Blog Block

Huh? Oh Hi! Boy what a year 2010 has been. Sure looking forward to 2011. Ah crap. I was looking at my old calendar. Truthfully I've just had a "Blog Block" for the past few weeks. I get an idea for a subject and by the time I get back to the computing machine it either disappears into thin air or it doesn't seem very "Blogworthy". So today I decided to revert to my most inspirational activity, Eagle hunting. I loaded the camera with a fresh load of batteries, fired up the Honda, and set out in search of the elusive Bald Eagle. (Of course, I had to stop at my favorite bakery for provisions) I took my "sure thing" route west heading to The River at Prairie du Chien. I knew that I'd make my first spotting within a mile or so of Fennimore. After all for the past week I've seen at least one Eagle a day right on the outskirts of town. Not today! Oh I did see one way out there in a tree. Not even the vaguest possibility for a photo. Got to The River. Nobody home. Drove North up The River a ways. There's another one. Again not a very good photo op. So I started back to Prairie (after all that area has given me some fine material in the past, like Pete's Hamburgers, the Carp Drop on New Years Eve, and The Fountain of Blueth) As I approached St. Feriole Island, home of the historic Villa Louis, I noticed quite a bit of activity by a pond in the yard. Lo and behold, there right before me was a big gang of Eagles cleverly dressed up like Mallard ducks. What a sight. I jumped from the car, grabbed my picture taking machine and immediately fell on my ass. Everything flew in all directions. My glasses, my picture taker and my one shoe. (Everything that is except for the flock of Eagles who stopped milling around long enough to have a good laugh at my expense.) I managed to regain my equipment and my footing and started shooting wildly into the herd. Once again, Lo and behold! Two more Eagles entered the scene.These guys must have been really special because they were all dressed up in white duck outfits and the other Eagle/ducks seemed to follow them around. I know that this is a tough story to swallow but I have pictography to prove it. As I was leaving St. Feriole Island I noticed an old log cabin undoubtedly left over from fur trading days. This is a brief recap of the history of that cabin. It was possibly built by an ancestor of Pete Gokey, the founder of Pete's Burgers. In those days the Indians (Native Americans) of the area had the bad habit of killing off as many white settlers as they could catch. Pete's great great great something was extremely inventive and not too fleet of foot so he came up with a way to deter the NAs and save himself and his family from certain hair loss. He became the first person in The Northwest Territory to post "No Trespassing" signs. As you can see both the cabin and the original signs have survived to this day.

For most of the past week we have experienced some of the most beautiful winter decorations that Mom Nature could provide. For at least three or four days all vegetation was covered with a thick coating of Hoarfrost. I'm sure that everyone in the area that has a camera took some of the most beautiful photos you can imagine. That is everyone but me. I was either too lazy to venture into the cold or too cold to venture into the colder. At any case, if you're really interested in seeing some of this winter beauty, ask someone you know that has a camera. I'm sure any one of them will have some wonderful pics,

I'll try to remember some of those interesting subjects that slipped my mind. In the meantime here's some proof of todays discovery.

The Gokey Cabin. (Notice the guy was smart enough to post signs at both entrances.)

Talk about clever. It's really hard to believe that these are really Eagles.

Just strutting around thinking that they've got me fooled.

Can you believe these two? See how long they can keep those outfits clean.

Smart asses even figured out how to clean up.

They sure took control of the crowd.

Okay! I crept out on the deck for one quick shot.

Happy New Year!

I've been juggling around ideas for a New Year's Blog for about a week. I've had some really good ones (which I've conveniently forgotten) and a bunch of crappy ones that I have unfortunately remembered. The weather has kinda screwed things up around here. Summer and Reid were to come down for Christmas. Bad weather. I got the urge to play golf. Bad weather. Wanted to take Jo ice dancing. Bad weather. Felt like going roller blading. Bad weather. Looked forward to Santa bringing my Christmas gift. Once again, bad weather. (He left it at Reid and Summer's place expecting them to make the delivery for him.) It's not a big deal because I already know what it is. It's something that I've been wanting ever since I saw my wife and daughter rocking out on "Guitar Hero", yep, I want a Wii set up with my very own "Hand Bell Hero". I know that it's kind of expensive so I would gladly settle for "Kazoo Hero" instead. We'll be heading up to Minneapolis to get my gift next weekend. (Bad weather permitting) In the mean time I've spent quite a bit of time forgetting good subjects for blogs and watching odd programs on TV. (What the hell is a Kardashian? And why are they on TV?) I've been working up to, but haven't started recalling the past decade which seems to be a popular activity this time of year. Let's give it a try, I had Cheerios for breakfast yesterday. Well that about takes care of what I can remember. The other popular pastime seems to be making resolutions. Hmmmm! I already quit smoking, drinking, carousing, bowling, volleyball and liver. That really doesn't leave me with much other than ice fishing, soccer, broccoli and heart failure. (I can live with that)

I might not have mentioned that I have a new big screen monitor which takes control at times resulting in this sort of thing. I'm learning to control it and should be able to tame it in a few weeks.

There is arosing such a clatter downstairs. I must go see what's the matter. (We haven't had any reindeer break ins reported in Fennimore this year, probably due to bad weather) There to my wondering eyes does appear jolly old JoAnne undecorating the house. (couldn't think of a good word to rhyme with appear that wouldn't offend someone) It will be interesting to see how many more plastic totes we're going to need to store our "downsized" collection of holiday cheer.
There is one more thing to blame on the bad weather - (this time in the form of really cold stuff) last night after a delicious dinner (fillets done on the Weber out in the bad weather) we chose to by pass driving to Prairie du Chien for the New Years Eve "Carp Drop". (This event is described in great detail in my December 10, 2008 blog "Wisconsin Hystory Part Deux". Instead we managed to wake up from a short winter nap just in time to welcome in the new year and get to bed before any bad weather could move in to spoil the celebration.
I must be off now. After all the new year brings new responibilities. I have to put up a new calendar, write myself notes to remind me that it's 2010 not 2008. And, figure out where the extra decoration totes are going to fit in the garage. Although I hesitate, I must venture downstairs into the halls of unadornment hoping that no one has packed away THE REMOTE.
Maybe next week, barring bad weather, I will do a recap of the Christmas Holiday Season. Things should be fairly settled by then and I may even have a video of a "Hand Bell Hero" recital.

Bad Weather Dodgeville Style.

A Surprise Gift!

Oh Boy ! A Kid Eating Puppy.

Are we finished with the "Naughty or Nice" thing for the year?

Before the Dedecoration Fairy moves in.