Challenge accepted

windmill_29450This goes out to my online pal Jason, who challenged me a while back to deliver a) a windmill photo, and b) a broken-down farm building photo.  What I haven’t posted, due to things being a little busy around here, are my responses – acquired on May 26th, 2014.

First, I’d like to present the windmill above.  This is one of my favorite windmills, but I didn’t just dart out to it in order to satisfy a request.  This was actually on the return leg of the previously posted trip with my little boys, when I had my youngest out southwest of Mandan.  In fact, I have already posted an additional windmill photo from that trip, the one with the damaged fins…but I’ve been meaning to share this one just because the colors were so dynamic.

 

fallen_farm_29299Next is this old house and the remains of its garage, which sit along the road to Fish Creek Dam.  That’s where I took my little guy to show him the bench out on the lookout point – if you don’t know about it, I’ll have to post a little explanation later.  I’ve wanted to approach this house for a while, and the land isn’t posted, but there are currently cattle on the land.  I guess I’ll have to wait, and let this shot from the road suffice for a while.

I’m on the mend now, and while I act as a recliner pilot and nurse the wounds from my most recent DaVinci robot attack, I’m going to try to dig back through the hard drive for shots like these.  I have dozens of photos I’ve taken with every intention of sharing here, but have somehow neglected or forgotten over time.  I think I’ll find some gems in there, and for the next few weeks I’ll have plenty of time on my hands to work with ’em.

Stay tuned!

Farewell post

double_ditch_post_29563Sadly, this is pretty much the last hurrah of one of my favorite sunset photo subjects: the post at the northwest corner of the Double Ditch site.  I visited the site last night for a long overdue sunset photo, and found that it’s barely hanging on.

 

double_ditch_post_21108I posted last year about how this post was endangered by the erosion which was causing the cliffs of Double Ditch to collapse.  At that time, it still had a little bit of dirt holding it somewhat in place.

 

double_ditch_post_29505I hadn’t actually done anything really stupid lately, so I thought I’d hold my camera out over the top of the post.  As you can see, there’s nothing holding it from tumbling into the Big Muddy except the strands of rusty barbed wire which tether it to the metal posts further from the abyss.

 

Here are some of my favorite sunset photos taken from this location, for comparison:

double_ditch_sunset_2735 double_ditch_sunset_19917 double_ditch_sunset_12332As you can see, this has been a photogenic and dependable subject for me over many sunsets over the past nine years.

 

double_ditch_post_29563Again, you can see that the only thing holding it up this far is the tenacious grip of that rusty barned wire.  Well, you had a good run, faithful post.  It’s sad to see you go.  I’m glad I could get one last sunset photo in before the inevitable happens.

Yes, I know that title should probably contain a comma. 🙂

 

Somebody else wants in on the action

pj_29213On Memorial Day I was able to take not one photo trip, but two.  Each time I took a different boy with me, and I was able to see their photography talents emerging.  They did great, and we had some fun “two dudes” time as father and son.  Well, my young gentlemen now understand what a Website is, and at their behest I’ve agreed to post some of their work for the world to see.  Here are a few shots from my oldest boy:

 

pjs_57809This was one turtle who didn’t dart into the water right away as we approached.  He was patient enough to let us put a 300mm lens on my boy’s camera and snap away for a while.

 

pjs_57793These geese didn’t like us much.  They swam over to the far shore and got out to walk away.  The funny thing is, they came to the end of the land and had to plop back into the water anyway.

 

pjs_57779Then there’s this guy.  He posed for us briefly before taking off.  He had a pretty nice perch until we came along and made him uncomfortable with all the cameras pointed his way.

 

jon_29276Then I took another boy for a trip in the opposite direction!   We didn’t approach any water at all, but we did find plenty of scenery.

 

jons_57827He didn’t have a wide enough lens to get the whole church in Almont into the frame, but he did frame a nice level shot.  I didn’t have to crop it or anything!  There are plenty of grown-up would-be photographers who can’t frame a level shot.

 

jons_57864One of his favorite subjects:  Daddy.  This is that old piece of farm equipment I posted recently.  This one was taken from the truck, as it was getting late and we were running out of snacks.

 

jons_57832We ventured out to Fish Creek Dam, where we were a trio of kayaks and this fishing boat.  You can see from the background how the clouds were pretty spotty.  There were long periods of shade as enormous clouds passed over.

I was so happy to get out with my camera not once, but twice.  I was even more happy to do it as a father-son trip, also twice.  I haven’t been able to use my cameras for a while, so to get back into the swing of things for now has been very therapeutic.

 

Some days, I know how he feels

windmill_29451This Morton County windmill has seen better days.  I spotted it in this condition while driving by with my littlest boy.  He wanted to go home after a good afternoon of photo hunting, so I didn’t take the time to get any closer for a shot.  I switched to a 300mm lens and snapped this from the road, then took off for home (and dinner).

I’ve actually got this particular item marked in my GPS from before, and it seems to be deteriorating more rapidly than I remember.  I’ll have to make it back sometime soon, perhaps for a nice sunrise shot!  That is, after I get some of my things resolved…

Here’s how you get my vote for City Commission

campaign_signs_29463Disclaimer: This is not a photo of my yard.

I was lucky to stumble upon a yard with these two signs side by side, because these are the two people I recommend you vote for in the upcoming City Commission race.  I’d be happy to explain why.

First off, Mike Motsenbacher has a consistent record as a fiscal conservative, unlike anyone on our current city commission.  He’s been involved with conservative activist groups in town as long as I’ve known him, he’s got business experience as well, and I just plain like him.  You and I can trust him to be prudent in his decision making and not share the same fetishes as the current commissioners.

But here’s the newcomer (to me, anyway): Duane Pool.  A friend of mine received this letter from him, and I’ve received permission to reprint it.  Upon reading this letter I became instantly convinced that I’m voting Pool for Commissioner in the June election:

 I want to thank all of you for your varying levels of support, influence, council and inspiration leading up to this last week of the Bismarck City Commission Election. I know not all of you a Bismarck residents but thank you anyway. If you are a resident, I encourage you to vote or stop by the City-County building and turn in an absentee ballot if you are not able to vote on Tuesday, June 10th.

This election is about choosing a city commission that reflects your values and values your input. I hope I have shown myself capable of doing so and deserving of your support. I strongly encourage you to watch the League of Women Voters forum on Dakota Community Access or online at freetv.org.

My Core Values:

  • I believe Government should be transparent: The public should be informed and a genuine part of the process both within the Tom Baker meeting room and before the issues gets there. People should have access to information and they should know their input into the process has meaning and influence.
  • I believe in the Democratic Process and I believe in my community: Democracy is a responsibility and participatory process. We are obligated to participate:
  • As Candidates
  • As Voters
  • As Citizens in public meeting and forums.
  • People engaged in the process should be treated with dignity, sincerity and respect.
  • Once elected you still need to honor the will of your constituents, both those who supported you and those who did not since you represent them all.
  • Planning is a key to efficient and sustainable growth: I have been involved in planning for much of the last 15 years. I think as a community we need to really focus on a vision of what we want to be 10 and 20 years from now and plan our community efficiently around that goal. (healthy, growing, safe, educated, happy, economically stable with a good standard of living)
  • Economic growth and efficiency are highly desirable community characteristics: I have taught economics at both the under graduate and graduate levels for over 25 years. Including the principles of economics into public decision making will make for efficient and logical decisions for both the short and long term viability of our community infrastructure as well as business environment.

My personal focus:

  •  Infrastructure to support growth. How and where we plan it, scalability, cost and liability.
  • Public Finance. Government provides services necessary to our safety, security, business and social networks, education, and health.
  • How much service is provided must be balanced with the cost and how we pay for it. Public spending is not synonymous with public investment and we need to assure the public that when we do responsibly spend their tax dollars the services and benefits are necessary and desirable.
  • Existing and future investments must be sustainable from a fiscal perspective.
  • Focus on the future rather than reactionary spending. EX: The Civic Center expansion was denied at the polls, yet the existing Commission voted to spend ~10-15% less on a revised plan. Paraphrasing the City Commissioners rationalized this as “…they voted against the higher cost expansion, not the new proposal…”. Subsequently when the public reacted the Commissioners voted to do a study regarding future Civic-events Center locations, expansion and needs. This was either the cart before the horse (study first then spend based on an informed decision) or a disingenuous attempt to quell the public outcry with no intent to change course. In either case the public will was discounted. If the process were inclusive of a long-term community vision the study would have preceded the decision and the urgency to begin construction would not have overridden an open public process nor blatantly disregarded public opinion.
  • A focus on planning and vision for the future will aid in efficient long-term spending to build and maintain an adequate community infrastructure.
  • Public safety and health: As our community grows, demands on police, fire and public health resources will increase. These services are vital to an attractive and vibrant social and business culture. The culture and economic opportunities in Bismarck are what makes our city attractive and provides the backdrop for growth.

I hope I have your support at the polls on Tuesday!

Respectfully,
Duane B. Pool, PhD.

civic_center_money_6747bThe Civic Center thing struck a chord with me.  I’m a Civic Center employee, but I was firmly against pouring more taxpayer money into the expansion.  I outlined my reasons in a post here.  So were most of the rest of you.  That was not enough to prevent our commissioners and mayor from diverting taxpayer moneys from elsewhere and proceeding anyway.  For that reason, they need to go.  Their cavalier attitude and fetish for downtown, “green space”, and the Civic Center expansion need to be their ticket out of office.  Duane Pool gets it.

I may have some other research to pass along regarding the vote this week (if you early vote) and next.  Stay tuned, and vote Pool and Motsenbacher for City Commish!

Successful trip

old_equipment_29309I’ve tried not to lament too loudly that recent circumstances had prevented me from doing much, if any, photography.  Believe me, it has been very frustrating.  Well, I got the chance to take my littlest boy, stuff him in the pickup with my cameras, and roam some back roads for a while over Memorial Day.  This is my favorite result so far.

I have a saying that if I bring back just one good photo from any excursion, it’s been a successful trip.  Most have been successful, some have been bonanzas, but all have been necessary therapy.  I enjoy exploring North Dakota and capturing it in digital images.  In the case of Monday’s trip, I had some blessed time with my little guy, I got a bunch of photos I think I’ll like once I process them, and I brought home this one that was truly exciting.

I’m thankful for a successful trip.  I needed this.

A couple of milestones reached

3000_iphone_2462In case you don’t know the story: I’ve been trying to get to the 3,000 mile mark on my mountain bike for the longest time.  Technically speaking, I’m several hundred miles past it…but due to various speedometer failures over the years I’ve never seen it indicated, and therefore I’ve never considered it “official”.  That is, until today.

With my various medical things going on lately, I really didn’t expect to be out on a bike this weekend.  I did ride, though, without anything unusual, and spent part of the trip pulling over at a park to play catch with my oldest little boy (I had mitts, a baseball, and water bottles in my backpack).   I didn’t do anything aggro, no wheelies or endos, and chose to take it easy. The last time I threw caution to the wind on a mountain bike while still recovering from surgery, I tore my kneecap in half and nicked an artery with one of the pieces.  Serious stuff I’d rather not repeat.

 

3000_iphone_2495I managed to get out on two of my motorcycles tonight, too, and while giving my youngest little boy a ride I noticed that I was about to reach the same milestone on that particular machine.  A few blocks from home the odometer ticked over to 3000.0, and we pulled over for a quick snapshot of photographic proof.  Awesome.

This “new normal” we’re going through right now seems a lot more normal now that I’ve been able to spend some time on two wheels.  Maybe there will be some camera time ahead, too!

Sign of the times

sb_sign_29154I got a chuckle out of this sign as I drove by on Airport Road tonight.  I’m as weary as the next guy of this non-Spring we’ve been having.  The bitter winter didn’t help much, either.  I know we NoDaks are resilient and have historically turned bitter cold into bragging rights, but everybody I know is fed up.  Hopefully Spring does come and stick around (although there’s a freeze warning for tonight).

sb_sign_29154This reminds me of a great sign I spotted a while back. A long while back, since the Donut Hole has been Bearscat for quite some time.  But it’s a Star Wars reference, which means it’s timeless.

Check out the Signs, Logos, and Typos category here on the ol’ Blog for some of my favorites.

One good crane deserves another

st_alexius_crane_29075Two days in a row I was treated to views of people lifting very, very heavy things with machines that look right out of my boyhood Matchbox collection.  This time around was actually a crane lifting a crane, as the sections of a big tower crane were assembled for some ongoing work at St. Alexius.

 

st_alexius_crane_29089By the time I’d taken the first picture in this post, they had already attached the main part of the crane to the tower.  That just left this 200-foot boom to attach.  It was assembled in pieces on a set of stands, which had to be detached, and then carefully lifted without getting snagged on the tree (right), hitting the stoplight (left), or getting hooked on the streetlight (center).

 

st_alexius_crane_29135That’s not distortion in my lens, apparently.  I could see the boom of the yellow crane bow visibly under the weight of its payload at that extension.  I pointed it out to one of the crew and he saw it too, so either we’re both nuts or it actually bowed a bit.

 

st_alexius_crane_29150This is an enormous undertaking, but I’m told that this tower crane will have plenty of work to keep it busy this summer.  In order to even erect this crane, footings had to be prepared for it to be mounted.  It’s self-supporting with no guy wires or anything, so its stability has to come from deep underground.

I actually have some more really neat crane footage that I shot years ago that I may have to re-share here.  I’ve got a lot of respect for these operators, mostly because I could never be patient enough to do their job.  It obviously takes a cool head and a lot of focus to be in control of these cranes, because one mistake could be very expensive and possibly fatal.

So there ya have it…after a long dry spell, I got the camera out of the bag two days in a row!  Not a bad way to round out the week.