Monday, Monday

As I sit here watching the snowing and blowing outside my laboritory window, I fondly look back on the old days. Actually yesterday. This is my side of the story. I had to run an errand to the next town over. As usual, I decided to take the back roads home. This time I was sure that I was ready for wildlife action with my camera riding "shotgun". I guess the "wildlife" was anticipating the predicted snowstorm because the woods and fields were alive with crows and hawks and an eagle or two out searching for a few last minute meals. Most of the "subjects" were a little too far off or obscured by brush until....... I came around a bend and down a hill to a clearing carved out of the hills to make room for a winding little creek. Standing right there at the edge of the creek was a beautiful adult Bald Eagle not more than twenty yards from the road. There was even a place for me to pull off the road and get some shots without leaving the car. He paid close attention to me as I slowly lowered my window and raised my camera I hit the "on" button and he struck a regal pose as I zoomed in for a perfect closeup photo at which time my camera shut itself down due to dead batteries. He gave off a little eagle chuckle, wagged his white tail and took off laughing. After pronouncing several profanities I continued toward home. It wasn't too long when I came around another bend in the road where I encountered ten young turkeys running along the road and in the ditch. I guess they knew that I was "unarmed" because they not only enjoyed frolicking on the road in front of my car but, they invited another twenty or so friends to join them. I shook my fist, which was grasping my "dead" camera, at them, honked the horn and yelled something about stuffing and cranberry sauce at them until they took off across a field to find shelter in a wooded area. Now I was pissed. I drove home as fast as the partially ice covered road would allow passing three or four more eagles (one a possible Golden). Arriving home I dug up a new load of recharged AAs and hopped back into the car for second attempt. I returned to the first eagle location to find my friend up in a tree a little farther downstream from the road. He managed to position himself just enough behind some branches that it made focusing nearly impossible. Meanwhile, still farther downstream (or maybe it was upstream) one of his buddies flew about looking for fish. This guy was too far away to even try for. So I drove on to the Turkey area. They were gone so I turned back to the original eagle spot where I would at least attempt to get a nice snowscape shot and maybe luck out eaglewise. When I got back, no eagles and the weather was turning bad so the light had gone to pot. Well, dammit I'm here and my batteries are charged and I'm taking a picture! I got out of the car and walked back and forth looking for the best vantage point. I shot a few shots (nothing that really excited me) threw the camera over my shoulder and headed back to the warmth of the Honda when I became aware of something overhead (I mean slightly overhead - about six feet overhead) Yep. It was Mr Smartass Eagle zipping upstream for, I guess, cocktail hour. By the time I could even come close to being able to take a picture, he was too far up the creek. (and so was my prize winning photo op) I'm surprised that he didn't take time to crap on me as he passed over. That would have completed a fine day in the photo field.
Below I've tried to recreate what did happen and what could have happened.

This is the little valley. The red "X"s indicate
where I might have taken great shots of Bald Eagles

This is something like what it was like when no camera was available

What Eagles look like when there's no camera available!

And turkeys as well.

Eagle Eye

Saffie thought that if Eagles could dress up like ducks why couldn't she. Sammy's not sure if she's an Eagle, a duck or just a little kid.

This past weekend found the Blumes, once again, on a quest. Sure it's been cold here in Wisconsin but, if you want cold, you have to travel up to Minnesota. They really know what cold is about up there. To create an excuse for the trip, Jo, Jeanna, Reid's Mom and one of Summer's friends threw a baby shower for Summer and Baby Nimz (The Nimzlet). Fortunately Derek and Jeanna have a larger car allowing us to transfer the contents of a Babies R Us north. I was planted firmly behind the steering gadget, Jeanna rode "Shotgun" and Jo and Saffie squeezed into little spaces between gifts, food and decorations. After five or six hours of Old MacDonald, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and other assorted toddler musical entertainment we arrived at the Nimz Estate. From the looks of the pile of baby type gifts that spilled from the dinning room into the rest of the house, the shower was a huge success. While twenty or so lovely ladies oohed and aahed over gifts and games and food, Reid and I took sanctuary at the nearest sport bar for beer, burgers and conversation. All in all it was an enjoyable weekend. But I did have an ulterior motive for accompanying the girls to the frozen tundra for the weekend. EAGLES!
On the way up we took the freeway. But, on the way home I took my favorite route along the River because this time of year loads of eagles congregate by any area of unfrozen water. Sunday was no different. At one point between Lake City and Winona we encountered one swarm of at least 20 (I'm told that a swarm eagles is actually called a convocation) that soared overhead just fooling around. They really have fun. They dive, swoop, roll and I think I saw one do a back flip. Meanwhile down on the River the more serious ones were having dinner. Fish on ice seemed to be the special of the day. It's sort of the eagle version of a Wisconsin fish fry. I know you're anxious to see a bunch of wonderful photos of these exquisite birds but, no I have none. I spent a good portion of a sleepless night working on excuses. As usual I had forgotten most of them when I woke up the next morning. But I did manage to retain one or two late night thoughts that I'd like to share. 1 - Eagles only allow you a chance photograph them if, you're a mile away, your camera is either out of film or has dead batteries, you in danger of becoming road kill because there's nowhere to pull over on a roadway, or if you're a National Geographic photographer. 2 - Those blue headlights aren't only on snotty luxury sedans. We encountered an Amish buggy sporting them the other evening. Kinda funny, we passed three buggies. The first one had no lights, the second, the usual flickery battery powered flashlight sort, but the third one was decked out with blue-white LEDs. What next, big subwoofers blasting hymns from under the front bench? 3 - What's with Toyota? Are they finally catching up with US quality? This seems to be opening the door for other imports to edge in on T's number one ranking. Mazda, for instance, makes no bones about their appreciation. (See pic below) 4 - Just as I'm really getting tired of winter I'm reminded of some of the nice things about this time of year. Yesterday I decided to take back roads home from the grocery store. Not only did I spot 4 eagles (with nowhere to safely pull over without the possibility of getting slammed into by a runaway Ford F150) I did run across numerous "Christmas Card" type photo opportunities). I finally found a place to stop and take a few shots. I do have to credit a "Blogger Friend" (EvilBear) for inspiring me to shoot some winter landscapes. He's been shooting some real great winter scenes lately and that sort of reopened my eyes to the beautiful surroundings in my own neighborhood. Lastly, this morning, on the way home from dropping Jo off at her bosses house, I saw a little Red Fox scampering through the snow along a fence row. I wish I could share that scene with you but, no camera. But it was a wonderful way to start a gloomy February morning. 5 - My regrets go out to all the folks (Snow Birds) down in Arizona who are getting a lot of rain this season. Just remember - "It's Dry Rain". And, 6 - At last we can start counting down to the end of Winter in weeks and not months.

Now, here's a jolly car with properly functioning accelerator pedal?

Just a couple of views of a Wisconsin farm.

I think I hear "Rock of Ages"!

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.

Cookie Time

This picture says it all. This weekend the Blume kitchen was once again the site of the "Family Christmas Cookie Bake". The one big difference this year was that Little Saffron took Aunt Summer's place at the counter. Decked out in her new Lands' End apron, Saffie stepped right up and tried her hand at decorating but soon found out that tasting was a much more rewarding job. Her Mom, Jeanna, still recuperating from the ordeal, has passed on the task of posting an account of the day. I won't even attempt to equal the cleverness of Jeanna's posts, where she tags Saffie's words and thoughts onto the photos, so I'll just pop in a few pics with my own observations.

"Saffie reporting for kitchen duty!"

"Let's start with a traditional apron dance!"

"This isn't so tough 'cept these cookies keep getting in the way."

"It is so easy, I let Mom, Dad and Grandpa it a try."

"Hey this stuff is good without cookies!"

"Hey! This is Good Eatin'!"

"I can't stand and eat so I'm gettin' out of the kitchen."

"Let's see if I can get back at those cookies with my new Teddy Bear disguise."

"Foiled again. It's hard to fool Grandma Jo!"

No cute caption. I just like the picture.

Gotta run. I think I know where Jo hid the cookies and fudge!
Merry Christmas!

Tis The Season

Wow, it's been almost a month since last post. I have no real excuse for not posting sooner but I can make up a number of reasons. One big one, Christmas! Every year there is the normal holiday hustle around here as JoAnne transforms into the Merry Madwoman, a December Decorating Demonette. In keeping with our "decluttering" attempts the amount of Christmas decorations have been cut to a minimum. Early in the decorating process it was evident that things weren't going quite as planned. Last year we totted in ten totes of festive fixtures. I don't know what goes on out in that garage during those warm summer months but, this year we toted in thirteen totes full of peace and joy. And! Nowhere in those totes could be found a Christmas tree. That has a special place of honor in a corner of the garage. It's a large "prelit" spruce from a forest of factories somewhere in Taiwan. The bad news, of the over one thousand clear lights, only about fifty lit. Now, in our home, the decorating season was the incubating place for marital discontent (really big arguments). "The" tree was originally purchased to alleviate some of the tension and served it's purpose well (well, for a few years). But now it became a potential fuse set to go off at any minute. A quick trip to our "Helpful Hardware Man", a purchase of several hundred strings of lights, which were in place before Jo Frost got home from work, did the trick and warded off a potential "Bah Humbug" evening in Santa's village. Once the tree is properly lit I recede into the woodwork (or my computer laboratory) to attack the second most important segment of "The Season", namely, The Seasonal Inquirer, the Blume family Christmas newsletter. For most people this isn't a big deal they simply write about what happened to their family during the past year and end it with a pleasant seasonal greeting. Not too tough? But around here it's a major project. I've designed annual reports and entire advertising campaigns that caused less stress and strain, less research and development than this little missive. During the course of the year, both Jo and I have exclaimed, "remember that for the Inquirer" only to completely forget what was so memorable. Because of the complexity of the project, Jo usually sets a deadline for me. That way it seems more like a job and not like a pleasurable endeavor. All I can say is, "it's done!". I won't go into all of the Hardware, Software, Computer, and Printer obstacles that, literally, attacked me threw me to the ground and pushed me to edge of the desktop publishing abyss although it did involve working on two computers, utilizing out dated Quark and PhotoShop programs, unacceptable fonts and a couple of reluctant printers. The real capper to this tale is that while addressing the envelopes, folding the Inquirer and signing the cards, Jo discovered that more than half of the cards she bought involved a recipe card that she hadn't planned for. Hopefully "Helpful Hardware Man" can come to the recue one more time. (Don't expect a recipe in our card to you)
The house is decorated, packages wrapped, the cards and out-of-town gifts are on their way to the Post Office and only a few more cookies need baking. With a foot of snow on the ground and temperatures hanging around the zero mark, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!".
All these little snags and hardships seem so small when we consider that thirty years ago this week, JoAnne was diagnosed with breast cancer, operated on and spent the Christmas holiday recovering. This Saturday the joy in our home is the celebration of thirty years of JoAnne being cancer free. I'm sure that when Tiny Tim said, "God bless us all" we were included as part of the "us" because we have certainly been blessed over the years.
No pictures this post. If you want to get a look at our "Winter Wonderland" just drop by. Tours leave the front door every three minutes. (Admission free)
For a little chuckle check out Saffie's last two posts. http://missymissgirl.blogspot.com/

A Funny Thing Happened On My Way To..

37 years ago today, equipped with a Rolls Royce limo on loan from a friend, a new 3-piece suit, a couple of gold rings (created by another friend) and accompanied by my best friend, a beautiful young lady attired in a dress sewn with love by still another friend, I stepped onto the Northwestern University campus to begin my pursuit of higher education. And what an education it turned out to be. I attended classes in parenting, patience, humility, sorrow, forgiveness, repentance, the value of friendship and, above all, love. I learned to endure bad times as well as good times. My professors were many, they came from every direction, from different walks of life and probably never realized the roles that they were playing in my life, and, that beautiful young lady put the class into classmate. She not only shared those 37 years of "education", but guided me through them. She was my tutor, companion, lover, inspiration and best buddy. She helped me pass my tough tests while she aced some really tough ones her own. When I stood in that little chapel on the NU campus I put my first 37 years behind me and started fresh. Now, I have another 37 years behind me as I look forward the next semester.
Every Thanksgiving I have another year of marriage to be thankful for, thanks to the friends, family and that beautiful young lady in the homemade dress who helped make it possible !

Thanks Jo! I love you.

On the trail to many more happy years!