Saturday on the river and Sunday inside

 As I write this it is raining like crazy outside.  We haven't had a lot of rain lately and with all the dry grass and the windy days, the fire danger has been way up.  So it is really a good thing - and it gives one an excuse to rest inside.

It is a different Sunday from last week when the MA was frantically filing returns and mostly extensions, and was gone for 10 hours I think.  He is now doing Fred things that involve trucks and crowbars and wagons and possibly a chain saw.....  In other words, he is in his own personal heaven.  I have a little project to do myself that I have been putting off (um, blogging to procrastinate??) and probably should be reading my book for bookclub, but that will be later.

Yesterday I had lots of little plans, some of them were changed but the essence stays the same.  I went to a baby shower in the morning, after fiddling around outside for a while and then made an early exit to get in a kayak before the clouds (and rain) came in.

I miss my kayak buddy!  This is our dock and text and selfie spot (I do selfies- not him)  

I put on my wet suit thing and my splash jacket with a t-shirt underneath, because it was in the 60's.  Nice and warm for this time of the year.... the water is still REALLY cold though- hence said wet suit.  Anyway, now that I have this amazing lens and camera body (seriously - forgive me you guys for repeating myself.  I can't believe how much better this camera is than my other one.  My photos are still composed the same, but the increased ability for this equipment to pick up details and the exposure is just so different.....  I am constantly blown away by the whole thing.)  I take it everywhere.  And it is a "thing" to keep it covered and protected and tucked away under my knees, and it is another "thing" to change the lenses and keep them safe while trying to hurry to not miss a shot- ahem- you will understand this in a moment.  I am so torn between doing the kayaking thing to get activity (which I LOVE) and the whole wildlife photography thing. So I am trying to dovetail them with pretty good results.  I am going to do some pure photo shoot kayaks soon, though.  Where I sit and wait- which may outright kill me dead- but I can do it.

THIS is my place- the water in Wisconsin

So I had the MA and the Barber (the Barber was important, as he is the one with the cell phone)  take me down to the boat landing as they had something to do with the truck, and I took off.  I had to show them kayaking tricks first (lol- they are so goofy) which involved turning and paddling backwards and me generally showing off- the MA asked me to, so...   I think that someone is trying to brace himself for a paddle in his future.  Fred is not a big fan of water- when you come right down to it- but he is willing to go kayaking.  It will not be windy that day... long story.

Buffleheads- I didn't consider this the best picture, but it ended up being kind of interesting

I had started out my trip thinking that this was going to be mostly an exercise/fun trip down the river but within about 100 yards there was the first group of ducks - which I just looked up and it is something called a Bufflehead- huh.  Who knew. Followed quickly by Mallards and others that I couldn't see well enough to identify.  Then I saw a swan floating up river a bit.  So- ok- not just an exercise trip.  I kept feeling rushed as I wanted to get to the Lower Dam before it totally clouded up and try to get a good picture of the barn that belongs to Fred's aunt- used to be his Grandparents farm. The pic I got was fine, but I know that mornings are better, so I will be doing that trip again.  

The Farm

It was a fun paddle up that river- I stopped and changed lenses a badillion times.  Each time I switched to my landscape lens, I would see another animal....  I am SO grateful I thought to bring a little chocolate with me for a snack- I didn't have any other portable foods that wouldn't make a mess in my dry bag- and of course water.  It was tough paddling in some places, the river was going faster than it usually is and then on the way back there was the wind. All this is stuff I love, so don't feel bad for me.  :)  Anyway, I shed my splash jacket in favor of a t-shirt eventually and it was a comfy 2.5 hours.

One of my favorite shots so far this year.  Tundra Swan.

I caught up with the swan a couple times that trip, trying to get a little bit close to it, but not pushing it's personal space too much.  Obviously since I have lots of flight photos, I spooked it a bit.  Sorry swan.  But wow some great shots.  I have learned from a photog friend how to set my camera up for bird action shots, which I am really starting to understand.  Some of my  pix were a little out of focus yet, but that I imagine is the relative newness of my Canon 100-400 lens.  He's heavy and also the kayak seemed to always turn in the direction counter to the flight of the birds.  But cool to know I am getting the hang of panning the camera and all.  I do need to set up my camera body for multiple shots instead of single....  I am a slow learner I guess.  

Lift off!

So the annoying part of this trip was I had once again- in anticipation of said barn- switched to my landscape lens, which was a trick to stay heading in the right direction and not end up on a rock or whatever.  So I am almost there and I spot on a rock the biggest Snapping Turtle I have EVER seen or imagined.  Holy crap.  It's shell looked too small for its body- I can't even describe how massive this thing is.  Bigger than the one I saw last year way up by the other dam.  I guess it is possible that it is the same one, but jeez.  It seemed bigger.  So yeah- frantic switching of lenses almost commenced and then I decided to shoot the pic with the lens that was attached and as I floated even with him he bailed.  ARGH.  Oh well.  I will say that later, while practically zooming downstream (there was a current- lol) I saw this kind big thing poke its head out of the water- of course the turtle in question- he was checking me out.  LOL- keep your dogs and small children away from the water people.  A dinosaur lives in the Flambeau.

However these adorable little painted turtles gladly posed.  

Anyway, 6 miles is a long way for your second kayak of the season.  LOOOONG.  The last mile was tough going, but I just set my mind to it and dug down and went.  Didn't see quite as many things coming back, which was fine.  I was no longer in the photo taking mood.  I just wanted to get back so I could 1.) get to my bathroom 2.) take that wet suit off and 3.) quit paddling.  My shoulders were tired and my hands were getting sore.  Thank you to weight lifting for my endurance- and I know where I have to add to my routine- traps and the top of my shoulder.  Dumbbell shrugs are in my future.  I texted the Barber, who was with the MA, that they needed to drop what they were doing and get me.  They were waiting and I was grateful to let them load the 'yak and I babbled on about turtles and swans.

I was later treated to a trip to the Mad-Middle Son's house and I got to see Greg and Sarah and the babies and the doggies....  SO nice.  Then Mikey came over and ended up having steak for supper with his dad.  I of course did not have steak...  But the grill has gotten a good work out the last 24 hours.

Peaceful - it makes me sad, though.  I thought swans mated for life.  Poor thing.  Hope it finds one when it gets to the tundra

It was a long tiring day, but in a totally good way.  And last night I fell asleep to the spring peepers calling and the rain falling and I passed out until almost 7 this morning.  THAT is sleeping in for the Mad-Artteacher.  Haha, I am pathetic.  But always joyful!  Hope you are having a lovely relaxing Sunday all of you lovely peeps! 

Picture blog post

Though I am fatigued beyond comprehension, I need to at least post some photos of an amazing kayak that I took Sunday Morning.  I have a few people who are friends NOT on facebook and I want them to be able to see them.  SO- even though I slept like crap last night and then done wore myself out in a variety of ways this evening*,  I will do this!!

**I definitely need to blog about the school gym that opened- many conflicting feelings here....

Anyway, I sort of wanted to kayak on Saturday morning, but it was REALLY cold and I was too tired from school.  People in the house- ahemtheMAcough- was threatened with bad things and no breakfast if they woke me before 6:30- and yet  it was a surprise to find the clock heralding almost 7 when I woke up.  Why that man wakes up early on weekends is beyond me.  Anywho, I just couldn't do it Saturday.  So Saturday evening I loaded up the kayak and made myself get up and go- at about 6 the next morning.  I had to allow enough time for coffee!  There is something so wonderful and decadent about being out in a kayak on a quiet river at 7 am, watching the sunrise through the mist, while sipping a little coffee..... (I left out the part about frantically snapping photos during the high color time, changing lenses, and cameras and pulling things out and into dry bags and such...)  But I like to have my moments of pleasure, so I will stick with the first part of the story.  :)  Actually after the initial photo rush and the mist cleared I had a fun, leisurely paddle around Smith Lake and up and down the Flambeau.  I knew that the cold air and the warm water would give some good photo ops and I was not mistaken.

This was cool- mist receding

I have to say that the moment I came over the hill down to the boat landing was a goosebump giving, awe inspiring event.  The mist was thick and the sun was starting to come up over the horizon.  The colors were soft and beautiful and I knew that I certainly should be able to get a few good shots.  I think I was right.

If this was my dock, I'd be sitting on it every morning

I am going to get out onto the river as often as I can over the next several weeks, as I know that my time of paddling is growing to a close.  I might be able to lay hands on a wet suit, which will extend that season a bit!  That would be fantastic.

Sculpture in the water

Anyway, here are some of the fruits of my labors, not that it was much of a problem to get outside after being cooped up for the week.




I hope you find as much joy in these as I did.

The First Canoe of 2014 - for me at least

Mr. Camera Shy is behind me there!  ;)

I do NOT know how it gets to be 9:30 at night before I sit down and plan to write a blog post.  It is officially too late to start my St. Louis post- again- because that is going to take some time.  So will the kids blog post- sorry my darlings, we all know its about Greggy and Ella now.  Love you muchly but babies tend to win, don't they??  :)

At least the turtle let me take HIS picture

And so did this crazy bull.  I think he is the cutest thing

So, even though I did go to Bayfield yesterday and had a FABULOUS time, I still have a few pix to edit from that trip, and I have some NICE photos from the lil old canoe trip I did this morning.

Headed into the Smith Creek section of the flowage

Yesterday on our trip north, it was discussed that none of us who are inclined to canoe had been out yet.  I blame the weather and the mosquitos. The weather has been somewhat rainy/stormy/windy and the mosquitos  you've heard us complain about before.  I'm sure.  And the river was super high and blah blah blah, I was gone and then it was the 4th of July and company, yeah.  So the weather was forecast to be perfect and the MA built this handy dandy canoe rack AND the dear boy was in Park Falls today which all added up to a plan for the Mad-English teacher Adam and I to jump into the truck this morning and head to Smith Lake County Park.

I love these shots with the canoe tip

It was PERFECT.  The morning was cool, the clouds were partly, and there was a little breeze which did pick up later, and was a bit rude at times on the way back to the boat landing, but nothing we couldn't handle.  SUCH a glorious day.

The Oswald family farm on the river

The water is high, and that was just fine.  It was quite a workout going upstream- but we flying downstream!  It was so so pretty out- and I saw SO many dragonflies.  There were so many different sorts of many different colors, lime green, emerald green, turquoise blue, black, black and white, so so many.  It was a fun thing to see- 4 or 5 landed on me.  But they refused to be photographed!!  I tried to remove my little camera from it's drybag for several of them, but they wouldn't hang around.  I don't keep the camera out of the drybag and I never bring my phone in the canoe.  I just can't take that chance, you know?  So I may go down by the river sometime and see if I can catch a few of them on "film".

More creatures willing to have their photo snapped

Love this shot! 

So 3 hours later we drag ourselves back, only having had one little flaw in our preparations.  While we had lifejackets, backed seat cushions, bug spray and (I had) lip sunscreen, we forgot the water and small snack.  We were flagging by the end there.

I hope that I will get back out there next week, there are supposed to be a succession of nice days again!!  YES!!

And that will be a joy.

Canoe trips

I have been really enjoying my practice canoe trips the last week or so.  We have made 2 more now, and have had to cancel a few b/c of wind/storms.  Which is fine, I don't HAVE to canoe in less that favorable conditions, at least not right now!  Anyway, I have been practicing using my waterproof bag with my camera.  It is a little awkward, but I am glad to have it.  It makes me somewhat less nervous and fearful being in the canoe.  My safety is not an issue, only my camera!!!

What we have here are some pictures from the trip we took up river on the Flambeau and then around Schnur's Lake.  I am loving the canoeing- I am seriously considering getting myself a kayak so I can go by myself.

My joy might be showing here!

I am going to mix up the pictures, but you can easily tell the difference between the lake and river pictures....

Peaceful evening

We came across Bev S. on her dock, she is a retired teacher I used to work with.  I loved seeing her, and she took the canoe pix of us.

Peaceful night

Easy sometimes to find some joy

A good evening of pictures

Last night gave me a beautiful opportunity for photos, again.  I know this is not much of a surprise for many of you, but let me have a moment here! ...............

AHHHH. Yes.  thanks.

 It was a good night.  I walked over to "The Farm" on the south side of Park Falls, where the MA was assisting the unloading of hay.  I walked over on a back road and through the hay fields behind the barn, which is why I got some great shots!  I also scooted under the electric fence, in by the cows and down by the river.  The rains lately have REALLY filled the rivers and streams, it is quite amazing for this time of the year.  So, I took a bunch of pix, edited them and consequently have not YET gotten outside with a cup of coffee, something I plan to remedy in one moment.

Trees and clouds

Clematis on wagon wheel trellis

Cows and the Flambeau

Field path to the farm

High water under the Hwy 13 bridge

symmetry

Old ford

Old Ford

High water on Butternut Lake

These last 2 pictures were taken during a VERY long walk I took on Sunday night.  I'll include the rest of those pictures in a later blogpost....

Oh and yes, I am sure you are thrilled to know I got outside with my coffee this morning.  And found a little early morning joy!