Definition of "Friends"

One from the archives that I love.  Ashley and her friend, Nina, attended a summer camp where they did a production of High School Musical.  Here's a shot of them after one of their funfilled days at camp.

Major Props

Today, my daughter Ashley and I made our way to Madison Wisconsin for the State finals for Girls high school diving.  My neice and Ashley's cousin, Kelsey, was competing.  She did a terrific job, but unfortunately for her, she did not win the state title.  The title went to a girl that has now won it 4 years in a row.  That shows you the kind of competition that was there.  And Kelsey is only a sophomore. I think there will be more trips to the state finals in the future. Kelsey was quite disappointed and felt she let us down after driving up there, but, she did not. For us, it did not come down to seeing her win.  It came down to seeing her use her skills and appreciate all the hard work it took for her to get there.  We are all very, very proud of her.  I think there will be another trip or two to Madison in the future. 

Your Barn Door is Open

Another from the archives.  A nice little barn close to my house that has survived all the new stuff built up around it.  In this pic, it's pretty visible.  But this shot was taken, I think, in March or April.  Once the trees around it developed leaves, I always had to do a double take as i drove past it because I thought they had torn it down.  But, no, it survives.

Slow week

I knew it would be coming up and it is here.  This week has been a slow week for new photography.  I knew the critters would be hard to find once the weather cooled down and the colors of fall were pretty much done.  Even though I knew it was coming, I haven't been able to come up with the creative juices needed for the time "in between seasons".  Eh, been busy with work, too.  So, we'll dig into the archives until the shots come.  Here's a shot that will make you wish for spring.....already.

July Revisited

I wrote a while back that once in a while I would post a pic from the past that I really liked.  Today, I'm revisiting a pic I took on a fishing trip this summer to Northern Wisconsin.  It's a shot of a "canal" to a lake we  were on our way to fish.  This was after portaging our boat about a 1/4 mile into the area.  Desolate!! Nothing around but eagles of which you saw the pics of them on another post.  It is one of my alltime favorite shots, because of the beauty and the fun day we had fishing.

Foggy Mountain

O.k. O.k. So its not a mountain.  It's a little hill with a clump of trees on it.  In Northern Illinois, that's a mountain.  It is foggy, though. Just a reminder:  If you click on the picture, it will open in a new window in a larger size.

Island Hopping

A beautiful Sunday morning yesterday was.  Warm, sunny, and foggy.  I was up before sunrise and headed North.  I ended up around Wonder Lake, which is a lot bigger and more beautiful than I ever realized.  Here is a shot of one the islands in the lake.  There was a wonderful fog surrounding the island, but it didn't show up that great in the photo.  Still, the reflection is nice.