A New Location After work today I spent time with family and friends along the Wapsipinicon River in a location I have not been to before. Weather conditions were nearly ideal for relaxing along the river and around the fire. It was fun to spend time with good friends and family. Wapsipinicon River …
Thou Shalt Not Self-Deploy In case you did not see the news late this afternoon, tornadoes did damage to Bondurant, Pella, and Marshalltown this afternoon. I would expect less populated areas probably experienced damage too. Since we have family that live in Pella and work in Bondurant, we were a bit anxious about their …
Fascinated With Flight If you have been following my posts, you may have noticed that flight fascinates me. Whether the flight includes birds, balloons, planes, or drones, I enjoy flight. I am actually considering purchasing a powered-parachute if I can figure out how to control it while also taking pictures. Since I was …
Effects of Dew Moist mornings due to heavy dew tend to move upland game birds to dry areas, such as along our country roads. Today I spotted several families of ring-necked pheasants – minus Dad pheasants – working and resting along the edges of gravel roads. Most of the birds did not sit for …
Up to Look Around The state highway passing through Tripoli (Highway 93) is being redone this year. Such a project includes updating the buried infrastructure under the road bed. Digging up and replacing pipelines and sewer systems is not a quick or easy endeavor. With the project well underway, traffic has come to a …
Family Reunion 2018 Every two years our family gathers from around the country for almost a week-long reunion. This year we met at the Light House Bed and Breakfast on Shafer Lake near Monticello, Indiana. Instead of shooting many pictures, I enjoyed time with our family and dear relatives. We learned at …
Habitat is Key Provide the correct elements needed for survival, in the appropriate amounts, and you may just see wildlife. I certainly never expected the water retention pond at Walmart to be the necessary habitat for a green heron, but apparently it is, at least for now. This green heron was perched on …
Ample Color Last night, after I had posted for the day, our family made a quick decision to go watch the Red Rock Lake Balloon Festival launch. We waited for more than an hour and nothing was happening. The pilots and teams were watching the sky and small balloons to determine the wind direction …
Lake Red Rock Hot Air Balloon Festival This weekend folks in the Pella area are celebrating the Lake Red Rock Hot Air Balloon Festival. Since we have family living in the area (people to see/a place to stay), we made a family “couple of days away” out of the event. For me the highlight …
You Might Not Want to Follow Me If you happen to see me driving down the roads, likely slower than the speed limit and looking around, you might not want to follow me. Chances are I am on a wildflower hunt. We are now at another pretty season where all around …