well I made it to the the volo bog, and spent more time there than I planned, picked up a portable walking type cd player and took along a dozen or so CDs. van morrison, pink floyd, loreena mckennit, sarah maclaughlin, seal, stone temple pilots, cat stevens, tonic, alice in chains, celtic renaissance, jewel, joani mitchell, and I forget what else, but did not listen to them all, just a few. never know what kind of music mood one might be in, so I just grabbed a handful. I was in a hurry to leave, needed batteries and a player, and it was getting close to midday and I still had a project to finish up today, and a few phone calls and items to attend to. there is always time to squeeze in mom nature, though. so I took an overlong lunch break with a few pieces of kuchen bread and a few cameras.

only a few cars in the lot, and one charter bus, but it was a guided group and not in my way. upon entry to this floating walkway through the bog, you are greeted with a sign.i love this park because you can walk for miles without seeing a single person. it is just like reading a thoreau chapter on nature and solitude.



Are not most things slippery when wet?   i guess that is there for liability reasons. I wonder who is responsible if you trip on a hill? today was gorgeous and perfect, great day to be irresponsible and take some time off. a very sunny and quite breezy day and this did not seem like it would be a problem. the boardwalk is mostly boards that move and sway over watery pond life while you walk. if a muskrat or other creature wants to sample your feet, he does not have too far to reach them as the board walk rests fairly close to the water top. some of the walkway is some sort of cement or stone slats, which is much neater because you do not move the plant life and water when walking on them, and do not disturb the area close by and you might see a few snakes, frogs, or other animal life.

it has been a while and several seasons since I have been to the bog. maybe this year I will do the full season cycle thing or maybe a monthly thing until next year at this time? I have not been here in the spring before, and it is a bit early to see much going on, but there is a lot to see. some of the trees do not have the full size leaves yet, so I believe I developed a bit of a sunburn. my hair became a mess with the breeze and wind and it was very hard to get as many close ups as I would have liked. the first view that greats me on the boardwalk is a rather interesting mix of old and new. last years tired and life drained growth with this years emergent green renewal.

  view north from the bog boardwalk entry

it was about midday, and the sun was up overhead and this is a view north as I am walking into the bog. there are no long shadows, so just a bit less drama going on here. there is a lot that is green, but there is a lot that is old, poking through the bog, too. below, are two areas within a few walking steps of each other. one a very clear pond where you can watch birds land and sweep the surface and then a boggy area that has floating moss and logs and plant life where animals or other things can hide from view.

diversity along the bog boardwalk



early sprouting plant life having a conference



a full view sub section, shown below, has the appearance advice conversation.

at just about the time this shot was taken, a person I had passed came upon me to see what I was doing. she had two cameras slung on her arms, which I had admired when I passed her up a short while before. she was standing at the edge of that clear pond area when I noticed her talking to an older couple that had binoculars. I figured they were watching animals and birds, and I was more interested today in sprouting new growth and catching a snake, frog, turtle or some other water creature.

the lenses on this camera were over half as long as she was tall, and I have not seen such big lenses up close in all my life and photography. one was white and had a huge side handle on it and the other was gray. I figured since she asked me what I was doing, I would ask her about her cameras and what she was doing, too. it turns out she was a DNR worker, who takes journalistic pictures of flora, fauna, and events at all the state parks. cool job, and very cool cameras. her reply about the lenses were that they were 500mm or more in size and I was truly amazed. she also had a worn out looking tripod slung across the top of one shoulder and a bag also hanging off her back.

she was interested in the unfurling fern life I was taking macro perspective shots of, and was contemplating getting as few of her own. she was pointing out some rare plant life to me, as we were talking, and said that they usually do not mention these, because people would pull them out and take them out of the preserve. people do some strange things. I got a few neat perspective shots on the ferns and also some macro shots which can be seen on the next page. 500mm+ lenses, I am still amazed and in awe, these lenses had to be over or about 3 feet long with thick handles to help turn them.

she also asked what I thought about their web site pages, and she had said that many found them quite usable and resourceful, at which point I told her I was into graphic arts, art, photography and web design. she added they had not had much time to keep them updated, and were shorthanded in the staff department, and then I was thinking - oh boy, job opportunity here and I will check out the DNR[department of natural resources] pages later, myself, and see what they look like. I need to get on the move and make some business cards up, etc. What a great job to be working. Though I still would like to do a per contract thing and not full-time commit. I think the free lance working thing fits in well with my free spirited need for flexibility and variety.

Opportunity knocks in the strangest places. we talked for a few more minutes, and she related she had been there since early morning and got some great shots of some birds and nature, and wished it was less windy and breezy(so did i). we said our good byes, and she was off to take pictures of the school group for the DNR newsletter or something else. I was off to hit the forested land paths, myself.

on my way around the lunching school group and the bbqs that smelled good, I reached into my bag for another slice of bread, a drink, and I was tempted to sneak around through the forest side and get a shot of her and those cameras with lenses I lusted after, but somehow felt I would be violating her privacy or person. yet if I asked, she probably would have been fine with the idea. I changed my CD and headed into the forest, and away from people. And also noticed my batteries were getting a bit low, and I had not replaced the spare set I lost in the water near work last year. I will have to get another set, soon.

some land views and macro images of volo bog on this next page.