Putting out fires…where is that fire hose?
Putting Out Fires
Obscurity
Driving at Dawn
I had a busy Saturday planned. I had an assignment to do some travel writing at a destination about 2 hours north of my home. The festival started at 8 a.m. with a tour of a National Wildlife Refuge, then a 10 o’clock workshop on nature photography by the Refuge Artist in Residence, and an afternoon trip to a cranberry bog. Plus a chicken dinner and the unveiling of this year’s edition of Whooper Brew after the bog trip.
(Hint: I went to the Crane Fest held in Necedah, Wisconsin, and I’ll share some stories and a few photos on the cranberries, the beer, and the whooping cranes in a later post.)
I haven’t been sleeping well for some unknown reason, and so when the alarm rang at 5:30 this morning I was none too excited. I managed to drag myself out of bed after getting maybe 2 hours of sleep, and I was rather grumbly as I got in the car. It was foggy and gray, and I was relieved I didn’t have to do the driving.
And then I blinked open my eyes as the skies lightened. Wow! I woke up pretty darn fast.
I fumbled around in the back seat until found my camera. Needless to say, we didn’t make it to the festival at the appointed time.
Finally, after we pulled over to the side of the road for the fifth time for just “one more photo,” the sun actually appeared, and the dawn was over – so we could get on with our drive.
Finding Red in the Woods
Not the kind of red I was anticipating on my hike in the woods. Red sumac? Looking. Red maple leaves? Still looking.
No. I found red nails from the decomposing wood frame of an old farm wagon.
And a red barrel sitting where it ought not be sitting,
and red screws, more of the wagon frame.
It’s cool outside, my furnace has switched on the last two nights and I’m wearing sweaters in the house, but outside the leaves are still showing mostly green and my grass is in desperate need of a last cut for the year.
It’s the Berries
A walk in the prairies show grasses are browning, flowers are setting seed, and this red osier shrub (red twigged dogwood) is ladened with bunches of heavy white berries. By the way, the berries do not turn red.
The dogwood’s name has nothing to do with dogs. The word is derived from an Old English wood dagge (dagger) and refers to the hardness of the wood. A European species was once used to make butchers’ skewers.








