Just Fishin'

   Well, I got my work done yesterday with enough time to get in a couple hours of fishing afterward. I was only working a couple of blocks away from one of my favorite ponds, so that's where I headed. I must warn you before you read any further, self portraits are not my forte'. This first picture is of one of my favorite  fishing tools, my bike... I pack a backpack, an ultralight, and my camera, and I'm ready for anything.

   My bike and I have been on many adventures. I don't drive (by choice) so if I go somewhere I go with someone or I go on my bike. I have gotten some strange looks in the past, overladen with gear, fishing poles bungee'd to the frame of my bike, peddling through downtown Ypsi. But I have never been one to care what others think of what I'm doing. (For the most part.) I enjoy myself and that's what matters. And over time I've got a little better about packing light. I also have a couple of telescopic rods that fit right in my pack now, so I no longer have to strap six and eight foot fishing poles to the frame of my bike. Not to say that I wouldn't if I felt the need...

   Anyway, on with my day... I got to the pond and someone was in my favorite spot. That seems to happen more and more often. This is a very unassuming pond. It's the kind of place that people ask, "Do you really catch fish out of here?" Well, yes I do... And over the years people have seemed to catch on to this fact, and it's gotten to where it's unusual to not see someone else fishing in my not so secret anymore spot. 

   I'm not complaining, I always encourage anyone to take up fishing. And I'm pretty willing to share information and locations, to get someone on a good fishing hole. But here's a warning to all you fishermen, if you want your "honey hole" to stay that way... Keep quiet. I use to catch four to six pound bass here regularly, now days what you see here is the norm. I didn't see a four pounder from this pond all last year. Their still there... just not as many of them. And they have become highly educated fish.

   ( See, I told you my self portraits are scary...) Almost all the fishing I do is catch and release. Every once in a while I'll take some wallies or some pan fish home, but maybe only once a year. And every year I bring home a few salmon from salmon camp. The vast majority of my fishing though, I take a picture and put them back. I see a lot of people who keep everything they catch. I don't get it... But what's worse than that is the people (and I know a few) who don't even intend to eat their catch, and they throw their fish up on the shore or on the ice, and leave it lay. If you do this, you are an ass, and you ruin it for everyone else. That is a complaint.

   I did pretty good this day. I caught a couple of Crappies, and a ton of little Large Mouth Bass. I probably caught in the range of twenty or so bass that were five or six inches long. Almost every cast for a while. And while I did have fun, I am a big fish fan. I like to fish for the fight. I like bass that are five pounds or better, I like those big ol' cats, and I love the feel of a three foot carp on ten pound test line. And there is nothing like wading in the river fighting a twelve pound steelie, or a twenty-five pound salmon. You catch one of those, and you know your in for a fight. But I do enjoy riding my bike around to local waters and seeing what I can pull out of that water nearly as much.

   I also like to find these little fishing holes where catching fish is petty easy, so that when it comes to taking my nieces and nephews fishing, I can bring them somewhere that they are going to have fun. And somewhere close to home if they don't have fun. If a kid goes fishing and doesn't catch fish, they don't want to do it again. But if you can keep them entertained with dinks and panfish until they catch their first "big" fish, well, then you got them hooked for life. And I can't think of a better or healthier past time than fishing for a kid to enjoy.

   I fished until I threw my favorite inline spinner into a tree and broke it off. Sometimes I can recover them by reaching out over the water, or by recasting to that branch with a treble hook and some heavy duty braid. Today when my line broke I watched my lure fall from the tree and disappear into the depths. No big deal really, inline spinners are cheap. But I believe in "lucky" lures, or that some lures just work better than others of the same kind. Maybe the make a slightly different sound, or have a slightly different flash or wobble. I don't know, but every once in a while you come across a lure that just seems to catch a lot of fish, and replacing  it with another lure of the same make and size does not always seem to work out. But I got my three dollars worth of fun out of that one, so I'm okay with it. But I took it as a sign that I had enough for the day, and I went home. But I will go back, I always go back...

Another Photo Adventure

   I actually took these photos on the fourth but haven't had time to do much on the computer the last couple of days. I went down to the college to try to take care of some things, and I figured as long as I was right there I might as well take a walk around the ponds that are on the property.

   It was a beautiful day, and I didn't really care if I found anything or not, just going for the walk and exploring a new place was motivation enough for me. However, I've found that if you just look around a bit you can almost always find something worth taking a picture of.

   The first critter I ran into was this calico cat, I disturbed his hunt and it was none to pleased with me for it. Normally I wouldn't take pictures of someones house cat, but there weren't any houses nearby. So I figured he was out adventuring just like me, and I just thought he was kinda cool. It didn't think I was nearly as cool as I thought he was, he hissed at me and ran away.

   Then I found this Canadian Goose sitting on it's nest, on a mud island in the middle of the pond. Geese around here are somewhat obnoxious. There are a lot of parks around this area and the geese seem to get a little too accustomed to people. People also like to feed them and they have come to expect that if you have food, you should give it to them, and they can be quite aggressive about it. They also seem to think that if you don't have any food, you have no business being were they are, and they will honk and hiss at you. I have been full out assaulted by Canadian Geese as well. And beyond that, they shit everywhere. Which makes it a little uncomfortable to spread a picnic blanket, or sit on the ground while out fishing. But they are kind of a neat looking bird, and there is a ton of them, so it makes them an easy target for the camera lens.

    Then I an across this Red Eared Slider. It was just chillin' on top of the reeds. It was just a little tiny one, it could have easily fit in the palm of my hand, and probably would have had a little room to crawl around. I didn't try to catch him though. I prefer to leave things be. I'm not one of those don't disturb nature people, and I've been known to catch a creature or two, but most of the time I leave things be. I've handled enough critters to be petty happy with just looking most of the time.

   I really expected to see more frogs. Well, let me rephrase... I expected I would be able to take more pictures of frogs. I saw a lot of frogs, the problem was they kept seeing me first. They were literally spotting me from more than fifty feet away, and the only way I was spotting them is when they called out their warning... Preeep, and then plop as they jumped in the water and were gone. I saw about ten frogs jump in the water were I took this picture. I had to sit and wait very still and quiet for what seemed like about ten minutes for them to start resurfacing. Then when I lifted my camera... Preep...plop...gone. I waited another ten minutes with my camera held in the ready position so I wouldn't have to move if one resurfaced again. I got these pictures and had enough of frog hunting. There were a ton of tadpoles too, but they blended in with the bottom of the pond too well and I wasn't able to get good clear pictures of them.

   When I am walking around a new peace of water I always look for signs of fish. When I first started walking around this pond, there was no sign of fish anywhere. I didn't see any nests, no minnows, no ripples on the water surface, nothing... In the twenty minutes to a half an hour that I was completely focused on getting a picture of that frog something happened. When I stood back up there were thousands of goldfish that had materialized out of seemingly nowhere. It was weird, the entire weed line around the whole pond was blanketed with them. They were not there twenty minutes before, I would have seen them.

    These next few shots were just some random pictures from the day. The first is a picture of the swamp from in the woods. The picture doesn't give the sense of being in some creepy B movie like being there did but I still liked the picture. The next is of a muskrat lodge, I did look around for the rat, but he never made an appearance. And there were deer tracks everywhere, if you found a spot that didn't have any grass, there were deer tracks. The pond was surrounded by them, and there were some highway style game trails coming out of several places from the surrounding woods.

   Then I came upon these Mallard Ducks. There were three of them, a male and two females. They were the only creatures on the pond that didn't seem to mind me being there. They couldn't have cared less actually. They let me walk right up to them. I got some really good pictures of them, and even some macro shots of their feathers, but I think I'll save most of those for another post...
   Instead, I'll share a couple of pictures from the highlight of my day. Where there are deer tracks, there are bound to be deer...

  I actually left for a while. I went out again later to get these pictures of the deer. Since then I have been mowing and tilling, it's that time of year. Everyone is getting their yards cleaned up, and their gardens ready for planting. I get pretty busy this time of year. I am off now to till another garden. But it is a gorgeous day, and I think I'll pack my ultralight, maybe I'll have enough time and energy for another adventure on my way home.

My Life in a Snapshot 3

   This is me today, well, this picture was taken almost a week ago, but I haven't changed that much in a week. Today is my forty-first birthday. I was born this day in 1971, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This picture was taken in Ann Arbor, I have stayed in the general vicinity of this town for most of my life. I did live in Massachusetts for several years, and I had a little more than a three and a half year stay with the not so fine folks of the Michigan Department of Corrections, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. But that's for another story.
   Where am I at in the "Big Picture" today? I don't know, I don't even think I know what the "Big Picture" is... I have always kinda lived life off the cuff, without a plan, you know. Most of the time I don't know what I am going to do tomorrow, much less in life. I have always been like this, and there are some attractive aspects to living like this, but the older I get the more I feel like maybe I should have looked to the future at least a little. I'm realizing now that it is good to live in the moment... But if you don't have a destination you just kind of wander around, and never get anywhere. And that is kind of where I feel I am today. I have led an interesting life no doubt. I have had a lot of unique experience. But all the same I'm just hangin' here in limbo, going nowhere.
   Don't get me wrong...I'm not an unhappy guy. I'm pretty satisfied with myself as a person, that's not the issue. You see, my body seems to be falling apart from a life of  hard knocks, hard work, and harder playing. I have always been a very strong person, and most of the jobs I've had have relied on that fact. When I am out "playing" (whatever that may be at the time) I always use to go with reckless abandon, no regard for personal safety. Now, with a bad back, bad knees, nerve damage in my legs, issues with a rotator cuff, digestive troubles, and my teeth falling out of my face... The physical stuff doesn't come as easily and naturally as it use too. And when I fall I don't get up quite as quickly...
   Now, it's not like I just woke up and had an epiphany this morning. I have been forced into realizing this over a period of time. And it's not like I'm incapacitated or anything. I just have to be a little more careful about things, exercise a little caution you know. And I do have to be able to accept that I am just not capable of some of the things I use to be able to do. And that is okay. I do need to make up for that in other ways If I want to continue forward in life. That's where maybe a little better planning may have made things a little easier. Things like an education (from schools), or a long term career, or a some savings are all things that more often than ever I wish I had paid more attention too. I do have a lot of other skills that I have pushed to the back-burner for most of my life. But they are kind of like unexercised muscles, and it will take some time and effort to learn how to use them again.
   Not all is lost in a forlorn effort to "catch up" in life though. I have some tools and advantages that many people don't have. I have an incredible support system for one. My family is awesome. I know that whatever happens in my life, they have my back. They will be there when I need them. It has already been proven time and time again. And the friends I have... Let's just say I am very fortunate, and I know it. I also have a pretty good head on my shoulders, I'm a very capable person. I can learn anything, if I put my mind to it, and I can usually do it pretty quickly. I have a brain and I'm not afraid to use it. And one more advantage I have (at least I see it as an advantage) is that I have absolutely no responsibility to anyone but myself. I'm single, I don't have any kids, and I don't have any real financial overhead. I don't have much for finances either, but I'm able to live a fairly low cost life. I don't have extravagant needs. And I kinda like it that way.
   I have started to take some steps to get things right though, but, as is par for course in my world, there have been some SNAFU's along the way. I am trying to get enrolled in school, with a Pell Grant, but I made some critical errors and am now going through the appeal process with financial aid. (You can read about that in my Back to School post's.) If that doesn't work out I will have to go the road of student loans. I don't like the idea of student loans without any financial security, but I have to complete my education. It is a must. Otherwise, I may not ever have financial security. I'm thinking I want to concentrate on something in photography and back it up with some writing. Maybe that should be the other way around, but I enjoy photography more, and to me that's more important.
    I also have a pittance invested in an IRA, it's pretty insignificant in the scope of things but it's a start.
   A job would be nice, I never have had an easy time landing jobs. I've do have a couple marks against me. In today's job market though, it seems nearly impossible to get even a menial job. A job would make saving money a little easier, and school would make getting a decent job a little easier, and a little money would make going to school a little easier, and a job would make saving money a little easier...Oh wait...Haven't we been there before. My dad often liked to say, "If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got." And that is it in a nutshell. It is all about breaking the cycle. If what your doing isn't working, you have got to do something else. Sounds pretty simple, even if it doesn't always turn out to be. However, I will break the cycle.
    I am trying to do things differently these days. I am trying to do things to make a better future for myself. (Better late than never.) It is going to be a slow process, but it is at least a process, and that in itself is an improvement. Maybe with the efforts to change some of my thinking, I will change some of my results. I have set some goals for myself for this year. That is also something I've never done. I am hoping that by having a destination (or goal), that I might actually go somewhere in life instead of just hanging in limbo...
   If you are reading this and you are my age or there about, I hope that by sharing my efforts and struggles, you may also realize that it isn't too late to make changes in your own life. And If you are younger than me I hope that you can look at my position and the difficulties I am facing, and utilize it to get yourself into a better position before you get to this point. If I could offer one piece of advice to the younger generation... It would be to take care of business now, while you are young and capable, and secure a position in life that allows you to kick back and enjoy life later. A point will come in your life too, when things are not going to be as easy as they use to be. 
   So take it or leave it... This is just me speaking my mind. Until next time...

Spring has Sprung

   I got a call today from a sweet little old lady today, who needed a hand replacing the guts of her toilet tank. Of course I said I'd be happy to help. Whether I was or wasn't doesn't matter, there was no way I was going to tell her no. So, I figured I'd take the camera with me and see what I could find between here and there. I stuck a pair of channel locks in my pocket, strapped on my camera bag, then I hopped on the bike and headed out the door. I made to the end of the driveway. The Creeping Flox caught my, it's just starting but it gets so thick it looks like a purple carpet.

    I snapped a couple of pictures and off I went. I made it about three blocks and a red bush caught my attention next, I don't know what it is. It's right in the middle of someones front yard, and there was really no way I could take a picture of the whole bush without taking a picture of their living room. The whole bush is much more impressive but this is what you get...

   I rode the rest of the distance to her house (about a mile), and she wasn't home yet so I shot down to the gas station, got myself a pack of smokes and a Dew. I still got there ahead of her so I took a walk around the yard. This is one of the ladies I do a good deal of gardening for, so I know where all the good stuff is. This is what I found.

    Before I finished walking through the yard she had come home and joined me for the rest of my tour. Reny is eighty years old. Very quick witted and very active. She would have gutted her toilet herself (and then called me to put it back together) but she fell a few months ago leaving a concert and broke bones in both her hands. Oh don't worry she's fine... She already drove to Massachusetts and back. She just hasn't gotten all her "strength" back yet. Anyway, I hung out with Reny for awhile, fixed her toilet up, and headed out at a leisurely pace. This next picture I took in the parking lot of the insurance agency next door to Reny's place.

   A couple of blocks further, I saw this giant in front of an apartment complex. I couldn't get the whole thing in frame from the same side of the street, so I crossed the street and took this picture from in front of the bank across the street.

   Not much further I found some more of these white trees in front off another apartment complex. I live in Ypsilanti, Michigan this is not a rural area. I don't live right downtown or anything, but it is Ypsi. All this is between the intersections of ( Packard and Golfside) to (Carpenter and Washtenaw.) All I'm sayin' is I don't live anywhere special. This stuff is all around, almost everywhere. You just have to look around you to find it.

   My next stop was  the drainage pond out behind where I live. Paint Creek also runs through this spot. (It doesn't feed the pond.) This is one of my favorite spots to take pictures. You never know what you might find.

 I couldn't help myself, I had to play with the snake. I tailed it twice and pulled it out of the weeds, but it was a pretty good size Garder Snake, and while they are pretty harmless, I just had one hanging off my arm last year and it doesn't feel good when they bite. And it wanted to bite. So I was a little gun shy, and couldn't quite handle it and the camera. (It was about three feet long.) Each time I pulled him out of the weeds, by the time I got my camera up it had gone right back in...
   I didn't want to push my luck so I moved on.

    After the pond, I headed up the hill to the house but I wasn't done yet. I toured the yard before I headed in to upload my adventure. And I'm gald I did.

   These things are around for everyone to find. You just have to take the blinders off and look around as you move through life. You might be surprised at what you can find in your own back yard.

   Not a bad day for going to fix a toilet. Don't pass up a moment to enjoy life...