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Wolfmother - "Wolfmother" (2006) sounds like a lost album from Black Sabbath or Led Zep from 1971.... My Photographs You like photos? I love taking them. Click here, if you wanna see some of my work
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Sunday, Jul. 16, 2006 - 7:48 p.m. If you can get through the next several paragraphs, the photographs follow ;) So I forgot my camera Friday. I knew the sunflower field across the street from my workplace would be in full bloom that day, but since I went to a two day retirement seminar (the most important thing I learned? If you have a universal life policy that is over 5 years old and have enough life insurance otherwise-CASH IT IN! The trainer at said seminar said that universal life policies are the WORST SAVINGS PLANS ON THE PLANET! And....I have one that is now 16 years old that I set up to pay for our boy's college if I died at an early age. Now? I have enough term life from the workplace to pay off all of my debts and them some in case the Grim Reaper comes for me in the near future. The universal life policy is worth almost enough in cash value to pay off Codeman's student loans, minus what he will borrow for the second semester of his senior year in January. The paperwork is now in the tray of my printer, to be filled out and faxed to said insurance company on Monday. The extra $50 or so a month I was paying for this policy? Straight into deferred comp. starting the first of next month. But I digress....) I forgot it Friday morning. Codeman to the rescue. He was getting off work early anyway on Friday, and when I called him he offered to run the Canon to me on his way to running his errands. Cool. So I ended up spending my afternoon break shooting the Hell out of the field across the road from the storage. I have a bunch of photos from that to show to you, too. Just not today. Why? Stick with me here� The camera was on the floor of the Hillbilly truck as I filled its tank with overpriced petrol on my way home at around 3:30pm. In other words- the middle of the day, at a very busy gasoline station on the highest traffic road on the west side of Mohall. As I was about to put the nozzle back into its cradle, I heard an odd sound I had heard before- hoofs on concrete. I looked up in time to see a large doe with her still-spotted fawn running across the concrete of the fuel station, headed right into the busy traffic. I wanted to do something to stop them, but what? I ran towards them yelling, but they still ran right into the 4 lane road, causing cars and trucks to hit their brakes to avoid hitting the frightened deer. They managed to make it to the other side of the road unscathed. I watched as they entered the property on the other side and cleared the 4� tall chain link fence with no problems. That was the end of it, until� I noticed another fawn, approaching the road. It was confused, lost, and about to be road kill. Back to the yelling and screaming routine. I ran straight towards the tiny deer, cutting its path to the road off before it entered traffic. Now, let me say this here now- I was only acting under the impulse to try to keep the baby deer from being smashed by traffic. It might have made it across without being hit by a passing motorist, but it really doubt it. My instincts were to keep it out of traffic, nothing more. And it worked- it ran back around the carwash at the gas station and headed back to the woods behind the lot. At this point, I reached into the truck and grabbed my camera. I took a couple of shots from a distance (not posted here, because they were too far away to be worth looking at), and was ready to head inside to pay for my fuel when the fawn headed back towards the road. I took these 5 photos in less than 15 seconds, all the while yelling at the baby to try to keep it away from the road. It finally did head back into the woods, so for at least a little while it avoided death on the 4 lane. I sure hope it hooked back up with its mother. This is the trouble with wild animals living in heavily populated areas- something spooks a deer in the middle of the day, and it bolts into high traffic areas. I even saw a deer run through the parking lot at work one morning a couple of years ago, watching it until it leapt over our security fence and headed into the subdivision east of the storage. Yes, the land was the deer�s before people moved in years ago. They have done a great job adapting to humans, living around us as we move closer and closer to their dens. But the inevitable consequence of this relationship is collisions with vehicles. Yeah, humans suck. Anyway�. To be this close to a passion play between man and nature on a Friday afternoon was pretty cool, none the less�.
Lease and I spent Friday evening sitting in our folding chairs along the shoreline of N.P.P. Lake, hoping to land a few Channel Catfish. The fishing wasn�t great, but it wasn�t a washout either. We arrived at the lake around 5:30. By 6, I had already landed a very nice (approximately) 7 pound fish, and the lines were bouncing with bites. In the next hour, we landed 4 more smaller cats (all released), along with 3 drum perch and the biggest soft-shelled turtle I have ever had the misfortune of hooking on a rod and reel. This turtle was about the diameter of a Yugo�s rear tire. It fought me for about 10 minutes, making me think I had a huge catfish on the line. But something wasn�t right. It held to the bottom (which big cats tend to do), but every time I brought him closer to the bank, the resistance felt more like I had my line attached to the back of Mark Spitz (kids- ask your parents) than a member of the Ictalurus family. As it finally reached the bank, I saw what I had done. All I want to do at this point is get him off of the line with the least damage to him as possible. I convinced Lease to take the rod (reluctantly, of course), and I reached down and cut the 12 pound test with my Leatherman. Yes, I left the hook in its mouth. I don�t like doing that. But from what I have read, it will rust out and dissolve in just a short time. As tough as turtles are, it won�t have any long-term health problems from our encounter. After that? We didn�t even get a bite for the next hour. We did have a few hits around dark, but since we had a drive ahead of us we left a short while later. The one cat I kept? � of the meat was cooked on the grill tonight for my supper, the rest was put into the freezer for another meal. With gas running $3 a gallon, taking home a little meat is now almost a necessity. The White Bass are supposed to be hitting the surface around the last hour of sunset at B.A.C.E. Lake from what I have heard. Might have to change my quarry next week�. P.S�. I put away 6 pints of sweet pickle on Wednesday this week. 15 pints of dill pickles today. So�. That means my cucumber plants are kicking ass, and a few people I know who really like my canned products will be receiving pickles in the fall. July is my busiest month of the year. But when the snow is falling and I can open a glass jar to bring back a bit of summer, it is all worth it�.
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