New Year's Day

My friend Julie & I started talking a month (or so) ago about doing The Polar Plunge. (Also called The Polar Bear Plunge. It's basically crazy people jumping into a body of low temp water.)

So we spontaneously found ourselves down by the river on New Year's Day afternoon, with our hubbies + kids + our Tia friend, the photographer. (She didn't want to jump with us! *sad face*)

All the females in our clans jumped. Woohoo!!

Julie's hubby got a video of the whole thing. (I'll post as soon as I get access to it.)

First, Julie's 2 daughters jumped together. Then, Julie & I held hands (so one of us could not escape & change our minds) & jumped in. After that, Julie's oldest daughter came around again & jumped off the dock with my two girls.

I have never felt so cold in all my life. I came up out of the water SCREAMING. Tia (who witnessed & photographed the whole thing from shore) was certain my guttural cry began deep below the surface of the water.

Someone mentioned that, in this picture, I look like one of those people from the shark attack videos. Haha! Meanwhile, Julie was searching for pretty rocks on the bottom of the river. (Not really!)

Still, I'm screaming.

We just wanted to get out of there as fast as we could. The rocks under the water hurt my feet so badly! Ouchie mama!

I cannot tell you how wonderful that tiny towel felt around me. My feet were in so much pain though---until I finally slid them into some fuzzy boots. My knees were freezing, which is weird. And I could NOT stop laughing. I got the giggles, somethin' fierce!

I didn't even realize I jumped in with my glasses, which immediately fogged up. I look like real winner. 

I am so proud of us! What a way to start the new year! Unforgettable, really.

The first & last time I'm ever doing that again. For reals.

♥

Coyote Hunting

 On Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to accompany my friend Susan on a coyote hunting adventure. It was the first time she or I had ever been coyote hunting. For me, it was the first time hunting at all. First time wearing camo too. I was the self-appointed camera girl. This day was all about Susan & I was just happy to tag along. (She won the coyote hunt at an auction. )

I'm working on a story about this adventure for the newspaper, but here's a little peek into the day...

We left right before 7 AM & returned home right before 7PM. It was a full day of adventuring.

And I am so sore today, mostly from clutching tightly to the 4 wheeler to prevent from getting bucked off on the crazy rides to & from each set all day. I woke up this morning with the most tired face I've had in a long time. I fixed that with a nap later on.

 This was my view at our first set. I just sat as still as could be (because that's all you do when you hunt coyotes) & stared at this for about 20 minutes, alone, in the cold, back against a rock face. If my day ended right here, & we had to pack it all up & head home, I would still be a happy girl.

 For most of the day Susan & I were separated. We each had our hunting partner & rode on our 4 wheelers from place to place. We would find a location, then walked a bit to our set, then sat still for 30-40 minutes, shot a coyote if we could, then walked back to our 4 wheelers, then rode to another location, then walked to a set, then sat still for 30 minutes, bang-bang-kapow, walked back to our 4 wheelers, etc. That's how our whole day went. There was a potty break in there, & some tuna fish sandwiches & cheddar pringles.

The craziest thing was that our day started out in this snowy terrain, surrounded by craggy rocks & bluffs & cliffs. (We even climbed some. I huffed & puffed my way around. And kep the whining to a minimum. Especially that one time I fell down the mountain. OK, not the whole mountain.)

 Anyway, next thing I know, we're driving to another location surrounded by grasses & hills & valleys. It was amazing. It was all still the same cold. But amazing to feel like you're in two different worlds in the same day, just mere miles apart. And, yes, those are tennis shoes. I borrowed all the other gear I wore that day, but no one had boots to share in my size. I doubled up on socks & was fine. I will admit they became painfully cold the last couple hours of our adventure. But a few cold toes couldn't have overshadowed the fun I was having. And, silly me, didn't think to take my snowboots.

This was, truly, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And one I will never forget. I smiled so big & was in complete awe most of the day that I was surrounded by earth & sky & in the middle of pretty much nowhere, getting to be a part of something that I would have never imagined doing in a million years, or even been interested in doing EVER. And I got to do it. And I loved it.

My favorite picture of the day is this last picture. Susan & I explained that we wanted to take a jumpy photo before we left the snowy surroundings that morning. Leland & Roger (our coyote hunting tour guides) were like, "What kind of photo?" I'm 100% positive that Leland & Roger had never jumped in a photo before. And it's my favorite shot of the day.

♥



TTV Nature Walk

My friend & adventure pal, Susan, & I went out to shoot some TTV photos last weekend. She got a Kodak Duaflex II for her birthday & hadn't gotten any practice in using it. So we headed out to the Bridgeport Lakes & basically went on a nature photo walk.

I've discussed TTV Photography before. Click HERE for a simple explanation from photojojo. But to quickly sum it up, TTV means "Through The Viewfinder". You simply look through the viewfinder of your vintage "base" camera & snap a photo of what you see with a digital camera. I used my vintage Anscoflex on this particular adventure. I bought all 3 of my vintage cameras from ebay. We also created funny looking paper tubes to block out the light in order to get a decent picture.

I love the personality that every camera has when taking TTV photos: the graininess, the dark edges, the flecks of dirt, the fuzzy corners, the distorted views.

















♥

Chadron Adventure

 Another adventure was on my to-do list last weekend. I took an hour & a half road trip with my adventure pal Susan. We headed to Chadron, NE. I've visited Chadron before, but not in the fall. Oh my. I am glad I got to see the beautiful trees---such amazing colors. I kept oohing & aahing. It was wet & rainy, but the fog was out, so it was rather magical.

We attended the Hall of Fame luncheon at Chadron State College, where I mostly listened to forks & knives clink clanking on food-filled plates, while speakers spoke, inductees were inducted & clappers clapped. At the end of the luncheon, the CSC band stormed the room. I could seriously listen to those drums all day.

A quick change-a-roo into cozy clothes & knit caps & comfy shoesies----& it was time to snag our media passes to get on the football field. (I love being paparazzi!) We got to be up close to the action while photographing the CSC Eagles Homecoming game. What an experience!!

I've only recently begun to have an affection for this game. Still don't understand what's happening. I think I'm addicted to the energy of it all. And I'd only snapped photos at high school football games up til now. A college game was quite different. There's more to see---the players are much bigger & the hits are a lot harder. But more gets in your way too: there are random people walking around with clipboards, more coaches, more refs, more photographers, plus the special orange vested fellows with their football game props, ball boys, MANY more football players & a number of other sideline blocking folk. So you have to find your shot in more creative ways.

The highlight of my afternoon was not the actual football being played on the field. It was when a group of about 10 half naked guys invaded the sidelines. Wearing nearly nary any clothes-- torsos, limbs & faces painted, they had extreme spirit & lots of entertaining antics up their....sleeves? I even asked them to do a jumpy photo for me!! I think that's the first time I've ever asked a stranger to jump for me. I take that back. That's the first time I've ever asked 10 strangers to jump for me. They were awesome, & quite hilarious! I just look at that photo & am immediately all-smiles.

After the game, we drove to Chadron's ever-popular corner convenience store for some Common Cents Nachos. Hot cheese & sour cream on mine. I skipped the olives, onions, & jalapenos. After inaling our nacho dinner at a nearby park, we strolled around, investigating the lovely colors & grabbing several jumpy shots along the way.

The ride home also included a detour to Dairy Queen where I filled my tummy with the most yummy flavored pumpkin pie blizzard.

To view all the pictures from my day, click HERE.

♥

Sunflowers

Last weekend, I went on an adventure, part of which included a visit to a field of sunflowers I'd been eyeing & hoping to catch some photos of. They are all dried up, heads hanging so low & heavy---full of seeds & ready for harvesting. There were ladybugs everywhere. And I loved being there.

My carload of adventure passengers & I pulled onto a dirt road behind the field, off the highway.

And I started snapping, snapping, snapping away.

♥