One of my favorite Fallen Farms

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I spotted this gem of a barn on the way back from a speech competition in northwestern North Dakota. My boy had performed quite well, so it was a Proud Dad moment. My eyes are always scanning while driving, a trait which has kept me alive through many years of motorcycling and motorcycle racing, and naturally that translates well to my photography hobby. Well, an inattentive eye would have missed this scene. Thankfully, being alert paid off: I pulled over, grabbed my gear from the trunk, bolted to the best vantage point, and got the shot.

A ride to check out some ridez

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I added a mountain bike to the stable weeks ago, but I hadn’t found an opportunity to actually get out and rock it until today. I did a leisurely 15-miler around town, and in the middle of that I was able to check out a pretty cool selection of other people’s rides…or ridez, to use their style. As I biked past the capitol building, I noticed that the Carz-n-Cures charity car show event was taking place in the northwest parking lot of the capitol grounds. Naturally, I had to stop by.

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Peace Officers’ Memorial Day

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Peace Officers Memorial Day has been commemorated on May 15th since President Kennedy signed a joint resolution of Congress in 1961. The North Dakota capitol building has been adorned with a blue line in the windows since 2017, when a joint resolution in the North Dakota legislature was passed to designate the day and the display. As far as I know, this is the only display in the capitol windows which appears in Century Code.

North Dakota peace officers who have given their lives in service of our state include:

Fred D. Alderman: Fargo Police Department: 1882
Evan Paulson: Mayville Police Department: 1890
James Rauland: Northern Pacific Railroad: 1899
H.M. Personius: Valley City Police Department: 1906
George E. Moody: Richland County Sheriff’s Office: 1911
Carl G. Nelson: Carrington Police Department: 1915
Seymour H. Douglas: McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office: 1917
Evan M. Jones: Richland County Sheriff’s Office: 1917
George Dixon: Wilton Police Department: 1917
Patrick J. Devaney: Minot Police Department: 1918
Kersey E. Gowin: North Dakota Office of Attorney General: 1918
Earnst W. Thompson: Ward County Sheriff’s Office: 1920
Lee S. Fahler: Minot Police Department: 1921
Julius A Nielson: Kenmare Police Department: 1921
Christian A. Madison: Stanley Police Department: 1922
Carl Peterson: Westhope Police Department: 1922
Charles R. Sneesby: Devils Lake Police Department: 1924
Nels H. Romer: Mandan Police Department: 1926
Hans C. Jess: Mandan Police Department: 1929
Martin G. Johnson: Ray Police Department: 1930
George Peipkorn: Burleigh County Sheriff’s Office: 1930
Leo Dagner: Willow City Police Department: 1933
David L. Stewart: Hope Police Department: 1933
Aslak “Oscar” Thorsen: Bottineau County Sheriff’s Office: 1936
Fred A. Patrickus: Billings County Sheriff’s Office: 1940
Joseph Runions: Mercer County Sheriff’s Office: 1941
Aurther M. Sem: Stanley Police Department: 1942
Charles M. Allmaras: Eddy County Sheriff’s Office: 1942
Jacob M. Hoerner: New Leipzig Police Department: 1942
John Oles: North Dakota State Penitentiary: 1946
Rudolf F. Howell: Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office: 1950
William W. Hansen: Velva Police Department: 1950
Henry S. Halvorson: Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office: 1952
Nicholas J. Ethen: Devils Lake Police Department: 1953
Edward E. Mumby: New Salem Police Department: 1953
Beryl E. McLane: North Dakota Highway Patrol: 1954
John Holcomb: North Dakota State Penitentiary: 1954
Ralph L. Burdick: Benson County Sheriff’s Office: 1954
Lee E. Morrow: Federal Bureau of Investigation: 1960
Max L. Taylor: Bowman County Sheriff’s Office: 1960
Nathan N. Bear: Bureau of Indian Affairs: 1960
Ralph J. Hansen: Ransom County Sheriff’s Office: 1962
Frank A. Peterson: Rugby Police Department: 1963
Burdette M. Miller: Ray Police Department: 1966
Theodore C. Wanner: Dickinson Police Department: 1966
Robert D. Martin: Grand Forks Police Department: 1966
Raymond A. Wietstock: State Industrial School: 1966
Ronald E. Trautman: Jamestown Police Department: 1966
Frank C. Schultz: Burlington Northern Railroad: 1970
P.A. “Tex” Goyne: New Salem Police Department: 1971
Herbert R. Parmeter: Sargent County Sheriff’s Office: 1974
Kenneth A. Lenerville: Reeder Police Department: 1975
Kenneth B. Muir: U.S. Marshal Service: 1983
Robert S. Chesire Jr.: U.S. Marshal Service: 1983
Timothy L Wells: Willaims County Sheriff’s Office: 1989
Valence L. Pascal: Benson County Sheriff’s Office: 1993
Charles V. Pulver: North Dakota Game and Fish: 1995
Keith A. Braddock: Watford City Police Department: 1996
Roger C. Sorenson: Youth Correctional Center: 1996
Steve R. Kenner: Bismarck Police Department: 2011
Bryan K. Sleeper: Burleigh County Sheriff’s Department: 2011
Jason D. Moszer: Fargo Police Department: 2016
Colt E. Allery: Rolette County Sheriff’s Office: 2017
Cody N. Holte: Grand Forks Police Department: 2020
Adam G Gustafson: West Fargo Police Department: 2021
Jake R. Wallin: Fargo Police Department: 2023

I’m delighted to live in a state which honors its law enforcement personnel instead of trying to portray them as oppressors, defund them, or otherwise disparage them. Many of them are my friends and/or colleagues. If you encounter an officer this week, please thank them and voice your support. National Police Week is designated as calendar week in which May 15th falls, so you still have a few days.

Okay, I’m awake. First batch of aurora photos

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Okay, when I was younger I stayed out all night quite frequently. In fact, I worked overnights for seven and a half years. I’m no dummy. I know what it’s like to stay out late. But now that I’m all growed up and have a real job and family, I don’t get to do it so much. So I’m a little crushed by staying out past 4am this morning. But it was WORTH IT.

My feed, like yours, probably blew up with Northern Lights photos last night and today. Fantastic. Recently I’ve dreaded that, because my photos haven’t been among them. This time, however, I was able to get out with my best friend and get some shots of my own! So let’s go…

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A collector’s delight: Music & More

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It should be obvious that I’m a music and movie fan, and a fan of physical media specifically. I could rant for an hour on the virtue of owning a physical copy of the music or film you enjoy vs. having to rent it in perpetuity from some greedy pinhead who can make your beloved favorites vanish in an instant or pepper them with ads for products you’ll swear not to buy out of sheer annoyance.

Well, there’s a new shop for people like you – people like us – Music & More, located on Lockheed Drive in south Bismarck.

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Happy Eclipse Day! Oh, wait…

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I made this meme a long time ago out of frustration during an potential Northern Lights photography opportunity. It still applies! I’m getting plenty of mileage out of this one simple meme, proving that it was spot-on.

I had originally planned to take my family to the National Museum of the Air Force for this event, since it’ll pass right overhead, giving us a two-fer. I had to cancel those plans due to Bidenomics, but we did visit the Strategic Air Command museum this weekend instead. The weather at Wright-Patterson was a roll of the dice anyway, and everywhere along the path of totality is going to be packed with people, so we really aren’t too bummed about missing out.

I am old enough to have caught the total solar eclipse in 1979, when I was a young lad growing up in western Montana. We didn’t do anything special with protective gogs or anything like that, but we watched it get dark. Pretty cool.

There’s always 2044! I told my kids they may have to dig me out of the nursing home or the dirt for us to catch the next one, but I’m going to do my best to be able to ride motorcycle there. Or maybe even longboard…