Wisconsin Winter Waterfall Waltz - Trailer

Here's the much anticipated trailer for the Wisconsin Winter Waterfall Waltz.  Barry and I set out to document the awesomeness of the waterfalls that had fallen under the spell of winter.  It was a blast, but the spell was strong - not everything went as planned...

Link to YouTube

In Defense of Winter

Mother Nature has been stubborn this year, or maybe it’s payback for the last few winters (or lack thereof).  The yearly march toward tulips and warblers has been slowed by the seemingly never-ending grasp of ice and snow, making people pine for last years warm and early spring.  Such is life in Wisconsin.  Spring will eventually arrive with a sweet-smelling southern breeze that carries with it the perfume of hundreds of wildflowers and erase any lingering arctic chill. The robins that have migrated to find Wisconsin still in winter will soon find puddles to play in, potential lovers to serenade and unsuspecting worms to fill their bellies with.  Winter isn’t all gloom and iced windshields and spring isn’t all flowers and beauty though.

While spring signals the rebirth of the forest and its animal inhabitants, it is also the season of mud.  Trails turn from a wondrous frozen ski or snowshoe path to a filthy, muddy slop more fit for a pig than a hiker.  Sure, you can drive with your window cracked open, but the pure beauty of a snowy landscape has been replaced with the wastewater grey of melting snow banks, revealing garbage accumulated over the last few months (in the city at least).  Lawns reveal themselves, giving homeowners a nudge and wink that they’ll shortly need attention.

The beauty of spring

Winter, on the other hand, provides the base for life in Wisconsin.  The snows replenish the lakes and rivers.  The cold gives the trees a chance to rest from the furious growth of summer.  And people get a break from yard work, mosquitos, black flies and ticks (are people really that excited to feel the sting of a mosquito or dig a tick out of their leg?).  Wisconsin wouldn’t be Wisconsin without the winters (do we really want to be more like Illinois?). 

The majesty of winter

A good, cold, snowy winter is also an important part of Wisconsin tourism, bringing snowmobilers and ice fishermen to the Northwoods and elsewhere.  The ski hills are definitely not complaining about the shortcomings of spring. Winter saw Wisconsin host the World Ice Fishing Championships in Wausau, the largest cross country ski race in North America with the American Birkebeiner, the North American Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Championships in Eau Claire, the U.S. Cheese Championships at Lambeau, and another successful spearing season in the best most productive Sturgeon fishery in the world on the Lake Winnebago chain.  And people are eager for winter to end?  It’s easy to whine about lasting cold and snow, but the impact winter imparts on the state is immense.

I am a fan of winter and its passing always brings me a little sadness.  I am not against spring, but it’s worth considering the ugly parts while you cheer the warmth of the sun on a bright March day that begins the melting of 3 months of snow.  I take comfort knowing the snows will fall again in the autumn and return Wisconsin to a more elegant state.  Then again, beach season isn’t too bad; maybe the coming of spring isn’t so terrible.

Wisconsin Winter Waterfall Waltz - Pictures

A dream of mine was realized a few weekends back as my friend Barry and I went on the Wisconsin Winter Waterfall Waltz.  Everyone loves a waterfall in the spring and summer, but what about the winter?  Waterfalls can get lonely so the two of us set out to document the frozen cascades and raise awareness that awesomeness doesn't stop when the snow starts falling.  I'm working on a video and blog post about the Waltz so stay tuned for those, but I'll whet your appetite with the photographic evidence first.

My photos

Barry's photos (there are some spectacular shots in here)

The Constraints of Greatness

I had lunch with a girl the other day (shocking I know) who kept rattling off these grand ideas and adventures she had planned (buying a short bus, installing bunk beds and then traveling around South America for 2 years).  I sat back and thought how unrealistic it would be for her to pull it all off, but then I realized that she had a better outlook than I did.  You can’t achieve big things without dreaming it first (terrible cliché).  Her unbridled zeal and enthusiasm for life was inspiring and something we can all learn from.

I was reminded about a scene from Dead Poets Society where one of the old codger teachers was questioning Robin Williams’s character about his teaching methods that taught kids to think for themselves.  The old codger talking about the students said, “When they realize they're not Rembrandts, Shakespeares or Mozarts, they'll hate you for it.”  Robin Williams replied, “But only in their dreams can man be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be.”  That encapsulates the point.  You don’t have to be Shakespeare for your life to be important.  There is only one Shakespeare and there is only one you.  Don’t let the constraints of greatness handcuff you. 

Everyone has greatness inside of them, but may be unwilling to let it out for fear of not being perfect or disrupting their ”normal” life.  Be your own Shakespeare and dream big.  No one is the best at something right away; it takes many failures and much practice to achieve grand things.  I want to become a published writer, but I’m not going to be accepted with my first article at a big magazine right off the bat.  I have to work my way up through local and regional publications, learning along the way, what works and what doesn’t.  It’s a growing process.  This blog is part of that.  Some posts are a success while others are grasping for something that may not be there (like this one?).

I’m no Shakespeare, Rembrandt or Mozart (although I do have a taste for a little night music from time to time), but that doesn’t mean I should limit my dreams.  Perhaps it’s good for us to tilt at windmills.  Why can’t I go in on a short bus and spend 2 years in South America?  Spanish or Portuguese are not in my dossier but who cares.  They say immersion is the best way to learn.  Greatness is out there for all of us to attain.  How big will you dream?

Best Pics of 2012

Here are my favorite pics of the last year.  I didn't travel as far as I did 2011, but I still managed to have a decent year.  Not all the photos are great, but they remind of a fun moment or weekend.  Enjoy!

A Cold Welcome to 2013

Jan. 1 2013

I awoke from a deep sleep, huddled tight, knees curled up and arms crisscrossed around my torso.  Instantly I felt coolness in the dark cabin air - fire’s out.  Shit.  Sweatpants were quickly thrown on, along with a stocking cap and headlamp.  On the way to the wood stove, I glanced at the clock on the wall, 1 AM, Happy New Year.  Reaching the stove, I found feeble warmth radiating from the blackened cast iron crucible.  Opening the door, a blast of smoke hit my face, reminding me to open the flue first.  With flue opened, I tried the door again.  This time I saw the gnarled chunk of oak that was tossed in 3 hours ago smoldering.  Grabbing the fire poker, I moved the half-burnt hunk around and found a few coals to rebuild the fire with.  Bone-dry kindling was placed on the red coals.  I waited to make sure they caught before adding larger pieces of the driest, most easily burned popple. 

I stepped outside to a world of quiet slumber, lit by a majestic waning moon, casting its brilliance across the snow-covered landscape.  Smoke had begun to billow from the chimney, pushed gently to the south by the north breeze before falling close to the ground and continuing its southward motion.  It was cold.  The thermometer on the spruce tree out front read -12.  Yep.  I hurried back inside to check the fire. 

The popple was soundly ablaze so I added a few pieces of ash from the woodpile next to the stove.  I closed the stove door, sat down on the chair in front of the stove and turned off my headlamp. 

Moonlight streamed through the window, spotlighting the items that happened to find its gaze; the tics and knocks of the wood stove grew louder as it warmed to life.  A yawn escaped my mouth, reminding me to get back to bed, but I knew better than to trust a nascent fire, I had to stay up for a bit to make sure the fire kept roaring.  Many a promising fires have petered out when the flames realized the wood was wet or punky and refused to go any further.  The gaslight was lit and I sat down at the table to write.  Welcome to 2013.

Ruminations on the New Year

As we stand at the doorstep of 2013, we look out at the virgin year, unspoiled and empty in front of us.  We can also look back at all the successes, mistakes, laughter and sadness that filled 2012.  You may not be where you anticipated being as 2012 came to a close, but this is where you are and there’s nowhere to go but forward.  We are who we are from the road we have traveled and experiences we gained. 

2013 is like a farmer’s field, tucked in with a blanket of snow, waiting for spring to come in a few months and uncover the fertile soil waiting underneath, ready to grow whatever the farmer sees fit.  The field may have grown corn last year, but that doesn’t dictate what it will grow this year, perhaps beans, alfalfa, potatoes, hops or even corn again.  The same is true with our lives.  We have the power to cultivate the year we want.  2013 is open to limitless possibilities.  If you like how 2012 went, and want to continue that into the New Year, the path forward is easy because you’ve walked it before, but changing from the status quo is more difficult, it takes more effort. 

Live the year you want, don’t live the life someone else wants you to live.  Our time here is too fleeting to follow someone else’s prescription.  This is not to say a husband should ignore his wife and do whatever he wants, couples lives are intertwined, but make sure your desires and interests are explored and not languishing in dormancy. 

The blank slate of a new year provides an opportunity to do all the things you’ve been meaning to do over the years, but have left undone.  This is the year to try your hand at homebrewing, to buy a new camera (or learn to use the one you have) and take the photos that have escaped you, to take a trip and see sights that have remained unseen, to learn how to bake a pie like grandma did, to bike to work or volunteer more.  This is the promise, and beauty of a new year.

My year is already beginning to fill with excitement.  Northern Wisconsin is blessed with many beautiful waterfalls that I’ve visited, and had a quiet moment at during the summer months, but I’ve always wondered how they looked draped with snow and ice.  So this year, I’m going on a Wisconsin Winter Waterfall Waltz through the north to check out Copper Falls, Potato Falls, Saxon Falls, Morgans Falls and Big Manitou Falls to name a few (If anyone has a favorite waterfall I should visit, let me know). 

A good friend has been harping on me to write more; using the Stephen King advice of writing 1000 words a day.  I’ve failed miserably at this, going weeks without putting any words on a page, so in 2013 I’m going to make an effort to write everyday.  I may not end the year with 365,000 words, but hopefully I’ll have 365 days worth of words.  Following along this line, I want to get an article printed this year in a publication.  I’m not sure which publication or what the article will be about, but at years end, I want to be able to say I’m a published writer (Mammoth Tales not included).

The New Year allows us to take stock of what worked and what didn’t over the last year, enabling us to continually improve our lives and the enjoyment of those lives.  The turning of the calendar gives us a tool to reset our lives and look to the future.  Enjoy 2013 and make it your best, I know I will. 

I’ll end with a quote from Sigurd Olson, “one of the real tragedies in life is to waste time when there is so much to see and learn.”