Shipyard Sunrise

Northern Wisconsin is fading into the distance this time around, but before leaving, I was blessed to capture the sunrise behind Fincantieri Marinette Marine.

Shipyard Sunrise - Marinette, WI

I've had a long day on the road, so I'm going to keep this short. Today was another great day.  Good sunrise, good walk, good daily practices, and I got to meet an interesting gentleman that taught me some things I didn't know about Green Bay, Wisconsin.

I'm looking forward to what tomorrow may reveal.

Getting Sucked In

I managed to let myself get sucked into my day job, career, or profession if you like today more than is normal for me.  As such, there were no really spectacular or even passable photos. Today felt a little like marking time, but I did get in some more walking than I've managed to put together in the recent past.  I also explored some new areas of Marinette, WI this afternoon.

Today is likely to be the last day that I spend in Marinette, WI for awhile, and frankly, I'm a bit sad to see things move forward.  The last several months have been difficult, but I did get to visit some new places, meet new people, and learn a thing or two about fishing in the Great Lakes area.

It's been a good experience, and it's opened my mind to being more excited than not of experiencing new adventures however unplanned they may be initially.

I'm looking forward to heading back tomorrow and getting some business resolved on the home front. I'm ready for fall, but there are a number of things left to do this summer before a new season is ushered in to take it's place.  I'm looking forward to the journey.

Fishing on the Menominee River

This is likely my last trip to Marinette, Wi.  The opportunity to combine my evening walk with a brief fishing outing on the Menominee River proved too much to resist, and I spent a very relaxing couple of hours chasing the sunset as well as a some fish.

Like the last time I was hear, I only landed one small mouth bass (colloquially known as a smallie in this area), but it was a bit better fish than I landed last time.

Smallie - Menominee River - Marinette, WI

This little guy put of a good fight, and the thrill of the catch was worth the cost of getting set up for the opportunity. Spending time out on the river was deeply relaxing, and I'm glad that I've gotten to the point in my life that fishing is a much bigger draw than spending any time at all on watching television or some other form of on screen entertainment.

After hooking this one, I spend about the next half an hour largely practicing my casting, and was rewarded at the end with another great sunset.

Sunset on the Menominee - Marinette, WI

The air has a hint of fall in the air, and there was not a breath of moving air. The sky and the river became one at the close of the day, and if it weren't for gravity, it would have been hard to tell them apart.

Today was  an exceptional day.  Safe travel covering over one thousand miles, the opportunity to pit my wits and technology against some fish, and a sunset that is really quite unbelievable when I look back at the photos. I'm not sure what tomorrow may hold, but I'm looking forward to taking another crack at another good day.  Goodness is all around us. I have not always recognized this fact, but now that I do, my life has gotten much better.  It has become a life centered around the experiences that I have...or even make...rather than the things that I own. It's a lesson that I knew once, forgot for a time, and am relearning as I grow a little more seasoned. I grateful for the relearning that's gone on over the last several years, and I continue to greet each day with the respect for the the opportunities that the day will provide if I'm open to seeing them.

What's Going on in the World?

Once again today, I experienced the magic of air travel. I'm on the road quite a bit, and I still am amazed at the speed and comfort that most of us can go zipping about the country and even the world.  My first stop after departing Marinette, WI was the airport in Green Bay, WI.  Fifty miles in less than an hour.  Out on the road during the pilgrimage, that fifty miles will be almost two days or pretty tough work.

From there I took a quick forty minute hop south along the shoreline of Lake Michigan to O'Hare International Airport on the outskirts of Chicago, IL.

International Arrival Hall - O'Hare International Airport
Chicago, IL

An airport is an exciting (and expensive) milieu of a wide variety of cultures, languages, thoughts, and opinions. On one of those layovers you might have, I encourage you to get out of the gate area and take a walk just to see what there is to see. It's fantastic by any objective measure. On my stop in Chicago I heard Chinese, Russian, Spanish, German, and of course English on my ramble through the gates. I had Tex-Mex, Italian, Chinese, and American food including burgers and a good old fashioned hot dog offered to me for purchase. They were all about $8-$15, but that's not the point...the point is those things were available.  We left Chicago and crossed the southern tip of Lake Michigan again.

Leaving Chicago and the Western Shore of Lake Michigan Heading East

A friend had posted something on Facebook that I was contemplating as we made our climb out of the Windy City. She noted something along the lines of not being able to bear the weight of the bad news that was happening "out there." My thoughts turned to where I was at the time. Snugly, if not a little precariously, perched in the aluminum tube headed to twenty five thousand feet at four hundred miles an hour. I had a bag of spiced snacks, a Diet Coke, and an tolerable book. Since it was a small plane, I had both a window and an aisle seat.

First I have to acknowledge that there are horrific things happening to other human beings all the time. We should all collectively resist or more basic urges and try to knock that shit off because if we can manage that, what's going on "out there" is really very special. We, like everyone before us, are living in fantastical times. Let's face it...we're hurtling through space at thousands of miles per hour protected from the vacuum of space and searing solar radiation by about thirty miles of gas. It's mostly a nitrogen blanket, but has just the right level of oxygen and other gasses so all life on this planet thrives, competes, conflicts, and cooperates.

What a gift! What a miracle life truly is to those who take the time to turn off their horror screens and really take a moment to look.

I arrived home safely, and on the way over the Severn to grab some Chinese take-out for the roommates, an "Independence Day" style thunderstorm rolled out of the mountains, across the river, and through the Chesapeake Bay.

Ominism "Independence Day" Style Descends Over the Severn River and the United States Naval Academy

What's going on out there? I don't know, but I can't help but conclude that it's pretty spectacular. Tomorrow I'm going to tone out the concentrated horror that comes out of my television on a far too regular basis. I've got a couple of lawns to mow and some walking to do. There might even be a matinee movie in the mix later in the afternoon. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I'm confident it will be great.

Gone Fishing

As part of my walk today, I decided to spend a couple of hours fishing. As things turned out, I spent a couple of hours mostly practicing my casting, but all in all, I'm not sure why it's taken this long to get a fishing rod back in my hand.

When I was in middle school, I spent three to five weeks with my grandparents in Oklahoma. It was a grand time. I helped grandpa farm, I worked in the thrift shop with grandma, I went to the diner for coffee with grandpa, I poked around in the garden, mowed the lawn with the riding mower (a real treat for me since all I had at home was a push mower), traded baseball cards with my cousins,  rode four wheelers, and shot fireworks on the fourth of July.  Of all those things, the activity I enjoyed most was fishing. Grandpa and I would load up the Dodge pickup and head out to the farm ponds he had access to and fish for two or three hours a day.  

We caught crappie, bass, bream, and catfish. I loved the challenge of fishing. The patience. Trying to get into the mind of the fish. We got to be pretty good at it, and cleaning a mess of bass and deep frying them on the weekend wasn't awful either.

I don't remember the last time I fished. It was a couple of years ago at least. Today after work, I had some time so I bought the Wisconsin DNR license, some inexpensive tackle from Wal-Mart, and headed down to the Menominee River to try my luck.

Fishing the Menominee - Marinette, WI

In terms of my ability to catch fish, my luck was mostly bad. It turns out that the old adage is true. A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work, and the scenery and the weather were perfect. Lest one think I left the river completely skunked, I did manage to latch onto a forty pound small mouth bass known locally as a smallie.

Forty Pound Small Mouth Bass - Marinette, WI

You may be asking yourself, "Why does this forty pound bass look so small?" I'll tell you why. Between the fishing license, the tackle, and the gas for the commute to the river I figure this little palm size fish ended up costing about forty pounds sterling (at the current exchange rate) to land on the end of my thumb.

Sunset on the Menominee - Marinette, WI

You might think that a forty pound small mouth bass is a pretty expensive fish, but I'll tell you that it was worth every penny. I'm looking forward to finding out just what tomorrow has in store for me.

Headed Up North

Another successful use of an aluminum tube powered by kerosene fueled gas turbine engines at about 400 mph and an altitude of 30k feet. Fantastic. As predicted yesterday, it's been an adventure, and the opportunity to take a look at some new skyscapes.

Skyscape - Marinette, WI

Good travel day, and I'm looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

Catching Up From My Midwest Ramble

Last week took me to a couple of states that I have not visited in the past, so I think it's worth doing a bit of a photo recap.  Unfortunately, the connectivity during my travels did not support daily posting, so I'm taking the easy way out and leave you with some photos that I captured along the way. I already posted the first sunset in Michigan and the Green Bay Airport, so this series of photos will catch me up with the rest of the visit.

Sunset at 30K Feet - Aircraft Horizontal Stabilizer to the Left of the Photo

Sunset at 30K Feet - Somewhere over the Great Lakes

Skyscape on Climbout from Detroit, MI

Landscape on Climbout from Detroit

Airport Food - Detroit, MI

Apron - Detroit, MI

Packer Fanatic Fence #1 - Adjacent to Lambeau Field - Green Bay, WI

Packer Fanatic Fence #2 - Adjacent to Lambeau Field - Green Bay, WI

Packer Fanatic Fence #3 - Adjacent to Lambeau Field - Green Bay, WI

Lambeau Field - Green Bay, WI

Menominee North Pier Lighthouse - Mouth of the Menominee River entering Lake Michigan

It was a busy trip. I hope to do a little better job documenting the next jaunt up to the Wisconsin and Michigan. It's a new area for me, and I'm looking forward to more fully exploring all that the region offers.

Midwest Rambling

Today has been a long travel day that started too early, ended too late, and covered four states. The day started in Maryland, progressed to Illinois, dawdled in Wisconsin, and wrapped up in Michigan.

Austin Straubel International Airport - Green Bay, WI

Along the way I picked up a haircut, went to work in a shipyard, got in a walk of reasonable distance, and viewed the Great Lakes for the first time in my life.

Michigan Sunset

I am tired, so I'm going to keep this brief. Days like today make me grateful for the opportunities that present themselves and give me another boost of curiosity to see just what will unfold tomorrow.