September Aurora

Being in the right place and the right time for the Aurora (Northern Lights) around here is a tricky thing. Many times, the data looked good…at least good enough to justify going out in the middle of nowhere for a few hours and seeing if anything popped up. Usually it didn’t. But every now and … Read more

Lighting At Cedar Bottoms

Cedar Bottoms, as the name implies, is a backwater wildlife area off the Cedar River in Eastern Iowa. It’s one of my favorite places to go to shoot the Northern Lights. I’ve always wanted to catch some lightning there but for that, things have to line up and yesterday, to my good fortune, they did. … Read more

Practice Your Art

“Practice any art . . . no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.” Kurt Vonnegut

Find Your Joy

The flicker of a firefly in the night. A raindrop making ripples in a puddle at my feet. Birdsong in the early morning of a summer day. These are the simple things that bring me joy. It’s so easy to find, if you look.

Eagle On The Ice

As the spring thaw commences and water starts to open up around here, the Bald Eagles can’t wait to get out on the ice and do a bit of prospecting for a fish. I guess it’s probably from a long, cold night of waiting around, but they don’t even wait for the sunrise. Usually it’s … Read more