Future Link: Pat Schoonover

18 Feb 2012

Winter in Wisconsin

This has been a mild winter, but where there's snow and iced over lakes, ponds and rivers, you'll find people ice fishing. I had never seen an ice shanty until I came to Wisconsin. They looked like outhouses and I was puzzled why people would use these things. Ice fishing.

I'm from a different culture. Dad and I would snowshoe up to a mountain lake. If we saw someone at that lake, we'd hike up to the next one. These were small lakes left over from a receding glacier. Unless you were family or a close friend, you didn't share fishing spots. Sometimes our whole family would snowshoe up to a mountain lake and we'd all fish. Dad would drill the holes and Mom and my sisters and I would build a fire (like a tall log cabin). The fire would be built at the top of the "log cabin" tower and it would burn slowly all day while we watched over our lines. When good coals had developed we would put on several foil packets filled with a mixture of hamburger, potatoes, carrots and onion. These would roast in the coals while we fished.

Sometimes we'd kneel down over the holes in the ice and throw our coats over our heads to block out too much light so we could see what we could see in the water. It was fun to watch fish swim, but not so much fun watching them ignore our lines. The winter days like that could feel warm and we could spend all day outside like that. Lots of good memories and lots of good fish!

So, when I took these photos I remembered those days along with my surprise at the Wisconsin ice fishing shanties. Some shanties have dish antennae and television. These are well stocked with beer and brats, too. But most, especially like the ones pictured here, are smaller and more basic. Not everyone uses a fishing shanty. Many just come out and sit by a drilled out hole with their line in the water.

This is a small pond. It is actually the Pigeon River, but the dam has made part of it more like a pond or small lake. I was going to ask some of these guys what they were using for bait, but I'm a bit too shy for that and I didn't really want to bother them. We'd use niblet corn and marshmallows along with lures. But some of the guys my Dad fished with would use maggots. They would put the maggots in their lower lip to warm them up. That way they were a more lively bait!

(download)

8 Sep 2011

It Started Out Sunny

It looks like I'll have to get my camera repaired or get a new one! The difference in quality is clear. The initial focusing lens on my camera makes things slightly fuzzy and foggy. At any rate, Ezra, our youngest son, and I decided to go kayaking Sunday. It began bright and sunny and not much wind. We decided to put in by the bridge on county highway F near Leeman where the River's Edge bar is located. Our route would be a windy and twisty 10 miles and we got out at the Koepke County Park landing. I've done this route before and it is a very pretty and an easy paddle. You have to watch for shallow spots, logs, stumps, and lots of trees that have fallen into the river over the past year and more.

We took our time, and because it was Labor Day weekend, we saw lots of families out in their boats or fishing from the shore. We waved to a family camping along side the river and asked if they had luck fishing since two of the kids were casting out into the river. The smallest boy, probably about 8, was very enthusiastic and ran to a cooler to haul out a great big catfish. Apparently their uncle caught the fish, but here was this little guy hugging a huge slippery catfish to his chest and almost tipping backwards.

Around one bend we saw three boats hugging the shore. It was one entire family with all their kids including the babies. Everyone was fishing except the moms with wee babes in arms. They were catching walleye just like the other fishermen (with sons and daughters) we saw along the way.

About two-thirds of the way the sky became cloudier and Ezra saw it coming before I did and had me open one of the hatches on his kayak to get his jacket and spray skirt. I've gotta get a spray skirt! It would keep me drier especially as the weather gets cooler. I can see the wisdom of a wet suit! But my rashguard shirt was plenty warm and water resistant. Even if I did get wet it dried quickly.

People often comment, when they hear about kayaking, that it only works the upper body. No sirree! The whole system gets a good workout. If you paddle correctly, you work your core very well and, if you have a rudder as our kayaks have, your legs get a workout, too, since you operate the rudder with your feet.

We always see a lot of wildlife whenever we kayak. Kayaking is fairly quiet and you can glide up pretty close to turtles, as Ezra did, before they slide back into the water. There were also eagles, hawks, great blue heron, plovers, kingfishers all along the way. We saw plenty of crane flying and a "river of birds." They flew together dipping, contracting and stretching in flight, almost mimicking the river.

Pat Kayaking (photo by Ezra)

Ezra paddling (photo by Pat) You can see the Rebel Alliance logo on his kayak.

Ezra paddling and here you can kind of see his Tombo (in Japanese) characters which means "Dragonfly."

Pat Kayaking just after the rain, it was beginning to clear a bit

Trees grow into the river

Interesting tree roots all along the Wolf River

A Lot of Snags on the Wolf, too.

More Roots Along the Wolf River

Patricia Schoonover, Ph.D.

Future Link, Ltd.

futurelink@charter.net

http://futurelink.posterous.com

25 Aug 2011

How to Bring a Swamp Home

This was the shortest paddle with my kayak and it was also the one where I learned the most. Before this I had always kayaked with our son, Ezra. He's a good paddling instructor. Now it was time for me to try this on my own. I did this before the Park-to-Park Paddle and this short two mile adventure helped to season me. My husband, Reid volunteered to be support crew. We loaded everything and drove the short distance to Embarrass (a small community nearby) to the launch area. Reid helped me get the kayak in the water and steadied it while I got in. There's nothing better than the feeling of getting launched and beginning a new paddling adventure. About a quarter of a mile in the river was completely blocked by a tree that had fallen. No way around, under or over unless I got out and hauled the kayak back into the river on the other side. So I did. Not bad and so I paddled along. The biggest lesson learned was that paddling is very much like mountain biking. You have to read the path, or in this case, the water. Stay in the deeper parts and stay away from swamps.

What's that? Yes, I managed to paddle into a stinky, mucky, mosquitoey swamp full of nettles and grass that grabs and cuts. It was pretty hot by now, and really humid. I tried to call Reid on my cell phone to let him know I was in a swamp, but okay. I thought that perhaps I could find a way over something, or if I climbed to a higher spot I would see where to haul the kayak to get underway again. Nope. Finally Reid called back and he said "Paddle back to Embarrass." That is upstream, but I figured that was the only way. Funny, Google Earth showed a clear route!

I got the kayak in the more liquid part of the swamp and started out. But suddenly there was the rest of the river! It was like an optical illusion. That was the other big lesson. You have to read the water not just for depth, stumps, rocks and trees lurking underwater, but you have to find clues for the flow. Bends in a river can sometimes look like a dead end. By this time Reid was back in Embarrass. I called and told him to meet me at the bridge as planned. So I paddled steadily and got there. Since this adventure was only 2 miles and took me almost 2 hours, we didn't know how long it would take me when, on my next paddle on the Wolf River, I went about 5 miles. That one only took an hour and a half. Reid and I were both surprised. By now I have paddled an 8 mile stretch and the next 10 mile stretch of the Wolf River. I'm ready for more!

Reid took these photos. The first photo is, of course, the river sans Pat. Reid would holler and I would holler back like sand hill cranes calling to each other. Reid wanted to get a shot of me coming around the bend, and he did.

Embarrass River from the Bridge

Pat Paddling around the bend in sight of the bridge.

Very Wet, Very Muddy, Very Happy

How to Bring Home a Swamp

25 Jul 2011

Park-to-Park Paddling Event 2011

Here is a YouTube video of our kayaking adventure this last Saturday, the 23rd of July. It was 8.5 to 9 miles of paddling from Shattuck Park in Neenah to Lutz Park in Appleton. The day began with thunderstorms and a rainbow and ended with thunderstorms and a downpour. But it was dry for the entire paddling event. There were, I believe, well over 130 people with a variety of kayaks, canoes and paddles. In the video you will see everyone raise their paddle in a salute. We were in the locks waiting for the water to go down so we could continue on our way. Fantastic time!

Reid took the videos. I just edited them into one video and had fun doing it.

10 May 2011

May Flowers: Spring At Last!

After a few snow showers with thunder, cold rain, and some sleet, we finally had a warm spring day! It was Mother's Day, and Reid offered to take me for a drive with camera and sketch book to see what we could find of spring. These photos tell the story.

Trout Lily (sometimes called Dog Tooth Violet

Trout Lily, one face up

Bloodroot

Wild Oats or Sessile Bellwort

Trillium Bud

Lots of Hepatica

Woods carpeted in flowers

3 May 2011

A Cold Day (or a few) in May

Our crocus bloomed through the snow in April. Life began to stir. We had a few, just a few warm days in the low 60's (fahrenheit). It snowed off and on throughout April and now, in May, we have snow! It's been a long winter.

30 Mar 2011

The End of a Frozen March - Still Frozen

Pigeon Pond at the end of March

Sunny cold day in March

Resting Willow

The big willow

By the Guardrail

27 Oct 2010

A Dark and Misty Day

It was a dark and misty day when I decided to go for a walk. It had been raining, but when I began my walk it had slowed to misty droplets. It was warm and by the time I took these first pictures I felt like a damp mitten.

It was very silent. Even the water seemed to be waiting. Maybe waiting for Hallowe'en.

Nothing seemed to break the water surface, not even reflective thought. This is part of the Pigeon River, but nothing was flowing much on this day.

Deadly Nightshade berries are like bright jewels among the granite boulders. Don't touch!

Gray Dogwood in Autumn. Birds love these berries, but on this day it all seemed too quiet. This is part of the Pigeon River, too, by what is known as Pickeral Point. We had a lot of rain and the ground was soft, covered in wet, clinging leaves and pine needles.

Snail shells are are hidden in the dark waters near the shore of the river.

I started walking through the woods on the riverside path. It was so quiet that when I stopped I could hear the water drip from the branches. Crows called to each other and a few birds tried tweeting. But not much else was said.

This is Pigeon Pond which is actually part of the river. It was very misty and dark. But the colors of the trees were vivid and that always catches my eye.

The river is lined on both sides by oak leaves and duck weed. The oak leaves' tannin stains the water. I thought of Shakespeare's Ophelia. She could bob to the surface anytime.

The ducks were about the noisiest creatures that day. This couple launched themselves very splashily, but swam silently.

This bit of waterway is clogged with duck weed. I did not feel like I wanted to linger on that slippery wooden bridge. So I kept walking.

This time of year is the best time to hunt for shaggy mane mushrooms. But this is not a shaggy mane. I'm not familiar with it, so left it alone. You can see how fast it grew by its split cap.

Water droplets look like those little white lights that are hung up for holidays.

As I hiked along the riverside path the sun began to burn through the mists. The light hit the yellow leaves and after such a dark afternoon, they looked like neon.

The light burned brighter and made the few yellow leaves on this willow look like a golden mist.

It began to fade a bit, but the sun shone through the drops of water on everything.

The sunlight even illuminated the dark, murky shoreline full of leaves and snail shells.

It was a warm, wet October day that was sunny for awhile. It was a whispery day.

24 Aug 2010

We all Play

Grandma tries to distract Flint from the important building of the Play Dough factory being built by Sage and Grandpa.

Oh well, that didn't work, but now Sage has a new game.

Flint has his own game in mind and Grandma wants to see if he is ticklish (he is, sort of). Sage tickles Grandpa.

Flint escapes and Grandpa tickles Sage.

Miriam, the au pair for Sage and Flint took these photos. We were all having quite a good time. Sage is capable of thinking up innumerable games, stories and scenarios for everyone to be part of. If you want, and even if you hadn't even known that you wanted it, she can whip up a good story full of thrills, spills, good things, bad things (and people), great plots and she'll even throw in a song and dance. Flint loves his big sister and will follow her anywhere and everywhere. His talents are budding and that household is going to be fun to watch. It will be a good time for the next decade and a half just to watch Sage and Flint! This parents are in a great and wonderful adventure!

20 Aug 2010

Grandpa and Grandchildren

Decisions Decisions

Building a play dough factory

Flint keeps watch

He stands by quietly

Moves in to watch

Hunkers down for a better look

Gets Grandpas attention

It had been a long time since Reid had seen our grandchildren, Sage and Flint. But, thanks to contact through Skype, our grandchildren warmed up to their Grandpa right away. Sage is three and a half years old and Flint is 13 months old. Sage still isn't too sure about having a brother, but we do see her pat his head, ruffle his hair and give him a smooch on the top of his head every once in a while. Flint just embraces life. He seems very happy to be here. We're glad they are both here!

In this series of photos Sage and Grandpa Reid had been building a play dough LEGO factory for almost an hour. They had spent quite a bit of time building a cookie factory the day before. Eventually Flint had to see what was going on. In one photo he sidles up, very quietly. He flattens himself next to the bookcase and just watches. When Sage got up to get bigger LEGOs, Flint moves in to take a closer look at the factory. The thumb in mouth is a great "quiet and harmless baby brother" ploy. Sage was pretty good, but quickly made up a new game to get Grandpa's attention again.