I hear the Canon roar

Milestones

2012-02-14T07:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I watched as my odometer rolled over to 100,000 miles and started to think about where my car has traveled in the years of having it. After first driving it home from Green Bay while living in Appleton, the miles began to add up. I've taken it over several multi-state moves from WI to TN and then back again. It's seen essentially the entire interstate system in Wisconsin as I've driven around Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Wausau, Eau Claire, and many more. I've driven for hours on end on trips to Tennessee by myself, as I attempted to shave off some time by stopping less, driving faster, etc. It's seen the parking lots of golf courses all over, playing in Memphis, Nashville, Appleton, and points in between. It's acted like an office of sorts as I made my way around various towns with boxes of paperwork needing signatures of one person or another. It's been a moving van, an animal transport, and a motel when I needed a quick nap.

I have changed the tires on more than one occasion, gotten countless oil changes, and even had to change the windshield. The dents and scratches on the doors, hood, roof, trunk, and fenders all have a story to tell about where they happened and who they saw. While I can't forecast what the years have in store for my Neon, one of the most enduring things about it is that it's mine. Well, technically it belongs to my wife, but we've been payment-free on it for nearly 2 years. Now, with 5 miles over 100K, the next chapter begins as we try to coax another hundred thousand miles out of the trusted family car.

Sock it to me

2012-01-22T18:45:00.000-08:00

I can almost hear the iconic line from the end of King Kong, "It was beauty that killed the beast", when seeing the Sock Monkey attempt to take over the Eiffel tower. Or, a drastically scaled down model of the tower that adorns our buffet. Over Christmas, our daughter got a sock monkey kit and we had finally got the materials to make it a few days ago. As with most things she gets, our daughter immediately put a stranglehold on it, never to let it go or venture too far from her sight. She named it "Ted" and has elevated the monkey to a status immediately next to her beloved stuffed Rabbit. I was wanting to capture this moment in a way that would be both innovative and amusing to me and her. My first thought was to put him on our scaled down model of a suspension bridge we have, but I couldn't get the pose right. I then got the tower and his thread smile lit up like the imaginary search lights attempting to lure him off the landmark. I had a pretty good back light from the outside windows illuminating the ceiling, making the "down below" shot work quite well for me. He's hugging the top of the tower, not allowing the pesky biplanes to shoot him down like they did with his movie star distant cousin. While he is just full of string and cotton filling, one could almost sense he has a playful side, being a great partner and security toy for our daughter.

Slip, slidin' away

2012-01-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

During the park outing, I grabbed my daughter's beloved rabbit and went to try and see if I could get him to pose for me. I can almost hear him laughing with me as we went throughout the play area of the park looking for places to take photos while my daughter was off playing on the swings or seesaws. I tried to get him to swing back and forth from the monkey bars but that was hard since he doesn't have opposable thumbs or a inner sense of balance. Swinging was kind of difficult also because of the whole thumb issue and the fact that he couldn't grab on to the swing chains for support. However, I set him down just once and he took advantage of the brief sense of freedom to take a ride down the "crinkly slide", as my daughter calls it. It's a slide made out of rollers instead of a solid metal chute and allows for adults like myself to have fun on it too. Turning around, I saw him going down the slide with what I was sure to be a huge smile on his face. His eyes were just gleaming with the excitement of being able to be a kid (stuffed rabbits are notorious fuddy-duds when they get a little older) and I pointed my camera to him at the right time to catch all of that. Shortly thereafter, my daughter realized what was going on and ran up to grab him from the fun we were having. Unbeknownst to her, we'll continue our daily chats about politics, sports, and whatnot while she is learning new things at school.

If I can't see you.....

2012-01-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

You can't see me. Today, with a bit of a mild spell, I took my daughter to the park for some calorie-burning activities. It was pretty empty, so we had essentially the entire play area for ourselves. Swinging on the swing set, playing in the sandbox, and perfecting the see-saw's dynamics were on her priority list while I attempted to catch her in an unguarded moment with my camera. Since she is extremely wary of my motives, it was pretty hard to get her today. I went in under the pretense of snapping photos of her beloved stuffed rabbit taking a ride on a swing she was pushing and managed to get some fun shots of her.

When photos are taken of people with the eyes shut, it aggravates me as a photographer since moments are hard to get more than once. However, there are few times that when a subject blinks at the right time, all the emotions and feelings come out just with the simple act of smiling or other body language. This is precisely what happened with this shot of her pushing her animal. I can almost see both the embarrassment of being caught in a shot along with the sheer delight of having the time of her life with me and her rabbit.

New Year

2012-01-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

I neglected to follow the spirit of my blog for the past few days as I haven't made a new entry since the 27th, due to my inability to access any of my technological instruments since then. However, it is a new year and it will be a good one for new pictures and getting back on track with the blog. It's been a strange few days with the weather patterns: wind, rain and drizzle, and lots of fog. Not just the thin layer of fog seen almost every morning, but the thick, soupy fog that cause all the wrecks heard about on the news most nights. I went out and shot the Monroe water tower, or at least attempted to, in the thick fog next to the interstate running through town. As I was driving to the area, the tower was almost missed even though I had been over in that area many, many times. Almost like a lighthouse appearing on the outcroppings of the ocean, the tower started to come out of the fog and I saw the outline of it. What made the picture more interesting to me is that the tower is painted white, making the silhouette a cool contrast against the fog. Only when I got up near it did the entire tower become visible and I wanted to try and get a photo from beneath, hoping the top would be swallowed by the fog. Nonetheless, I found it a neat shot on a foggy, cool, wintery day starting the new year.

Humpday history

2011-12-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

A feature of this project that I just kind of started a few weeks ago is the documentation of photos I took before the blog began. It's been pretty fun in that I have looked at earlier pictures and have noticed a transformation already in the pre-blog shoots and those I have been taking now. I have grown a bit in the field and have given a lot more thought into shooting things with regards to background, setting, and even the time of day. I tend to see things now with a different eye, in a sense, as I want to set things in a way that would make a good story. On the other hand, I have become more aware of what is happening around me because good shots, I had learned, usually come about when I have least expected it and when I have planned to shoot something else. One great example of that is when we attended a car show around the town square earlier this summer. I know I wanted to have some good shots of the cars and the intricate decor that each one had, like the hood ornaments or brands that told their stories. I found myself in front of a Buick Eight shooting the curves and color of the car when I noticed that the courthouse was well-reflected in its metal. My original intention was to shoot the courthouse from the trunk of the car because I thought it would come out very well. It wasn't until I downloaded the photos that I realized that, when I tried to get a shot of the fender's curves with the headlight, I had captured the moment I really wanted and it turned out very well. The most interesting and telling photos really do come out when they are not expected, driving my interest and inspiration even more each day.

Don't freeze me, bro

2011-12-27T09:55:00.000-08:00

Photographing frosty leaves and plants have usually left me with a foggy picture as the lens would always mist up upon stepping outside. I've learned over the years to give myself plenty of time between going out and taking off the lens caps before finding subjects to shoot. I take the foggy lens out of the equation and am able to take pretty neat shots of nature in full force. It helps out a bit during this season since I won't see spring-like temps for several months, so my outdoor shoots have to take a bit more planning than just hopping out of the car for a quick shot. I took this shot of a plant of some sort with its leaves covered with frosty needles and ice on an early morning walk in MO over the weekend. The crystals always make the neatest patterns but what is interesting is that if you touch them, they melt instantly because of the heat differential from body heat and the outside temps. I'll admit that I tested that theory a few times on the plants and leaves I saw. The frost melted away shortly after this shot was taken so I felt pretty lucky to be able to have been there to see it. As with most things, this past weekend gave me a lot of opportunities to be lucky enough to experience with family.

Yes, deer

2011-12-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, visiting my wife's grandparents in Missouri, I sampled some very tasty venison summer sausage that her grandpa had made from one of the many deer he has gotten from his back porch. While it was pretty good, as I have had others since, I mentioned to him how good it was. A short time later, he brought up about a pound or so of the scrumptious sausage for me to take home. Each time I have been back, the subject of the venison always comes up which is pretty endearing to me that he would remember how much I enjoyed it. This year was no exception as the discussion of the day eventually turned to deer season and whether or not he was successful this year. He mentioned how he got a deer, but it was much smaller than years' past, and had it processed for his freezer. While no sausage was made from the meat, he remembered how much I enjoyed it and said that grandma had gone out and purchased some to enjoy. I'm sure because of all the stuff going on over the weekend the subject was quickly forgotten; however, I know that next time we visit there will be plenty to snack on. The sign I photographed is set just off his back porch near the big garden that gets planted each year. I liked it a lot and I believe I may have mentioned something to him about it as well. Next summer when we make our next trip, I wouldn't be surprised to see it wrapped along with some salted meats for us to enjoy once again.

Line of Tanenbaums

2011-12-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

While it's not a beautiful vista of an Alaskan National Park with amazing, white-tipped volcanoes stretched out behind a massive, crystal clear sea, the pond behind my wife's grandparents' house substituted quite well for the former when I walked out to capture some of the morning activities in wildlife. I really liked being able to capture some of the reflection of the native pine trees encircling the pond, some of them serving as nesting areas for some red-tailed hawks, golden chested woodpeckers, and lots of blue jays. I saw some tracks where the deer have used the pond as a watering hole as well as some burrows where the rabbits and foxes dug out for their homes. There was a very, thin layer of ice around the edge of the pond which definitely did not deter the gaggle of Canadian geese gathering there, resting for a bit before their trip continued a bit farther south. Of course, by the time I got there with my camera clanking against my chest and my footsteps not being very quiet, they had left. I was happy to get some photos of the trees reflecting in the lake with the water being relatively still. I was happier, still, when I left the chilly weather behind me, making my way back up to the warm confines of the house.

The blind side

2011-12-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

Near the back of my grandparents-in-law's farm is a giant man-made lake stocked with all sorts of regional fish like the tasty bluegill and the bass. I've only been out there in the middle of it once, with no luck at the sport of fishing, but enjoyed the serenity of sitting in a boat out there. My wife has had good luck in that pond, as a young one, catching more of her share of the nightly dinner. During our trip there, I trekked out by the pond to see if there was anything new I haven't seen since the last few times I've been out to their house. I thought about clambering up the ladder to the treehouse that was installed several years ago for the young grandchildren to play in, but since I'm not that young age any more and I neglected to pack proper footwear with which to hike in, I decided against it. Coming around the back of the lake, I started back to the house when I saw a deer blind nestled back in a group of trees that I had never seen before. Probably because I have never been there in the winter months, so the foliage would have definitely covered it then. It's lost it's purpose these days, as my wife's grandpa just uses the convenience of his back porch as a gun perch when the deer season comes around. He's pretty successful at it each year since his freezer is pretty well stocked with all sorts of venison cuts. It was a neat subject to shoot, even though there was not much color at that time. I can just imagine how much fun it used to be to sit out there waiting for that trophy buck to put up on the wall.

Welcome

2011-12-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

In front of my wife's grandparents' house is a nice, little, stone statue of a girl just sitting on a bench near the front door. Every time we go and visit, it's almost like she's aware that we are there, welcoming us into their house. I've always seen it there and have commented on it, either quietly to myself or aloud to anyone within earshot, about how neat it is and what the purpose of it is. This time, I mentioned to nobody in particular that it would make a great picture and it would be interesting to know why she made her way to that particular spot. With most things; however, when all the hustle and bustle of arriving, unloading, hugging, talking, and unpacking got into full force, the impending question of its origin disappeared into the night along with the warm spell. The next day, I went out early to catch some good photos of frost and saw her still sitting there on her perch welcoming the new day. As I snapped the picture of her, I made a mental note to myself to ask what the purpose of her sentry was, and I continued throughout the farm. Walking around, I saw birds, ducks, hawks, and all sorts of other interesting things that I soon forgot about my little friend near the front door. When I came back to the house, I barely gave her a glance when I went inside. It wasn't until leaving this morning that I thought about running back inside to get the information I so wanted. We left, though, so I suppose she'll still be there in the future, sitting on her bench, welcoming all who gather there, never giving out her secret of how she got there in the first place.

Jack Frost

2011-12-24T13:02:00.000-08:00

Walking around my grandparents-in-law's farm this morning gave me a great opportunity to see a lot of foliage covered in the first major frost of the year for this part of the country. It was quite brisk as I took the stroll and the scenery was definitely not disappointing. Tree branches, wood piles, grass stems, and wildflower remnants were covered with all shapes and sizes of frost. There is a lake here on their farm that I wanted to walk down to as well and saw a thin layer of ice around the perimeter of the man-made water hole. I heard birds chirping, or rather screeching as I walked too close to their nests, as well as other wildlife scampering away from the menacing human carrying nothing more than camera equipment. I had many shooting opportunities this morning and look forward to the next few days I'm here to make up for some lost time traveling yesterday for my blog entry. This photograph is of some wild berries growing pretty fruitful in the woods. With the sun rising behind me, the light was a much welcomed assistant to my photography giving the berries amazing color and allowing the frost gathering on the plants a neat contrast. Next time I go out, though, jackets are a must have, along with a pair of hiking boots as I realized after taking these pictures that I was a long way from home.

Anticipation

2011-12-22T11:23:00.000-08:00

The countdown has begun as it most always does before we take a long road trip. This weekend, we are making the trek down to Farmington, MO to visit with my wife's grandparents and a lot of her family. It's been quite a while since I've been able to make the trip and I am very excited to be able to go and see all of them again. Of course, the stressful part is just beginning: deciding what to pack, how many pairs of socks will I need, is the car properly conditioned for the ride, will my backside be able to survive the road? All the fun things running through my head as we gear up. Like always, my intentions are good and sound. I want to leave as early as humanly possible, make stops very few and far between, and get to my destination before nightfall. As with most things; however, my intentions never really pan out. We will stop probably at each rest stop for bathroom breaks, the stars will be well overhead before we get to where we are going, and the snooze button for the 4AM alarm will be hit many more times than the manufacturer's suggested usage allows. I thought of a clever way to document this day and I wanted to do a suitcase photo that may suggest what we are feeling. Overflowing with clothes shots were out because of my decency of not wanting others to see our dirty laundry and I didn't want to shoot a stuffed animal trying to escape from the confines of the case so I wouldn't arouse the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Stuffed Animals (SPCSA). Just the simple case in the yard was good enough for me. It will be a great trip and nice to see all of the relatives I haven't seen in a while. Even if we turn this 8-hour trip into little over 11.

Another Wednesday walkback

2011-12-21T21:40:00.000-08:00

Several months ago, I heard about a "reenactment" that was being held about 45 miles Southwest of here. I use the quotations because while it was a living history event, there was no actual battle being fought on this ground, nor were there any historical skirmishes being reenacted. The land it was held on had been designated a spot just for reenactments and the battle was the fictitious battle of Morseville. What is interesting is that each time the battle is fought, there is no pre-determined winner. Whoever shows the most tactical savvy and drill perfection is declared the winner for another year. I met up with a lot of new people that enjoy the hobby and hope to be able to be part of them for the festivities next year. What made this outing fun was that I went along with a co-worker who, I found out only a few weeks earlier, was as much into Civil War living history as I am. He enthusiastically went with me, albeit suffering through the abnormally high temps, and enjoyed the historians blasting at each other with cannon fire and musket rounds. Standing with the rest of the spectators, I found a great shot with the battlefield in the background and him looking away. I found it to be a pretty telling photo and was glad that I could catch him in that moment.

The stormy present

2011-12-20T12:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas time around our house has become stuff of legends with regards to some of the lengths we will go to try and surprise each other with gift-giving. One year, I sent a gift ahead to Nashville when we were first married to have my wife have a gift to open at my mom's. We've opened email accounts under assumed names to hide online purchases and changed passwords to hide ebay bids so that we could do a lot of surprises. There have been times that we were generally surprised at what was given, but most years, there is an ongoing dilemma on how we can get each other. Most years; however, one or the other of us tend to guess what the gift is and make the holiday miserable for the other one. It's almost an inhumane sense of humor, but it has passed down to our daughter. She loves to play the game and the fun part of it is when she gives out the clues as to what could be in the box. More often than not, her clues are exactly what is in the box making the guess work pretty easy. My favorite part is to pick up the boxes and do the old "shake test" to rile up the gift giver in hoping the secret is given up. This year, I have yet to launch a successful guess so it looks as if this year will be one of those memorable ones that will lead to a big surprise. I guess I'll have to start early for next year, create a new account, and let the bidding begin on that special gift that will surpass anything from Christmases past.

Dog tired

2011-12-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

My dogs have lots of personality, as would most dog owners say about their canine friends, but I would have to say mine will never cease to surprise me. I was having a bit of a mental block today, as I couldn't think of anything to shoot for my entry today. While I was watching a little bit of television this morning, I looked over on the couch and saw both my greyhound and mixed breed dog sharing a small space on the couch for a nap. I've seen them before napping together, but they usually have a bit of a more comfortable position for their bodies. This time, while there is plenty of space on the couch, my grey has his head, neck, and almost the top third of his body hanging off the couch, almost touching the floor with his nose. Instead of snuggling up next to him, my mixed breed dog kind of propped herself up on the corner of the couch looking like a human just lounging around for a movie. It most certainly doesn't look comfortable to me for either one of them, but they seem to be okay as they laid there for a time well after I took the picture. What this has to do with personality, it's pretty evident that only some dogs who have a bit of crazy attributed to them would even attempt to lay like this. Tomorrow will bring another day and probably more silly antics from my dogs, even if it is something as simple as lying on the couch.

Special Delivery

2011-12-18T15:25:00.000-08:00

Driving east out of Monroe, just past the small town of Brodhead, there is a house situated essentially on the Green County/Rock County line. A long driveway winds its way from the main street up to the large farmhouse through quite a few trees obviously planted long ago for protection from the wind. At the entrance of the driveway, the occupants of the house always place large planters throughout the year that have fun themes to them. This past year, we have seen an old-fashioned bicycle with flowers planted in the front basket as well as a wooden wheelbarrow stuffed full with topiary. Today, as we were driving past, there was an antique truck filled with Christmas trees as if on its way to a delivery stop somewhere. What made the whole scene dramatic was the life sized mannequin of Santa Claus, so realistic that you would have to make a double take to ensure it wasn't someone broken down. His face was pretty authentic as well as his hands on the wheel. Walking up to him, I half expected him to offer up a "howdy" and ask how the day was going for me. I was pretty fortunate to be able to catch him before the sun dropped below the horizon, actually allowing the deep red colors of the truck and his flannel shirt to come out. I have to admit though, as he was pretty realistic and seemed to be watching, I had to remember that I have to behave for at least one more week in order to stay on the nice list.

Snow birds

2011-12-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later this year; however, no matter how much I think I'm prepared for it, I never expect it when it finally does snow. You'd think that after so many years of living here that I would already have supplies, gear, and whatnot for the snow season, but I don't. While today's snowfall wasn't anything for the record books (a mere 3 inches), it still drove home the reality that I never can get prepared early enough. Today, after the temps rose a bit to melt some away, my daughter and I drove up to Madison to do some last minute shopping. Coming home, I stopped in the small town of Monticello and took some shots of Lake Montesian, documenting the winter wonderland. It was iced over with a layer of snow on top, making it look pretty inviting to go and make an ice skating attempt. Obviously, it wasn't a good idea for that and my skills of skating are pretty bad, so we just decided to make it a photographic trip instead. I shot the bridge linking the banks with the small island in the middle of the lake where many a fisherman has tried their luck at catching dinner. While we both walked around a bit, we took some more pictures and got ready to get back in the car. At that moment, a couple of geese thought it should be their moment in the spotlight and flew in at the right time, posing for their fifteen minutes of fame.

Kilroy Claus was here

2011-12-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

In an earlier post, I referenced the once-famous "Kilroy" phase that has its origins sometime around the Second World War. It was so prevalent in the war effort that there are reports that the graffiti would show up behind enemy lines causing the enemy leaders to believe that it was an Allied spy ring with a code agent named "Kilroy". There are other versions of the graffiti hero in other countries, but the best known is of the bald figure peeking over the wall with just his hands showing that I have come to know and love. Here in Monroe, probably done without this intention, is a Santa playhouse for the little ones to occupy themselves in while waiting in line to see the big guy. On the chimney is a wooden Santa appearing to either slide down the chimney or climb out of it. The figure is constructed in a way that makes it appear to be "Kilroy-like", at least to me. I thought it would make a good picture and it was finally a morning where we didn't have rain, clouds, or high winds so the colors and structure would be photographed well. Looking at it through the viewfinder, I had a fleeting moment where I thought it would be funny to grab a Sharpie and make the indelible mark under his face. Since none of the children visiting the house would get it, and I might have had to write this blog from the Green County Jail, I thought against it. Kilroy Claus will just have to fade back into history along with the pet rock and Tab.

Walkin it back, Wednesday

2011-12-14T06:50:00.000-08:00

Today is a pretty awful day for picture taking, as it is raining and will be throughout the day. Not like one of those light drizzles but a full-on, Forrest Gump-like "fat rain" that is just persistent and is forecasted to stay throughout the day. Since the conditions are going to fight me in photographing something new, I've decided to do a "flashback" of a picture I took earlier this year. Last June, my daughter had a camping event with her Girl Scouts that I wanted to go to with her because I thought about how her and I would be able to bond, camping together in a tent. My expectations were high as I went through all the fun stories we would tell and games we'd play trying to go to sleep. Of course, all of that changed quickly when she wanted to sleep in others' tents and hang out with her friends. I walked around a lot that night taking pictures of them making Smores, singing songs, and just being best friends. As her and some of her friends were playing around the campfire, I stood up on a pile of stumps and started taking pictures of them as they were hugging each other and going around in circles. What transpired was a great photo of my daughter and two of her friends in a moment of sheer happiness. My favorite part of the photograph is how my daughter's love for her stuffed rabbit is evident, including it in her fun. All three of them were full of joy and their embrace completed the human "Circle of Friends".

I'm with the band

2011-12-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

Who hasn't been to the park during the summer concert season and heard their favorite Sousa march played by the community brass band or taken part in a theatrical portrayal of a neighborhood Shakespeare festival? Bandshells are an essential part of park recreation and serve as meeting spots for family and friends alike. Whether they are made from wood and steel or erected out of overlying stones, they are a timeless reminder of the coliseums and amphitheaters of ancient Rome. Shakespeare's England was full of these neighborhood concert venues and their very shape allowed for magnification of voices and instruments without the modern invention of microphones.

Here in Monroe stands the aptly named Twining Park bandshell dedicated in 1960 and modeled in the Swiss-style construction. During the Independence holiday, the community band sets up shop in the bandshell and plays the standards from Sousa and originals from local composers. Theater is performed there from the most intricate English tragedies to simple skits and talent shows. And when there is nothing going on, it stands as a play area for adventure seeking kids or people like me looking for time to kill and a picture to take. I would lie if I didn't stand up there and face the empty audience, try out a bit of stand-up comedy, and imagine one or two people laughing at my adolescent humor. Judging from the cool reception I got from the empty seats, I figure I'll stick with trying to improve my camera skills.

Up, up, and away

2011-12-12T06:33:00.000-08:00

Santa sightings are in full force this holiday season and it's always a treat to find out how someone will display the big guy on their lawn or somewhere on their house. One I look forward to every year I've been here is the display on top of the bank on the town square. While there really isn't anything special about the display, it's a lot of fun to turn the corner and drive up the east side of the square and see him in his sleigh ready to pull off with his reindeer. It's a hit with kids also who may be strolling around the courthouse with their parents looking at all the woodcarvings and decorations in the shop windows. They look up high in the air with anticipation as they see his sleigh and immediately begin to wonder about that magical night when time seems to stand still so he can deliver his toys throughout the world. I wanted to capture it in a different light, so to speak, as there have been quite a few pictures taken of the display since it was erected several weeks ago. Shooting it from an angle made a neat story as it appears that he is getting some assistance from gravity to get his toy-laden sleigh up in the air with as little effort at all. The original picture was a bit more severe in its angle, so I straightened it a little bit, which made it more powerful in the story telling. The sky was neat also, as the clouds, blueish hue, and rising sun came together to make a great backdrop. Now, the question remains, as to where the man in red will make his next appearance and be a subject for an aspiring photographer.

Don't look down.

2011-12-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today, my daughter and I went to run some errands and we had planned to go for a little walk around the square for some decoration sightings and a picture or two with the Zoli-inspired Santas. It took a little bit of a detour; however, when we were passing the pedestrian bridge installed earlier this year over one of the main roads here in town. I asked her if she wanted to jump out and walk across it since we really had nothing else to do today. Of course, walking across this wide span seemed like a great idea to me at the time, but when I got to the middle of the bridge, my incessant fear of heights and the swaying of the structure from the passing cars underneath caused me to quickly turn around and high tail it to the beginning. I thought about the times when I attempted a cross of the swinging rope bridge at Fall Creek Falls, going all the way to the end of the Infinity Room at the House on the Rock, or not even walking 1/4 of the way up the Shelby Pedestrian Bridge in Nashville. For some reason, high bridges are not my cup of tea. Not so with my daughter, though, as she enjoyed standing there watching the cars pass underneath. She went from side to side checking out the traffic and decided not to do any posing for me, so I just had to wing it on this one. That was actually a pretty good accident, as I believe I caught some really good moments with her just horsing around. It helped that I was on solid ground and had to live the experience through her eyes and the laughter she made when playing around.

Sandy Claws

2011-12-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

Today, I volunteered my time to play Santa at a pet store up in Madison. I've done it now for the past two years and have had a lot of fun doing it each time. It's not difficult, really, as I just don a suit, sit in a chair near the front of the store, and talk to all the pet owners that happen by. Being that Christmas is just a couple weeks away, the store was understandably busy and well traveled with customers wanting a quick photo with Santa. It was all to benefit the Greyhound Pets of America group that we adopted our big guy from a few years ago. Sitting there, I met all sorts of interesting pets: a chihuahua that barely fit in the palm of my hand, a greyhound well-known to the group, a puggle that couldn't get enough of my beard, and an amazing Akita that looked ferocious but had a coat on him that was softer than a goose down pillow. Lots of traffic came through, earning the GPA a lot of much needed proceeds for the hounds, and I had a great time portraying the man in red. While I wasn't able to take a picture of myself for the blog, I had a bobble head Santa that stood in for me just fine. I hope that since I worked hard at listening to some kids' wishes as well as being helpful with the hounds, that Santa will remember this day and put me right back on the nice list.

Moonshot

2011-12-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow morning, probably when the sun is coming up here in WI, there is going to be a total lunar eclipse. I'm told that the best place to see it will be on the west coast and mountain region where there will still be some darkness before dawn comes. It is supposed to occur here, as the totality happens, precisely when the sun rises, so I may not be fortunate enough to see it in its entirety. I think I have only seen one or two total eclipses in my life and they are always spectacular. Even if you are not an astronomy nut, the experience of it is truly amazing. As a kid, I missed my very first one as it happened in the wee early hours and I was asleep. I remember reading my older sister's journaling about the experience and she had written so eloquently about the different colors and hues that the moon turned during the event. It was as if I was standing there next to her watching it. Stellar events such as an eclipse aren't things that happen daily and I do my best to see as many as I can. One night, several years ago, I witnessed the Northern Lights for the first time, an event I'm sure some of my friends can see whenever they wish. Meteor showers, comets, and solar eclipses are many amazing scientific things that happen throughout one's life, bringing more show power and amazement than a Pink Floyd concert. I walked outside tonight to pick up my daughter for our date when I saw the moon just hanging over the horizon like it was placed there on a nail. I was pretty surprised to be able to capture the shadows of the moon in my photograph, thinking that it would be a great experience early tomorrow morning, watching the eclipse with my sister and dreaming of time gone by.

I dare you

2011-12-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

Who hasn't played the game which brings all sorts of hijinks and hilarity with it all for the sake of causing someone else to hurt themselves in a funny stunt? We've all done that: daring someone to take a leap off a high structure, walking outside in cold temps with nothing more than socks on, or eating a slice of limburger cheese without gagging. It's all fun and games for us whether we are 6 or 76. Making others laugh through the harsh antics we call the "dare" is just part of the humor we all have. Sure, most of us control it and don't plan too many "bad" dares for others to do and resort to safer trickery to have fun. Probably one of the first movies to have "the triple-dog-dare" as an iconic movie moment is The Christmas Story, on a short list of my favorite holiday films. No matter how many times I watch it, I cringe each time that scene comes up as the tongue gets frozen to the pole. Sure, it's cruel that they all dared him to do it in the first place and the debate can continue about how it correlates to the ongoing bullying problem in schools today, but it's a timeless event that I am sure is replicated in school yards, playgrounds, and frat house back yards, I'm sure, each time the temp plunges into the single digits. I photographed one of the many "Christmas Story" ornaments that we get each year and was surprised at the lifelike resemblance to the character. It was fun to do as I tried to make today's posting a bit more playful. 'Course with the temps to plunge into the single digits tomorrow, I am going to steer clear from any metal poles beckoning me to test the movie scene for myself. Unless, of course, you employ the "triple-dog-dare" tactic.

Day of infamy

2011-12-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Taking a picture of a picture has never been something I've been keen on, as it is pretty hard to do. It's a lot easier to just scan it and then work on it through Photoshop. However, I thought that it would be a unique challenge to try and make it a good photograph. The subject for today is a picture taken of my grandfather with some of his Navy buddies stationed somewhere during World War 2. It depicts a pretty relaxed scene as they're all just having a good time drinking a few brews. I can't imagine what must have gone through their young minds, though, just a few months or years earlier when the skies erupted with explosions from the attack on Pearl Harbor. Who knows where they were at the time, but I can only imagine that they felt that same type of loss, devastation, anger, and revenge that I did 10 years ago on 9/11. Unlike these days though, it seemed like there was a national call to action for everyone to get involved with protecting our homeland and defeating the enemy who brought the war to our soil. I'm sure some of it could have been fabricated, but people were mesmerized by the war bond drives, the heroes of Iwo Jima, and Rosie the Riveter. My grandpa was part of a blimp crew that flew up and down the coast searching for enemy subs on missions to harass our boys. He answered the call of duty as did thousands of other young men on this day when bombs rained down upon a sleepy Naval base in Hawaii, killing too many soldiers and civilians. All probably enjoying some quality time together not too unlike these sailors who met over a few cold bottles of liquid relaxation.

U-*-#-Y

2011-12-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

What is it about the holidays that bring out the contests pitting all sorts of people against each other in a battle of jersey knit and appliquéd decorations? I can't say I've ever participated in such contests; however, I have seen many of the entries in them and they can bring quite a bit of ugly with them. Now, I must tread lightly because I don't want to offend anyone that may wear them proudly whether as a cherished tradition or merely as a cheap and affordable clothing piece to combat the seasonal chills. This weekend, my wife is going to her annual Christmas party and will be participating in such a contest. They may be calling it something else, like a holiday shirt contest, or most spirited shirt, as not to offend anyone there, but it's still nothing much more than a contest for shirts that may never be worn again as a part of every day outfits. I think it's pretty creative, as she has taken a Santa purse and is in the process of putting it on the front of it. Eventually, it will serve as a pouch for artfully made wrapping paper and presents made from felt and pipe cleaners. It's almost ironic that the posting I did yesterday regarding stars came into play today as a bright yellow star is prominent in Santa's hat. I'm pretty positive that if a contest is started for shirts, she will win it. Of course, I will hope that it doesn't maneuver its way into her repertoire of outfits any time soon.

A star is born

2011-12-05T11:42:00.000-08:00

A very intriguing shape is that of the star. It's found on flags of all nationalities, symbols of religions, and copied by young 6-year old artists worldwide. You can find them on sidewalks depicting someone's life, on wallpaper in kids' rooms, and swirling around a cartoon's head after getting blown up by an ACME bomb. Stars are everywhere in all shapes and sizes with all sorts of meanings behind them. It can be used to describe sports heroes or musical artists and they twinkle up in the sky as we wish upon them. It amuses me that we got the star shape from how the stars looked like in the sky to our ancestors, yet they are all round, according to scientists from time's past. One of the biggest holidays depicting a star is, of course, Christmas. We find stars topping our trees, stars for decorations, and even hold one particular star in a place of reverence for it's the one that led the shepherds to the manger. We have a wooden star hanging on our front door for the season in place of a wreath usually hanging there. It's interesting to me because of the structure giving the viewer two stars in one. I attempted to get a shot of it earlier this season, but either lighting didn't cooperate or my observations didn't come to fruition. This time, I believe, all of the variables fell into place giving me a good subject for today's writing.

Ye olde tanenbaum

2011-12-04T11:38:00.000-08:00

I find it amusing that each year we never really set out to decorate our tree. There's never one of those "Hallmark" moments where we bake some cookies, heat some warm cider, and have our favorite Christmas tunes playing on the stereo. Snow's usually not falling and we're definitely not dressed up in our appliquéd sweatshirts depicting all sorts of holiday cheer. This year was no exception as I had the tree put up several days ago. I decided to go ahead and put the strings of lights on so that at least there would be a partially decorated tree to be proud of. As it usually happens, our daughter came in wanting to put "her" ornaments on before I even had all the lights strung. When they were all put up, I told her that we could go ahead and just put a few on, as I didn't really want to do it all then. Since you can't really have a partially decorated tree, the few ornaments she put on turned into a full-fledged, all-hands-on-deck tree trimming festival. We all converged on it like a hungry pack of dogs on a trash bin and got it all spruced up. I was very pleased with the glow of the blue and white lights we have on the tree as they reflect on all of the ornaments, especially with the glass ones. This picture shows one of my favorite ornaments: a simple silver word hanging up high in the tree. There are a few more hanging which completes all of the decor, but this one looks very nice and essentially defines the year we are about to have before us.

Hitting and running

2011-12-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

Today we had a gift practically thrown into our laps of a free babysitter for 8 hours. Our daughter had a girl scout event that required her to be with her troop from 9 this morning until 5 this evening, making cookies. Not to kick a gift horse in the mouth, we capitalized on the opportunity and made a run to Madison for some kiddo Christmas shopping and alone time. It has been pretty rainy all day, not to mention a December-like cold temperature, so it would be safe to say that one would need to be a bit more careful when driving. All that said, we had just gotten off the interstate getting ready to go to the mall when we got rear-ended. Obviously that's not a feeling we're used to, so it took a minute or two to figure out what happened. When I got out of the car, I checked on the guy that hit us and looked at his car which was pretty banged up. While ours was not hurt really at all, except for a scratch or two and the small dent in the bumper, I told him that we'd pull off the main road over to the side and call the police. He said he was okay and that there wasn't any need for it. After I drove on to park, he got in another lane and took off. A bit later, the police came out and did a report on everything and things were taken care of.

I write about this all because of the humor that we found in the incident. The guy wasn't driving his car as it wasn't registered to him and we kept playing out the conversation he would have when he got home to explain the busted up hood on his car. Maybe he would say he hit a deer, a pole, or he was the victim of a hit and run. Our car came out relatively okay, we were both fine, and the shopping trip continued on as planned, albeit a bit delayed and on more alert nerves. My photo today was essentially for the insurance, but I thought I'd try to make it as interesting as I could to match the interesting story that complemented it.

Behind door #1

2011-12-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

Ah yes. The season is fast approaching with the ceremonial untangling of the Christmas tree lights, the obsessive sorting of the ornaments in color groups, and the NASA-inspired countdown to the big day. One of the other traditions we have is that of the Advent Calendar, one that many families I know have as well. I've had many different ones in the past as simple as a cardboard fixture pre-filled with tiny candies to the wood one we have now with hinged doors and ornately decorated. With my family's penchant for all things peanut butter and chocolate, the candy of choice is always Reese cups. Yet while we have fun with it and my daughter can hardly wait each day to open the door and grab the tasty treat behind it, the meaning of the calendar sometimes can be lost on us. But, as with most things, we regroup and work to remember the spirit of the season and truly be thankful of the gifts we have gotten from our friends and family to get us to the place where we are today. A journey made more enjoyable with a small morsel of peanut butter and chocolate to help out along the way.

OWL! That hurt.

2011-11-30T08:10:00.000-08:00

After work last night, I came home and began my usual routine that happens almost as soon as I get in. Greet the doggies, grab something out of the fridge, heat it up, pour a glass of tea, get my grub from the microwave, and head into the computer room to eat and check up on the day's events. It was dark, as always, and I had just begun to see what had transpired across the world on CNN when something caught my eye. Looking over, I could have sworn I saw a menacing great horned owl staring back at me with its yellow eyes as if to tell me to get out. While I did see that big bird looking at me, it wasn't menacing nor was it beckoning me to leave. What I saw was an amazing piece of art made by my wife and daughter at her girl scout meeting yesterday for a Christmas parade happening later this week. It was constructed out of paper mache' and then my daughter glued feathers all over the head and neck. While it has a few more things to make it complete, it looks like it already belongs in an art museum next to the likes of Rockwell, Pollock, and Warhol. Sure, I may be a bit biased because of her rich lineage, but you will have to judge for yourself on the level of artistry in this piece. While I won't be able to be there on Friday night when she joins her friends for the parade around the square, I can almost hear the gasps in the crowd when she walks dressed as the best looking great horned owl in the midwest.

Not on my shelf.

2011-11-29T11:29:00.000-08:00

The tradition goes by several monikers: "Elf on the Shelf", "Gnome in the Home", or "Troll in the Bowl", but the one we use is the story of Christopher Pop-in-Kins. Sure, the "troll" and "gnome" ones are probably not traditions that are well known, and ones that I made up, but the first one I have heard about many times. Several years ago, we began the tradition here at our home with Chris and it is a much anticipated event each year. On Thursday night, we will read the book of Christopher Pop-in-Kins and how he is an elf much smaller in size than the other elves at the North Pole. Wanting so bad to be part of the build-up to Christmas, Chris goes to Santa and asks if there is anything he can do in order to help with the season. The big guy tells him that he is to go into the houses at the beginning of December and keep the little children's minds busy by playing hide and seek with them each night, only to move to another place in the house the next night. Of course, if a child touches him, he loses the magic and must return immediately to the North Pole. Watching our daughter get excited about the tradition only makes me want to continue it as long as we are able. When I started to take his picture today, it was as if I saw a twinkle in his eye as if to say that he is just as excited about the journey as we are. How he moves from place to place each night is a mystery to me, but soon I'm going to catch him making his jump from shelf to shelf and spill his secret. I'm watching you, Christopher.

Who needs skates?

2011-11-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

I've attempted to ice-skate just once. It was many years ago and the entire experienced probably lasted about 10 minutes. Gravity was my enemy that day and after the umpteenth time that I found myself sitting on the ice rather than standing over it, I hung up my ice skates never to grab them again. My daughter had an opportunity to experience the ice skating fun with her girl scouts and, at the last minute, decided that she really wanted to go. While dropping her off, I had that eerie shiver go up my spine as I had those visions of her falling all over the ice as she has picked up some of the gracefulness that I have when it comes to extensions of our feet. As a concerned parent, I kept hoping that the phone wouldn't ring telling me that there was a terrible injury or something like that. Thankfully it never did, and when I went to pick her up, she was having the time of her life. Not from having skates on her feet, but figuring out that having fun meant that she could still be on the ice with a chair in front of her to balance her out. She was pushing that thing around as fast as an Olympic skater and almost as graceful. Her friends would then join the chairs and form a human train to push around. I thought back about how much more enjoyable my brief ice skating career could have been if I had only had a folding chair to pull out of my pocket for balancing. Maybe we could have skated together during this outing and had a great time. But, watching her have fun was just as great.

Zoli Claus is coming to town!

2011-11-27T16:37:00.000-08:00

As with the summer season, our acclaimed wood artist, Zoli the Woodcarver, has decorated the square with his amazing works of art carved from a tree trunk. There is a 7-foot nutcracker standing guard in front of the Cheese tavern, a Santa accepting mail in front of the bank, and another two Santas striking poses around the other parts of the downtown area. The tree will be decorated this weekend with a parade to top off the festivities. Kids of all ages will march with handmade signs and costumes to mark the occasion no matter how cold it may get by then. The lights around the square are being put up rapidly and soon the lighted Santa sleigh with his reindeer will be landing on the top of the bank. It's definitely Christmas season here in Monroe. I wanted to try and capture this moment along with an inclusion of the iconic clock tower I've challenged myself to get in different lights. The sunset actually helped me catch a lot of the warmer hues in the brick of the courthouse and the santa sculpture. The woodcarving also included a toy bag thrown across his back and it had a lot of detail in it, from bulges depicting large boxes to small trinkets poking out from the top of the bag. Zoli has done it again, giving the city of Monroe an amazing gift to share with all who go to see the seasonal decorations.

What's next?

2011-11-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that this is my 100th blog posting. When I began this back in August, I had a bit of an idea that it would be a journey, but really no idea where it would take me both in the art of photography, but also picking subjects for the blog. I thought it would be pretty easy when I started out, as there were so many things here in Monroe to document. However, when it continued, I began to realize that my blog really wasn't about taking pictures about stuff about town, but creating art with the pictures that I take. Whether they be of landmarks, people, or historical buildings, the photos that I take really aren't about documenting the history of them. I have come to believe that the photos are of every day life and what they mean to me. My project is nearly 1/3 of the way done and I have so many more ideas for subject matter for it that I am excited to see what more I can do in 265 more postings. I thought that the photo of a blank sheet of paper with a pen was poignant in that it represents a clean slate of sorts; an empty box waiting to be filled with ideas to be put in photographs. Getting better at this art is my goal as well as sharing the journey with the ones that read the blog.

Karma is a funny thing

2011-11-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

It has always been a running gag in our house that I've had a hard time believing when my wife is sick with anything more than a stuffy nose. I look back, lovingly of course, at the countless trips to the ER to find out that the terrible bout of fever, sweats, headaches, stiff joints was not anything but a cold or sinus infection of sorts. There is no immunity for me from this, because I, too, have had to make those quick trips as well from things as small as a rash to as serious as cardiac issues. However, it was earlier this week that I needed to rush home from work to assist my ailing wife, calling me to tell me to come home as soon as I could. Being the non-believer, I brought her to the ER to ensure that her cold was properly treated. Looking back, however, it was probably a good choice to do that since she had been traveling for the previous two weeks and could have caught a serious bug from overseas. This history all comes back to yesterday. While my wife began the road to recovery and felt much better during our Thanksgiving holiday, almost as soon as she was on the mend, I felt myself going down the same track. This morning, I woke up feeling like I just got run over by the same truck that hit her earlier in the week. So, as with most things, I really shouldn't have questioned the health and wellbeing of my wife, supported her a bit more, and not rushed her off to the hospital to quell my own doubts of her illness. I will remember to do that next time, as I focus now on sucking down the water, eating as much Advil and Sudaphed as I can, and wiping my runny nose, feeling like I'm sure she did earlier this week as she laid on the couch needing me to be with her.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

I would love to say that this holiday was well planned, that the menus were carefully put together from old family recipes, and the bird had been brined to perfection. It would be great to think back on how we polished the silverware and set the dinner table with the fine china and wine glasses. Picking the right music to accompany our meal is also generally a priority but all these things just didn't happen as they usually do on this day. This year, we fell a bit behind the 8-ball and just didn't get things going as quickly as we would have liked. That resulted in my last-ditch effort to run to the store and pick up all the things we normally make: green beans for the casserole, rolls, sausage for the stuffing, and of course the pumpkin pie. The bird was put in the oven to bake and that was our cue to relax for a minute or two before beginning the other preparations. Well, that minute or two turned into several hours which resulted in a mad dash by my wife and I to get things together since the turkey was already done. While it may have not been planned out the best, the best thing was that we were both cooking together and spending quality time as a couple and a family.

I am very thankful for having a great family and being part of an even bigger support system from my family and in-laws. Being the parent of a smart, healthy, and happy young girl is also a reason for being thankful. She volunteered to help me walk our dogs tonight, which triggered the opportunity for photographing it. While the low light wasn't ideal, it was a great time to take this shot of her giving some affection to our dog, Sam. While only one day of the year is set aside for giving thanks, not a day goes by when I'm not thankful for being her dad.

That sweet sound

2011-11-23T07:14:00.000-08:00

Concerts and recitals have been such an integral part of my life since I was a young tyke learning how to play the trombone. It was always such an emotional roller coaster when getting ready for a performance with all sorts of things running through my head. Is my instrument in good, working order? Do I look silly in my suit? Did I practice enough with my accompanist? What kind of response will the audience have? That was only the 3 seconds before walking out on stage, not anywhere close to the thoughts running around my head for weeks beforehand. After all those recitals and such, the endless dress rehearsals, the recordings from the concerts, the musical trips for performances, and the long nights in the practice room, I can only think that it made me that much better of a musician. But what made all those years more special is that I would like to think that I was able to pass some of that talent and knowledge down to my daughter. She loves to sing, draw, paint, and pretty much anything that is related to the arts. I can't say that I've been prouder of her than when I got to see her annual fall concert with her classmates. She'd been talking about it for weeks, especially after finding out that she was given a solo. Sitting there in the audience, I was so proud when her teacher introduced her for the beginning of the "Rudolph" song, and brought her to the front. She was amazing, obviously, and made her dad both proud of her performance and nervous for the many more I'm sure she will do after having many of the same nervous moments I experienced just a few years ago.

What's my name....pt. 2

2011-11-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

As a continuance of yesterday's post, I wanted to continue of the subject of ancestral history and the treasure I once received that has a volume of information regarding my family's past. A paternal grandparent thought that it would be a good idea a long time ago to write it all down so it couldn't be forgotten. While the information is useful, the bigger picture was that it led me to discover so many more aspects of my life's beginnings. Had I not opened the pages and researched the names, I would never have discovered that my great-grandfather had fought one of the hardest battles in the first World War at Argonnes, France. I would not have known that my Woolfolk and Mehaffey fore-bearers actually lived next to each other in South Carolina back in the 19th century after immigrating from Scotland and Ireland. It would have never led me to find my ancestors that fought valiantly in the bloody Civil War for North Carolina and continued the family growth that led to my mom being born. It was in my college years before I began to fully understand where I came from and the mysteries surrounding my birth name. My parents had decided to make a highly personal and very painful decision to completely change their names from their given ones to another one that better suited their situation then. It was a decision that always seemed to bring roadblocks to understanding why I couldn't find any "Levia" ancestors in my bloodline. Of course, understanding the words in the family bible's ancestral registry, it became a passion to bring it all together. I applaud the efforts that a grandparent had to ensure that my daughter would have a source to go to in order to understand where her family tree branches out.

What's my name?

2011-11-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

I constantly am amazed about how quick a photo journey changes course when the subject matter all of a sudden becomes something that was completely unintentional. Just as in many of my previous posts, I had an idea of what to journal and even went so far as to stage the scene so I could get the shot right. My original plan was to photo document a cherished artifact in my family that was inadvertently left behind many years ago in my family's possessions: a family bible. As a kid, I always remember seeing the weathered and beaten leather bound bible, and even reading it many times. There was a genealogical chart in the middle which I never thought to spend too much time looking at. When I was a young boy, my "traditional" family had broken apart, causing new families to form with more brothers and sisters. Moving many times throughout the years, I always packed the bible up and brought it with me, still not paying attention to what was written inside. Eventually, I began to study the chart, did some research, and traced my ancestry back way before all the handwritten entries by a paternal grandparent were etched out. I grew up a lot since then and continue to appreciate the lineage that is written out.

As far as the subject matter is concerned, it is almost too convenient that this chart and history is located right in the center of this bible. The reason for it's convenience is that the book right before the chart begins is the Book of Jonah. I flipped through the brief story and thought that this would most certainly be my picture of the day. It would be such a great anecdote to say that my name was pulled straight from the pages of this book with all the trappings of having my birth name be that of a sea-faring traveler who had to cement his relationship with God. If you hear my dad tell the story, he'll say my name came to him from behind a full moon. Whatever the reasoning, I'm proud of my name and the history behind it, written down in the pages of this family bible by someone who could not bear to see the legacy disappear.

It takes a village

2011-11-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

Today I made the annual trip to our neighborhood Lowe's store (I use "neighborhood" loosely as the closest store is about 75 miles away) in order to select my newest addition to the Christmas village I have slowly expanding in the dining room. A thick fog of anticipation clouds my mind as the holiday season gets closer because I know that it means that my city can grow and prosper. It's a lot of fun selecting the right house or business and even neater to see what kind of new design the makers will come up with this year. I began this village in 2007 with the purchase of an Irish pub (of course) and continued with buildings each year since then. This year, I added a Cheese factory (again, of course) and a house to add to the "residential" street, separated from the "businesses" as the collection is getting a bit larger now. My subject is the piece that has an antique fire engine driven by horses. I like how the firemen really look like they are racing to extinguish the flames as quickly as they can so that save the integrity of the village. The Irish pub invites you to stop in for a pint after you've delivered your Christmas packages to the Post Office for that holiday delivery. Soon, the lights will be added, the Barn Dance will be rotating with the dancers, and my Cheese shop will look as if it's ready for you to pick up the holiday box of dairy delectables.

Mommies

2011-11-19T18:14:00.000-08:00

So, I will first preface this by saying that my mother did not know I was taking her picture and will probably be mortified to know that it is one that I chose for the blog. I wanted to get her in a moment that she didn't know I was taking it, which was quite hard as she was always watching. Those of us with mommies still kicking are very lucky to have them be full of unconditional love for the kids that they have raised. I am very happy to have such a great mom that is able to essentially put her life on hold for a week or two while I need some extra help being a parent. She came here to WI in order to take care of my kid for me when I was at work and my wife was out of the country. Not batting an eye, she jumped right in and started to make our daughter stay busy and not be focused on being mommy-less for the time. Of course, I was treated to home cooking that only a son could enjoy and learn how to make biscuits with a bit of love. My daughter and I both learned new crafts, as well as some new jokes to tell, and got to spend a lot of time just appreciating the time together. My heart does hurt for those of my friends who, for some reason or another, don't have the ability to have their moms here anymore. That only makes me thankful for the time I have with my mom and cherish each time I get to talk with her. No matter how old we get, moms are the glue that holds us together with a simple hello, an embracing hug, or that twinkle in her eye when she is holding back on a surprise for you.

Lens Solution

2011-11-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

To zoom or not to zoom, that is the question. Close-up, wide-angle, low profile, or high POV are some of the other perspectives I try to work on when framing a shot or thinking up of a subject. Keeping the flash on for some sharper images or turning it off to capture some warmer shots is another dilemma any photographer worth their weight in bologna tries to weigh in composing the picture. Shooting the same subject with a variety of different lenses makes for unique stories and brings about the challenge of improving on a daily basis. Years ago, I never understood why anyone would lug around a backpack stuffed with camera accoutrements and constantly switch out lenses while chasing his kids around the zoo. These days, I am that guy and struggle with the best of them all for the chance to capture a perfect moment in the lens. Thinking that it would made a fun little subject, I put together a few of my lenses and tried to make the picture takers become the pictures themselves. Whether or not I achieved that particular goal, it was neat to stage them in a way that makes me imagine more of the photographs that can come from them as I keep moving forward to become better at my craft.

The Shadow knows

2011-11-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

Photographs of shadows have intrigued me because of the mystery surrounding the subject. If you're indoors, it's a lot easier to manipulate the picture since the shadows are generally controlled by the photographer. When you bring the camera outdoors, however, the background and subject is usually dictated by Mother Nature herself. Clouds, plants, birds, or whatever else there is impedes the point of view of the photographer as they attempt to frame the shot. Once in a while, though, the powers-that-be controlling all of those things fall into place and present a great picture opportunity.

Walking my dogs this afternoon, I found myself in the middle of one of those when I walked along the back of our yard where our neighbors installed a new fence. The sun had positioned itself in the sky and the pickets of the fence cast long shadows against my yard making neat geometric patterns with the leaves. I wanted to try and catch a perspective of the ground along the fence line to make a good contrast. Thankfully, I think, it all worked and I managed to capture one of those moments in my lens. I can only hope that the lucky streak continues through the life of this blog.

War games

2011-11-16T11:38:00.000-08:00

There's not much more entertainment to me than waking up after a night, not much colder than an arctic winter, in a canvas tent set out in the middle of the country. The birds and insects are the alarm clocks of nature as the sun peeks out from beyond the horizon to announce another wonderful day. Shortly thereafter, the air will crack with the thunder of cannon fire and the ground will tremble under the marching feet of several hundred men marching in step as they go toward the chaos of war. Bugle calls blare across the field ringing in the orders from the generals, causing a macabre excitement of what's ahead. After twenty minutes of endless musket fire and the perfection of Hardee's drill marching, the fight stops almost as soon as it begins. While it may sound like a page right out of "Gettysburg", it's really a playground for big boys and girls who love nothing more than dressing up in period costume and reenacting a scene from the American Civil War. I've been doing it for many years now and have always been interested in the historical aspect, but really began when I witnessed the excitement up close and jumped in with both feet. My cartridge box and belt made a neat combination, as I got a new buckle and plate for them. The photo is kind of a "keep tuned" type of picture as there will be plenty of times in the near future where I'll be able to live my hobby. Then, as in events' past, I will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the next man, load my Enfield with a powder cartridge, and aim it across the field joining hundreds of others in a volley that would make the earth tremble.

Don't fret

2011-11-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

Cash, King, Clapton, Waters, and Williams (Sr., not Jr.) are just a few of the names that are synonymous with great guitar pickers and players. Nothing sounds more comforting than hearing the opening lick to "Layla" or listening to Frampton turn his guitar into a voice box. I enjoy many different genres of guitar picking along with the banjo greats like Earl Scruggs or the jazz influences of Bela Fleck playing through the bluegrass standards of old or jazz fusion tunes written most recently on the back of napkins. My family has a long history of musicianship from my grandmother's singing, my mom's ivory ticklin', and others. What is more enjoyable than watching those famous songwriters and listening to sentimental tunes from my mom's repertoire is hearing my daughter belt out her version of "Rudolph" or strum some tunes on her junior guitar. While the strings may be out of tune, her tenacity and passion for the craft certainly is far from it. I have a great time teaching her about the music she enjoys and she benefits from a great music program at school that allows her to grow and learn new things. I wanted to capture her guitar in a moment that could lead the viewer in imagining their own little one strumming away. I like seeing the contrast of the strings along the fretboard as the light casts shadows throughout. While I'll never see B.B. King mistaking this guitar for his beloved Lucille, it comforts me in knowing that in the future, my daughter will be a better musician, partly due to this Little Lyon guitar she keeps in her room.

Coming right at ya!

2011-11-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

There are still a few places here in town where the trees have not yet disposed of all their leaves and the colors are pretty vibrant. In most of the area, like my neighborhood, the once-flourishing trees have changed to bare branches with their bountiful leaves now taking space as large piles in the street. I went out to where we lived after we first moved to the Monroe area in 2008. The property had four, very large, empty houses that once were the residents of an extended family, similar to a compound of sorts. We were lucky enough to rent one of them and had essentially the whole estate to ourselves. While it would take a couple of days just to mow the yard, having our own playground and field to play in was worth it. They were situated in a circle accessed by a quarter mile-long driveway shaded on both sides by rows of trees. It was neat driving home each day back then as if I was back in the deep south, driving up Magnolia Lane at Augusta during the Masters golf tournament (as if I've ever really done that). I took a few pictures of the trees against the road and even had a couple of low angled, perspective shots. As I continued that, I thought it would be neat to take a few pictures of our car in the midst of all of that and try to make it feel like one of those car commercials. While it's far from the quality of advertising media, I thought it made a good photo story with our car as the subject looking as if it was coming right at me.

Hands on

2011-11-13T08:55:00.000-08:00

All throughout our lives, there are always going to be those "teaching moments" that present themselves in all sorts of ways, especially when they are least expected. There are also those moments that have a significance to them in that they will probably also never occur again. Looking back, there have been many of those between my mom and I: learning the piano, understanding the finer points of biscuit making, and gaining a better appreciation of keeping my head in the window of a moving vehicle. As a parent, it is exponentially more amazing when I get to witness her giving that knowledge to my daughter, a "passing of the torch" in some sense. While my wife is galavanting across the continents for work assignments, we flew my mom here to help with the child-rearing while I work. She brought with her a box full of craft supplies and in that is a collection of lap looms and many colors of yarn. They began to work on small potholders, eventually graduating to dish towel-sized blankets for her stuffed rabbit. Today, my daughter woke up and wanted to start right away on making another blanket for a toy animal and needed my mom to get her started. It was a great moment when I saw her hands guiding the shuttle through the strings with my mom assisting her. This photo of their hands is special in many ways, namely that they are working together, but that it transcends the generations as she learns the craft. Years from now, she will remember this teaching moment as she passes the knowledge of looms and yarns to her granddaughter, lighting up a young child's mind as they see the project unfold in front of her young eyes.

Back then....

2011-11-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

Next September, we are going to be hosting the 98th anniversary of the first Cheese Days here in Monroe. There's going to be lines of people, thirty deep at some points, clamoring to get a greasy bag full of the deep fried cheese curds that have made this festival famous. The sounds of alphorns will fill the balmy air and endless rows of vendors will sell all their wares in different shapes and sizes of cheese. While all of us cheese lovers will pack the small town square, it will be hard to imagine what it was like the first time this kind of gathering took place. Nearly 140 years ago, the first store owner in Monroe was in the midst of and economic downturn, much like is being experienced today. Dairy farmers and town folks alike were doing what they could to stay afloat, and since frustration only gets worse when the senses are attacked, the feelings of despair grew exponentially as the cheese factory kept sending the wagons stuffed with smelly, Limburger cheese through town on their way to the train stations. Faced with almost certain anarchy, this man got the wagons to amass on the square, gathered all of the grumbling farmers and residents together, and told them that these shipments of the stinky cheese would one day ensure their town's survival.

Today, Arabut Ludlow's passionate call-to-arms for cheese making is evident in that the only Limburger factory in North America is here in Monroe. While the official Cheese Days would not happen for nearly 40 years later, he is considered to be the founding father of that gathering based on his cunning marketing ploy for the large event he planned on our courthouse steps in 1873. In the city's cemetery stands a large marker for the Ludlow family plot, which is what I decided to photograph for today's blog. Memories of him linger throughout the city with buildings, streets, and houses named for him. But next year, amidst the cow milking contests, art tents, and cheese curd over-eating, it won't be hard to forget what his legacy meant to the survival of our city and the bi-annual festival to the dairy delectable.

It goes to 11

2011-11-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

Today at 11:11, I plan on driving 11 miles an hour to the corner of 11th street and 11th avenue with 11 cents in my pocket. Afterwards, I will drive a circuitous route for 11 miles to highway 11 here in Monroe and make a call to my 11th contact for 11 minutes. Then, I am going to plan our dinner tonight with an 11 topping pizza paired with a salad with 11 mushrooms, 11 cherry tomatoes, and 11 oz of salad dressing. Is it just me, or does the number 11 start to look funny after staring at it for 11 seconds or more? 12 guys walked into a bar and 11 ducked. The high temperature today in Monroe is going to be 44, 11 times 4.

I could keep on and on, but it would just be silly. Thinking of a unique way of taking today's special meaning, I went to the corner of 11th and 11th, because, to be honest, I have never been in a place where these two streets meet. I'm pretty sure the people living on the corner where the street sign is will be inundated with opportunity seekers like me to try and document the special day. Of course, the day is doubly special in that we honor our veterans who are serving and have served in our nation's military. Thanks for all that you do and have done in ensuring my freedom while sacrificing so much.

Where am I?

2011-11-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

Look closely. Do you see him? A little guy in a red and black striped turtleneck with black, horn-rimmed glasses somewhere in the picture. No, it's not a Waldo excursion. It's a hunt for the elusive red-tailed hawk. I went this afternoon to do some shots of the cemetery with the dusting of snow on the markers and a great opportunity literally fell from the sky into my lap. Driving around, taking a couple of shots of interesting head stones, I heard some rustling in the trees above. Looking up, I saw a red-tailed hawk preying on a couple of wayward squirrels playing games on the tree trunks. It kept moving from tree to tree as the squirrels were a little too savvy for him, wrapping around the trees quickly so the hawk wouldn't see them. I stood there, shivering in the chilly weather as I forgot to dress for the outing, watching this game being played in front of me for about 30 minutes. As soon as the hawk would position itself in the right place, the squirrels would quickly change course and confuse him. Back and forth they went, which allowed me to do a lot of picture taking.

What intrigued me about this picture is that his feathers disguise him well in the trees. I had a few shots that didn't have his head the right way, making him a lot harder to see. This one, I believe, shows his expression clearly. It's almost as if I could hear him thinking that these squirrels better mess up soon so that he can stop working so darn hard to eat a well-deserved lunch.

Snow way!

2011-11-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, sports fans, the dreaded "s" word has reared it's ugly head today for the first time this season. Sure, it's a wet snow falling on ground that is well above freezing, so the outlook for the rest of the day means that it probably won't amount to anything. However, with my luck, I did proclaim last night at work and this morning to my mom that, "We won't get anything. A lot of much-to-do-about-nothing". Al Roker, I am not, obviously, as I was forced to eat my words along with a bologna sandwich for lunch. On the other hand, snow falling has a bit of peacefulness to it kind of cleaning the atmosphere and making the quick-browning grass have a warm blanket of white. I'm sure by the end of the event, there won't be much on the ground to look at, much less snow-blow, but it is the definite sign that winter is now upon us. So, like every year, we will dig out the heavy coats, dust off the mittens and gloves, find the thermal socks in the bottom of the drawers, pack away the canvas shoes, and gear up for the hibernation that is about to occur. Then, in August or September, we will witness a record number of births in the hospitals as the results of the long hibernation begin to show what we really do when snow begins to fall.

Curtains up

2011-11-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

With the blustery, winter season about to hit us full force, today's forecast was the typical cold and rainy day with no end in sight. As much as I dislike these type of days for photo opportunities, it forces me to look inside for stories to tell about every day things. I couldn't have written a script like the one that follows. I was sitting in my favorite chair (c'mon, everyone has one) and trying to come up with either a place to go or a subject in the house to document. Looking out the window, I started to notice the different patterns that the curtains, the sheers, and the window screens had as they contrasted against each other. With the trees rapidly losing their leaves outside, it had a neat backdrop to it. The crinkles in the sheer looked intriguing as the straight edges of the heavy curtain fell against it. While the picture beyond the window was a little out of focus, it led me to imagine other things I could do using a curtain sheer or a sheet as a lens to shoot through.

Dog tired

2011-11-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

If I could sit around and sleep as much as my dogs do, I would be in heaven. Of course, I wouldn't have a job, my wife and daughter would probably leave me, and I'd be evicted for not paying rent, but at least I would be well rested for an afternoon of doing nothing. Ever since we got our dogs, they've made the couch, the floor, and the beds their own, sleeping and lounging for hours on end, until the mailman walks by and they have to announce his arrival with endless barking. But, they're part of the family and we'd make sure that they were always taken care of no matter what. A couple of years ago, our mixed breed, Sam, had a routine operation to remove a fatty tumor from her leg. While the surgery went fine, she developed a reaction that caused her skin on one side of her body to die. She spent nearly 2 months in the vet hospital recuperating and enduring painful skin rubs to get the dead skin off and fresh, new skin to grow back. While she made a full recovery and is fine, she doesn't have fur on that side of her body. Since we usually have to recount the whole story when a new person meets her, we've developed funny stories to explain her injury, like she saved all of us from a horrific fire, or she was getting a little too hungry around a turkey fryer, or other things like that. She was lying on the couch today and trying to fall asleep so I wanted to take her picture and attempt to get that moment. It's funny when dogs nearly fall over when they try to sleep and stay awake simultaneously. I got it at the right time and wished for another brief moment that I was in her paws about to take my 13th nap of the day.

Kids at play

2011-11-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

The itinerary for today had a visit to the Turner Hall so I could watch the Swiss music festival in all of its glory. I thought that a photo of me attempting to yodel would have been a great subject, albeit one that would have no sound attached to it. Believe me, your ears and eyes have been spared a moment they would have never been able to get back. However, as things usually do, the plans were changed last minute as a friend of my daughter's wanted to come over and play. Being ever the opportunist, I set up a fashion shoot upstairs and let my camera go to work. My daughter's friend is just about as photogenic as she is and it makes my hobby so much more enjoyable since I get to do what I like to do and spend a lot of time with her. As they came out of her room, I played the part of fashion photographer and snapped away, telling them to "work it" and to "walk the runway".

This was one of my favorites that I took as both of them have so much fun in their faces. Their eyes are very telling, giving the photograph a unique characteristic showing their personalities. Another cool accident was that my external flash had not charged up completely giving the photo a very soft feature to the background and their heads. It went on for another few minutes, but not before catching this moment in time that I can almost see posted in their senior yearbook another 10 years from now.

Enter....if you dare!

2011-11-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

As promised, I've included a photo I took of the children's park near my house. My goal was to try and capture the park in the view of the eyes of a child. Whenever I go to it with my daughter, I've been guilty of looking at it as a parent. Yet one more place I have to waste time sitting around when I could be doing more important things, like cleaning house, doing chores, or quality time on the computer. It takes a moment like this to get a different perspective. I caught myself crawling on my hands and knees, crouching under the structures, and attempting a cross on the monkey bars. I went down the slide and swung on the swings a bit just to try and get in the mindset of someone having the time of their life. It was fun, although I was by myself. I felt a bit more comfortable that way, since seeing an adult man these days having fun by himself in a kid's park might seem unusual and creepy.

I digress, though, as I liked the way the entrance is modeled after a castle's. It can be a bit foreboding as itself, but when you look through the doorway, there is nothing but fun inside. One of the four triangular spires announce the true intent of the play area and the freshly mulched ground invites the child to fall as many times as they want without so much as a scratch. This experience was pretty neat as I stepped out of my shoes as a 37-year old and looked back at the times I spent swinging, see-sawing, or balance bar walking when I was a young tyke too.

I see me

2011-11-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

I went out again with a purpose today, as was yesterday's hope, to take some photos of the children's park near our house. The city recently cleaned it up after the hard, summer playtime and mulched the ground as well as made some minor repairs. It's sponsored by Colony Brands here in Monroe and modeled after a mouse and its play area. The defining features are a few triangular spires topping off different elevated areas for the kids to look out on. While they make a pretty good subject themselves, there was a brief detour I took on a whim. On my way to the park, I stopped at a water fountain to snap a few pictures of it because of its proximity to a lake and a very colorful tree losing its leaves. I envisioned a stark black and white photo of the different pieces of the fountain because I saw a lot in all of the components in it. Interestingly enough, the water had been shut off probably due to the freezing temps happening at night now. As I was taking the pictures, I notices that my reflection was very clear in the back of the fountain head so I stopped to take some self-reflection photos. What I saw was pretty neat, as whenever I've attempted them, they have been out of focus or just not good. With the sun behind me, it made the metal fountain gleam like a mirror, framing me in the shot. I took several, but this one is my favorite, even though it's only in half the frame. The park shots will have to come later along with all those other pictures I've said are coming later too.

Sign of the Times

2011-11-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

This was one of those accidental subjects in that I was driving to the park here in town to document the gathering of the geese getting ready to fly South for the upcoming winter. I was driving around yesterday and saw a group of them, probably three to four hundred strong, all in a field seemingly getting their "ducks in a row" for their long journey. As I went back this morning, I passed a plain, non-descript building that I go past every day that houses our local newspaper, The Monroe Times. Standing guard to the entrance is a very interesting sign that has an amazing nostalgic look to with with its weathered backdrop and neon lighting. No matter when I've been past, it has never been lit up and I began to think that it was probably broken. The paper is a daily post, with no weekend publications, so the hours that are kept are pretty much 9-5. However, I've thought that the sign out front is the coolest feature that the building posts.

Today, the weather was pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday's: bleak, blustery, rainy, overcast, and darn chilly. It was as if the sign of the Times stood like a beacon, reassuring travelers that the weather would soon turn for the better. I liked the angle that the sign was at when this photo was snapped, again accidental, since I had pressed the shutter just a micro second before I was ready. The gaggle of geese story will have to wait another day, as the red neon sign took center stage this morning. I may not catch it on again in the future, but now I feel a bit lucky that I took that road today and saw it shining brightly.

You stalkin' me?

2011-11-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

You can't swing a cat around these parts without hitting or seeing a corn field. It's almost as if there is a crop of corn growing on the courthouse square next to the dairy expo. Of course, while I'm not condoning the habit of cat swinging, there is something to be said about living in a place where a corn field is growing next door to the local department store. Small town living has done well for us, as I believe it has benefitted our daughter in her school and small class sizes, along with being able to recognize and talk with our neighbors or coworkers during a quick trip to the store. Sure, I'd love to visit an art museum, shop in a big mall, or watch some professional sports where I live, but the tradeoff can be rewarding.

The corn stalks are dried up and ready for plowing as the farmers get their fields ready for the hard freeze about to come. Today's skies have been overcast all day long with intermittent periods of rain, so a black and white photo was almost certain to be part of the day's post. I wanted to attempt to tie the corn theme in with the recent news that the "Field of Dreams" site in Iowa had been sold, thus trying to bring in the line "If you build it, they will come", but I thought the picture of the stalks would just speak for itself. But, I can say that I have just achieved mentioning both the swinging of cats and a reference to the swinging of bats in the same post.

Salute the Colonel (Kernel)

2011-11-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Half the fun of taking a picture each day is trying to come up with a catchy name or phrase to title the blog. Of course, today's is no exception as it shows the level of my dorkiness, if that's a word, to tie the photograph together with the writing. I spent most of the morning pulling down all the Halloween decorations and lights, wondering what the subject for today would be. As the strands of lights and door hangings made their way into their respective totes, I saw the cob of Indian corn that our daughter got at her corn maze experience and thought it would make a neat picture. The yellow and dark colors of the kernels contrasted well against the husk leaves as I sat it on our couch on the front porch. I thought about putting a colored pillow near it for some more color in the frame, but the cob became the center of the photograph. While it seemed like a picture that was just thrown together, I found a pretty neat story to tell through my camera lens.

A yucky surprise

2011-10-31T14:36:00.000-07:00

I picked up our daughter today from school to take part in an age-old, well a year or two old, tradition of pumpkin carving. Usually, we do it a week or two before the big holiday but we, or rather I, procrastinated to almost the 11th hour this year. I could have blamed it on the high pumpkin prices this year or lack of the perfect one, but since we got a free one from the store for dressing up yesterday, my excuses wouldn't work this time. I thought I could claim the lost hardware excuse too, since I was sure that our carving kit had been thrown out the last time, but alas, it was in the utensil drawer where it should be. With no excuses, and almost no time left, the kiddo and I started on our task. She drew the outline and I helped her with the fancy toolwork of cutting out a crescent-shaped mouth along with the top part. She's never liked to reach in and pull out all the pumpkin guts unless she has a long handled spoon, or if she is using my arms to do it. I convinced her to do some interior cleaning of the pumpkin while I tried to capture the moment. I think from the look on her face as she is excavating the pulp and seeds, she is not having a great time doing it. Framing her eyes with her fresh hair cut and the hand covered with the gross stuff, my photo did a good job in illustrating both her disgust for the moment as well as her beautiful blue eyes. Of course, I may not be able to pull the same trick next year as it will definitely be my hand and arm covered with sticky, orange goo.

To grill or not to grill

2011-10-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

If I wanted to look into the archives of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and look for a law that is on the books regarding use of a grill, I would most definitely find one that says that it is required to be used between the months of May and September. Any other month would be optional. Today, with the weather playing the part of the Wicked Witch of the West with chilly temps, a cold rain, and a stiff breeze, I had that nagging feeling that I wanted to fire it up. Sure, I would have been out there in a heavy jacket, gloves, and a stocking cap, but I would have been standing in front of my kitchen making dinner the Neanderthal's way, minus the propane. I thought it would be fun to try and photo-document the experience given the challenge of the low light and temps, along with controlling the grill so my garage wouldn't burn down. Sadly, since I neglected to check the level of my propane tank, I ran out of gas shortly after dropping my chops on the grate. I did manage to catch a few shots of the meat on the grill and this one was kind of neat. With the black space in the grill along with the dark skies, it seemed to make the chop just sort of float there. I thought the seasoning made a neat story as well. While I had to bring them inside to finish the dinner, and curse myself for such a rookie mistake, we could still taste the cast iron in the pork making this a perfect end to a cool, rainy night.

Family game night

2011-10-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

We've got a quasi-tradition here at the Levia household where we attempt to have a game night at some point on the weekends. Of course, things get in the way like shopping, cleaning house, or general stuff that moves game night to the next weekend or the one after that. When our daughter was younger, we'd resort to the age-old comfort of Memory or Hungry Hippos. Later, as she fell asleep, I would challenge my wife in a no holds barred contest of financial domination with Monopoly or attempt to stump her vast knowledge of useless facts and figures with a myriad of Trivial Pursuit games. While one would be the Scrabble champion for the week, the other would reign supreme with an impressive run as the Boggle leader. Now that she's older, our daughter joins in with some spirited fun as we play the Game of Life or even Sorry.

My dad, for one Christmas, gave us a game that I had never heard of, but owes its start to the pubs and taverns of England. "Shut the Box" is a game that has the numbers 1-0 on a swivel and the player throws a dice, matches the number to the corresponding swivel, and throws it down. When the player has turned down the last number, they shut the box. It's quite fun, if played with a certain level of intoxication, and makes an interesting photograph too.

The missing link-age

2011-10-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

In a previous posting, I made a picture of my trombone reflecting a picture of my dog lying on the chair. When I was doing those, I thought it would be a neat subject to go back and do some more photographs of the different parts of the horn. While my feelings are obviously biased, there's not many more beautiful instruments out there than a clean and polished trombone. When a musician takes the stage and blows amazing music through it, the feelings that come about are too numerous to mention. It reminds me of the many recitals and concerts I took part in and did my best to bring out of the piece what the composer intended. Whether it was playing in a symphonic band, holding my own in a quintet, or just blowing long tones in a practice room, just the fact that I put horn to face was something great.

I took this photo of the F-attachment linkage on my horn and thought it made a neat subject. The stark contrast of the horn against the white drapery made it stand out very well. One challenge I want to try and achieve would be to do a self portrait of me playing it and that may result in a future blog posting. For the time being, the memories I have of those playing days and the ones I make by playing new things will make do.

Light it up

2011-10-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of enjoyment to drive down a darkened street and see a house that is completely decked out with lights, yard decor, and other festive thematic stuff to mark the occasion. Whether it's a giant, inflatable Santa guarding the front door or an oversized, furry tarantula laying claim to the front yard, it is almost an art form with all of the different ways people celebrate the holidays. Stringing lights is one of the things that I have struggled with when it comes to sprucing up the house to announce the upcoming holiday. It's almost as if I need an advance degree in geometry, physics, and calculus in order to compute the angles, length, and area of the windows as it relates to the lighted length of the string of lights that is to be put up. I successfully decorated our front windows this year with some orange mini-lights, fabric pumpkin lights, and an interesting spider web light fixture as well. Today, I wanted to see what kind of picture I could take of the lights outside. Moving around them, inside and out, I tried all sorts of angles to get a neat photograph. This one, I got underneath the window and shot up and wanted to see what it would like if a whole cluster of lights were in the shot. Interestingly enough, I focused on one light and saw a neat picture unfold with the out of focus light bursts giving a bit of depth to the photograph. With only a few days left until Halloween, I look forward to catching the ghosts and ghouls of the night walking around collecting copious amounts of great tasting sweets and enamel destroying chocolates.

Ties that bind

2011-10-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

I'm no John McEnroe, nor can I claim to be anywhere close to being a junior varsity tennis player. I can count on one hand the number of times I have played a game of tennis and less than that the number of times I actually completed one. When I first attempted to swing a racquet, the ball rocketed over the top of the high fence and resembled more of a home run hit than a controlled volley back to my opponent. The equipment used in the game confused me a lot, until I began working for a sporting goods store a few years ago and learned quite a lot about the game. Pressurized balls, polycarbonate racquet construction, and even stringing a racquet suddenly became part of my daily vocabulary and routine, creating a brand new obsession and appreciation for a sport I was unfamiliar with.

Simple objects can paint an interesting scene when photographed which is how I interpreted the knot structure on the tennis net at the park close to home. While the air was quite crisp and the skies were covered with clouds, taking the pictures in that environment didn't seem to be an issue at all. The contrast of the tennis net against the grey backdrop actually seemed to help out the setting as I framed the shot. It's times like this which gives me a lot of motivation to explore more ways to take ordinary pictures and turn them into extraordinary stories.

Oh my gourd!

2011-10-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Gardens, in my opinion, are used primarily for the growing of vegetables and plants that would taste great in a freshly made salad, garnishing a nice steak, or maturing in a canned sauce in a dark pantry. I have never really seen gourds being grown, rather just the product afterwards: a dried out, hard, colorless shell that works great for baby rattles. They are everywhere hanging up on walls and have never really appealed to my tastes for decor. My perceptions; however, all changed when I saw this beautiful cart full of gourds of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Yellow, orange, green, and red gourds filled this rickety cart and painted an amazing palette for autumn. Turned over as if filling the bamboo basket, I was quickly reminded just how Mother Nature continues to amaze. Each one had it's own characteristics with bumpy warts on the outer shell and necks that twisted all around. The long stems and star shapes made me imagine them being turned into hummingbird models or a kiwi bird sculpture. All of a sudden, my entire outlook on how gourds are grown, harvested, and utilized was transformed into how artists can turn them into an amazing animal out of a normal vegetable. Quite possibly, I may just open part of my garden space next year and plant a few gourd plants and create a color palette all my own.

A Titan-ic rollercoaster

2011-10-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I can't remember ever being so devoted to a sports team that I am to the Tennessee Titans. Sure, I had my collegiate allegiances to my alma maters and the old high school and elementary school spirit, but I haven't had the emotional attachment to any one team. Maybe it was because the closest pro team was hundreds of miles away in Atlanta or St. Louis, or I was always doing other things in the neighborhood, or because it didn't interest me at the time. Whatever the reason, I didn't start following any team until the Houston Oilers packed up and moved to Tennessee. The first few years of their existence, they had no real home field to play in and the underdog mentality was fierce. After building an impressive stadium on the banks of the river I grew up watching as a kid, they had a home and a big following. I remember then that the Titans could do no wrong; the players and coaches alike were celebrities among men and their autographs were highly sought after. Now, many years after the relocation, I feel the ups and downs of any sports fan and it can either bring great excitement or terribly agony after a weekly game. While I can't boast to fans of other sports teams of the Titans' many Super Bowl trophies, the high number of future Hall of Fame inductees, or the division champion banners hanging from the rafters of the stadium, I proudly sport my Titan blue colors whenever I can and will gladly discuss the outcome of any game that might have gone our way.

That's a-maize-ing!

2011-10-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

We went out to our favorite "pick-your-own" farm today to enjoy the corn maze before it gets plowed under to make way for next year. While the corn stalks were dried out and falling over, it still had that strange feeling of being lost and your bearings being all out of whack. It was a bit unseasonably warm today which made it very comfortable to be out in the middle of the field not knowing where we were. What made it more fun was that the farm had positioned five little "roaming gnomes" around the maze and had the kids search for them. If they found all five and remembered their names, an ear of indian corn was their prize. Of course, since they had an endless supply of the afore-mentioned corn, basically any kid could just walk up and get one just for being there. All-in-all, we did our best and Olivia found four of the gnomes. One of them was extremely adept at not wanting to be found so we couldn't find that one.

I snapped this shot of her as she found the first one and initially thought it wouldn't come out. She moved quickly during the shot and had a scowl on her face as she just wanted to keep going. Surprisingly, after seeing the pictures, she has a great look to her and her eyes are very striking as well. Another one of those neat pictures taken when I was doubting my ability. We had a great time and can't wait until the one for next year. Hopefully, we will get there while the stalks are green and it's quite a bit harder to find your way out. I doubt, thought, we'll call 9-1-1 if we get lost.

Agony of de-feet

2011-10-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

I had every intention this evening, as I went out in our front seasons room, to photo-document the "raising of the lights" that I worked so diligently on today for the Halloween season. Proud as I was of the job that I did in stringing a couple hundred lights and mounting them on the outside windows, I couldn't quite get the picture right to go with the story I wanted to tell. I mean, we have some neat lights out there: some fabric pumpkins, a spider web, along with the standard orange-colored mini lights on a string. As I was trying to get a shot of one of the pumpkins, a sign we have hanging on the wall kept precariously moving itself to get in the picture. No matter what angle I tried, that pesky "Home" sign wouldn't let up. Finally, I gave in and began shooting it so the darn thing could rest easy. It was like a model shoot as I walked around it, shot it from above, both sides, and below, all the while motivating it with all sorts of praises and accolades. Inspired by all those Corona commercials, and some neat photos I've seen centered around vacations and sunny back yards, I lay down underneath it, took off my socks, and shot my own feet propped up against the wall. One of the neat things about it is the fact that the sign is metallic black and it contrasts really well against the white plaster wall that is in that room. Of course, while I would like to think that I have the feet of an angel, I am sure some would agree that a pedicure should be in my very near future.

Got Milk-weed?

2011-10-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

One of the neatest things about the changing of the seasons is the strange beauty of the leaves falling off the trees, the grass changing colors, and the flowers and plants losing their luster and expelling all their seeds to continue the circle of life. It's odd at the same time because all this beauty comes essentially from the death of everything. Strange as that may seem, it starts to bring a pretty picture to all those trees void of leaves or fields of corn plowed down. Soon, all those empty fields and barren branches will be filled with blankets of white snow and the only color that we will see will be white.

This is a picture of a milkweed expending it's seeds inside that I took at the prairie site here in town. Since there wasn't a lot of color to balance it out, I wanted to transfer it to a black and white setting and I think it really brought out the texture of the seeds. Interestingly enough, with the windy weather we've had the past few days, not long after this picture was snapped, the wind picked up and blew most of those seeds away. Truly a lucky shot which, I have discovered, have been one of many that have fallen into my lap these past couple of months.

The lineup

2011-10-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

No matter where I've lived or been, it seems that everyone said at one point, "Close only counts in horseshoes and cigars." Whether or not that is true, the horseshoe reference hits a bit close to home, because I happen to live in a place where there are actual horseshoe throwing leagues and they definitely love their sport. Anywhere you go in town, there are fields set up with dozens of horseshoe pins and the local Moose lodge apparently hosts many different tournaments throughout the year. I've learned that there are weighted shoes that you use for different situations and training techniques so that your throws are on target every time. It's almost like there is a Major League of Horseshoe Throwing to compete alongside the Adult Dodgeball League or the Kickball Sports of America.

I found this horseshoe field, court, or course, or whatever it's called, at the park and wanted to try and take some interesting shots of things that were quite ordinary. Thinking that it would be a cool way to show the pins, I set them up in a lineup of sorts and captured it in the best way I could think of. The clanging of the metal shoes against the pins was playing in my mind as I imagined what it must be like to be part of a tournament that I'm sure involves a lot of beer, wings, and extremely colorful language.

Ducknapped

2011-10-19T06:11:00.000-07:00

I would like to think that I was born with a pretty good sense of humor. Not too crazy, not very offensive, and just silly enough to be funny. When I see things that could possibly have another meaning, it's fun to try and make a little fun about the situation to bring in a bit of that humor to it. At the neighborhood pool, there are two areas making up the complex: an adult, olympic-size swimming pool and a smaller kid-size wading area. In the wading pool are several fountains, one being a oversized rubber ducky that spouts water from its beak and has a slide going down its back. With the seasons changing and the cooler weather coming fast upon us, the city drained the pool and began to batten down the hatches, so to speak, on the fountains in the pool. Wrapping the duck in a tarp and plastic, it made a kind of funny picture of an oversized duck being held for ransom by some evil, oversized kid looking to cash in on a jar of cookies or something. I can almost read the letter now:

If You waNT to See THe duCKY aliVe agaIN, SenD 1o0 freShlY made CHOColaTe chIp cooKIEs and twO glASSes of chocoLAte MILK in AN UNMarked SippY cuP aNd plaIn cookIe JAr. DroP ofF at the Chuck-E-CHEesE beForE mY BEdtiMe aT 7:30.

Trophies

2011-10-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

At the entrance to our neighborhood recreation park and pool stands a relic from a war fought so many years ago. I never realized what it was there for, nor the history behind it, so I figured that today would be a good day to study it. Walking around the 6-pounder gun for a little bit taking a few pictures, I noticed a plaque that said it was a trophy from the Spanish ship "Infanta Maria Teresa" taken from the Battle of Santiago near Cuba in the Spanish-American War. It was the flagship of the Spanish navy and it led a last-ditch effort to break the American blockade of the ports and escape, but not before destroying as many ships as she could before she left. Unfortunately for the ship and the crew, the American navy was better equipped and fired all of their guns at the Maria Teresa over several hours, crippling the ship and causing it to turn and retreat toward the safety of the Cuban beaches. The defeated captain scuttled the ship and allowed his men to escape into Cuba, exposing them to the native residents tiring of the war. After the Americans confiscated the ship, they attempted to renovate it, but to no avail. As with any victory in war, pieces of the ship were sent to cities around the country to display as trophies, one being sent here to Monroe.

I took this photo of part of the gun that had a barbed-wire connection and thought it was pretty interesting. Whether it was part of the original piece, or a support piece that was added later, it made me think of how that image of the wire is a reference to those held as POW's. Kind of brought the experience full circle after doing a bit of research to where the gun came from in the first place. While not a trophy I would want, it's a piece of naval history that documented one country's fight to survive along with a captain's drive to escape by all means necessary.

Who Arted?

2011-10-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Our daughter has always had a gift for creativity, probably inherited from her parents, but has blossomed in her own way. She consistently goes for the paper and crayons to make stories, write books, or illustrate pictures of her family. She loves to sing, making up words to everyday songs, entertaining us along the way. There have been pieces of her art hanging in the city library, on the wall of the neighborhood gas station, and on our family refrigerator of course. A few contests have gone her way, either at the hair salon or at my workplace where she's won assorted prizes and gifts that she had more than deserved. During the first few days of moving into our house here in Monroe, we had a great friend come and get her for a few hours so we could work on getting things in and out quicker. During her stay, she painted a pretty good portrait of the sun pushing it's way in the sky amongst the clouds. Very colorful and thought out, she completed it with her name, forever cementing her place in the art world. I took this picture today, as we have several of her pieces in our front four-seasons room, like the flower pot she made for Mothers' Day and a birdhouse constructed during one of her kids' days at The Home Depot. Thinking that it would make a neat shot with her name on her masterpiece, I snapped this picture and hoped to include a piece of the birdhouse too. When the time comes around, I can almost be certain to hear about an original "Olivia" to be auctioned off at Christie's, that was painted during her "formative" years.

The story of Dracu-Laura

2011-10-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

My daughter was talking about a doll for the past couple of days because one of her friends at her after-school care had them. Because of the quickly approaching costume and fright season, they must be the most sought after toy since the Furby. Okay, maybe they aren't that hot, but they're still pretty neat and a must have for my 7 year-old. Barely able to contain herself, my daughter was chomping at the bit to get her "Monster High Dracu-laura" doll last night after dinner. Not one to be completely satisfied with just one doll, she had to go get her new toy a companion today so they would be able to roam the night together. And, so she could one-up her friend at after-school care with an extra doll she didn't have. Tonight, she helped me with my blog and suggested we take some pictures of her outside next to our halloween decor. After taking a few, I found this one to be pretty cool in that the entire background is blacked out, due to the low lighting and the external flash I was using. The colors she has are quite vibrant and I did very little editing to the picture. In fact, I didn't enhance the colors at all, just cleaned it up a little bit. All you Christmas gift givers out there, she has decided she wants the whole collection and all the beds and accessories they come with. Now that is certainly trying to "keep up with the Joneses".

Release the hound!

2011-10-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

Today was the 17th annual Greyhound Gala gathering sponsored and hosted by the GPA of Wisconsin and is their biggest fundraiser and celebration of the year. I have been the past two years before this and it seems like it gets so much bigger each time. Hundreds of greyhound owners and their beloved pets get together to socialize, reminisce, and talk about all things hounds. There are vendors selling collars, beds, leashes, and dog coats along with the groomers there clipping nails, brushing teeth, and giving full body doggie massages. Games are played all around and usually my grey participates in all of them. However, he either had some performance anxiety or he has become so used to retirement, he forgot what he did before he came to us. There was a kind of apple bobbing game that was tweaked a little bit to be "bobbing for hot dogs". I watched a couple of doggies attempt to catch the wiener before it hit the bottom of the dish, but they backed off as soon as their nose got wet. My dog wouldn't go near the bowl and had nothing to do with the bit of hot dog offered as a reward.

The pinnacle of the event is the aptly named "radar run". An area is set up outside where your dog is released and it runs toward the sound of a squawker, an instrument with a sound like a rabbit in distress used to lure greyhounds. I watched dogs run down that strip of land like they had just got off the track. Some were clocked at an amazing 45 mph and others were topping the high 30's with ease. Confident in my hound, I entered the run and let him do his thing. As the squawker started to bleat, he just casually made his way down the run, trotting to a scorching 27 miles an hour. I realized then, that he is more comfortable wasting the day away lying on the couch where the only place he has to run is in his dreams.

Throw the dog a Bone

2011-10-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

I dragged out my trombone today and had to brush off the dust on the ole chops to practice a little bit. Scales, long tones, breathing exercises, etc. were on the menu as I must have made the neighbors wonder what cow had been lured into my house to die. Amazingly, after not playing daily as I did many years ago, the muscle memory sprang back to life and I was belting out excerpts from "Blue Bells of Scotland", "Flight of the Bumblebee", and the trombone part in the Tennessee Tech Fight Song (Go Golden Eagles!). Well, maybe just the fight song part, but the memories came flooding back. It was fun to delve into an improvised dixieland tune or just tinker around with circular breathing, triple tonguing, or breath control. I would like to think that I could step back into the band ranks and carry my own against all those up and coming guys and gals ripping out the t-bone riffs.

I stopped briefly to catch my breath, get a drink to quench my parched mouth, and to massage my lips when I thought it would be a neat picture if I snapped my instrument on it's stand. When I walked around it, using a variety of different lenses, I saw an opportunity to catch my dog patiently listening on the chair through the bell of my trombone. The natural lighting through the window helped out and an added bonus was the panoramic capture of the room in the background. Picking up the horn again, I could only imagine being back on the recital stage and my dog was the ever-present and extremely forgiving audience I once played for.

Foggy Bottom

2011-10-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

This morning, a gift was delivered to me that I gobbled up like a hungry bear. With the rainy weather we had last night and all day yesterday, the ground was saturated with moisture ad the temps got a bit cooler this morning than it was the day before. That created a pretty thick fog that lay over the town today like a blanket. Therefore, my subject was going to be pretty clear to me. A couple of spots here in Monroe make great backdrops for fog photographs and I tried to get to them as quickly as I could after dropping off my daughter at school. This is at the train tracks leading out of town and I was fortunate enough that the fog had not yet lifted when I got there. While not a soupy, thick fog that I love to shoot, this one still enabled me to paint a picture of what the mind thinks lies beyond it. I thought back to a scene in my head when I was doing a Civil War reenactment at Shiloh National Military Park earlier this year. A film studio was shooting a movie there that I was a part of, and the scene was that of soldiers emerging through the thick smoke of cannon fire. I watched as it unfolded and the smoke was so thick, you couldn't see your hand in front of you. As the director yelled "action", I watched in eerily silence when all of a sudden, the shadows began to take shape in front of me as the profiles of the soldiers came into view. The steely, blue color of this fog makes it just as mysterious as that scene and relates well to the month of October as the fright season is upon us.

peek-a- BOO!

2011-10-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite holidays of the year, strictly from the thematic aspect, is Halloween. It is exciting to decorate the house and light up the windows to display my inner child's hunger for all things spooky. I will never be accused of being one of those neighbors who suck power directly from the transfer station to light up their million lights, but my family can always count on me to transform the front porch or windows into my own personal horror show. While I would love to drop an entire year's salary on decorations, the ones I do get still have a bit of our humor in them. This year we put out some decorated garden stakes that we got shortly after we moved in last August, along with many other bats, spiders, and lights. One of them is a pumpkin stake that has those googly eyes everyone loves to see. I took this picture today and thought of the "Kilroy" reference made popular from an earlier episode of M*A*S*H. Framing the shot, I imagined a couple of little pumpkin hands holding on the bottom of the frame as if looking it. The colors were quite vibrant as well when the sun decided to shine from behind the clouds that had been overhead all day long. With over half of the month over, I am sure that there will plenty more Halloween themes to shoot and blog about.

I see you

2011-10-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

Some of the neatest photos, in my opinion, are the ones that are of other people taking photos of the photographer. Most of the time, I've never been able to capture a good picture like this because either the camera is out of focus, or the lighting doesn't quite work, or I can't focus on the person right. The best part of this; however, is that my wife is as much of a photography enthusiast as me and we have a great time shooting together. We've taken thousands of pictures and usually try to "one-up" the other one with that one great shot. The ongoing joke is that there's never going to be another great one like the "microphone" photo. Long story short, we had made a trip to Sun Studios on our anniversary several years ago and we were shooting photos during the tour. She took an amazing picture of the microphone that Elvis, Cash, Lewis, and others sang in, and the lighting was low. There was a shadow cast over it that made it seem like it jumped out of the darkness and the impact was pretty good. That said, it's been a standard bearer for most of our photo shoots.

I took this one not knowing what would become of it and the one she took of me wasn't all that great. However, in editing the picture, I noticed that you could make out the trees behind me in the camera lens and an ever-so-faint image of me and my camera as well. I like how the focus is on the lens glass itself and she is blurred out as if a secondary subject. I really enjoy accidental photos like this and every time I take them it continues to feed my appetite. However, I have quite a long way to go if I want to replicate the infamous microphone.

With honor

2011-10-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Just north of town sits a small park, used primarily as meeting spaces for family reunions, corporate cookouts, or small and intimate picnics. On the land is a large tank that stands guard to the park, as well as marks the spot where a veterans' memorial will soon stand. Sometime in the future, there will be a space for those who served and gave the ultimate sacrifice will be honored with a walkway, obelisk, and other items of remembrance. There's not a day goes by when I don't think about how lucky I am to be living in a place where perfect strangers defend my rights and allow me to be free. Friends and family alike have served, or are serving, and there's no question that they are some of the most powerful superheroes that comic books wish they could write about.

I went there this morning and wanted to capture both the rusting tank in a flattering way as well as incorporating the flag for the symbolism. While the rising sun was playing havoc with casting shadows everywhere in the tall trees, I was able to get this one that showed both the tank, Army logo, and the flag standing tall behind it. Interestingly enough, when I was out there this morning, there was a breeze that was blowing leaves around, but just before I took this picture, the wind died down just briefly enough to let me know it was okay. A moving tribute from Mother Nature to honor her troops.

Biketober

2011-10-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

There's a saying here in WI, as I am sure is true everywhere, that if you don't like the weather, "wait 10 minutes". While the waiting period has come and gone, our weather here has been as enjoyable as ever. Sunny, warm days with low humidity, clear skies and cool nights with a slight breeze to add just a bit of crispness to the air. It's almost as if Mother Nature is playing a little tease game with us, telling us to enjoy it while we can because there is a storm a-brewin' come November and the winter. Today was a perfect day to take my daughter over to the church parking lot, let her ride her bike, and be the subject of my ever-present camera.

She rode around and around in giant circles, did figure eights, and practiced braking with the hand brake as she honed her skills in anticipation of the removal of her training wheels. We had to stop every now and then while a car passed through and I had the perfect opportunity to snap this shot of her. As we waited, she struck her perfect "rock star" pose on the back of her bike for me and it was pretty good. It took a little bit of coaxing, since she has become a 7-year old going on 16, but what transpired made the effort that much more worthwhile. It's great to be able to have cooperating weather along with a kid who likes to have fun in order to make a picture come alive.

The child

2011-10-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
   and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
   I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
   your walls are ever before me." Isaiah 49:15-16

Just down the street from our house is St. Victor Catholic Church and school and a statue devoted to the children of the parish. It has a relief of a toddler being cuddled in a large hand, probably the hand of God. This is another one of the many woodcarvings located around the area that have a meaning to the people who have commissioned them. I've always walked past it when training my daughter how to ride a bike in the parking lot there and figured that it was just a meaningless statue for the kids at school. Today, as I wondered how to frame the shot, I saw the bible passage on the base, hidden by fallen leaves and underbrush. When I hear the children playing and having a good time on the playground during the week, shouts of joy and excitement filling the air, there is a bit of comfort to know that they are being cared for by the watchful eyes of the teachers and being soothed by the hand of God.

Ollie up

2011-10-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

I've never been a "skater" although I have attempted to operate a skateboard once in my life. Let's just say that it turned out pretty much like my one motorcycle driving attempt, which I fell almost immediately after starting off. My brothers were into it when they were younger and it amazed me what they could do with the board. Jumping over rails, sliding along the street curbs, or just flipping the board around with their feet was like watching a professional honing their craft. Of course, wherever I went there were numerous signs warning those skating that it was not welcome in that particular place, from threats of arrest if found skating to financial punishment if the warnings were not heeded. The whole culture of the early skating world influenced quite a bit of the fashion world with the loose clothing that would hide the not-so-cool padding and guards.

There is a skate park here in Monroe that encourages the local skateboarders and rollerbladers to hone their skills and have fun. I discovered it when I was driving around and found the prairie subject in an earlier blog post. I started walking around looking for the good angles and shadow placements when I found this rail and laid down on the ground to get the perspective. The shadows cast from the rising sun along with the contrails in the sky from the airplanes framed it quite nicely. It peaked my imagination a little bit as I visioned a skater jumping over me and becoming part of the shot.

Cow Town

2011-10-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

It's no big secret that we here in Wisconsin love our cheese in more ways than most people love their families. There are shrines made for this dairy delectable with the Foamation cheeseheads seen around the state, cities named after cheese types (or the other way around: think Colby, WI), even one cheese production facility devoted to the creation of Limburger cheese, the only one in the US. Amazingly enough, there is a festival dedicated to the celebration of cheese that is so large, it only happens every two years and has it's own king and queen. Three of the largest employers in Monroe are cheese manufacturers and make up quite a lot of the community supporters in the area. To top it off, the high school's mascot is a cheese maker, so the devotion to cheese is hard to ignore when living here. We have a visitor center that is a museum to the art of cheese making and a place to see all of the early instruments and equipment that was used for that art. On the property stands a caboose and a small house that once made cheese in the early 1900's. A neat feature is a cow statue which is one of many dotted around Monroe and Green County that documents different industries for the area. The one I shot today is nicknamed "Honey Belle" and she's dressed in the typical dairy farmers' uniform: checked shirt, overalls, and a stylish trucker's cap looking the part. She stands at the entrance as if like a hostess inviting the visitor to the experience of cheese. When you drive past the center, if you turn the radio down, slow to a crawl, and hang your head out the window, you can almost hear that cow beckoning you to come in and celebrate the passion of the dairyland.

Taking Stock

2011-10-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

The fairgrounds here in Monroe and Green County are not the largest ones by far here in the area, nor in the state, but they have a bit of character to them all their own. The grandstand area is kind of an interesting structure in that you actually enter them from below. There are many different out-buildings on site housing the 4-H groups, camping offices, and agricultural industries here in town. On most days, the grounds are deserted, only the animals of the neighborhood reside in its recesses. An earlier trip directed me to the several barn quilts that dot the buildings here and gave me a good subject to document. Today, I decided to capture the livestock buildings as the day began to break over the horizon. The shadows that were cast over the windows and under the awning drew some neat lines as well as gave some interesting depth to the overall picture. While the building is bustling with activity during August and sounds of pigs, chickens, and cows are heard over the auctioneers singing the bids out, it was quite calm this morning. I stood there taking the pictures and could almost hear that musical baritone voice exciting the crowd and parting them from their hard-earned cash to get their hands on the newest prized show turkey.

Comfort and Joy

2011-10-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Everyone in their lifetime has had some article that they've clung to for support when they're scared, lonely, hungry, or sad. Some have had blankets, others had pieces of clothes, still others had small statues of religious icons. I grew up with a doll I got as a 3-year old named Joey. I never went anywhere without him as a young boy, taking him with me on camping trips, weekend excursions to the country, and back and forth to school. I cut his hair thinking it would grow back, I washed him after he became sodden with mud from a romp in a giant puddle, and I thought he might look better in cleaner clothes. Of course, all this did was make him look more weathered and antique, but he was still "Joey" to me, clean as the day I got him. Now, I still have him, but my articles of comfort and joy are geared more toward humanistic things. Seeing my daughter light up when she gets a surprise in her lunch or hearing the happiness in my wife's voice when a moment at work goes her way.

My daughter's comforting toy is her stuffed rabbit that she got when she was about the age I got my Joey. It goes everywhere with her, sleeps with her, and has taken numerous trips through the washing machine. We have taken it across the country on our different moves and it has always had a seat right next to her in the car. It has a place of prominence in her hierarchy of stuffed toys and may never leave her side. As she gets older, I am sure her rabbit may one day become part of the items slated to be stored forever in her tupperware totes, but as of right now, it gives me comfort to watch her enjoy the friendship she has with it.

Colors

2011-10-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

With the changing of the seasons now upon us, I am sure that this won't be the only entry where I dedicate a photo to the amazing fall colors that our senses are treated to. The leaves are turning warm shades of oranges and reds and the air has the scent and feeling of a winter's wrath about to strike. All throughout the city and the surrounding area, tree-lined streets and avenues are being painted these warm hues by Mother Nature and almost tell those iconic Norman Rockwell stories of Americana. Today, I decided to make a trip to one of the parks near my daughter's school after dropping her off to see what would transpire. The sun's direction was very cooperative with me as I wanted to try and capture the warm hues of the different trees all around me.

This season reminds me of when I was younger and the streets of my neighborhood were always filled with piles of fallen leaves. We would run from across the yard and dive head first into them, showering the street with them and aggravating the adults who would summarily throw a rake in our direction to clean up our mess. That eventually turned into driving through them at top speed and splashing them back into the yards they came from. These are the experiences I am excited to watch my daughter do as we begin the task of cleaning up those leaves from our yard and piling them into the street, hoping that nobody decides to splash them back onto my lawn like I did so many years ago.

History living

2011-10-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today I went with a coworker down to the small city of Stockton, Illinois where the local chapter of the NRA and another Civil War reenacting group hosted the annual Battle of Morseville. While you won't find this skirmish in any history books, because it never took place, it has been fought every year for the past 11 years in a fictional turn of events. It usually takes place on the first weekend of October and has artillery, cavalry, and infantry battling each other for control of the fictional Morseville Pike. Today, cannon fire rained down powder across the field while the infantry units attempted to out-flank the others, all taking heavy casualties. The rebel cavalry units tried to launch a sneak attack on their Union counterparts, to no avail, costing several lives. After several grueling charges and counterattacks, the Rebel forces negotiated a cease fire with the Union commander, ending the bloodshed and turmoil of the nearly 20 minute fight.

I've been involved in a lot of living history events and reenactments, but this one was unique. It was special because the patriarch of the family that owned the farm with the surrounding land specifically put this part of his farm aside for the strict use of telling the story of the Civil War. Several times a year, living history events are set up there at the farm culminating in the big battle that happens this weekend. While the rest of the farm is used for soybean and corn production, this is a fine example of one family's quest to assist with the education of all those who choose to immerse themselves in the history and legacy of our ancestors.

Rein-deere Games

2011-10-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

Everyone has a road trip game they play in order to pass the time and keep a sense of sanity in the car so that nobody's nose becomes bloody from a fight. Growing up, I remember playing license plate bingo, attempting to be the first to get all the states on our way from Nashville, TN to Charlotte, NC. There was the infamous "Slug Bug" game that was played whenever an old VW bug would cross our paths. We tried to count counties, look for rivers, and countless other mind numbing activities to keep us occupied. You couldn't drive 10 miles in any direction in TN without seeing one of the famous "See Rock City" signs emblazoned on the rooftops of rural barns, and that was turned into a game. We began to play a game driving back and forth from Madison, WI simply called the "John Deere game". We would scan the horizon and call out the John Deere tractors, combines, lawnmowers, or yard ornaments that had the iconic logo and green colors. Of course, the one with the most points for sightings always won, sometimes the extra person in the car giving their points to the losing one for extra help.

I used to always attempt a big win when coming back into town because of the dealership that is on the outskirts. Lots of JD implements sit there waiting for a new owner, and because I'm a bit taller than my daughter, I would always see them first. Shouting out a "John Deere 10,000 points" would typically help me win the game and start a rivalry that would fester until the next trip out. I went by today and used the setting sun to try and give me some good backlight for taking this picture. With a pretty neat shot of the sun shining in its window, I really enjoyed the colors that this tractor gave me for the shot. Of course, now that I have snapped this photo, when our next trip begins, I can reach back into my blog and claim one more John Deere point.

Beep-beep

2011-09-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

Around 1906, a family began farming on a large tract of land just north of the Monroe city limits, just over 50 years after the state of WI was admitted to the Union. Corn, soybeans, and dairy cows were the main cash crop of the day and today acres upon acres of corn grows as far as the eye can see ready for the fall harvest. An amazing and colorful barn quilt also graces the machine shed that is on the property but that is not going to be the subject of this entry today. Located around the borders of the fields are numerous mechanical structures made from scrap metal, but serve as artistic structures either displayed as statues or elaborate Rube-Goldberg devices. The Waelti family has built these pieces of art for as long as anyone I know here can remember and tend to add to the collection every now and then. When we first moved to Monroe, it would be a game for our family to find all the structures during a trip to the store or whatnot.

I went out this morning, as I wanted to find some good shots of the changing leaves that we are enjoying right now, and drove past the place I wanted to stop initially. I drove down the road a little bit to look for a place to turn around and came up on the Waelti farm with all of the structures taking their place alongside the road. This structure is a road runner built as an airplane looking like it can take flight at any time. I took the photo and was pleasantly surprised to see that the sky had a very vibrant shade of blue which served as a great backdrop to the colors of the bird's head. Looks like Wile-e-coyote missed out on another chance of catching his dinner.

Bye bye, birdie

2011-09-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

I wrote in an earlier blog about how the city of Monroe decided to make an attraction on our town square that would be a focal point for tourists coming through and a conversation piece for our fellow neighbors. The aptly entitled "Zoo on the Square" proved to be a giant hit in both the aesthetic use of art and a great meeting place for kids and adults alike. All of the animals represented were fashioned out of single trunks of wood by our local artist/celebrity Zoli the Woodcarver and each one was financially adopted by local businesses and residents. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. This weekend will mark the last one that the "zoo" will be up and running as all the animals will be removed to prepare for the upcoming winter season.

This morning, I wanted to try and capture some interesting moments through the eyes of a child as they would walk around the square. I used the animals as more of a frame than the actual subject and attempted to get a shot of the square and things on it. Using my earlier challenge of the courthouse, it only made sense as I sat on the sidewalk and saw the building through the heart shape of the affectionate flamingos. The rising sun allowed me to match the colors of the animals, the changing hues of the trees on the square, and the warm tones of the brick building in the background. I will definitely miss the animals along with the excitement of attempting to find the elusive wood owl that constantly moved from perch to perch, playing hide and seek with kids of all ages.

Quilt it!

2011-09-28T06:55:00.000-07:00

Driving through Green County, you would probably look at the farms as just another part of the landscape, only noting the vast stretches of soybeans, corn, and pumpkin patches that continue well past the horizon. Situated on those same farms are the barns that house everything from apples to livestock, built from timber, concrete, or even some sheet metal structures for farm implements. While they may be part of the scenery, 50 or so have a bit of extra decoration on them to set them apart and tell a story about what farm you are on. Barn quilts have been a part of our heritage for many decades with some of the earliest examples coming from the back country Appalachian families who placed them on their barns so a wayward traveler would know where they were and who the family was. They are found throughout the midwest, some in Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, and other places as well, and now serve more as a personalized "license plate" of the homestead. There is actually a tour that has been initiated so you can drive around Green County and see all of the unique quilts that have been erected on barns and buildings throughout.

I took this photo at the Green County Fairgrounds this morning actually quite by accident. I wanted to take some pictures of the livestock shed, as it has always intrigued me, but since the sun was finally coming out after a couple days of rainy, overcast days, it shone on the brilliant colors of this particular quilt, entitled "County Fair". I really enjoy the geometric patterns that it has along with the alternating warm and cool hues that leave a treat for the senses.

Pause and ponder

2011-09-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

So, I am going to be probably the first person to openly admit that I am plagiarizing. I am lifting a part of a quote I saw today for my blog entry title, so if the copyright police are reading, you can pronounce me "guilty as charged". In all seriousness, I decided to drive out to the city's cemetery today to capture some poignant moments as the sun finally began coming through the clouds. I thought that I had seen a lot of the grounds, with the Memorial Day events and other gatherings I've been a part of there, but I suppose I had overlooked some. Situated in the same area is the Catholic Calvary Cemetery of St. Victor Parish and I saw a beautiful monument in the middle of the grounds. Curious, I decided to walk up and take a shot or two of the statuary and figure out what it was dedicated to. As I walked around the statues, I was moved to find out that it was erected to remember both the babies that passed away suddenly along with those that had never made the journey to birth. I felt even more close to my daughter at that moment and gave thanks to a life of health and joy that she is enjoying, while remembering those family members and friends that have lost little ones way too soon.

"Oh ye, who tread along the path pause and ponder if one's sorrow is as great as my sorrow."

School Daze

2011-09-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

Dropping my daughter off at school this morning got me wondering and thinking about what it was like when I went to elementary school. While the total distance from our house to her school is much shorter than from my house as a kid to my school, it's a bit of a different world and I would never think of letting her walk by herself, at least until she's about 21. She has always been one to adapt quickly and not a day goes by that I drop her off and she sees another student she knows, instantly starts up a conversation, and walks away without the thought of saying good-bye to me. I remember when I would walk to school, sometimes with my older sis, a classmate in my neighborhood, or by myself, and I'd stop by one of the stores along the way to feed my fix for Sixlets, Now-n-Laters, Moon Pies, or the like. I can drive by the neighborhood these days, when I'm near, and recount the stories of houses that caught fire or where the haunted ones were. I vaguely remember going in early sometimes to catch a breakfast meal and then going on to class. Third grade was the last year I went to that particular school and when the next school year began, my new school was miles away and required car transportation to get there. But the memories of walking to and from school would stick with me for a long time.

My daughter's school is great, and I love that she has begun making the memories that she will remember like I have. I wanted to include this picture, because as I have learned about the "lines" a picture requires, it shows her school name and a bit of a friendly welcoming to those coming there for the first time. Hearing her talk to her friends in the morning as she makes her way down the sidewalk from the car reminds me of those childhood friends, walking to school with our dreams filling our young minds, shaping the way we would carry ourselves all those years later.

Birth

2011-09-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

The Spanish Moss Rose is a pretty unique flower in that during the evening hours, it folds itself back up into the bud and almost looks like it has died. When the morning sun comes out and warms up the plant, the flower is reborn; blossoming out into an astounding yellow rose oozing with life as it it was the first day on this earth. While autumn is usually the time that we start to end the year's activities through excavating our garden plants, mowing the lawn for the last time, or covering the windows to combat the impending winter chill, it is also a time that the colors and themes of fall are born again. Our eyes and noses are treated to the sights and smells of fall each day when the pumpkins, apples, and other fall produce are brought in to bake those wonderful pies and pastries.

Births are also attributed to fall, as many in my family have been born this season. My wife was born in October along with my niece in Alabama. While my brother's and sister's birthday in August isn't technically autumn, I'll include them in this as well. The newest member of our extended family came earlier this week when my baby sister and her boyfriend brought their first boy into this world. An amazing little bundle of joy that happened to grace the world with his presence at the very time our seasons were changing during the autumnal equinox. While the season hints to the beginning of a long hibernation, in my sister's world, and ours as well, it signifies the beginning of new life and the present of a beautiful, healthy, new baby boy.

Catch that train!

2011-09-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

Miniature trains are probably one of the coolest things to watch, especially when they are constructed on such a large scale that you can imagine yourself in that particular scene. It's neat to see trains that have a circus theme, almost lifelike, as the train makes its way through the countryside on the way to the next town for a big top show. My favorite are the ones that are historical and show things from real life, like the military trains that took our doughboys across the country during WW1 and the ones that brought much needed supplies to the western part of the US during the dust bowl. The people that make this their hobby are just as unique as the trains themselves. Old and young alike almost salivate when the subject is the train they are working on and the stories about how they were inspired to make them are just as memorable.

I took my daughter today to the train show here in Monroe and we were both amazed at the size of some of the sets. I could not believe the detail that went into a lot of the smaller-scale trains that were built from actual train routes and used topography from the actual landscapes they went through. Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin routes were all represented along with historical data about the trains that served them. While my train hobby won't mature past the oval track I put around the Christmas tree each year, it's nice to see the fruits of the labor of the countless engineers that make this their labor of love.