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.