It’s been a while since I’ve seen a fence with so many boots perched atop its posts. The one north of Bismarck along 1804 is pretty photogenic, but the way it winds around a curve can be a challenge. This one goes straight up an over a hill. It’s in Morton County, and I’m not sure I remember where. I’d have to ask my GPS.
So……….apparently this happened quite a while ago, but as you may know I’ve had a year or two with very few photo jaunts. This tilted weather vane sits along North 26th Street and used to point to a large, red barn. For some reason, that barn appears to have been razed.
I swung by again a few years later, and yes…it was still functioning normally.
So…wha hoppen? I have no idea. I looked through Google Earth to discover that it seemed to vanish in late 2013. The structure looks sound, so who know why it suddenly disappeared. Maybe it was damaged in some way and deemed too costly to repair. I think I’d recall hearing about a fire if that caused its demise. Strange.
Well…dang.
On a cold, blustery day a week and half ago I found this old piece of equipment near a stretch of barbed wire fence in rural Morton County. It’s hard to tell here that it was actually starting to snow sideways, something that makes flash photography nearly impossible. Thankfully I caught just enough of a break to light this shot and get back into the truck to thaw my fingers!
I went to Scheels to look at ammunition yesterday and was pleased to find these signs around the store. It’s nice to see a business which still regards the most important Christmas holiday! It was actually a thrill to see a regional business stand up to pressure against Christianity in public. In the future I won’t even consider going to another sporting goods store (especially one that doesn’t even carry handguns, ahem).
The greatest news ever given. I was elated to see it proclaimed at Scheel’s. Not only is the company giving its employees to celebrate as they wish, but they’re also proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ – good news that I’m willing to bet is enjoyed by the majority of Scheels’ customers.
Thanks again to Scheels and other North Dakota businesses who support people of faith and stand up for what’s right!
I recently took my boys to a friend’s house east of town for an epic afternoon Nerf gun war with a bunch of other boys. That gave me some time to roam with my camera, and along Apple Creek Road I had to stop by this crazy old stump. It just keeps getting more and more hollow, and the birds love it on a windy day like the one we were having. I’ve always been stricken by the way that the stump looks like a castle.
The sky actually didn’t cooperate with me tonight. I was working on an idea I’ve had with the Square Buttes in the foreground of a sunset shot, but the sky really didn’t do a whole heck of a lot. So I zoomed in on one portion of the horizon where there were actually some clouds. As you can see, most of this is the result of jet contrails. Oh well…it got me out of the house for a while. 🙂
I recently received a promotional mailer from a local business which had a scratch-and-win game on the back. Well, as you can see above, there wasn’t a whole lot of mystery to the game in this particular case. I scratched it off anyway, and voila’ – I was a winner of one of many potential prizes…even $25,000!
Well, I could certainly use a new vehicle right now, and $25,000 would buy a pretty nice Toyota Tacoma or something. So I figured it might be interesting to visit the local business and see what the catch was. I’m a born skeptic with this kind of thing. I didn’t plan on any special trips, but kept the mailer in my truck in case I was in the neighborhood.
For years I’ve had a unique opportunity, as I have received mail at multiple addresses…PO Box, rental property, that sort of thing. So I was amused when I got my hands on a couple more of the mailers. Either this was really my lucky week, or something strange is afoot.
As I’d planned to do anyway, I perused the fine print. It looks like each “WINNER” receives a chance to choose an envelope which may or may not contain a prize. Makes sense. The odds of winning each prize are clearly stated on the mailer if you are curious. They’re far better than the PCH or Powerball, by the way.
I never did venture down to this business; I was simply too busy. It’s too bad, because I missed a chance to grab a winning envelope. While you might suspect that I’m ranting against this business for deceptive use of the word “WINNER”, that’s not the case at all. In 2016, if someone reads a mailer like that and thinks they’ve really struck gold by scratching their way to a big win, then I need to sell them the Grant Marsh Bridge. It’s just a ploy to get you to pay attention, and by reading the details it’s easy to surmise what’s up. They want to get you into the store, they’ll give you a chance to pick a prize (at no cost to you, by the way), and along the way see if they can sell you something. Hard to be offended by that, although I’m sure many would try.
It’s remotely like the Publisher’s Clearing House – if they can keep you busy adhering labels, scratching off “game cards”, and hunting through all sorts of product listings in search of that stamp you need to send back, there’s a good chance they can play on human nature and get you to buy something. I mean, after all, if you have to do so much to even qualify to win, doesn’t that mean the Prize Patrol could be right around the corner?
I’m of the mindset that if someone offers me a free chance to win something, I’ll take them up on it. I don’t have any illusions about it, but I don’t mind taking advantage of the opportunity if I’ve got the time. No hard feelings if I don’t win, and as long as we’re both understanding what’s going on with the contest there’s no reason not to simply take it for what it is: a business trying to attract customers and sales, and a consumer taking a crack at winning free stuff.
It’s no secret that the photos have been fewer and farther between for quite some time now. First I and every single member of our family had major health issues to deal with. Then after we circled the wagons and worked on treatment and healing we took on building a new house, and still have lots of thing in bins and a new Garage Majal to get whipped into shape. Additionally, my little kids have grown up to a point where they want more Dad time (not as much “Daddy”) and I’ve had a hectic freelance schedule. Whew.
Well, I decided to knock off a little early on Friday and actually head out with my camera and some new gear I purchased with some of the aforementioned freelance money. I didn’t want to make a major voyage out of it, but just work the outskirts of town and let the stress of the week melt away. What better way to get back into the game than to go with my trademark: windmills! I found a trio of ’em.
I have photographed these before, but they do change over time. This one has lost more than half of the blades but is still standing tall. I chose not to remove the power lines in the background this time.
A wider shot may have portrayed this windmill standing alone in a vacant prairie better, but in reality there was a pole just out of the frame on the left where power comes in…presumably some sort of stock tank heater or something. The lettering on the vane (yes, that’s what it’s called) says “R. R. HOWELL CO MINNEAPOLIS”. It’s an interesting Google search if you have time on your hands.
Sunset came quickly, and I once again cashed in on the real Secret of My Success when it comes to photography: being in the right place at the right time, often due to absolute blind luck. I had a couple of minutes to wait for the sun to set in the silhouette of the water tank next to this windmill, adjusting my tripod to the side periodically to track the sun as it slid down and to the right of the frame. The way it reflected off the wispy clouds above added to the feel of the shot.
It felt SO good to be out roaming again. I didn’t even have a potential target when I set out; I just settled on windmills after coming upon the first one. It was simply therepeutic to get out and start clicking photos again. All the while I had a Nick Lowe song repeating in the back of my head:
I am determined for my own sanity to get out with my cameras more. Maybe not as much as in the old days, because I want to be a good husband and dad. Bringing the kids with on my photo trips will help, and maybe even kindle in them a love of roaming photography. Meanwhile I hope to have more to share than simply political rants, which don’t take much road time at all. Back to my love of North Dakota and sharing it online. Maybe the next song going through my head will be Back in the Saddle Again!
When I first started venturing out for my Fallen Farms series of photos I discovered that there are more of these than I would have expected. I suppose they were harder to demolish and either haul away or bury. Whatever the reason, they do look pretty neat in a wistful way.
Lately the temperature swings have made for some cool frost. Not the long spiky kind, unfortunately, but frost just the same. This is one knobby on the tire of my truck, and it caught my eye as I was getting ready to head out with my camera the other day. This was before the current warm stretch, of course. I hope I can start getting back out with my camera more, just like the old days…
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