I Wonder if She Noticed

My mother-in-law had a confusing relationship with a plant Kristy is now nurturing in our home. Marlene could not understand why her Christmas cactus would always bloom around Thanksgiving. Sometimes I sensed frustration when the peak of blooms ended before her Christmas celebrations.

Now, a couple of years after Kristy assumed care of the plant, we realized the plant is not a Christmas cactus but is a Thanksgiving cactus. All along the plant was…

Sentry on Watch

Their timing could not have been more perfect! While two of our grandsons were at our house we noticed the appearance of two sentry bald eagles in our spruce trees.

To say the boys were…

Fun With Words

Who would have imagined my two oldest grandsons might have so much fun with the name of a bird.

The three of us were out wandering a timber when I pointed out the tell-tale signs of a yellow-bellied sapsucker at work on the trunk of a tree. Wow, an eight and six year old certainly are having a good time naming that species!

Thanksgiving Traditions and More

Thanksgiving 2023 has included traditions and a non-typical activity. Let’s begin with the non-typical.

Yesterday afternoon I received an unexpected phone call about an injured bald eagle on and along a highway. Our regular Thanksgiving activities were paused as two of my grandkids joined me to capture the bald eagle. When I arrived I learned our job was only to capture the injured bald eagle. All rehab details were completed by the “finders.” Once caught the eagle was transported to Wild Thunder rehab for care. Needless to say, not only my grandkids, but I think the folks who helped with the capture and move to the pet taxi. experienced something most do not do on their Thanksgiving holiday. Many thanks to those who reported this bird and Tracy and team at Wild Thunder.

Then early this morning Kristy and I, along with…

Say it isn’t so… Resorted to Filtering

Yes, I know, it is Thanksgiving Day 2023. We are nearly through the month of November. Still, I am not ready for the ponds and rivers to freeze up. But Mother Nature does not care what I want or don’t want. Winter is coming.

Today, on my annual Thanksgiving Outdoor Outing, I…

The Taming of This Shrew - The Final Chapter

For my serious literary friends… I respectfully advise you the final chapter in this shrew’s story of taming has been written. There was no drunkenness, no…

Paths

When I saw the initial view for this picture I immediately visualized a final image that appears as shared here - sort of inviting, but not really, busy and confusing - so much at once yet not enough to explain in entirety. The name for the piece was right there too - “Paths.”

Throughout life we follow various paths. Some paths lead to success of some degree while others appear to be leading toward success, but really prove to be much less. When lucky we venture down paths where the end goal is easily seen. Other times we work our way forward on a path to destinations unknown and often uncomfortable.

My life story…

Happy Birthday Princess!

For every birthday our grandkids put in a request for a themed-birthday cake and Grandma (Kristy) does her best to provide. This year our favorite granddaughter asked for a birthday cookie. Not only did Grandma do well on her first try, but it was delicious!

Good job Kristy!

One Image

During my hike early this morning I had to stop to shoot this picture. Technically, all I did was say “GoPro…take photo” and the picture was made. This ease come from the GoPro’s…

Something I Don’t Do Often

Very, very seldom do I shoot “people” pictures. I much prefer to shoot wildlife or scenic images. Today was different though - I shot people pics of one special person.

After taking care of several important “work” projects here on the ponderosa, Kristy and I - along with our oldest grandson and our very old dog - wanted to have some fun. The four of us headed to Alcock Park where we threw a football, hiked (Layla got tired), and explored (again) the suspension bridge over the Wapsipinicon River. Then my grandson and I hiked further to investigate below the dam. As I was packing my gear I noticed…

Impressive!

While my grandson and I were driving to Sweet Marsh to check on the renovation work, we were treated to more…

An Assumption and an Observation

Assumption:

I am assuming our flora and fauna are as confused by our weather conditions as I am. We have had record or near-record warm days, ice on the river and frost on the windshield and warm days again. I am not complaining… just confused. I do prefer it warm.

Observations:

Observation #1: Today’s…

Wow!

I don’t know about your Facebook feed, but mine has had multiple posts showing the differences in holiday cacti. Rather than forwarding the same posts, I am sharing a picture of one of many Thanksgiving cactus blossoms we are enjoying. The colors are so vibrant in a shade of pink I cannot accurately describe - just bright pink!

Beach Buntings!

Decades ago (back in the 70’s) there was a song called “Beach Baby” that was somewhat popular. A verse in that song came to mind when I spotted to snow buntings in sand going for a drink of water.

“…Beach Baby, Beach Baby, there on the sand, from July to the end of September…”

To be accurate the verse would need to be…

Dang Squirrel

A couple/few days ago I photographed a skirmish between a fox squirrel and a pileated woodpecker at the pileated woodpecker’s hole in a tree. Witnessing how the pileated woodpecker reacted when the squirrel held its ground made me wonder… would the woodpecker return.

For the past couple of days not only hasn’t the woodpecker returned, but I have not…

Ghost Birds

Early this evening, maybe 20-30 minutes after the official sunset time for our area, I heard the tell-tale low honk of trumpeter swans. It took some looking to find the source since all I could see were faint outlines/silhouettes. To possibly record images I pushed my ISO setting on my camera quite high. The files straight out of the camera were…

There are More!

Earlier this week I was informed of many sandhill cranes gathering in harvested fields near Tripoli. Today Kristy and I finally had time to go check on them. Yes, indeed… there were…

Wildlife Turf Battle

For a while this late summer and fall I have been watching a pileated woodpecker hole. Some days there is action, some days all is quiet. As I watched the hole this afternoon I saw nothing for a long time… just an empty hole.

Seeing Something Different

Some days I am in a mood that wildlife and or clear-view scenic images simply do not interest me, unless the species is either uncommon or common and engaged in some activity that is unusual. Today there were no “special” images garnering my attention so I worked more on an artistic image. By the time I had this file ready to share, I decided I really like it.

Take a look at this image. There is much going on - moving water that is…

Not Monkey Bread!

During a woodland walk today my emphasis seemed to be on fungi of various species. Perhaps the most impressive find was multiple assemblages of pear-shaped puffball mushrooms - featured here. I do not remember seeing this species before. It reminded me of…