Eyeing the river at lunchtime . . .

The Duke - 2009

Back for another winter along the Rock River ...

Dusk in Dixon ...

Tonight, I had the privileged opportunity of enjoying a wonderful home-cooked Thai dinner atop one of the roof-tops in downtown Dixon. As you can see, the view was splendid as it overlooked the river from the historic downtown area. Several friends, both old and new, made the already splendid meal, fantastic. The menu was chock full of Thai shrimp (which are enormous), seasoned and grilled pork, basted chicken wings, and Thai crunchy peanuts. Far from anything else, there is nothing that brings people together better than a meal shared with friends ... I am blessed.

Buggin' out ...

I made a quick stop along the side of the road at the pulloff between Dixon and Oregon, today. Took a five minute walk along the trail and came across some busy workers sharing some food ...

A bird by any other name ...

On Friday afternoon, I was fortunate enough to have the wonderful opportunity to board a mighty pirating vessel and travel along the dangerous waves of the Rock River with good ol' Captain No-Beard. Seriously, though, what a wonderful jaunt down the Rock on the pontoon around the little island where we came across these spectacular blue herons. I've been trying to get close enough to these new-age dinosaurs for awhile now, and finally, my friend Bob helped me accomplish this task. For those of you who don't know, this little island in the middle of the Rock used to be home to an amusement park prior to the dam being placed on the river. I hear that on some nights, you can still hear the laughter of children who tried to swim across to the island when they didn't have money to pay for a ferry ride.

Petunia Fest -- Rock On!

The band known as Kirkland jams it up on July 3 at the Bean Blossom.

Family Farm Day - Father's Day 2008

One of the many kittens we found hiding in the barn.

Some don't even get Sundays off!

Another view of pollen down at my mom's rainforest south of Harmon.

Always a friend ... always waiting ...

Farley pickle ... watching as I get into the car.

Planting at the Home Farm - May 21

My dad checking out the "new" planter as he closed in on finishing up planting beans at his farm.

The weather vane on the old barn.

Sunset on a beautiful spring day!

Finally, the fields were dry enough to finish up planting. New to us, but probably still in the 80's, we used a John Deere planter to sew the crop. Giving credit where credit is due, and so I don't hear anything more about it, my brother and dad did most of the planting. I was only able to help with the changing of planter boxes (from corn to beans) and loading the seed. Although, if you ask me later on, I opened and closed the fields!

More bad storms ...

Spring renewal ....

Upper 70's and I am so enjoying the sunshine! I carried the camera with me this weekend as I went for a walk around the farm, lake, and around the countryside. The sunsets are ripening and the smell of rain and freshly disced dirt is in the air. Outside, the birds are chattering louder as each day passes and finally, my lawn is beginning to turn green. Spring is a great time of the year!

Beautiful Day!!!!

Today, it was sunny and 73! This was the best day we've had thus far this year. Sure, it was a little windy, but the skies were blue and the sun was shining. Welcome Spring, don't go away any time, soon!

In case your not one of the natives viewing this blog, this is an image of the Rock River looking south toward the power plant, hospital, and the rest of Dixon. The river is a little high at this time of the year and the forecast calls for more rain in the coming days!

"Boss, the plane the plane ...."

For those of you who don't know what that quote is from, it's from that magical show in the 80's called Fantasy Island. The above images are of the pelicans that graced the Rock River near Dixon for the past few days as they have done for the last couple of years. These birds are likely on their way to the upper Wisconsin area. They only stick around for a few short days, but according to Wikipedia, each pelican consumes around (4) pounds of fish per day. We must have some good fishing in that part of the river! Different from other pelicans, this sub species does not dive for its food, instead it eats while swimming. In fact, these birds swim together as a colony, circling their prey, netting it with one another, and feeding. These fowl are absolutely huge, weighing up to (16) pounds each. But when they fly, they are so graceful and precise, and very, very quiet when they glide in for a landing.

Cabin Fever ....

So it's only been a few days since I was out in the New Mexico forest cutting trees, but this weather has been suffocating! Wind chills fell as low as 20 below zero (Fahrenheit for my international watchers), and the snow drifts in the yard were easily three feet high. Today, the weather was a balmy 20 degrees. This meant that at least the dogs could go outside for at least more than a minute. Also, it meant that I could actually spend a couple minutes photographing outdoors.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw this huge bird sitting on top of one of the branches; I'm thinking that Farley and Jake looked like a tasty meal after the brief cold spell. This bird was fast. It hovered just over the field at about 40 MPH (paced it later in the day with the car). I think it's called a red-tipped hawk, but I'm not certain (feel free to correct me if you know). Also, as I headed into the office, I noticed this other bird of prey watching the cars go by on the side of the road. Amazingly, it's an immature bald eagle. I found this to be pretty amazing because I haven't seen an eagle this far away from the river (about three miles). It makes sense, though, because a good portion of the river is jammed with ice and there are very few open spots left to fish.

Finally, since it was such a nice day. we all took a quick road trip to the Palisades Park near Savanna. Jake and Farley got to get out and stretch their legs. Farley, a little more than Jake.

The last image you see here, courtesy of Rochelle, is what my week was like after work. Jet lag finally set in, and Farley, my little furnace, made it difficult not to fall asleep.

A good day for fishing ....

I drove out past the highschool today and watched the Duke get ready to hunt. It was definitely a sunny, clear day; one of the very few this winter has brought us.

Guess who's back!!!

It was 41 degrees outside today and absolutely beautiful for the most part. But the best part about today, the bald eagles have returned to the Rock River area. Now this is just all part of rumor and speculation, but I believe this is the baby eagle from last year's hatchings. He was sitting on the north side of the Rock near the high school yelling at his parents, the Duke and some unknown lady of feather. I'm guessing he was hungry as Duke went and caught a fish downstream. Welcome back!

Harvest Season is Upon Us ...

The great part about the end of summer has always beens the fact that harvest season is just around the bend. It is truly an experience to help farm during this time of the year -- there's so much anticipation as to how the crops are yielding, if the weather will cooperate, or even what part of the machinery is going to break down. It's exhilarating, and at the end of the day, one is exhausted ... but it feels goods, and you can actually see what progress has been made.

The above images were taken on Saturday while my dad harvested the soybeans; the dust created by the beans just hovered above the fields until it finally settled, created a magnificent sunset. The other two show my dad combining.

Sniffels ...

My allergies have finally hit and I feel as thought I'm wandering around in a daze. Anyway, with all of the sniffling going on, it made me think of these images I took not too long ago for a bloodhound rescue in the area. I will post more images of them later, but they were an absolute treat to photograph!