Day 2 of “Off the Leash” Happy 55th birthday Lisa…..

The Mighty Thomas Shows

If you live in Duluth, MN, one of the staples of our summertime (with the exception that it always falls on a single Wednesday in July) is the Mighty Thomas Show. The DECC parking lot fills with brightly lit carnival rides and attractions that delight both the young and the old.

The “Carnival Atmosphere” seems to bring out the kid in us. Rides, mini-donuts, games of chance, and the opportunity to visit a world that may be polar opposite to our everyday lives, draw us to loosen our purse strings and have some fun.

We step out of our daily routines and into the bright lights, bull horns and loud music. Throw three tennis balls, knock over a pyramid of cans, and win your girlfriend a huge stuffed bear. It’s all good. Listen to the man. It’s so easy. And it only costs a single dollar to try. Shoot the floating ducks. Any man worth his salt can shoot the floating ducks. It only costs a single dollar to try. Where else can you prove your manhood and win a stuffed bear for your girlfriend at the very same time. Toss a ping pong ball and make it land in a glass with a goldfish in it. Win a goldfish. It only costs a single dollar to try.

Like our Duluth summers, The Mighty Thomas Shows are only here for a few days. The bright lights draw us in. Have you ever ridden on a Ferris wheel that didn’t have lights on it? We will walk toward the light every time.

Mini-donuts, funnel cakes, floats, shakes, and a dozen other nutritious delicacies just waiting to satisfy your cravings. Then you climb onto the “Scrambler” or the “Tilt a Whirl”. I don’t do “Tilt a Whirls” any more. For me, “Tilt A Whirls” and funnel cakes belong in alternate dimensions, unless you have a bucket and a mop.

My Uncle Enoch tells a story about his very first trip to the fair with his dad, (My grandfather Ruggles who died when I was very young). The best part of the fair that my uncle remembered, was when his dad bought him a banana. He’d never had a banana before that day in his whole life. Can you imagine thinking of a banana as the greatest thing you’d ever eaten? It’s amazing how a very simple memory can bring happiness to us for the rest of our lives.

Well, here it is. A simple memory captured on a 4″ X 5″ piece of film. My view camera rendition of “The Mighty Thomas Shows”
Capture the memory and walk toward the lights…….

I’m off to the doghouse now…….

Star Trails

So……yesterday, one of my good friends, Lisa Blade, invited/challenged me to post a picture a day for a week taken from the “Doghouse”

And, seeing as how her 55th birthday party is this weekend, and seeing as how this will serve as a “cost effective” gift, here we go.

Lisa has never been to my “Doghouse” though. If she had visited there, she would have noticed that the only view I have from the “Doghouse” is of our septic system mound.

But……in order to fulfill the challenge, I’ve determined that it would be better to post some of my “favorite views”. So, here we go. Instead of a “View From the Doghouse”, these posts will be titled, “Off The Leash” Or…..Draggin’ Around a 4X5 View Camera.

All the pics you will see in the next seven days were taken with my 4X5 view camera.

Enjoy!

Happy 55th Lisa!

Star Trails……

This photo was taken a few years ago on a Boundary Waters trip. The camera was set up to point at the North Star. If you think about the rotation of the earth, which causes the stars to appear to rotate, I think, and you think of the rotation in terms of the face of a clock with 24 hours on it, you can calculate the approximate exposure time by measuring the star trails.

Every year, we travel to the Boundary Waters during the fall. It’s been the same group of men, give or take, for over fifteen years. We’ve lost a few of our companions to moves, old age, and yes, even death.

As we age, the trips have become less strenuous. It used to be nothing to think of carrying a canoe and gear over a 186 rod portage which is approx 3/5’s of a mile, to get to the next lake. Add a camera box that weighs over 50lbs and you’d better prepare to take some heat from you companions.

On this evening, we were sitting by the campfire listening to wolves howling, very close to our camp. The site was on a point of land with water on three sides.

Boundary Waters campfires are generally small. They are limited in size by the amount of wood you can cut, split and haul by hand.

That small fire leaves you surrounded by stars. The darkness and the crisp air make the stars seem to dance as you look at them through the rising smoke of a campfire. And star’s appearance in the Boundary Waters have a different dimension than those you see through the city lights.

They take on a personality. Some have different colors. There are large stars, small stars, stars that flicker, and stars that beam. Some of the stars that cannot be distinguished by themselves glow in unison with other smaller stars and we call that, the Milky Way.

Just knowing that the star light that we saw that night had probably been travelling towards our campsite for around 27,000 light years leaves you with a sense of awe.

Imagine the solitude of a beam of light that has travelled for 27,000 light years. Imagine the worlds it has seen and passed by in order that we might have been blessed by it on a fall night in the Boundary Waters. On that night, for that moment, a bit of star light arrived and blessed us with its presence.

We travelled for two days and that star light had travelled for 27,000 light years in order that we might meet at a campsite on a point of rocks near the water’s edge.

For just a few minutes, we welcomed it, got to know it, and soaked in its blessing. It passed though us and into our hearts. For those who travelled on that trip, it is still there in our hearts and we are better for having been there.

That small group of men still pack canoes and take trips into the wild. And we all bring that star light from 27,000 light years away with us each and every time.

Until we paddle together again…..

I’m off to the doghouse now….