Slightly Off the Mark: outdoors

Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts

Emily's Funky Clouds

First a commercial, because coming up in a few days is the Albion Fire Department block party, and I'd hate anyone to miss it. I wrote all about it here:

https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-fire-department-block-party-and-block.html

(Although I just learned there's not going to be a "touch the truck" opportunity for the kids there, after all.)

Now on to the show, and in this case the show features mostly photos not by me, but by my wife Emily. She was working at the Pokagon State Park Saddle Barn, on a morning when storms were predicted--in Michigan. Pokagon is close to, but not in, Michigan.

From further south, I was pointing my camera north and taking photos like this:

Those storms, I thought, were in Michigan.

Emily, from her position at a place where no rain was forecast, got a slightly more interesting photo:

Not a funnel cloud, but you can be forgiven for thinking it is. If I have my directions right, she was also facing north. That's the Saddle Barn in the foreground. It could have been a roll cloud, but I've only seen a couple of those, and they're generally not connected to other cloud systems.

Personally, I think some of these photos would make a great cover for a novel; maybe a Storm Chaser sequel, or some kind of thriller.

Michigan had been having severe storms all week, including some tornado touchdowns. Indiana recently had the same activity, and we wouldn't wish it on anyone. As for Emily, I did an extra load of laundry last week because she came home soaked all the way through. Anyone who works outdoors has probably had that experience.

You don’t have to look to the sky to find us and our books:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/search?attributes.contributorId=13727646

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: Unless you’re on a boat and get motion sickness, reading is weather resistant.

These Photos Are For Turkeys

It's been an incredible month--incredible sometimes meaning incredibly bad--so this is just a flyby photo post; I hope it won't be too much of a turkey.

The only time I ever saw turkeys as a kid was at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. That's because over-hunting and deforestation wiped them out in Indiana. (For which I plead innocent: Despite my name, I've never hunted. I have cut down a few trees, but never mind.)

But they're back!

I'm sure most of us consider that a good thing, but not necessarily.

You see, despite the famous WKRP In Cincinnati episode, it turns out turkeys can fly. Wild turkeys can, anyway, for up to a hundred yards at 55 miles an hour. I once saw a car come within a few feet of hitting a turkey flying across the road at windshield level, which would definitely have made a mark. I don't think that driver would have been happy with his catch.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources brought turkeys back, and they arrived in northern Indiana during the 80s and 90s. These days you can find rafters of turkeys in all 92 Indiana counties. (That's the official name for a flock of turkeys. No, I don't know why.)

I took all of these photos in northern Indiana. Most, like the one above, came from Pokagon State Park or the area of Chain O' Lakes State Park. The near-collision I witnessed was about halfway between Kendallville and Avilla in Noble County.

The one above I tried to sharpen, but just made it look worse, and then I couldn't locate the original ... so I left the rest alone. (I mean I tried to sharpen the photo, not the meat carver.)

I also took most of them from near a road, or even from the car. As if deer weren't a danger enough! But I can tell you from experience that if you're on a trail and hear a turkey crashing through the underbrush, it sounds like you're on the wrong end of a Jurassic Park movie. My wife tells me armadillos are just as loud in the woods, and they're expanding in Indiana, too. At least they can't fly. Can they?

There are now some 125,000 wild turkeys in Indiana. But the Hoosier state is also a top producer of domestic turkeys--some 20 million turkeys are produced for consumption annually, just in this state. I hope the wild ones aren't planning a jailbreak--but I'll keep an eye on ham production, just in case.

Having all of our books could be a feather in your cap.

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: Benjamin Franklin thought the turkey should be our national bird, but he also had a great library.

Chain O' Lakes in Winter

I take a lot of pictures--something that happens to already photo happy people who get access to a digital camera (or phone) and lots of storage. So, since some unidentified experts say we writer types should post twice a week, I thought it would be easy to do a photo post around mid-week.

I didn't take into account the fact that I'm of the generation with zero experience in transferring photos from, say, a camera to a laptop. It's not at all uncommon for writers to be clueless about things not writing related, but it's not like we want to admit it. So, I started with some photos I took when Emily and I walked along Sand Lake at Chain O' Lakes State Park.

It was, oh, about four thaw/freeze cycles ago. The temperature got above 60, which I know because neither of us go outside voluntarily if it's below that. Was it windy? Well, if you haven't been paying attention, we haven't had a day so far this year when it wasn't windy.

With that and a blue sky, the lake ice was getting a little, well ... weird. Strange holes and cracks were showing up everywhere, and in some places water was running in streams across the tops of the ice.

A branch was on the ice, close enough to a crack that I wondered if they weren't connected. Maybe some kids had thrown the branch out there, and also made the hole not far away. What's more fun than throwing stuff into a lake? Or maybe it was Mother Nature, who's been very moody this winter.

In any case, it was an attractive target for good photographers, and also for me.

It's nice getting out to a state park during the off season, when you can generally get some alone time and appreciate the beauty. And yes, despite what I say, there is a beauty to winter. Just the same, it's always nice to see a lot of people in warm weather. Not long now--I hope.