Full Tummies

Here a shot of a couple guys with full and satisfied tummies after their Thanksgiving dinner. My brother-in-law, Brian, and his son, Andrew. Makes me tired just looking at them.

More from Wisconsin

A few more shots from my Wisconsin trip.  As I eluded to before, where I am from is close to the Wild Wolf River and most of these are from that area.  The river doesn't look too wild right now.  The area has had several years of drought conditions that have really affected the lakes and rivers.  Come spring, though, this river is crazy and is real popular with canoeists, kayakers, and tubers.

This next shot is a view from the deck of my parents house.  They

are witness to many beautiful sunrises.

 

I'm Back

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving shared with family and friends.  I did.
It's amazing.  I grew up in Northern Wisconsin and lived there for almost 25 years.  I still get back there several times a year.  Just got back from there after spending another wonderful Thanksgiving with my wonderful family. But, for some reason it seems my last couple trips up there I've seen more of the beautiful land of Wisconsin than I did in my 20+ years living there.  What's different that causes this to happen?  The only things I can think of are:
1.  Different prioritiies.  When I was a young buck, I had more interest in hanging with my buddies in the local in-town watering hole.
2. Living in a metropolitan area opens your eyes more to the wonders of the natural land outside of the city.
3. This 5 pound weight I hang over my shoulder that captures light to create images that last, maybe, forever.  This hobby has made me seek out and look for the beauty.
4. I got kids now and sometimes you just got to get away.
There may be other reasons, but these are the main ones I can think of.  While on my trip, I made sure I spent several hours a day going to areas that I was not too familiar with just to see what I might find.  I found beautiful lakes that I did not know existed within 20 minutes of where I grew up.  Of course, there's so many lakes up there that I'm sure lifelong residents don't know about half of them.  Anyway, they offered me some nice images to capture with my 5 pound weight. 

For Sale

One from the vault.  Last winter, the weather actually warmed to freezing one day so I decided to clean out the garage.  Figured it would be nice to get at least one car in the garage.  This meant my garage/rec room football watching chair and ottoman had to go.  I pulled it out to the curb.  Meanwhile, my son was outside enjoying the weather as well.  He was also  undoing everything I had spent the last 2 hours doing.  That's when it hit me.  I'll have a "twofer" sale.  Unfortunately, after about 5 cars stopped and asked how much "I" would pay "them", I pulled the kid off the sale.  The chair disappeared during the night.  Everyone wins.  

Hunting Season

The biggest 9 days of the year.............if you are from Wisconsin.  The 9 day Gun Deer Season.  Same time every year, the Saturday before Thanksgiving thru the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Its such a big deal, schools close that week due to lack of attendance, besides, teachers are hunters, too.  The concept is mainly there to thin the herd which over the last 50 years has grown to numbers never seen before.  By thinning the herd, you create a stronger herd of deer for the future. A harsh winter with too large of a herd spells devastation if you are a deer.  Not to mention the car/deer mishaps that occur yearlong.  That being said, for me, deer hunting became more than a service to the Department of Natural Resources.  It became more than trying to find that monster buck to brag about.  It quickly became a way to connect with family that is seen too little.  It became a way to spend time with my dad outside of our home.  There  is a big difference in the communication level between a father and son, in the woods, with a common cause.  Especially, when both are carrying rifles.  It became a way for me to see uncles and cousins when due to busy lives the other 355 days of the year, we were not able to.  Most of the group of guys have never missed a hunting season since they day they were able to hunt.  We've all made it out there if not one year, the next, thru marriages, military service time, births, deaths in the family, hangovers from the night before,cancer,  you name it.   Perhaps the neatest thing, my cousins who I've hunted with forever now have sons of their own and they are part of our hunting crew And the memories...........Let me tell you, most of these guys couldn't tell you what they had for dinner the night before.  But, they'll remember the jokes and stunts pulled on each other from 20 years ago.  Trust me, I unfortunately, have been the subject of said jokes and stunts.   Oh yeah, we eat really really good, too.  So, for the people who have never experienced the Wisconsin deer season, its a shame because it really is so much more than shooting deer.  I could go on and on, but I'll save it for the book.  Here's some pics over the years of family and our little deer camp.

Fog is cool

Photographers love fog.  Not driving in it, of course.  But the moods that can be created with fog are incredible.  In any facet, i.e. wildlife, landscapes, portraiture, etc.  Here's a neat little "shed" that I shot, well, in the fog. Oh yeah, and I think fog in black and white is even better.

That time of the year again

Yes, it's that time of the year again.  Time for the yearly deer harvest in Wisconsin.  And, yes, I think I have already seen more deer than I usually see in the woods during hunting season.  At least, I know, today I saw more bucks than I ever see in the woods. About 3 blocks from my house.  One. He was a pretty decent size deer that I would have really hated meeting up with on a dark road going 55 mph.  I've been searching the tree lines and the woods pretty hard since this is the time of the year they come out in the open alot and I've been disappointed. Nothing, Nada, Zilch.  Until today.  He was in the open walking through a field of grass.  I pulled over and he started walking my way.  He spotted me sitting there, but kept on coming.  Eventually he decided to cross the road right in front of me, but at a faster pace, of course.  Therefore, a little blur.  But still some nice shots.