Five days ago I returned from a trip to Washington D.C. with my father. We had a great time. Rather than put up a separate page of pictures, I decided to post several blog entries over the next week or so and include the photos that way.

Photographs from a Bloy in Wisconsin
Five days ago I returned from a trip to Washington D.C. with my father. We had a great time. Rather than put up a separate page of pictures, I decided to post several blog entries over the next week or so and include the photos that way.

It’s election time here in the United States — time for the endless barrage of political commercials that saturate the television airwaves. Is this any way to inform the public on where our potential leaders stand on the issues? The election campaigns seem to depend more on marketing experts than policy experts. Instead of hearing about the real issues, we get mudslinging.
This is the first post in a new Photography category for my blog.
I took this a few weeks ago while visiting Olbrich Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin.
One of the things I love about camping it is usually means I’m far away from the glow of city lights. Last Monday night, when I was at Peninsula State Park, I was treated to a spectacular view of the night sky. The realization that I am away from from city lights really hits me when I can see that ribbon of stars across the sky, the Milky Way.
Yesterday I returned from a camping trip to Peninsula State Park in Door County, Wisconsin. One of the reasons I like to go there is the park has 20 miles of the best biking trails in Wisconsin. When you bike along the lakeshore and through the woods on those trails you can understand why Peninsula is one of the most popular parks in the midwest. I was fortunate to have excellent weather while I was there and was able to hit the bike trails every day.
Forty years ago this past Friday, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act establishing the National Wilderness Preservation System to “…secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.”
While at work this afternoon, I walked into the bathroom to use the facilities. I was dressed for work as I usually am, in a shirt and tie, with my name tag that says “Librarian.”
There was a library patron in there washing his hands (one of our regular internet users). He notices me come in and asks “So, do you clean the bathrooms here too? It’s always so nice and clean.”
For a few seconds, sarcastic (and perhaps smart-ass) answers flooded into my brain. I am glad to report however, that I summoned a great deal of self-restraint and gave him a polite answer. Since the question deserves a proper response, I thought I would do so here.
About a month ago I went to see Sting and Annie Lennox in concert. Sting was pretty good, but Annie Lennox was excellent. Based on the performance of both artists, I thought Annie Lennox should have been the headlining act.
Last week I went to my favorite place to camp in Wisconsin, the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest. For me, there is nothing like getting away from it all and camping in the north woods. There you’ve got fresh air, beautiful scenery and wildlife (like bald eagles and loons). Below is my favorite picture from this camping trip. It was taken at a lagoon along one of the best nature trails in the forest, the Star Lake Nature trail. This spot is one of my favorite scenic places in the State of Wisconsin. Can’t you just smell the fresh, pine scented air?
I have finally entered the digital photography age and bought a digital camera — a Sony DSC-P73. I’ve been playing around with it for a few days, but today was the first time I hooked it up to my computer. I must say, it is the coolest thing I’ve experienced since burning my own CDs. About an hour ago I went hiking around the nature center near my house and took the camera along for its first “in-the-field” tests. I just got home 15 minutes ago and here I am uploading pictures for my blog.