Monthly Archives: May 2009

A sure sign you’re getting back to Mandan

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When you approach Mandan from the south on Highway 6, and you’re anxious to get back to town, this is a welcome sight. To me it’s always meant that, for all intents and purposes, I’m back in Mandan.

This farm belongs to my friend’s family. The last time I was out there was probably in high school, where we had an amazing dinner – one where the roast is slow-cooked underground – and I nearly eviscerated myself while playing on the trampoline without dragging it away from the wire fence.

I don’t know where she is these days; I lost track with a lot of friends when I went incognito for a couple of years back in the late 80s. I went back to my beloved Rocky Mountains and dropped off the radar for a while in between television jobs. When I came back, it had become hard to find some of the old gang. Facebook is helping me get in touch with people from years past, and that’s proven to be quite fun. Hopefully some of the people I knew from high school (or my notorious high-adrenaline days after college) find their way back to this site and get a glimpse of the ol’ stompin’ grounds.

New neighbors

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There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of pelicans taking up residence along the Heart River near the Highway 6th crossing. Thanks to Cuffs54 for the tip! I was driving around this weekend with my boy and stopped to take a look. I got a few pictures, but really didn’t spend much time looking through the lens. PJ likes to throw rocks in the water, so I was being the attentive daddy…helping him gather rocks and throw them while keeping him from tumbling the water at the same time.

I don’t know what drew them, what’s keeping them, or how long they’ll be there. All I know is that they’re quite a sight! Check them out while they’re in town.

Alright. That’s it. It’s ON

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With the return of spring each year comes my quest for some nice photos of the Great Blue Heron. I happen to know where several of these big birds hang out, and I occasionally try to capture them with my camera. They’re big, blueish-purple, and really quite unique. You know how the old saying goes: how do you catch a unique bird? You ‘neak up on it!

So far I’ve had mixed success with the local herons, such as this photo at sunset beneath the old Memorial Bridge. These birds can see a long ways and freeze when they sense something they don’t particularly like, which was great for me; I wanted to take a long exposure of the river, the bird, the reflection, and the bridge. In this case I actually had a willing and cooperative subject!

I was able to work my way toward these three, standing in an interesting formation, one afternoon near Fox Island. Instead of employing any sort of subtilty, I simply walked out to them very slowly. By that I mean a couple of steps per minute. I got close enough to capture their interesting arrangement before a couple of them took flight. It wasn’t as close as I’d wanted to be, but it was better.

So far this year I’ve been stymied by the Great Blue Heron. Nevertheless, I will be carefully watching the few backwater areas where I know they have staked their territorial claim. Maybe I’ll make good on all those promises to buy a blind and set up to wait for them, although patience has never been one of my most noteworthy qualities. In any case, the game’s afoot. Hopefully I’ll have some decent heron photos to post here soon.

REVO!

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Time to fire up the remote control monster trucks! I got both my 4×4 and 2 wheel drive trucks running this week. 50,000 rpms of nitromethane-burning fun never sounded so good! Wheels, Wings, and Hobbies even has a killer track set up for the 4x4s. My two wheel drive truck will do 60, and burned the first set of tires off within 15 minutes of taking it out of the box, but I do like being able to catch big air with the 4×4. Zoom.

I don’t run these trucks in the winter because jetting ’em just rich enough to not melt their engines down is a constant vigil. The colder the air, the leaner the mixture. Now that it’s nice out, however, I can keep them right on the ragged edge between performance and catastrophe. And I have a spare engine in the toolbox just in case I goof.

Blue moon

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As an avid stargazer I have a love-hate relationship with the moon. I like it when it’s near the horizon, especially when I can photograph it near a local landmark such as the capitol or a Fort Lincoln blockhouse. When it’s up in the sky, however, it tends to ruin any stargazing with its overpowering light. In the daytime, however, it’s another story.

I got the idea of photographing the moon during the day when my two year old pointed out the moon to his daddy. I was able to get out the long lens and my tripod to get this shot with the deep blue of the afternoon sky instead of the black of the night. I like the daytime moon much better, actually. It’s also easier to get an even exposure, since I don’t fight the contrast between a black sky and a brilliant moon.

If you keep track of the current moon phase, then you know that this isn’t a recent photo. It was taken a few weeks ago, actually…I just forgot to post it. Lots of people mind the phase of the moon; I’m told that avid fishermen do. When I lived up in the Rockies, I always knew when the full moon was coming because I’d go snowboarding at night. At 8,000 feet you can see pretty well in the moonlight! As a stargazer, I also watch out for the “new moon” phase as it provides the best opportunity to see the other objects in the night sky without interference from the moon’s bright reflected light.

Consolation and “the nice man”

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Our church is going to have some of our supported missionaries visit us this month. I’ve met some amazing missionaries in the past few years, and I look forward to reconnecting with these people when they stop through. As I ponder some of the past missions events we’ve had, along with some of the wonderful missionary families who have come, I was reminded about a pair of stories that really struck me as a relatively new husband and new Daddy. Click below to listen.

These moving words were spoken by a missionary to the Pacific who visited our church this weekend. He’s been on the field it seems like forever, and you can tell from his stories that he’s made some great sacrifices over the years as all missionaries do. I’d love to give him direct credit, but some of these guys take a risk being in the field, often political and sometimes physical. Putting their names on the Internet can sometimes cause unintended harm and I’d hate to risk doing so.

Hopefully by electronically enabling you to hear this man’s words, which moved me as I struggle to be a good daddy and provide my little boys with blessed memories, I can pass along some of that consolation he was talking about.

Sunset on two wheels

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Over the course of the weekend I went from couch pilot to two-wheeled pilot back to couch pilot. I’m fighting a nasty head cold (no, not swine flu) and took Friday off. Saturday I felt better so I helped my wife get the garden and yard into shape, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do. So today saw me in as equally rough shape as Friday for most of the day.

One thing that brightened my countenance was some garage time, tinkering on the motorcycles. Mostly spring readiness stuff, which doesn’t entail much; I put my bikes away properly and they’re plugged into trickle chargers all winter long. Once I had a nice polish on my big sportbike, I decided to go for some fresh air. It felt pretty good and helped clear my head a bit. It sure was nice to feel 150hp pushing a 375 pound bike around…wheeeeeeee! If only my truck would lift the front wheel under acceleration with only moderate throttle…

I used to be one of those guys who had to ride all the time. I rode every month of the year, including ice racing. Nowadays I’m busy being husband and Daddy as well as having hobby overload. Besides, the roads right now are absolutely AWFUL. There’s still lots of sand and gravel out there, and the potholes & cracks are everywhere. Because of this I’m satisfied to wait before ramping up the riding season.

I don’t mean to imply that the city isn’t taking care of the roads to the best of their ability; after all, they’re only finishing up the aftermath of the flood fight…this after a record winter. The weather has subjected the roads in our area to abnormal stresses and it’s going to be a while before crews can give the roads the attention they require. Add to the fact that the problems are everywhere and you have a long, drawn out repair season.

I have seen a lot of motorcycles out, especially young guys on the sportbikes. I understand the itch to ride ’em. This seasoned sportbiker, however, has put in enough years as a gung-ho kid to know when it’s time to hold off a bit to avoid bending wheels or sandblasting the bottom of the bike. I’ll be out with my dirt bikes or my camera for a while instead.

Poor man’s wind farm

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This contraption sits atop a pole in the back parking lot of what used to be Berg’s, near the old entrance of the machine shop. If it was plugged in, it could generate some wind instead of harnessing it…as it stands, however, it looks like more of an elaborate weather vane with a nice coat of yellow paint. I enjoy seeing this kind of creativity. Why let an eight foot pole, an old fan, and some scrap metal go to waste?