Category: photograhy

Another Day

I woke up this morning to the sound of steady rain on the roof and was disappointed because I had plans to tackle some outside chores I’d been putting off. I pulled out my untrusty laptop and started scrolling through the news, all the while hoping the rain would end so I could get out there. Well, the rain kept on and on, and it was making me feel anxious. At length, I found myself getting dressed and heading out the door; I did all the chores in the rain, and it was–wonderful!

another day breaks

and what will we do?

our desires are many;

our resources, few.

perhaps if we can

stop desiring to bend

the ways of the world

to our personal end,

we’d find ourselves free

to be satisfied

just being alive

and along for the ride.

–photo by me

run home, little sister

storm’s a comin’,

best be runnin’

home, little sister–

tell ma to take

the clothes down

off the line,

and pa should roll

the windows up

on the ’29;

have gramma check

the wireless to hear

what this’ll bring,

and grampa–well,

don’t tell that

ol’ coot anything.

–photo by me

What’s in a Name?

My son Aaron and I took a little cruise around the area today; it was so nice out, we thought we’d take the cameras and visit a few spots we haven’t seen for almost three years. It wasn’t until we got home that I realized what strange names some of these places had.

First we went to a spot out in the middle of nowhere called Skibo. It’s a huge hill with boreal forest extending to the horizon in every direction. Great for astronomy. There are a few shacks somewhere around here without electricity; we drove by them once, and I was surprised not to see any cars.

While we were up on the hill, a couple of jets roared by, and I managed to capture one. When I was fueling jets in the Air Force, we only had some f-4s, f-15s, and mostly f-16s, so I have no idea what these are, but they look pretty cool.

Next, we headed down to Frying Pan Lake. Usually there are ducks and geese here (with goslings this time of year), but we got skunked today. It’s a beautiful, somewhat remote lake with two houses and an old Finnish cemetery on its verdant shores.

We started back, but had to make a stop at the Embarrass River. Every river north of the Laurentian Divide flows north to Hudson Bay, and every river south of it flows south to the Gulf of Mexico or Lake Superior–except this one. Somehow, it winds its way through the hills and heads south. Embarrass River. I wonder how it came by that name.

Finally, we headed back home to our humble little village of Aurora. It’s not much to look at, as you may have deduced from our sign, but it has a name I can live with.

–Photos by me