Time Slips Away

The Solstice has passed and winter is coming.

Backyard Lichen

Feed the Cat

A refrain frequently heard in our household.

The Difference between Men and Boys

is the resolution of their toys.

Fourteen miles in on a twenty-one mile hike

I've seen them before.  I ought to know what they are.  I do not.  Please enlighten me in the comments.

The hills were alive with Swallowtail Butterflies.

Dock diving demo at the new Leerburg storefront

Across the road a hen heading back to her nest

Bluebird vs House Wren

For the last 12 years bluebirds have nested in the front yard.  This is the first year they've had some competition from a House Wren.

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

Sometimes there are Sparks

I've known men who loved Muhammad Ali. I've known those who hated him. I don't know anyone who did not live in awe of him.

Let's not paper over the controversies. Let us not forget the harder parts of the narrative. In that complex story we find the truth about America: from the beginning we've been striving to reach our ideals and one only strives when they are failing.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." In an intellectually and culturally diverse republic I'd say, as iron sharpens iron, one freely shared experience sharpens another. Sometimes when iron strikes iron, there are sparks.

When we honor the "Louisville Lip," we honor the tradition and the history that forged him. A tradition that is as American as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

A Fetching Time At Batting Practice

She did this for 45 minutes on Thursday and even though she was a melting mess after all that time, I still had to be the one to call it off.

Atheists Ain't Got No Songs

Sasha Borisovich

His Instagram feed is more than worth your time.

Wisconsin Blue

I choose to believe that this is one of those brain teasing pictures where it is possible to see two different images it you stare long enough.

I say this because for a full thirty seconds I sat amazed that a graffiti artist would commemorate the fact that Barack Obama won the state of Wisconsin in 2008 and 2012.  By why did the artist include the UP in their image of Wisconsin.  And, wait, why is it dated 2016?

Then I saw the bird.

Alright, maybe I am just a bit dense or, maybe, I need to tune down the political banter in my mind and get outside a little more.

But Everyone Dies Eventually

Of course you can die just crossing the street, passing a semi on the interstate, or taking to large a bite of your hamburger so, yes, make a plan, get out there, but be prudent about it.

St. Anthony Falls

From Wikipedia:

Antoine Hennepin was born in Ath in the Spanish Netherlands (present-day Hainaut, Belgium). In 1659, Béthune, the town where he lived, was captured by the army ofLouis XIV of France. Henri Joulet, who accompanied Hennepin and wrote his own journal of their travels, called Hennepin a Fleming (i.e. a native of Flanders).
At the request of Louis XIV the Récollets sent four missionaries to New France in May 1675, including Hennepin, accompanied byRené Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. In 1678, Hennepin was ordered by his provincial superior to accompany La Salle on an expedition to explore the western part of New France. Hennepin was 39 when he departed in 1679 with La Salle from Quebec Cityto construct the 45-ton barque Le Griffon, sail through the Great Lakes, and explore the unknown West. 

Hennepin was with La Salle at the construction of Fort Crevecouer (near present-day Peoria, Illinois) in January 1680. In February, La Salle sent Hennepin and two others as an advance party to search for the Mississippi River. The party followed the Illinois River to its junction with the Mississippi. Shortly thereafter, Hennepin was captured by a Sioux war party and carried off for a time into what is now the state of Minnesota.^[2]In September 1680, thanks to Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Du Lhut, Hennepin and the others were given canoes and allowed to leave, eventually returning to Quebec. Hennepin returned to France and was never allowed by his order to return to North America.^[3] Local historians credit the Franciscan Récollet friar as the first European to step ashore at the site of present-day Hannibal, Missouri.^[4] 

Two great waterfalls were brought to the world's attention by Hennepin: Niagara Falls, with the most voluminous flow of any in North America, and the Saint Anthony Falls in what is now Minneapolis, the only waterfall on the Mississippi River. 

Painting by Douglas Volk.  The First People's were not impressed.

Winter is Coming

I am one of those people who read the Game of Thrones books and has been analyzing the HBO serialization with concern.  Two things the books capture in more grim detail: winter is coming and winter does not give a f*ck about who lives or dies. 

Archery Kids

Both of the boys have really improved this winter.  Just a couple more years and they will be ready to take out bow-hunting.

Writer's Block

The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

U of M Class of 2016

Every new beginning begins with an ending.  Some endings are celebrated, others are mourned, most come with rituals.

May crept up on me.  I hardly thought about graduation until I was surprised by this sight on the University of Minnesota campus.

So I am looking for a pair of walking shoes in a 10 1/2.

Girls Just Wanna Hunt

Sparta just wants to go about Darwin's work.

She discovered a fresh den under a brush pile.  It appeared to be occupied but I had to pull her out and go to the pay job.

If She had a Man

Johnny Law

Do the best you can,
to be a good man.

But don't you trust Johnny Law.

Seven Things to Remember

I have been a moral maxim maker since about the age of 13.  It was the 1980's and we still had to deal with bullies the old fashioned way: you either knocked them down or demonstrated you were willing to get knocked down before backing down.

It is hard to imagine too many kids these days saying with pre-serum, beat to a pulp, Steve Rogers, "I can do this all day."

My first maxim went something like, "Fear is an emotion; it is not a moral argument."  My point to myself being, fear would never help me understand the right thing to do at any given moment.  It could only tell me how I feel about doing the right thing at any given moment.

Since that time, rules have come and rules have gone.  Some will always be with me.  Others have passed into oblivion.

My current list, none of them in anyway original to me, looks like this

1: Some things are in your control and others are not.  You are not responsible for anything outside of your control.

2:  If the universe is not meeting your expectations, the universe is not the one at fault.

3:  Everything has two handles, but it can only be carried by one.

4:  Being disturbed is a state of mind and my state of mind resides within my control.  No event is disturbing unless I choose to be disturbed by it.

5:  Avoid judgments of either praise or blame: speak the facts.

6:  False beliefs will lead you to inflict harm upon yourself and others.  Give them no quarter.

7:  Expect every one and every thing to act according to their habit.