Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) –

Last night’s northern light show was the best I (and many others) have ever seen. For many hours a palette of colors moved over the night sky as stars twinkled in the background. Every now and then a shooting star dashed overhead until it burned out forever.

I recorded more than 1,500 images that I then edited most of them into a time-lapse video. By shooting high resolution still images for the video, I then have the option of reviewing the night show frame-by-frame.

One image in particular caught my attention. In this photo you so many details from the aurora borealis show in one frame. We see the range of vivid colors and their varying intensities. We see the stars in the background and one of our spruce trees in the foreground. We see the pillars well defined in the colors.

Of particular interest to me were the white/green colors that appeared several hours into the lights. Their presence was a subtle lighting of the sky – you could see them with the naked eye, but they did not jump out as the bright reds, pinks, purples, and greens did. In fact, some may have missed them entirely – yet they were there.

According to predictions, tonight may be a repeat performance in the night sky. In fact, some are suggesting the show may be even more powerful. Clouds may move in to obscure the clear view, but hopefully we will still see some of the aurora.

My batteries are charged and I am ready. Let’s go Mother Nature. I would like a rerun of the best show I have seen in the night sky. And “Thank You!” for last night’s episode!

View the video at this link: Aurora Borealis

Working a Scene (and more)

When I was not able to find a photo subject I was looking for, I decided to go for a walk with a receptive spirit to photographing whatever I might find. It did not take long before I found a tree covered from the ground to twenty or thirty feet up with turkey tail fungi. How should I compose an image to…

Birds and Ice

Like it or not our temperatures are getting colder. Overnight lows brought the first skim of ice on the river - some of the ice thick enough that I did not want to swing hard into it with a paddle. Most ice though, was easily navigable. Some ice even presented with an artistic appearance.

Today’s Theme is “Texture”

When temperatures and wind - especially the wind - make it miserable to be outside too long, a person with a camera doesn’t spend time being unproductive. After last night’s low temperatures many more leaves dropped to the ground. It was looking down where I found images for today.

Color or No Color

While hiking the Luster Heights trails at the Yellow River State Forest I came upon what I thought was a composition that needed to be recorded. How the image would be preferred was not certain - with color or without? Older looking or more accurate to reality?

I like all styles and my preference will likely depend on my mood. How about you?

Going To Harbor Freight Now That I Learned By Watching

Once again today a family member and I went to the great healing place to the north for a day of activities and education. Much to my surprise, I was allowed to be in the room when a procedure was done to remove fluid from the space between the pleura and left lung.

Now that I have watched it at close range and talked to the team while it was being done, I know I can do this and save a trip north.

Needed from Harbor Freight:

• Some band-aids

• Gloves (to look like a doctor)

• Masks (to look even more like a doctor)

• One IV cap for marking the spot

• An alcohol wipe or two (unless I grab extra at a restaurant some time)

• One long needle for injecting Lidocaine

• A little doober or more of Lidocaine to numb the discomfort (I will make it quick!)

• One longer and bigger needle for puncturing between the ribs and entering the pleural space

• One or two containment bottles with negative pressure (but don’t tell the patient’s family so they think the patient has intense lung pressure)

• Flexible Tubing (I might have some gas line or oxygen tubing in the garage I could use)

• One Sonogram machine with a display (will need to buy or rent if Brother Darrell or Jason don’t have one in their shops)

• One willing patient

Seriously - I got to be a part of this and it was so interesting. It was fascinating to watch the lung begin to fill the space the fluid had occupied.

It was a good day!

A New Destination For Me

Today I hiked a “new to me” destination in Northeast Iowa - to the two overlooks at the Luster Heights Unit of the Yellow River State Forest.

Wow! More nice views of the Mississippi River valley from high above for those able to make the short hikes.

I will have many more photos to share, but for now I have these three ready.

Tale in the Leaves

As I followed a leaf-covered trail through the timber today I spotted color on the leaves that was out of place. I noticed drops of blood that began a challenge for me to unravel the mystery of the tale in the leaves.

Years ago, long before I ever dabbled seriously in outdoor photography, I spent countless hours hunting for squirrels, rabbits, pheasants, and deer. My tools of choice were rifles, shotguns, handguns, or a bow. During those many hunts I learned to follow blood trails in addition to noticing disturbances. I’ve lost count of how many times I have read the book “The Tracker” by…

Sadness on Pretty Day

While the day was very pretty, our mood has been somber. Our cat “Oreo” died.

I won’t go into details other than to say that Oreo and his sister changed my attitude about cats. Maybe it had something to do with Oreo following me like a dog. Maybe it was his “fainting” in front of my next step so I would pet him. I don’t know. What I do know is I am going to miss him.

Dang - for a guy who could not tolerate cats before these two showed up, my attitude has certainly changed.

Eight + Miles Done - I Am Not Running Away

Earlier this year I was told by my orthopedic specialist that I would never do wilderness canoe outings or backpacking trips again due to an injury and surgery complications. I sort of did a canoe trip, but not without considerable discomfort for the next few days. I did it, but it was not pretty. Today was a test for backpacking.

If details can be worked out I will hike with the fellow reclaiming the record for the oldest person to hike…

Two Versions of One Day

What a change we have had for this first day without Daylight Savings Time. We woke to calm, brisk conditions with a heavy coat of frost and even thicker fog. What began as a slow day for me, until I looked out the window, quickly transitioned to a photographically busy morning. I did not want to miss fog photos!

My Path To Another World

Fifteen years or so ago my friends at the Iowa Flood Center told me (and others in the audience) that our weather patterns would change from periodic rains to dry spells followed by heavy rain. Our overall annual rainfall would remain about the same, but the pattern would be dry/flood conditions. Like it or not, so far they have been right.

How this has affected me personally is that the river in front of our cabin is either terribly shallow or out of its banks. Where we used to see water skiing or where we pulled the kids on a tube behind our pontoon boat is now too shallow to run an outboard without churning up mud.

If I was a serious boating enthusiast I would be disappointed or…

For the beauty of the earth,  For the beauty of the skies…

As I paddled this morning on the Wapsipinicon River the first two verses of an old familiar hymn came to mind. “For the beauty of the earth, For the beauty of the skies…” seemed appropriate. From the golden oak leaves to the thousands of grackles calling and flying, to the wood ducks doing their best to…

Wild Life and Odd Weather

After this morning’s weather conditions I am not sure what to expect. First we had fog - plenty of fog. Then conditions cleared so I went out exploring. Under the clear conditions I found trumpeter swans and a lone ring-necked duck...

Thinking of Al (Kristy’s Dad)

Several decades ago my father-in-law took up trout fishing for a hobby. Al tied some flies and I am sure tossed them in the streams, but no matter what I cannot remember him ever catching any trout. I hope he experienced pulling a fighting trout in on a light line, but I do not remember him enjoying trout fishing success.

Today I decided to try my luck quietly dropping artificial insects at some of the streams where Al would go so many years ago. I am happy to say that my trout fishing story won’t…

Definition: Poo Magnet

According to a slang dictionary, a “Poo Magnet” is: “Any person, in which trouble and drama, follows them everywhere they go.”

Right or wrong, I have had a sizable number of friends, family, coworkers, and others insinuate that I might be a “poo magnet” (only they use stronger wording). I don’t agree with them, thinking instead I just happed to come across an unusually high number of unusual situations most people would never see.

For example, yesterday I found a vehicle in a…

Whitetail Buck Jumps Off Ledge

What began as a calm, peaceful hike at Brush Creek Canyon State Preserve changed dramatically when I spooked a whitetail buck that then jumped off a ledge. Emotions ran high for this unusual experience.

See the entire story in this video.

Hybrid, Normal, and Not Too Far From the Dairy

A possible unusual find for the morning was what I believe to be a hybrid mallard duck. Notice how dark this bird is compared to other mallards. I suspect this may have been the result of different species mating. For reference purposes I will include images of “normal” mallards.

This afternoon I was invited on a trip to the Country View Dairy near Hawkeye and West Union. Since we were in the area, our carload visited Echo Valley State Park. Like me, they found the beauty of the driftless region something special. I took more photos of the area.

Extreme Wide Angle Views

Once again I attempted what I have done numerous times before with the same results. I shot all images with a small, fixed-focus camera with an extremely wide angle of view.

Image distortion is evident and I had to “work” the images to make them comparable to my Nikon, but still, the pictures are not bad. I so wish this little camera had the image quality of my bigger gear. Maybe I am expecting too much.

Following is a sampling of what I saw and photographed today.

Seen Today

During my hunter-gatherer duties for the day (I went fishing), I saw a few things of interest.

First was this field of bales in fog and lit by an early morning rising sun. I thought the view was pretty.