The Snowshoe Commute Across Lake Monona

The snowshoe commute to work across Lake Monona is one of the great pleasures of winter in Madison. Starting from Olbrich Park, there is a choice of routes. One is to skirt the lake's north shoreline, getting off the lake at Yahara Place Park to cross the Yahara River on the Rutledge Street bridge, and getting back on the lake one block west at Morrison Park for the duration of the trek. The other option is to venture way out toward the middle of the lake to get around the middle Yahara River's mouth (because the flow can make for unpredictable ice). Both routes reconverge near the snowfence that marks the warm-water effluent zone from Madison Gas & Electric's Blount Street generating plant, where the final approach to the commute's conclusion at Monona Terrace affords a perspective of the isthmus skyline that is worth savoring in the silence that comes with stopping for a moment.

The Quality of Caribbean Water

I enjoyed the privilege of vacationing at Maho Bay Camps on St. John in November 2007. One of the first videos I captured during that visit was this one. I had wandered down to the water's edge to see if the water was indeed the impossible color you see on postcards. Turns out that it is. But color is only one of the qualities I observed in these waters. I'm sharing this on a dreary day toward the back edge of winter, for vicarious purposes. If you look close, you'll see a couple pelicans plunge out of the air in their dive for lunch. All due gratitude and much more besides to my friend Darren Bush for recommending the Olympus SW 770 camera.

May blessings displace your burdens.

Matterhorn in Context

My friend Darren Bush's recent visit to Sicily, and the extraordinary photos he has been posting to his blog at http://canoelover.blogspot.com/ are an inspiration to resume scanning my old European slides from the 1980s into digital format. This is an undertaking I began a couple years ago, but abandoned due to the overwhelming number of images I brought back. I'll get back to it as time allows. Meanwhile, here's an image of the Matterhorn from a week I spent in Zermatt in 1985. This might have been taken the day I hiked the rather precarious ridgeline to Hornlihutte, the staging facility from which those who climb the Matterhorn start. I lacked the means and nerve to hire a guide to lead me up its steeps. Instead, I spent my week in Zermatt hiking a different mountain trail every day. Rothorn was a favorite.

Mont-St. Michel, October 1983

An old favorite from when I was wandering around Europe with a big old SLR, taking photos of whatever caught my eye.

Happy Cows May Come from California, but the Cow of Love is from Wisconsin

Valentine's Day ought to be Valentine's Month, n'est-ce pas?

Gimme Yer Tired Yer Poor Yer Huddled Iceboaters and Curious Onlookers

Lady Lib has once again come up for air on Lake Mendota off the UW Memorial Union Terrace.

We Come from France

Or we might be Dutch, given the orange coloring of our cones. Mibs!

A Glorious Winter Day

Walking to work across Lake Monona a couple weeks ago, I came across this snaking path that had been cleared in the snow off the north shore.