Waving Goodbye

July 29 2019

Video Blog 7

No grand adventures since returning from Canada a couple of days ago.  In fact, leading up to leaving for Canada there wasn't much going on in my world either.  While I maintain that there's always something to discover, it's also OK to take a few days off.

Today was different.  After installing a toilet and getting a few things done around the house, I decided it was time to say a final farewell to my hands-on Exploration and Investigation of the frogs at Laura Lake.  We headed out in my new Expedition Tool:

The old truck "Chewie" has been replaced with the new and updated "T-3"

The weather was very windy and the lake was full of waves.  On the way out we saw one large tadpole at the bottom of the lake but didn't come across any others.  To be fair, there was a lot of rocking about and it was hard to see into the water.

Check out Video Blog 7 for some live action shots of the Expedition.

Waves

More waves.  And a daring sailboat off in the distance.

Even more waves.  They were fun to surf on!

Overall spending a couple of hours out on the water in less-than-ideal conditions was still fun and it gave us a chance to look around and play in the water.

I've taken advantage of many Opportunities so far this summer (one month to go until school!) and I'm sure there will be many more.  I had a thought over the past couple of weeks:

Sometimes Opportunities don't abound and we have to make our own.  There will be several focuses on how to do that (a little more traditional) and plan for Expeditions rather than just Observe whatever Opportunity arises.

A Devil of a Time

June 13, 2019

Woke up early to accompany Rachel to her Devils and Dirt race near Devil's Lake State Park.  I'm not a runner, but she likes to punish herself with this race every year.  It features running up and down hills and it's a personal competition for herself to complete.  She's running the half marathon and it's humid (85%).  There are hundreds of people all with the same agenda.  I'm sitting in the truck with the A/C on writing my blog.  To each his or her own.

Hundreds will start together and try for their best time.

The longest lines aren't for registration but for the chance for a porta-potty before running.

Hundreds with nervous anticipation before the race.  Check out the video blog for a look at the race start.

After an hour and a half Rachel was only 3 miles from the finish.

Looks like a walk in the park.  I would have passed out after the first 1/2 mile.

Finishing strong and still smiling!

I'm very proud of what she accomplished.  It's a hard race with a lot of hills and the truck temp right now reads 88 Degrees.  When you find something you're passionate about it becomes less work and more enjoyment.

Geology and Kettle Moraine

July 12, 2019

On our way west to celebrate the life of Grandma Helen, we stopped off to visit a college friend in Kettle Moraine State Park.  We weren't planning to camp, but I figured it would be a great opportunity to do a little pre-research (Organization) before getting there (Opportunity).  So I looked around a little and decided to go to a reputable source right off the bat so I wouldn't have to vet the sourced that came up from a random search or watching a video and then researching to double check the information.   Having an organization that can be a great source is wonderful.

The Wisconsin DNR site was my choice for information about Kettle Moraine and the information provided I will trust as good. 

So, armed with a little information and a focus for the Investigation and Exploration, I may even try to seek out a geologist for the state as a live resource.  We'll see how today goes.

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We started out the day with bright sun waiting for the college friend to get here.  She was only ten or fifteen minutes out when we arrived so I took advantage of the opportunity to walk down to the nature center, hoping to come across a naturalist or someone to interview further about the geological features of the area.

What a beautiful place to visit.  Unfortunately today the sign hanging said it was closed for a private event.  I'll have to come back sometime when I'm in the area and catch a naturalist.  

Since the nature center was closed we went up to the observation tower instead.  Video Blog 7 will have some features of the area and thoughts about the Expedition before I started walking around.

I estimate about 50-60 feet up in the air for a look around the area.  You can see the interstate in the distance as well as evidence of houses and towns.  I've been to other towers where I see nothing but forest surrounding me.  Fire towers were used back in the day to keep an eye out for forest fires.  Kind of an obsolete thing now with the technology we have.

A lot of steps to climb to get to the top!  Five flights of these stairs.  Makes a nice perspective shot.

After looking around at the landscape for a while and creating a short video introduction, I went back down to a shaded picnic table for a quick lunch before heading out to Explore the area a little.  I didn't really know what I was looking for so it stopped being an Investigation and turned into more Exploration.  As I walked and thought about the change, I realized that a lot of the Opportunities I'm faced with this summer are all about Inspiration and Exploration; building a repository of experiences that I can draw on later as I spend time Investigating what I've seen with other resources.  I'll use the Internet, library, live resources and even additional Expeditions to supplement the experience.  I've also realized that the reason I "know a little something about everything" is because I take time to Explore the Opportunities and find out first-hand what it's all about.

This led me to another think.  Since we live in an area (WI) that has seasons and some of them are not conducive to outdoor Exploration, an Expeditionary curriculum as an option at SOAR would be best served by taking advantage of that natural change in the seasons.  Here are the thinks:

• State park and forest series of expeditions.  Plan a cycle of park visits that utilize the hands-on opportunities that abound in the various parks.  Planning will include Investigating what opportunities are available, where the locations are and then connecting them to the learning targets we have.  I'm thinking maybe it would be a four year cycle of Expeditions - rotating through relevant parks at specific times to capitalize on the opportunities.  There should be resources available at each of the parks.
• Summer series of Expeditions.  Since many of the resources are available during the summer, small groups could go together (like the creative writing one this summer) and share in the experience.
• Winter Expeditions to Investigate the findings.  This could be at universities, museums, libraries . . . anywhere we can think of.
• Student-centered learning expeditions that are organized and planned by students.
• Community support.  There must be grants and support available for this kind of learning.  I need to locate and organize fundraising.

So I continued to walk along the paths provided in Kettle Moraine.

Some of the path was paved and nicely accessible to everyone.

Other parts were mowed and, I assume, went up and down through the Kettle Moraine geological formations.  They looked like hills to me, but the significance of the location and forest suggest there was more that I wasn't seeing.

Some of my experiences lead me to believe that this area of Kettle Moraine is more focused on the prairie restoration and less on geology.  I read the signs and followed them to a really spectacular little spot.

The idea of a place for bugs intrigued me and was worth Exploring.

Only part of the garden has paving stones.  Each tan stone has a dedication as a fundraiser for the garden.

Plants have identification tags with common and scientific names.

Interesting how the pod looks when opened.  I usually associate all of the seed distribution with the fall, but these are ready to go mid-summer.

I stop and think about the variety of colors on the flowers.  An adaptation made by the plants to attract insects to help spread pollen.

I actually didn't see a lot of butterflies in the garden.  There were a few and I imagine I could spend time here cataloguing the different types and learn to identify them by characteristics.  There were also bees and dragonflies hanging out here.  On the other hand, it was a very peaceful and enjoyable place to walk around.  Relaxation was a bonus.  It kind of makes me want to set up our own garden at SOAR and have a local place to observe the butterflies.  I also had a think about the exclosure in the school forest.  This garden had a similar fence and I can only assume it was to keep the plants safe from herbivores munching away.

According to the passive learning opportunities (signs), the area also has a lot of hawks and owls as raptors (thanks Bob!) and it would be a good place to spend time observing them.  We also noticed many different sounds of songbirds and I would love to do a year-long or more Ornithology Expedition to identify different types of birds we have in our area.  That may become a side project that I start soon (like I need another!).

I couldn't help but stop and note the irony (ELA!) in one area.  On one hand is a sign reminding visitors about conservation and stewardship:

A sign reminding us to stay on the path to not disturb the natural environment

And on the other is a bench for people to sit with weed killer sprayed all around it.

It saves time and money when you don't have to pay someone to trim around the bench.  Unfortunately it's contrary to the stewardship message being sent by the park.  I guess there always needs to be a balance.

Overall it was a great experience that I'm glad I had the Opportunity to have.  It was only a couple of hours stop on our way somewhere else and we got to see an old friend, stretch our legs and I found wonderful opportunities to learn something new.

Making Great America

July 10-12 2019

There's a strong campaign to make us great being promoted out there.  In the spirit of the true American Tourist, we're going to get our fun on in an amusement park.  It's been over 20 years since I set foot in Great America and at least 30 since I first went there.  At the time there were only two roller coasters, no cell phones and a shoestring budget involving warm sandwiches in the van for lunch and supper.  Both girls have been asking about it for a couple of years and it was solidified this spring when Evelyn went to Disney and rode a couple of coasters down there.  I may have commented that Great America had much better ones and they didn't know thrill rides until they rode Batman.

Today is that day (June 11).

We're going to experience it like everyone should, getting dropped off at the gate and wandering around for 10 hours, waiting in lines for 1-3 hours for a 2 minute thrill and eating overpriced concessions marketed as food.

Before we go to the park, we stayed in Bong State Campground near the Illinois border last night and I have to say the fireflies were amazing throughout the park.

They started to come out at dusk

By nightfall they were really blinking and lighting up the bushes.

There's lots of thinks to think about bugs and I'll experience that a little more when we walk about the prairie featured in the park.  But first, we're going to suffer through crowds and congestion to scare ourselves half to death on Warner Bros themed rides.

To save a little money we were dropped off at the park rather than pay for parking.  The girls and I walked in and started our adventure.  We started with the Superman coaster.

The theme for 6 Flags is Warner Bros which includes DC Comics

Some rides are inspired by characters.  This one tilts you so you're facing the ground and "flying" like superman.  It was a cool ride.

I remember going to the park when the Batman ride first opened.  This was the late 80's and it was by far the most exciting part of the park.  You fly "like a bat" on the coaster which means a lot of direction changes, loops and corkscrews and randomness you would expect from a bat.

First, we got to see my all time favorite iteration of the batmobile.

I know it's not the real thing, but I sure love the sleek look and cool gadgets.  It supports more of the "I'm rich" batman and less of the military batman that comes with the tumbler.

The awesomeness of the batmobile is contagious.

The entire walk to the ride is Gotham City themed and a great way to wait in line.

If we had to wait.

Evelyn's found a new favorite activity.

The park had just opened and there were a couple of new rides (just opened!) that everyone flocked to.  So we went to Batman.  There was no line so we did it again.  As I get older I get dizzy easier.  I was out after ride two.  The girls continued to scream through the line and got another 4 rides before we finally moved on to something else.  Just as a side note, you generally have to wait in line for 45-90 minutes for 1 ride.  This made it epic and turned a 5-6 ride day into a 12 plus ride day. Very fun!  Makes the price of admission a lot more bearable.

Roller coasters with a high thrill rating feature twist, turns, loops, corkscrews and, in the case of the Joker, cages that spin WHILE you're going through the rest.  I sat this one out . . . was still dizzy from being a bat.

When the park features a double decker carousel, you just have to ride it.  Unfortunately Mary Poppins wasn't with us so the horses didn't leap off and go running across the countryside.  We were treated to an overenthusiastic operator who was obsessed with a person holding a baby.  "Put that baby down!  It's against the rules."  Sometimes you know when you'll only ever ride a ride once.

We continued to chase thrills, pay too much for food and wander about the park.  It was a great short vacation day.  Next summer may pay to have a season pass and make a few trips down.  Strategy is what it's all about and being in the park early on a Thursday paid off in rides.

In the end it's wasn't too much of an Expedition in Learning (although I could probably spin it that way if anyone wants) but a great Expedition in Fun. Balance life to include both.

I may have found my "fun" expedition hat.

Camp

July 8, 2019

I love being at camp.  I don't get out here as much as I want to, but it's not just about being out in the middle of the woods without many of the modern conveniences, it's about what it represents in my life.  We're in year three of having the camp and I can't say enough about the importance it plays symbolically to my family.  Don't mistake that it's just me, my wife and kids that find it important, it's a commitment to the future.  Many of the conversations we have while we're sitting around in the quiet are plans for years and generations down the line using camp as a base for family activities.

We have neighbors here.  They come to their camps a couple of times a year and are from Illinois.  I met them during deer season last year but my brother has talked with them many times since he's been here.  People who own large chunks of land and have their own camps generally fall into two categories.  Some are very guarded and put up signs all over about no hunting and trespassing and others are friendly and outgoing and get to know others around them.  Thankfully, the neighbors fall into the second category and are happy to allow us to use their land as well.

This falls into the stewardship category.  Not only do we have a responsibility to be good stewards on public lands, but are responsible for respecting private land as well.  I recently listened to a program on NPR about American Samoa.  It was very interesting to hear from people who want to be American Citizens because it's a part of America (Duane "The Rock" Johnson is from here).  To own land on the island you have to be 50% Samoan.  This discussion focused on citizenship and the fact that people from AS are not US citizens.  There are some that are pushing for automatic citizenship because it's a part of America, but they're afraid that getting this privilege will open the door for a change in the land ownership law and create an area that becomes developed and resources that are lost to a bigger entity.  On the other side, people who have dropped below 50% and have lived there their whole lives cannot inherit family lands.  It makes for some interesting thinks about how developed countries have evolved and what that has meant politically.  If I learned anything from A Small Place it was that territories colonized by larger countries do so for a specific reason and that reason isn't to help the area become great in its own way,

If you want to look at American History you'll find that our very existence was started in an attempt to gain resources and remain under British rule.  That didn't work out very well for Britain but we've done similar things in the past.  Anyway, back to camp.

Had a nice ride through some of the densely forested areas around camp.

 The neighbors put access trails all over on their land and we also had a chance to ride on the new trails they just put in and explore around the area a little.  As we rode I was taken in less by the trails and more by the geography of the land.  The trails follow the natural contours of the land and go up and down and weave around as the person running the equipment saw fit and the land owners requested.  During the ride we came across a mother partridge and her babies on the trail.  Momma ran off the trail and one of the little ones flew (as best it could) up from the long grass into the woods,  Momma came back out looking for the others all fluffed up and chirping to them.  We immediately turned around and went back the other way not wanting to endanger them.  In the fall we'll hunt for them but for now we want them to survive and prosper without the stress of us tromping around in an area they need for growth.  I wish I had been quick with my camera to capture it, but not every experience needs to be on film.

Afterwards we had a campfire and played bean bag toss.  I won't say I did much winning, but it was a nice way to relax at the end of the day.  Tomorrow we'll finish prepping for the new windows and then it's back home to get ready for the next great adventure to Six Flags to Explore a little physics with some world-class roller coasters.

Finally Fishing

July 6-7, 2019

My grand vision of Exploring Laura Lake in the boat came to a splashing halt when the tailpipe of the truck crested 6 inches under the water.  I've put the truck into the lake several times before and I'm not afraid to get a little wet, but the risk of stalling and sitting alone at the landing waiting for someone to pull me out outweighed any other desires.  Once upon a time I would have pushed and shoved my way to a successful launch, but 45 years old is looming around the corner and my common sense kept me out of traction.

So I went somewhere else and it was great.

I used to look at this view 5-7 times a week during my summers.  Now, I have biking, kayaking, hiking camping . . . all kinds of stuff to do.

In the spirit of my last video blog, I also had a chance to observe beds in the lake.  I've only come across large beds like this a couple of times in my life (to be fair I haven't gone looking for them very often) but it was more than just cool to see, it gave me the opportunity to Observe and record that observation with my phone.

Som places had just a single bed in 4 feet of water.  This one was surrounded by some vegetation on the bottom of the lake and I didn't see any fish hovering about it.  Rocky shore, sandy bottom.

In four or five other locations on the lake I came across large fields of beds.  These had bluegills hovering above and around them.  According to the research I did earlier, the males hover above the beds waiting for females to lay eggs in them and then the fertilize and hang around for awhile afterwards.  I was able to drop a small hook with artificial bait in and catch some of them.  I returned them to the lake but it was a lot of fun.

Some of the thinks I have from the experience included thinking about the nature of the fish.  Additionally, I know Crappie spawn earlier in the year (July was surprisingly late for the gills anyway) and normally near wooded areas underwater,.  I wonder if some of the beds that were near fallen trees and logs were from the earlier Crappie spawn and these were being repurposed by the Bluegills.

When I came across beds that were near a weed bed I also noticed a lot of larger bass swimming around the beds.  There were also a lot of minnows, a few smaller walleyes and lots of little gills in and around the weeds.  The lake I was on is notoriously hard to find fish on and I was thrilled to see a large concentration of them in this area.  The outside temp was upper 70s, mid-morning (10:00) and the water temp was 76 degrees.  Great information to record and track.

As I move forward and find additional opportunities to Explore, I would like to snorkel around the beds and Observe the behaviors of the fish.  I would also like to see where they transition to after the spawn is done.  I plan to invite others to join me since having the experience is always fun to share.  Plus, it gives me the opportunity to discuss what I'm seeing and get additional perspective about it.  It's a great way to learn without watching a video about it.

Later on that day I also had time to sit back, relax and enjoy my summer day.

Even though it was warm and a little buggy, toasting marshmallows over the fire and making S'mores is a fantastic end to a great day.  When I can get some family members to join it's an added bonus.

Finished off the weekend with a trip to camp.  Where I grew up, camp was a cabin on land in the woods.  It's a great place to relax and enjoy a simpler life.  However, there's always something to do as well and I got to spend time with my brother replacing some windows.

The windows we took out were old and not very efficient.  The new windows aren't in yet but we have a lot of prep work to do.  During the day the mosquitos, biting flies and no-see-ums weren't too bad.

I'm writing this blog while sitting at camp.  I've found a way to continue to document my learning and observations (Organization) while doing something I enjoy very much.  If I have an Opportunity to make a video blog while I'm here I will, otherwise I'll just snap a pic and reflect on the experience later.

As always, I encourage comments and ideas or questions.  Just add them to the comment for the particular blog.

Independence and Freedom

Video Blog 6

July 4th, 2019

It's been a long time since we declared our independence from British rule.  I've heard a lot of commentary on public radio, morning television news and commentary from people I run into about this year's celebrations.  Today I was able to sit in the bed of my truck again in Trig's parking lot and watch the parade from my perch.  I'm not a huge fan of large crowd events and this is about as busy and crowded as downtown gets during the summer.

Box seats for the parade.  Many people walking by commented on what a good idea it was.  This is year two.

From one side . . . 

To the next.  People lined the streets.  People parked next to us hopped in the back of their truck as well.  Sounded like they were from California.

One of the highlights to any parade is the band.  Mr. Mann and the students always do a fantastic job and today was no exception.  You can hear them play in Video Blog 6 near the end.

The rest of the day was pretty mellow and extremely hot.  I retreated to the basement where it was much cooler (no AC) and played a little classic NES.

July 5, 2019

Storms came through and helped cool things off a little.  The humidity is high still but the temperature was much lower.  The humidity is supposed to drop today . . . we'll see how that goes.  I would like to get out and spend some time in the boat today; may be a bad idea with it being the 4th of July week.  You'll know how that turns out later in the blog.  Meanwhile, I've got a few minutes while the batteries are charging to add some reflection.

In a couple of days my ATV will move to camp.  I'll leave it there until deer season and enjoy riding around out where there isn't much for traffic and lots to explore.  In Michigan I can ride on the logging roads and trail system without running into a bunch of people.  I'm glad we have trails open here, but after witnessing some (some, not all) riders being very reckless, I don't want to end up a casualty to inexperience, intoxication or idiocy.  I took a ride this morning on the trails, just to see where they're at for condition and drivability.  I didn't meet anyone on the trails.

From the cockpit of the ATV.  I know, old man windshield, but it keeps the bugs off.

I used to ride a motorcycle.  This was probably the biggest factor in purchasing an ATV that you straddle rather than a side-by-side.   I still have a passenger seat so I can ride two.  I traveled down Croker to Deep Lake Road.  I like to take this route because it's close and I can stop at Hunter Lake to see what activity the small park has.  Along the way I noticed quite a few changes.  First, the once little-traveled road was now wide and sandy.  And then there was the cutting.

I used to hunt in this area for birds with the dog.  I still can, there's plenty of woods left, but I'm sad to see it all open like this.

This isn't a statement about forestry.  Maintaining a healthy environment involves cutting and letting other trees grow.  I support this 100%.  Selfishly, I will miss the heavily wooded ride along many sections of this road.  I used to ride my bike along here often but with it being an ATV route - specifically a great way to head north from ER, I don't trust it any more when the trails are open.  

More importantly on the ride I was able to reflect on the impact we have on our environment and I thought about an organization I was involved with in college called Tread Lightly.  What I liked best about this was the idea of stewardship.  Different than restricting access, this organization promotes smart use of the land.  Here's where this started:

I stopped by Deep Lake parking lot and noticed a sign warning about spreading invasive species around from lake to lake. 

Took a little time to stand on the edge of the lake (fishing pier) and remember what's great about being up here.

Looking back towards the parking lot.

As I was getting ready to leave the parking lot and I reached for the throttle, the urge to drop the hammer, spin the tires and rocket away surged.  Before I had the chance, I looked down and noticed deep ruts from countless other riders who'd done exactly what I was thinking about.  This caused me to reflect on the poor choice I would have made and think about the Invasive Species sign.  Sometimes I feel like there's a message being sent to me.

Often there is a black and white look at the environment and stewardship.  People have a tendency to fall on one side or the other with varying degrees.  This caused me to think and reflect and realize that I'm kind of wavering from one side to the other.  I can only hope to find balance.

I ride this and drive that.  I also ride my bike and just bought a high-efficiency car.

I love being out and quiet and to explore with these

I also have this for convenience, go-fast fun and fishing.

There's a real duality in my life.

Cut grass with this.

Cut grass with this.

At the end of it all, I have had time to think about the people that come here and the people that live here.  Summer is a great time to be around, there are lots of things to do.  I find myself complaining about the tourists, but then I think of three things:

A Small Place by Jamacia Kincaid.  Not only was this a good book to read, but a great way to think about the life in a tourist area.  Every town, to some extent, is touristy.  Chamber of commerce sells the town to outsiders and encourages visitors to help with the local economy.

The Art of Possibility by Rosaline and Benjamin Zander.  It's a transformative kind of read that focuses on where you are and what you're doing and moves you away from complaining about a situation and promoting negativity and towards dealing with the situation and making it work for you.

Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck.  Travels around America with his dog Charley.  Does this to get in tune with what the country is and that means seeing and talking to the people of this country.  We all need to look around where we are and get to know what that is.

One woman, at the parade, was compelled to tell me that we looked like a post card; sitting in the back of the truck with iced water, an umbrella, chairs and a stylish hat.  She commented that it looked like a sell for vacation in the area.

My reply?

Not on vacation.  Get to live here all the time.  I'm a local.  

It's good to be proud.