A parable
Published November 21, 2009 | 
I will be king /And you /You will be queen
Though nothing will / Drive them away
We can beat them /Just for one day
We can be Heroes
Just for one day
– bowie
A man sits down on the grass to tell a story about a tree. A tree may not seem like much of a topic but with a little observation everyone realizes there is a lot to learn about a tree. Over the weeks, months and years the man keeps extolling the virtues of the tree. He describes every overlooked detail, and points out every new branch and every falling leaf. In time some began to think he most know everything there is to know about a tree. Of course he knew that was far from the truth.
What Adventure Means
Published November 17, 2009 | 
To a very young child outdoor adventure means running. Running and throwing stones. Running, throwing stones, & crushing leaves between your fingers. Adventure is the sound of the wind rushing through dry old oak leaves dancing high above your head. Adventure is watching a jet silently race across a deep blue autumn sky. To a child, adventure is simply doing something else. Something fun. Adventure is thinking about things you’ve never thought about before. Adventure is belly laughter on a very bumpy road. Adventure is always part of your day. Adventure begins pretty much wherever you happen to be. Sometimes, it’s worth remembering.
Bronze
Published November 15, 2009 | 
Nothing remains / We could run / when the rain slows
Look for the cars or signs of life / Where the heat goes
Look for the drifters / We should crawl under the bracken
Look for the shafts of light on the road
Where the heat goes – bowie
So the idea is to take 3 pictures and sort of mush them together in a way that adds way more data & depth than an average photograph. Normally this “HDR” or High Dynamic Range photography produces wildly surreal images. Much of that of course is due to the artistic whims of the photographer who has endless opportunity to tweek the images during processing. I’ve never really messed with HDR myself. For me most of the enjoyment of photography is in the moment and trying to capture the minds eye as it were (A hopeless task from the start I might add.). I’ll certainly edit images in Photoshop, but my joy is camera in hand. Still, I’m also driven to know how things are done, which sent me out to give HDR a go myself yesterday. Only the challenge I set for myself was to make it look well, real. Then once I got started I totally adjusted my thinking. Yeah, that’s just like me!
Posted in Cameras & Photography, Outdoor Recreation, travel | 
baraboo, HDR, pewits nest, photography, wisconsinTomaz Humar
Published November 13, 2009 | 
Tomaz Humar Rescued in 2005.
Alpinest Tomaz Humar made a call Monday by satellite phone and said he was injured while climbing 23,710-feet (7,227-meter) Langtang Lirung, high in the Himalayas. According to news reports heavy snow is making a search difficult. At the moment the search goes on. There is an interesting backstory behind Tomaz and his career that is worth a look as well. In 2005 he was rescued on Nanga Parbat’s infamous Rupal Face by helicopter. I came across this very interesting article from National Geographic Adventure that tells us more about Tomaz Humar and looks at how “adventure blogging” has effected climbing. Something we often talk about in Sea Kayaking as well. Let’s hope rescue teams find Tomaz soon.
* Update 11/15/05: It is reported today that Tomaz Humar has passed on. Our thoughts go out to his family.
Posted in Climbing, Outdoor Recreation, People, Safety | blogging, Climbing, national geographic, resuce, tomaz humarEarth Slide
Published November 2, 2009 | 
The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold….
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sunburned hands, I used to hold
– jacques prévert
Sorry for disappearing. Well, I’ve not actually disappeared, in fact I was probably walking along the shores of this lost little lake. Maybe I was taking pictures of a caged lion or hiking through the dark woods of my local park under the glow of a harvest moon. Maybe I was nursing what seems to be a little stress fracture on my foot , while watching the local team get taken to school. Maybe I was working on a website. My work list recently has been growing exponentially. Maybe I was sitting right here being amazed by how well my move from Windows XP to Windows 7 actually was going. The techies will appreciate that most all of my shareware, emulators, and other old or odd software worked. Quickbooks 2000 didn’t… But whatever I’ve been doing, I’ve not been kayaking recently. That will change of course. In life we wear many costumes. The difference between love & obsession is in the pauses we take. For the moment I’ve simply paused to watch the earth slide into the oncoming deep freeze from the vantage point of dry shoes.
My love is in league with the freeway
Its passion will ride, as the cities fly by
And the tail-lights dissolve, in the coming of night
And the questions in thousands take flight
– plant
Last weekend we took a little trip to Kentucky to visit Mammoth Cave National Park. It’s about a 9 hour drive from our home here in Wisconsin. Well, it may be if you don’t spend 2 hours stuck in Chicago traffic. I love traveling and in America just hitting the open road is a desire somewhat hardwired into many of us I think. It used to be that as you drove you were in constant anticipation of each bend in the road, each ridge you climbed and every stop for gas and food. There was so much diversity. It was in fact, exploring. Our parents have told us that things have changed since they took off down the highway in their 1950′s family cruisers and they have. What has changed more than anything, is simply the lack of change.
Continue reading →