Prairie ice cube dispenser

Posted on by
Reply

I’m always fascinated when finding these wells out in the middle of an otherwise nondescript field. The metal protruding from the ground around this one leads me to believe that they were previously powered by windmills, which were then replaced by a handle. This one sits along north 15th Street here in the Bismarck area. Do you suppose it gives ice cubes in the winter? 🙂

Hey, look what I found!

Posted on by
Reply

I was looking for something else and came across this photo, which I forgot I’d taken. I was on my way back from a week-long shoot in Nevada and was able to click a few shots of the old Memorial Bridge just as they began the process of preparing the new bridge’s construction. As you can see, the barge and cranes are in place for the cofferdams used to pour the concrete of the new bridge’s pilings. If someone found a way to talk me into an airplane again (I only fly on motorcycles) I might try to get the same angle with the new bridge in place and the old one gone! Odds of that happening are very slim, however.

Orion

Posted on by
Reply

I found myself out west of Mandan the other night chasing Orion, the constellation also known as the Hunter. Its appearance in the sky marks the fall season, and its disappearance is part of summer. I was awfully cold getting this shot, which was a 30 second exposure at the side of a lonely gravel road. The song “Stars” by The Clean seemed an appropriate iPod selection for such an encounter.

Most folks, including myself, find Orion most quickly by searching for the three stars comprising the “belt.” There’s also another row of “stars” below the belt, but that is actually the Orion Nebula (or M42 if you’re a geek). I took the liberty of drawing some red lines on the photo to illustrate the basic shape of Orion for y’all.

In college I took all the fun science courses I could, including astronomy. Our final exam included naming a plethora of constellations and the major stars from each. I can’t name all the stars of Orion, but I can tell you that the two brightest are Betelgeuse (yes, I pronounce it “Beetlejuice”) and Rigel. For you Trekkies, the pilot of the original Star Trek television series takes place on a mission returning from Rigel 7, a supposed planet orbiting Rigel. I don’t know if that will be referenced in the upcoming Star Trek movie. If you’re really a nerd, keep this in mind for when the movie opens in May. Look for me there; I’ll be the one in the Stormtrooper costume. Just kidding. And what the heck is an Aluminum Falcon?

The fog comes on little cat feet.

Posted on by
Reply

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.


I first read this poem by Carl Sandburg back in third grade or so. It’s hard to remember when, exactly; I was in private school and would go to the 7th or 8th grade for some of my classes, as they allowed students to progress at their own rate. As a result, things tend to blend together in my memory. Then I moved to North Dakota and got rubber-banded back to my current grade in all classes. Sigh…what a buzzkill. Anyway, sorry for dragging you through my childhood. How about that fog photo?

There were two belts of fog tonight: one started above the open channel of the Big Muddy and expanded until it covered the entire river, and the second engulfed east Mandan along I-94. It was downright thick, folks. I was able to hike out along the rip rap lining the boat dock south of Merriwether’s. Actually, I hope I was above the rock; I’d hate to think I was standing on frozen river, as that’d be pretty hazardous! Just kidding…I was standing where the weeds stuck up through the snow.

I tried a number of different exposures and framings, but the fog was advancing rapidly. I settled on this shot since a good portion of the bridge was still visible. It wasn’t long before the entire thing was obscured and I was free to hike back to my warm truck for the drive home to my warm bed. That’s where I’m heading now!

Honk if you’re paying my mortgage.

Posted on by
Reply

I don’t often post images from other sites, but this one seems quite appropriate considering the lunacy going on with the Obamination Administration.

You can order bumper stickers like the one pictured above by clicking here.

Update: This sticker, available now from www.PatriotShop.us, seems a little more appropriate for those of us who don’t expect the government (ie, our neighbors) to pay for our well being.

Out with the fellas tonight

Posted on by
Reply

My little boys wanted Daddy to take them out in the truck tonight, so out we went. They got to see their share of trucks and heavy equipment and snowblowers, and Daddy go to stop and take a picture of the sun setting. They’re both old enough to walk now, one of ’em is talking up a storm, and we’re both sick of winter. That combines into a chance for some more photographic opportunities these days, as we’re actually getting out of the house more. The sunsets are starting to resemble summer more than the bluster of a North Dakota winter!

What…MORE snow?

Posted on by
Reply

I’m actually glad we got more snow today. I finally caved and bought a beefy snowblower this year, after 30+ years of shoveling, and I was itchin’ to get some more use out of it. We always get drifts along our property, so it doesn’t take much snow to require such a beast. After all…if it’s this cold, it might as well be snowing too, right? Besides, as shown above, it can provide some very lovely pictures at sunrise and sunset.

Wild horses couldn’t drag me away

Posted on by
Reply

Not only could wild horses not drag me away from my camera, as the tired cliche’ goes, but in this case they were the object of my photography passion. These are some of the wild horses inhabiting the South Unit of the ever-popular Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

While the loop road through the park is still closed, some of the horses stray close enough to the open roads to be worth the short hike to chase them. In this case they didn’t really do anything spectacular. It was neat to get up close to them, though. I’ve hiked a long ways out into the middle of the park in the summer while chasing these beasts, but never in the crusty snow. Before this past weekend, that is. Thankfully they weren’t far away. It was COLD! Trudging through crusted ice and snow in the Badlands’ already uneven terrain is one heck of a workout as well.

Hey, I found your missing pheasants

Posted on by
Reply

I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Every single dark blotch in the snow of the picture above is a pheasant or two. Not only was this eye-catching, it wasn’t exactly an anomaly; I encountered field after field like this on Saturday. The phenomenon surfaced on our way south of Lefor and continued all the way south and east until we approached Glen Ullin from the south. In fact, we took one through the grille of my friend’s car just north of Elgin. The sides of the roads were lined with hungry pheasants as well as one who lost their encounter with traffic.

This is good news for any hunters who worried about the heavy snowfall preventing the pheasants from getting to their food. Apparently they’re still doing quite alright.