugh.

When She put on coveralls and boots after chores and asked if I wanted to go for a walk I was right there at the door waiting.
She said 'Walkies!' and I was ready!

And we headed out through the meadow and down to the creek. I kept running ahead and then checking to see if she was coming. Sometimes SHE can be so slow!

She called me a few times to wait up and I did. But the snow covered so many good smells and I had to keep putting my nose into it.

The creek was 'up' from the recent heavy rains last weekend and so I found a rock to stand on so I could look around.

How come human people are so slow?
I watched her walk towards me and then it dawned on me. It must be tough to be a human and only have two legs. Four legs are better, more to balance with, better to jump distances with...oh the advantages.

Maybe I can train her how to do that. I mean, I sure can try.

She kept having trouble on all the slippery snow covered rocks. More than once she had to call out to me to stop again and wait.
How embarrassing.

She is so Slow. Perhaps if she would use her hands and her feet, she could climb and jump better.
Yet She insists on walking on those two long legs. Pity. Short legs are so much better suited to slippery stuff.

I thought She was going to fall and crash when I heard her yelp. She has good balance considering. She hopped and steadied herself and then told me to "Wait up!"

Oh slow poke! I have so many smells to take care of, don't you understand?

She finally stopped by a little waterfall and decided to head up and over the bank towards home. She whistled and I came running past her.

Maybe it doesn't look like it here, but I am running up a deer trail with my ears flapping magnificently while flying across the snow covered ground.

I think I like the cold much better than the hot heat. It feels better and my thick coat keeps me toasty warm.

When we got home, She toweled me off.
She handed me a chew bone and I immediately got down to business.

However, I can't wait to go out again.

Perhaps we can take Dixie too. Then I'll have someone who can keep up.

Not an Axe Murder-er

At the Vernon County Fair I sat next to a fellow that I assumed might be about my age.
We watched the judging together and once in a while we found ourselves murmuring to each other as to how we might view a photo.

During the break I asked the gent if he'd like to grab something to eat and talk more about photography and cameras. He said yes, he was new to photography and was eager to talk to someone.

We got immersed in talking about how we discovered photography and how we liked to take photographs. We exchanged email information and cell phone numbers. By mid afternoon, I had to leave. But John and I had promised to get together for some sort of field trip if we could work it out, so I could perhaps help him with his Canon camera settings.
His interests were the Wisconsin River and Cranes.
We tried to organize a 'field' trip morning to the river but things kept getting in the way.

Finally last week we both agreed on a time and day. I suggested we meet at the BP Station near my home as it was on the way for our planned field trip.
Meet at 6 AM and drive to the Gotham boat landing for what we hoped would be an incredible sunrise over the WI river.

At 3AM I woke up with a start.
What if he is an Axe Murderer?
What if...
Um.

I laid in bed and wondered why I let myself watch stupid cop shows on Netflix with my husband before I went to bed.
What if he was a serial killing Axe Murderer?

Nonsense.
But.
Okay perhaps he kills cereal with a spoon.
Stupid mind.
Stupid head.

It was no use. I had to get out of bed. 3:30AM. I warmed up a cup of coffee. Then I set up the coffee pot so Rich could just push the button and make coffee. I dressed in layers and went out with a headlamp to do chores.

At 5:45ish I drove to the gas station, I was surprised. I was a few minutes early and I as I parked John rolled down the window of a little black car and said good morning.
I laughed. Indeed, he wasn't an Axe Murderer.

He explained that he was driving his daughter's old car as his truck was still not quite finished with the brake job he was doing.
Off we went, picking up the conversation that we'd had at the Vernon County Fair as if two months hadn't passed.

Cameras, photography, love of taking photos, birds, water.
Would we see a beautiful sunrise?

We didn't find a gorgeous sunrise, but we did find adventure.

John did find some birds at the river but we weren't able to ID them. I thought they were too large to be gulls but heck they were at the train bridge which probably was half a mile away!

The first spot we were at for the sunrise was dull and dreary. But I pointed out that there were trees that were making for interesting reflections in the water. So even though the morning was grey and colorless, perhaps we could salvage it with reflection shots.

I showed him how I saw the photo, and then he showed me his preference of the same scene.
It was a great learning experience.

It may be two months again before we get together to seek out a beautiful sunrise on the river. John really wants a great shot of that. It is on his 'list'. In the meantime I will brush up on his Canon and the settings it uses so I can help him.

Oh. And note to self. No he isn't an Axe Murderer, he isn't a creep, he is just like some of the other friends I've made that are photography nuts.

Here is some of what I ended up with.
I used some rather strong editing skills to come up with some of these.

 This one was my favorite to work on.
Original:

Edit one:

 Edit two:

Edit three:
This is my favorite one for so many reasons. I felt inspired and wanted to make a painting so I ran this through Deep Dream Generator and decided that this was the one I adored.

Another shot with a lot of potential, but I haven't done much with it.

Cruson Slough.

 And then the black and white edits of reflections.

The weather was dull and dreary, yet I was able to show my new friend all of the possibilities that were out there if you looked for them.

Rich did very well with being able to make coffee and doing his morning routine. I was back home by 11 o'clock and found him sitting and watching another murderous cop show. Indeed the perp on that show was not an Axe Murderer, but much worse. He captured women in a black van and chopped them up with a saw...eeeks!

It was a good thing John did not show up in a big black van with no windows.

Last note about John. He is an incredible entrepreneur. We discussed his ability to market his ideas. He told me how he was going to build his fledgling love for photography into money. He had a vision. I quipped that I had creative skills but NO marketing skills what so ever.
As I got out of his vehicle to go home, he said, "You know we can do that...marketing your photography."

So.
Lesson learned.
No harm in mentoring someone in photography. The favor may come back in an unexpected way.

Shooting Deer.

I think sitting still is one of the hardest things I've ever done. It wasn't bad early inn the morning. I brought my mini thermos of fresh hot coffee and sat quietly sipping it while watching out the blind that my Kenosha friends had brought and placed near the apple tree that sits in the Merry Meadow.

Here was one of the views.

It doesn't look like much at all. But with a little bucket to sit on or the chair that Daryl left behind, it wasn't bad. The cold winds didn't get to me and I brought that nice hot coffee.

I mean, what else is a tripod really for? I did find out that using a tripod was pretty useless when trying to 'shoot' deer. They don't stand still.

I 'shot' this doe through the screen on the side of the blind along the mule's summer pasture.

The electric fence is disconnected along this section of the pasture, as this portion of the land is in 'rest' mode. Also since the fence separates us from the neighbor's land ... we never let our mules out there during gun season. I sometimes have my reservations about the type of people that the neighbor's brother lets out on that land to hunt. [It is just safe to say that not all of those who walk that land in those 9 days are conscientious hunters.]

Here is the morning Doe smelling the air. She did a lot of head bobbing.

Then she moved a bit and I got a few more shots of her before she moved on.

I either moved in the blind and she saw me or that gust of wind that came from behind the blind gave away my smell. Either way, she turned and flagged her tail as she ran off.

I considered the outing a success because I got to take some nice photos of this one doe. But the little wildlife bug hit me and I decided to go back for an hour in the evening.

However I needed to dress just a bit warmer.

I walked out slowly to the blind at 3PM. A doe jumped up from the thicket of Buckthorn and ran north.
Oh darn.

I sat in the blind and listened to the wind gusts above me. It blew harder on the top of the ridge and the Meadow was half way between the ridge top and the valley floor.

I'd swapped to my long lens a Tamaron 18 to 200mm lens. It wasn't as sharp and clear as the 85mm prime lens I'd used in the morning and poor light is not its friend. It is a lot slower to focus, however I thought I'd give it a go anyway. Perhaps I could get a 'closer' shot with it.
Of course in my mind I was mulling over that used Nikon lens I'd seen, the 70-300 lens.
Oh sigh.
Now that I was enjoying sitting still and watching wildlife, perhaps I could do with a 'longer' lens.

And then the cheapo in me said "Wait, see what you can do with what you have."

My friend had mentioned a teleconverter. Okay.
Sigh again.

I finally pulled out my mini notebook and started to write. Just words. Things that were on my mind and bothering me. The call from the nurse who said my MIL was being evaluated for Assisted Living, was she a danger to herself alone? MIL had refused to shower or bath for months. I'd notified them in August when the Guardian took over.
I write: "Sitting alone in the blind right now is more satisfying than fielding calls about my MIL or trying to get my husband to get out of bed and move his body. 

Note: Let him win at Backgammon. He gets upset if he doesn't."

I put the little notebook down and just let my mind wander and decide that being in the blind just a few hundred yards from the house was a good thing. I didn't have to sit and watch my husband lean towards the screen and watch endless hours of Netflix.

"My feet are a bit cold. Next time I need wool socks in my boots. My hands oddly are warm. Strange right? 1/2 hour to go until chore time."

Oh! A doe!

She picks her way around and around. I wonder if she can hear the soft snap snap of the camera.

She moves off.

4:25.
Time to pack up.

The light is fading fast and there isn't enough light to take a good photo now. I stand up and stretch only to come to a standstill.

A large buck is walking across the middle of the Meadow.

Oh .. Wow!

It would have been nice if he'd have followed the doe up to the apple tree so I could've gotten a good photo of him.

I watch him walk off. Then I walk up the little trail past the oak tree and then back down towards the little house.

Shooting Deer with the camera had been nice. Quiet time was nice.

And darkness falls into a cold November night.

Dull Days of November

Welcome to that time of year that things to photograph are utterly ...

un

inspiring.

I call it November Yuck. When things are sort of brownish icky-ish, the weather is cold and windy, or cold and rainy. Or

just

dreary.

The fun of hiking seems to be on hold. Well, that is, unless I can convince some other soul to join me in a walk/hike in the muddy dreary weather.

Charlie is always up for it as is Dixie.

See? Charlie is always happy now to lead the way...and come back when I call him!

Truthfully I do get bored of the sameness of the grey skies and the dull colors of November.

So I sometimes modify it.

Here is a photo of the forest run through an AI program called Deep Dream Generator.

Then there is the meadow photo run through DDG:

During the rain and windstorms on Monday, I went back into JWildfire and composed some fractal flames, then combined them just for fun.

I get tired of the lack of color before winter really sets in. November is a transition time for me. I am coming off the glorious short lived colors of fall and jumping into dark days of winter.
I seem to need a bit more rest these days and my urge to get out and hike is also dulled by the slate grey toned skies.

CrossFit is still going strong. Today I did something called muscle ups along with Calorie Rowing. I did a modified Muscle Up per the coach. I watched Josh do them and was amazed.
These Muscle Ups were things I did easily when I was in High School gymnastics.
So the coach modified my Muscle ups into two steps...

I did something called Ring Rows, they almost seemed too easy and the coach said I did I great job... [I was pretty tickled with that!] I did another thing that was pretty cool. Don't ask me what it was. It was similar to me placing my hands on a high log laying across a trail and sort of pushing myself up and over it.

When I finished those I told him that next time we'd have to make them a bit harder for me.
He smiled and said that he wanted to make sure that I didn't hurt myself doing a new WOD, however any time I felt I needed more of a challenge...just ask.
Oh... WOD. What the heck is that? I looked it up.
Simple.
Workout
of
the Day.


Thursday morning, I am meeting up with a camera club pal and we are going to venture out and take sunrise shots over the Wisconsin River. Well, that may be the plan. If it doesn't pan out, I'll be doing CrossFit.

I spent an hour the other morning in a bow hunting blind a friend of ours put up facing the meadow. I spent an hour this evening out there too.
Deer watching was pretty fun.

I got some really nice photos too.

So I guess my November is not as Dull as I thought it was.
More about the Deer Blind later...

Do you recognize this?

Email from my brother:  Artwork

Do you recognize this?

I found it buried in a box in my basement. I'd love to return it to the original artist/owner.

I opened the image and smiled with my face and my mind.

The artist was me many many years ago. I recall the art class, we were to make a sculpture of The Thinker I think. 
Well that is what I tried to do. I recall shaping the clay with my hands and being so disappointed that the clay wouldn't come to shape for me.

My hands were young and clumsy. I'd never studied human anatomy, and I felt the color and details were awful.
In fact when I brought the project home I felt embarrassed of the clunk of muddy looking clump of a human thing that I'd made.

I didn't want to show it to anyone, but I'd talked about the project at home and my dad insisted he see my sculpture.

Slowly I revealed the awful thing. I handed it to him.

My father's eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face. He claimed that it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
That couldn't be, I'd thought at the time. Yet he asked me pointedly if he could please have it to display.

I gladly handed the monstrous thing over to him.

The 'sculpture' faded from memory and until I opened the image my brother sent, I'd forgotten all about it.

As I stared at the ugly thing, waves of emotion flowed over me. Dad loved this enough to move it to his Wisconsin home, to move it to his Virginia home... he never tossed it. He never threw it out. He kept it.
He
kept
it.

The Thinker was no longer ugly in my eyes. Instead I saw the obvious. My father loved it because I made it.

I typed out a reply.
Yes please, I'd love to have it back.

Still Kicking

I hope to catch up soon..
meanwhile enjoy some shots from my visit to LaCrosse yesterday and a sunset last night.

November is here.

Oh a quick word about going for my oil change and the customer service I received. I was greeted like a long lost friend, the service person brought me some popcorn while I waited for my vehicle....
later on the very same person walked me to my vehicle and asked how I liked my Subaru...
I love it of course.
They asked about Charlie's Car Seat. I showed them how it worked. They asked if I could please bring Charlie in next time. They have a mini dog park and pets are welcome in the dealership.
My satisfaction at their service and happiness with my vehicle is their main concern.

Hmmm.
A bit different than my truck experience of earlier this summer.
Color me happy.

Geocaching with kiddos and dogs

October 25th

"Do you want to go Geocaching with the dogs and the kiddos?" 
the email from my neighbor inquired.

I talked to Rich about it, asking if he wouldn't mind having a day of peace and quiet and if he would be okay with Charlie and I going off hiking for the day.
He said yes.
I typed a reply...YES! I have heard of geocaching, but have never done it.

After CrossFit, I hurried did the chores and made sure that Rich had what he needed to have lunch. I packed some snacks for myself and stuffed a backpack full of light items to bring along.

I've been to WildCat Mountain State Park a few times and have even done the Old Settler's Trail twice, but I'd always had a limited amount of time and never really explored the different outlooks or the trails. I just hiked the 3 miles of up and down hill trails and always hurried home.

The first stop was the Outlook. I'd been hiking here before and for the life of me I cannot figure out why I didn't take the time to look!

Really...? The view is something incredible!

After ohhhing and ahhhing, we set off to hunt caches.
Basil and Charlie tried to wrestle as we walked and often got tangled up. The kids ran ahead with the cell phone to look for treasures.

It was a great learning experience for the kids, as well as fun. At times the app would say that they were 100 or so feet from the next cache and they'd want to cross through the woods. Since I knew the trail I suggested they follow it as many of the spots were switch backs because of the steep terrain.

We couldn't find some of the caches, especially the one that was 'hidden' near a little quiet stream. The clues left said that we may get our feet wet. However that was not an issue for the dynamic trio.

We didn't find the cache and I explained to the disappointed explorers that we'd had some rather heavy rain falls this summer and flash floods...the cache may just have been washed away!

Basil and Charlie enjoyed the trip too.

They were super troopers and walked the whole distance along with all of the little side trips.
Both of them took instant naps when we did get back in the car to go home.

Geocaching.

An electronic scavenger hunt.
And the scenery was beautiful too!