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eve to adam - "Auburn Slip" (2001 Mikendra Records ) Hard, heavy- good stuff that slipped throught he cracks.... My Photographs You like photos? I love taking them. Click here, if you wanna see some of my work
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Monday, Jan. 19, 2004 - 8:20 p.m. (A bunch of photos today- sorry if the page loads up slowly!) BTW- Happy ML King Day. I abbreviated Martin Luther because I was watching the Rev. Al Sharpton on CNN last week, and that is what he called today�s holiday (as in, �On ML King day, I will be back in New Hampshire campaigning��). If he feels comfortable shortening it, I should be able to do it too. One of our most-used vendors has their business located on the Reverend Martin Luther king Junior Drive here in Mohall. You try shoving all of that into the 2� long by 3/8� box on a state purchase order form�.. Anyway�.since today was by far the coldest day of the year, I decided to work around the house. I organized my seed starting area, and cleaned up the area where I put my bedding plants under fluorescent lights. I also cleared all of the dead leaves off of my houseplants. By the middle of winter, many of them have started shedding a few, and they always look a lot better after I clean them up a little. Oh yeah- I also went fishing at the Nuclear Power Plant Lake. From the shoreline, too. Yes, I am crazy. Ice fishing, inside of a heated shanty, is like a day at a tropical spa compared what I did this morning. Standing with my back facing the wind, under many layers of clothing, was almost more than even I could take. And, as you might already know, I don�t let cold weather stop me from catching a few fish. Here is a shot (for The Mirror Project page ), showing how bundled up I was:
This was at the state highway bridge where I usually catch my bluegill all winter. When I first walked down to my �hot� spot, there was almost no wind. But what was there was brutal. I tried turning my back to the breeze, but it cut right through my multiple coats and shirts. I managed to catch only 2 small �gills there in about 1 hour. I also managed to snag and loose my jigs about 5 times. With each re-tie, my fingers became harder to control. I kept them snuggly inside of Thinsulate�- lined gloves while casting, but had to take them off to put more jigs or bait on my line. My eyes and nose were running too, but I hung around until� The wind picked up. A bunch. Enough already! If I were catching a fish every other cast, I might have stuck it out. But no fish? No way. After warming up a little, I decided to look for subjects to photograph instead. With the over 80� warm water pouring out of the power plant, that was pretty easy to do:
This was as close as I could get to the hot water release point. Barbed wire and surveillance cameras are a pretty good deterrent for me� The steam rising off of the water formed a thin layer of frost on any above ground surface it crossed:
The plants lining the shoreline here are the obnoxious weed Common Teasel. This is the variety of thistle that is causing us so much trouble on our right-of-ways at the NDDOT, too. Here is a closer view of a seedpod, half covered with frost:
Almost reminded me of Kellogg�s Frosted Mini-Wheats�. Only not as appetizing� I drove through one of the lake�s access areas, hoping to drive up on a few deer. There are so many around the power plant that the Department of Conservation has special hunting seasons to help reduce their numbers. This is to keep them from starving from lack of forage. But, as luck would have it, I didn�t see one. I ended up stopping at the boat ramp, and took a few more photos of seagulls flying over the steam-covered water.
(It even LOOKS cold in that photo, don't you think?) I noticed a few stumps right off of the shoreline, and also that the wind wasn�t hitting me where I was standing. The ramps were located in a valley behind a tree line. With the wind blowing out of dead north, that meant I wasn�t bothered by it at all. I decided to try for a little while longer to see if I could catch a few keeper bluegills. They were there:
It took about an hour, but I finally had 6 decent fish in my bucket. Since I couldn�t feel the tips of my fingers anymore, it was time to leave. All in all, not a bad morning outdoors for the 18th of January. Aside from the brutal cold weather, that is�. One last thing- by the time I got home the water in my 5-gallon bucket had formed a skim of ice on its surface. The water below was so cold, it had started to become slushy. The bluegills were in a state of almost suspended animation. Not dead, but not really swimming normally, either. That has never happened to me before. But I can�t say I have ever fished on a day quite this cold before, either�.
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