Tuesday sunset

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Sticking with the Double Ditch theme for another day, I thought I’d share a nice picturesque sunset from beneath the cliffs. I had taken my little towheads down to the bottom of the walking trail to stand along the shore and throw rocks in the water, which they gladly did for as long as I’d allow before going home for story time and bedtime. On the way back I noticed that the sky had some really cool ripples and that the color of the sky was very striking, so we stopped for a second to take it in before heading home for baths, stories, stuffed animals, and blankies.

Unearthed beneath Double Ditch

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While poking around the river with my little boys a few nights ago, we found this ancient (by their standards) wreckage poking out of the dirt beneath the cliffs of Double Ditch. What kind of car this might be is indistinguishable to all but the most trained eye. It appears as though it has not only been here a long time, but was also likely buried for an extended period as well. I surmise that the dirt covering it was scoured away by the massive flows of the swelling Missouri River last year.

Plenty of dirt remains caked into the recesses of the engine and what remains of the frame and drivetrain of this artifact of automotive archeology. It just goes to show that nature will eventually reclaim what we leave behind.

I don’t know why people of the last century seemed to think it was a valid idea to pitch their cars into the drink, but it seems that there are a lot of old cars from the 40s through 60s rusting away quietly along the river in various places. Thankfully this practice doesn’t seem to happen often any more. As for the relics that do occasionally appear along the river banks and from beneath the river’s surface, they’re just another noteworthy and even somewhat familiar part of life along the Big Muddy.

Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony 2012

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Yesterday marked the date of the Peace Officers Memorial ceremony here in North Dakota. It’s held annually at the monument on the capitol grounds in honor of law enforcement officers who have perished in the line of duty. Most years it is a solemn look back at distant history…this year it was a reflection on the tragic losses of two officers within the past year. I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said, so I’m just going to share a few photos and let them do the speaking.


Standing at attention


Heartfelt thanks and condolences by Attorney General Stenehjem and others


Wreath presentation before the memorial


21 gun salute


Two names added


I’ll gladly admit that I’m a tireless cheerleader for law enforcement personnel here and all across our great nation. Some of them give it all in the line of duty, and this memorial honors that sacrifice. The national memorial ceremony is next week, and since there are two North Dakota families traveling to attend that ceremony, the North Dakota commemoration was moved to this week. Next week is Law Enforcement Week here in North Dakota and all across the USA, so please take any opportunity you get to thank them for their service on our behalf.

Leaning tree

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Poking around by the river bottoms a while back brought me to the right place at the right time, which I think is the most important component of a good photo. The sky was cooperating, the tree held a good pose, and it was just a fantastic moment to be out exploring with my camera.

After all the gloomy skies we’ve had lately, I’m ready for some sunshine…how about you?

Apparently I still haven’t posted all my aurora photos

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The skies have been relatively quiet for a while now, and I’m getting anxious for another chance to go out and capture the night sky in all its glory. There was an opportunity to get the moon at a very close proximity as it traversed the horizon, but clouds and wind shot that down all weekend. I was perusing some of the year’s previous shots while updating my shot log and got one from this old abandoned farmstead during one of the last major solar storms.

A couple of pals and I worked that location for all it was worth, since it offered such an amazing assortment of foreground objects at which to point our cameras. Tractors, windmills, old buildings, stripped cars…you name it, we had it. That includes a skunk which decided to make an appearance at one point, but it scampered back into hiding when it realized it had company.

When you absolutely have to get something lifted atop your capitol building

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As I drove past the capitol on Boulevard Avenue, I noticed something peeking: the boom of an obviously very large crane. Circling around to the north I found the Wanzek guys lifting materials up to the top of the capitol with a large crane capable of lifting 275 tons. This looks like the same monster that was parked on North 9th Street to help lift new elevator parts and stuff to the top of St. Alexius.

The capitol will be undergoing some limestone reclamation and repair in the near future, making for some interesting closures around the grounds. It’ll be interesting to see this local landmark get a facelift inside and out!

Blast from the (spelling) past

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I had the opportunity to pore over some boxes in the garage last night which my mom brought to me a year or so ago. I knew they contained old Peanuts paperback books and even some Archie comics, but they contained a lot of other cool stuff as well. Among those items was an envelope of State Spelling Bee memorabilia from 1983, the year I was a semi-finalist. I was the Mandan & Morton County champion that year, which is what got me the trip across the river to eat Beef Stroganoff, play Centipede in the arcade between rounds, and make some new friends as geeky as I.

Aw, nuts

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This long stretch of rusty fasteners caught my eye while poking around on another of Bismarck-Mandan’s best kept secrets: a bridge to nowhere.

This bridge sits along the walking/bike path by Hay Creek on the east end of town. Apparently it used to carry rail traffic but there are no longer any train tracks leading to it from either end. The rails have been removed from the bridge and so have any structures connecting it to anything, but someone has propped long boards up to provide pedestrian access to it for the brave.

One other rusty nut that I have in my photo collection is this one on the old Northern Pacific railroad bridge across the Missouri. While taking photos of the flood last year I looked up and saw this, and I figured it was a neat photo to grab for later. Here it goes.

I’ve got some other interesting fastener photos around here somewhere, perhaps I’ll cobble together some for a future post.

April showers, viewed from afar

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I took my boys out to Fort Lincoln to poke around with our cameras and watch the weather roll by. Rolling by is exactly what it did, missing the park entirely. The clouds did plenty of rumbling as they drifted past. My guys thought it was pretty cool that we could see rain and wondered if it was going to hit our house as it started to dump south of Bismarck. It was getting close to bedtime, so we headed back to find out.

Along the way we spotted a rainbow, something that hadn’t yet manifested while we were atop the hill. We stopped for a quick photo op and then headed back to town. Yep, our house got rained on. We had just enough time for a snack and some bedtime stories, then it was off to bed for them. I’m about to hit the pillow myself.

Happy Industrial Revolution Day! (Or Happy Romans Chapter 1 Day for us Bible believers)

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This is a view that few people get to see. The glowing red on the other side of that smoked glass is a vortex of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit reaching over two hundred feet high. It burns powdered coal which has been cleaned and dried, making it a very efficient and clean source of power. And it’s right here in North Dakota. You could put the state capitol building inside this boiler!

When you hear about “clean coal technology” you should note that North Dakota is pretty much the epicenter of innovation. At this particular power plant, by the way, over $200 million has been spent over the past thirty years on development of environmental technology. New processes have been brainstormed here that are of interest to power generation companies all over the world!

By the way, April 22nd is called “Earth Day” by some. This day was so named in order to fight global cooling back in 1970. That should tell you right there how much credibility the global cooling warming climate change movement has. Add to the mix the fact that it falls on Lenin’s birthday and mounting evidence that the “environmentalism” movement is merely a home for displaced socialists, and it all starts to make sense. After all…no matter what manifestation of global weather crisis is used to incite panic, the ONLY purported solution has always been global socialism.

Back to the photo. The power coming from plants like this powers homes, businesses, hospitals, schools…you name it. It provides life-saving heat in the winter and cooling in the summer. It powers information technology, life support systems, manufacturing, and who knows what else. Yet there are those deranged individuals who wish to vilify the energy industry and treat such technical innovation with disdain. They’re truly detached from reality and I welcome them to relocate to a third world country if they find nobility in primitive living.

Incidentally, the Bible talks of people who worship creation rather than the Creator in Romans chapter 1. This is nothing new. Actually, the people pushing this climate agenda wouldn’t be pushing it at all if the solution wasn’t global socialism. That’s why I choose to have a Festivus of sorts, one that recognizes the value of the technology and innovation that makes this country great. I’m not the one who brainstormed this answer to Earth Day, but I am certainly on board. Happy Industrial Revolution Day and/or Romans Chapter 1 Day!