Author: lindastaatsphoto

A field of summer

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It’s a true summer’s day –  blue sky above with white patchy clouds, and the sun is beating down with its warmth.  We are driving along some county roads in northern Wisconsin.  We’ve passed fields of green soybeans and acres of corn, all thriving in spite of the late planting season and the copious amounts of rain this year.  But up ahead is a bright and welcome sight — at an intersection there is a sea of yellow on one side of the road.  It stretches off to the trees in the distance, and it is a glorious field of sunflowers.  Faces to the east, backlit by the sun, the large blossoms are nodding in the wind.  To me this is the epitome of summer, and I’ll soak it in to remember during the not-so-summery days that lie ahead.

Water lilies

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As we enter the last third of summer, our lakes in Minnesota and Wisconsin are starting to bloom with water lilies.  Looking across the water surface you can see areas of white and yellow.  We’ve seen muskrats enjoying a meal of water lilies, and deer will also wade into the water to graze on them.  This water lily is not endanger of being eaten as I photographed it at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como Park.  Like its “wild” relatives it was happy to open its petals to the bright sun and soak up the trailing end of summer.

Oars and a paddle

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Sometimes photographs present themselves directly — a beautiful sunset reflected in a lake, or a lovely flower that opens its blossoms to reveal its textures and colors.  And other times a photograph can be more subtle, calling out for attention many times before it’s actually received.  I walked past this shed countless times, looking at it but not really noticing it.  And then one morning the sunlight came in from an angle and illuminated the oars and paddle with a lovely glow.  That’s when I saw it.  The oars with their oar locks are weather beaten and old; they show their wear and tear proudly.  The paddle lost its paint many years ago and is actually cracked at the bottom.  The collection struck me as a homage to summer days, old boats, old resorts, and probably some big fishing tales.

A road trip through wide open spaces

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We took a road trip from Minnesota to Utah a few weeks ago — a journey filled with adventures, family, and changing scenery and weather.  We  went from the agriculture of southern Minnesota to the Black Hills of South Dakota, to the Sandhills of Nebraska, to the open ranches of Wyoming, to the snow capped mountains of Utah.  The variety of landscapes always amazes me, especially when you condense the journey over a few days.  Many of the areas were unusually green because of the higher amounts of rain that have fallen.  Fields and hills were looking quite lush, except for those areas (especially in Nebraska) that are still trying to recover from flooding earlier this year.  Surprisingly we encountered little rain during our trip, but we did endure 40-45 mph winds across Wyoming, and we slept a few times with the furnace on and a couple of times with the air conditioner on.  A quick trip such as this makes me appreciate the beauty and diversity of our country; how fortunate to be able to take it all in!

Nebraska from a bicycle seat

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We recently spent a week bicycling across Nebraska with the BRAN (Bicycle Ride across Nebraska).  It was a wonderful adventure filled with amazing scenery, a diverse topography, the most genial and friendly people, and sunshine!  We started in Chadron (west side of the state) and ended in Fremont (east side of the state).  Our 400+ miles of  travel took us through the Sandhills of Nebraska, fields of corn in the agricultural area, and the rolling hills of the eastern side as we were closer to the rivers.  The flooding the state has dealt with this spring was evident as we saw washouts along the Elkhorn River and standing water in so many fields.  We are appreciative of the people who welcomed us in their towns and were so generous with their Nebraskan hospitality.  To me, a bicycle ride is the perfect way to see and appreciate the landscape, terrain, and people — it’s as upclose an experience as you can get on a journey along highways and biways.