Highway 41
Published July 17, 2011 | 
A lot of things can cross your mind when you’re sitting on a the corner of hwy 67 and 41 in Trenary, Michigan on your way to Escanaba any many miles beyond ’til home. Thoughts like, “Where the hell am I?” for one. As soon as we left Grand Marais and the cool grip of Lake Superior, the air became hot, humid and oppressive. Standing beside the car while my pup took care of business, I was filled with many wandering thoughts about the past 10 days, 2 symposiums, 4 campgrounds, trips, classes, gear, mosquitos, boats, blogging and why I couldn’t seem to drink enough water. I’ve got a bunch of thoughts, pictures and more to share. Today though, I think I’m going to just find some shade and sip a margarita.. oh, and maybe go rolling.. We’ll talk soon.. Oh, did I mention that gas station with all the bear hides? No? Well, that’ll have to wait.. It’s just too bloody hot to type at the moment..
You, Me & The Wall
Published January 24, 2010 | 
*Please listen to the doors for 24.3 seconds before watching this video or reading this post.. You pick the tune.
Now I absolutely refuse to comment on this image or the guy in the red shirt. It’s more than my life is worth!.. What I can say is that anyone involved in the outdoor recreation industry or for that matter any businesses interested in how to make social media work for them, should know these folks. You can start by watching the “Boots on the Ground” is the first of a series of “unofficial” social media panel discussion here. Besides if you watch it, you won’t have to listen to me tell you the same stuff. As they say it’s easier to to bring the mountain to… or climb to.. or those who buy Mohammad a beer will certainly… Anyway, I forgot. But the point of this blog was that I’m deleting my KayakQuixotica Twitter account in favor of my Skillet Creek Twitter account.. It’s just that well.. you know.. It may be a bit too hyper-local for some.. but even most of my outdoor life is well, hyper local…
* Yes, I did steal this screen shot from the video and may burn in hell for an indefinite period of time. If however if you are the owner of this video and you’d like to save my soul or have me remove this image, please speak now.
Posted in My Paddling, News & Print, Outdoor Recreation, Paddling, Quixotica, travel, Web Stuff | 
business, Outdoor Recreation, skillet creek, wisconsinLosing Containment
Published January 20, 2010 | 
She’s Breaking Up Captain!
So I’ve not been paddling in awhile. It’s not easy to do when the ice is 10 inches thick on the local waterways! Normally I would spend this time of year on the blog going off into weird corners and endlessly rehashing warmed over paddling topics. I mean if you want to know why I wear a Kokatat MSFit or paddle this kayak over that one.. just search the site. I’ve written on this subjects ad nauseum over the years. This year I’m dedicated to staying off that treadmill and spending my time writing on a more diverse list of topics over on my Skillet Creek Journal. So if you don’t see anything here on a give day, feel free to come over and see what’s going on there. Right now I’m on about preservation of the Lower Wisconsin River Waterway. A bit of a paddler topic too if you think about it. But then there’s that whole rant about the new Stratego! That’s the thing after all. We’re not all about one subject and as much as we can try to be we’ll find ourselves losing containment…
I’ll be back to all things paddling soon enough mind you.. when the ice starts to melt and air as well as the topic, are once again fresh!!
The Gallery Store
Published December 19, 2009 | 
He’s using code that only you and I know.
This is no trick of his.
This is your magic.
– k. bush.
I’m finally making my photography available for purchase. It certainly took me long enough!
The camera is like an uneven path in a Japanese garden. It forces you to slow down and pay attention to the world around you. Photography is a gift you give yourself. You need not sell or even display your work to benefit. Most of the pictures I take ultimately are deleted or thrown away and still I have pleasant memories of those moments, even when nothing caught in the camera turned out. Still, if you click the shutter enough you are bound to have a few successes. Continue reading
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, wisconsin
So today I’m on about a bit of local outdoor/nature related politics. Where I live we have massive amounts of protected lands. Most of it is owned by a mix of government and private agencies and is wonderfully open to the public. Thing is, the local government sees all this land, especially the non-profit owned land, as a curse. Something many of us in the outdoor industry would call short sighted. Well, after a rescue last fall on land owned by the Nature Conservancy the local town board is now meeting with attorneys to figure out how to send the bill to non-profit land owners that allow public access. You can see where this is going… Read more here.