Exit78 Photo of the Day #20¹ |

A couple of weeks ago, our area was in a moderate drought condition.  Then it started raining.  The weather system that brought the rain stalled out and kept pumping moist air from the gulf into the state – and it kept raining.  By the time it was over, we had received about 23% of our average annual rainfall – in 8 days. The area was pretty soggy, with some areas actually flooded, like Prairie Creek and the Bona Dea trails area.

Flooded Prairie Creek and adjacent pastures and woods in the rain and fog, Russellville, Arkansas, February 24, 2018 (Apple iPhone 6s)

Prairie Creek drains most of Russellville, Arkansas, into the 186 acres of Bona Dea Trails and Sanctuary wetlands and wooded lowlands, which acts primarily as a temporary storage sump for the town’s storm water runoff. A pumping station sends the water through a dike into Lake Dardanelle. A good part of Bona Dea was flooded when this photo was taken.²

1. Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
2. US Army Corps of Engineers sign at Bona Dea

Post-processing¹ #11

On our way home after an afternoon drive in the Ozarks last fall, we stopped at Rotary Ann Scenic Overlook and rest area.  We were surprised to find a large number of walkingsticks on the outside of the restroom doors and walls, as well as on the ground. Most of those on the ground appeared to be dead.

Walkingstick

Walkingstick, Diaphe-romera femorata, is a de-foliator of deciduous trees in North America . Because of its shape, this insect is also commonly called the stickbug, specter, stick insect, prairie alligator, devil’s horse, witch’s horse, devil’s darning needle, thick-thighed walking-stick, or northern walkingstick, depending on locality.²

Even though it is late October, we saw very little fall color on our drive.  It has been warm and very dry the last couple of months, which has delayed and probably muted this year’s fall foliage.

Rotary Ann Overlook and Rest Area, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas

1. Image editing to enhance the photo closer to what the eye “saw.” Images in this series are selected within a day or so of being edited and are either posted at the time or scheduled for posting at a later date.
2. Forest Insect & Disease Leaflet 82 – U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service

Exit78 Photo of the Day #45

On another beautiful September day in 2013, we took a hike at Pattison State Park, Wisconsin. There were plenty of mushrooms along the heavily forested trail.

Little Manitou Falls trail, Pattison State Park, Wisconsin, September 12, 2013 (Pentax K-r)

Pattison State Park (Park website) features the highest waterfalls in Wisconsin and the fourth highest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains. Big Manitou Falls is 165 feet high and Twin Little Manitou Falls is 31 feet high. This 1,436-acre park also has a lake with a beach, a nature center, camping, nine miles of hiking trails and abundant wildlife.

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day¹ #19

Minnesota’s Father Hennepin State Park is a nice gem of a park for camping.  We stopped there for two nights in September, 2013, while exploring on our way to Wisconsin for a family visit.

Dock, Mille Lacs Lake, Father Hennepin State Park, Minnesota, September 9, 2013 (Pentax K10-r)

Father Hennepin State Park²

Named after Father Louis Hennepin, a priest who visited the area with a French expedition in 1680,  the 320-acre (130 ha) Father Hennepin State Park has 103 campsites and a sandy beach over one mile (1.6 km) long.

Father Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan priest of the Recollet order, was dispatched to explore western New France in 1680. Hennepin is not thought to have been in the exact location of the park, but the park is named after him because he was the first to write extensively about the Mille Lacs area. He called the area Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV of France. In the spring of 1680 he and two companions encountered a group of Dakota Native Americans and were captured, about 15 miles (24 km) from today’s Father Hennepin State Park. Their release was negotiated eight months later by Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut. Throughout the experience, Father Hennepin kept a journal describing the lakes, rivers, landscapes, and the lifestyle of his hosts, the Mdewakanton Dakota. In 1683 his writings were published in the book Description de la Louisiane.

Local advocates and Catholic groups were instrumental in getting the park established in the years before World War II.

1. Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
2. Father Hennepin State Park – Wikipedia

Exit78 Photo of the Day¹ #18

The only place we’ve seen this nasty looking plant is on the trails at Petit Jean State Park.

Devils Walking Stick, Seven Hollows Trail, Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas, November 17, 2007 (Pentax K10D)

Aralia spinosa²

Aralia spinosa, commonly known as devil’s walkingstick, is a woody species of plants in the genus Aralia, family Araliaceae, native to eastern North America. The various names refer to the viciously sharp, spiny stems, petioles, and even leaf midribs. It has also been known as Angelica-tree.

1. Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
2. Aralia spinosa – Wikipedia

Exit78 Photo of the Day #17

Utah junipers are one of the dominant trees in the deserts of the American southwest. Slow growing, they typically live 350 to 700 years.  Some even live over 1000 years.¹

Twisted, gnarled, knotted, knobby, dead Utah juniper, Canyonlands National Park, September 23, 2007 (Pentax K10D)

Thriving in “permanent survival mode” in deserts that receive less than 10 inches of precipitation in a year, the juniper’s root system may be as much as 2/3 of the tree’s total mass, with a tap root that can go over 25 feet straight down and lateral roots out as much as 100 feet in order to find moisture.¹

Juniperus osteosperma²

Juniperus osteosperma (Utah juniper; syn. J. utahensis) is a shrub or small tree reaching 9 – 18 ft. (rarely to 27 ft) tall. It is native to the southwestern United States, in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, western New Mexico, western Colorado, Wyoming, southern Montana, southern Idaho and eastern California. It grows at moderate altitudes of 4,300–8,500 ft, on dry soils, often together with Pinus monophylla.

1. Life in the Canyonlands: the Utah Juniper – The River’s Path
2. Juniperus osteosperma – Wikipedia

Exit78 Photo of the Day #16

The Little Rock Farmers’ Market is open each Saturday, 7 am – 3 pm from May through September.

Tomatoes, Little Rock Farmer’s Market, April 25, 2009 (Pentax K10D)

When open, “(t)he Market is filled with farm-fresh produce straight from the backs of the trucks. You will find bargains on fresh Arkansas crops as well as a bountiful array of handmade arts and crafts. You’ll find peaches, eggplant, strawberries, watermelon, beans, peas, corn, herbs, plants, greens, tomatoes, plums, berries, goat cheese, beets, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes, squash, eggs, cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, cherries, lettuce, onions, spinach, and radishes.”¹

1. Little Rock Farmers’ Market – Little Rock.com, Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau

Exit78 Photo of the Day #15

A unique structure in Grand Canyon National Park is based on ancient watchtowers of the American Southwest.

Desert View Watchtower, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, October 8, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

Desert View Watchtower¹

Desert View Watchtower, also known as the Indian Watchtower at Desert View, is a 70-foot (21 m)-high stone building located on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon within Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, United States. The tower is located at Desert View, more than 20 miles (32 km) to the east of the main developed area at Grand Canyon Village, toward the east entrance to the park. The four-story structure, completed in 1932, was designed by American architect Mary Colter, an employee of the Fred Harvey Company who also created and designed many other buildings in the Grand Canyon vicinity including Hermit’s Rest and the Lookout Studio. The interior contains murals by Fred Kabotie.

The tower was designed to resemble an Ancient Pueblo Peoples watchtower, but its size dwarfs any known Pueblan-built tower. The closest prototypes for such a structure may be found at Hovenweep National Monument. The structure is composed of a circular coursed masonry tower rising from a rubble base. The base was intentionally designed to convey a partly ruinous appearance, perhaps of an older structure on which the watchtower was later built. The base is arranged within a large circle with the tower to the north. Tiny windows are irregularly disposed, some of which are themselves irregular in shape. The main space is the Kiva Room in the base structure, apparently roofed with logs that were salvaged from the old Grandview Hotel. The ceiling is a false structure concealing the roof structure that supports an observation deck. The Kiva Room features a fireplace with a large picture window directly above where the chimney would ordinarily go. Smoke is drawn away through an offset, concealed flue. The room still contains its original furnishings, which are part of the historic designation. A separate, apparently ruinous structure was actually built in that form to provide a storage place for firewood.

The tower rises as an open shaft lined by circular balconies overlooking the central space. Access from balcony to balcony is provided by small stairways. At the top the space is decked over, creating an enclosed observation level with large glazed windows. An open observation area on the roof of this space is now closed to visitors and is used for radio equipment. The steel and concrete structure of the observation level is concealed behind plaster, stone and wood. The tower is decorated by bold murals by Fred Kabotie, with other, petroglyph-style decorations by Fred Greer. Small windows in the tower’s shaft let beams of light into the lower space. The tower also features a number of “reflectoscopes” — black mirrors to reflect the view of the canyon in a more abstract style, providing visitors an alternative view of the Canyon.

1. Desert View Watchtower – Wikipedia

Exit78 Photo of the Day #14

One of the things I like to do with photos of commercial (and other) buildings during post processing is to remove the width and  height perspective.  When a photo is taken of a building directly in front of them from ground level, the top of the building is narrower than the bottom and there may be a slight difference in height from one side of the building to the other. I use the perspective tool in PaintShop Pro to make the width equal at the top and bottom and the left and right sides of the building equal to each other, giving the resulting image a “squared-up” look.

Johnson’s Flower Shop and Ashland Historical Museum, old Pabst Building, Ashland, Wisconsin, September 13, 2013 (Pentax K-r)

The “P” and the “T” have long been missing from the three story brownstone Pabst Building in Ashland, Wisconsin, leaving those who might be interested, to wonder what the ABS represented.

Started in 1844 as the Jacob Best & Sons Brewery, by 1893 Pabst Brewing Company, as it was known from 1899 onwards, operated twelve offices in Wisconsin covering every part of the state and over forty offices and branches across the country. Frederick Pabst, son-in-law of Phillip Best, had joined the company in 1864 and helped turn it into the nation’s leading beer producer.¹

1. Frederick Pabst – Immigrant Entrepreneurship, German-American  Business Biographies