The winter landscape can be messy, especially in forested areas hit hard by the ice storms of recent years, but it can also be more interesting with the foliage no longer hiding the contents of the forest from view.

Probably the most annoying thing about winter is scraping frost off my windshield in the morning. I absolutely hate that!

I’ve done tons of 16×24 prints, and quite a few 20×30 prints. But the one pictured is my first 30×40. I would not have guessed this image to be my first to print so large, mainly because no one has ever bought this image. In fact, I’ve never taken this image to a show and it’s not even in my catalog. But when I showed it to a customer as an alternate waterfall photo it turned out to be the one she wanted. Now that I see it printed, it does look quite good!

For those who are curious, the waterfall in the photo is Natural Falls in NE Oklahoma, from a day trip we took a couple years ago. Its right off highway 412 near the Arkansas state line. It was taken with my beloved 35mm f/1.4 prime. Somehow I was able to handhold it steady enough to get some streaks in the waterfall without severely blurring the image.

I was actually familiar with the dog from this property. It routinely chased and tried to bite me when I would ride past on my bike…so I’m not surprised it was hit by a car. It’s sad to lose a pet, I’ve lost several in my life, but I do think it’s kind of silly to place blame on anyone other than yourself when you have a dog that chases cars and bikes and you let it run loose next to a busy road. Right after I took this photo I almost hit 2 other dogs. Apparently loose dogs run rampant along this stretch of road.

When the highway department mowed down my overgrown landscaping perhaps I should have resorted to the redneck sign method to express my displeasure with the unknown offender. Of course my frustration was really at myself that I allowed my landscaping to become so overgrown that it obscured the fact that it was landscaping…setting it up to be mowed down. But people tend to be more attached to pets than landscaping.

One thing I do know is that if I did make a redneck sign and I wanted people to read it…I sure wouldn’t choose yellow text on a white background.

So far I have completed 142 consecutive sketches, although occasionally I do skip a day and do two the next. Doing the daily sketch journal has given me a reason to try various mediums, such as colored pencils, soft pastels, oil pastels, charcoal, pencil, pen, etc as well as attempt to refine various techniques. Not surprisingly the most difficult aspect of this project has been thinking of what to sketch, not the actual sketch itself.

Some days my sketches make me realize that I may have more desire than actual artistic talent. Take for example this cat-baboon from today.

Other days I do something that turns out fairly decent.

Regardless of whether the sketches turn out good or bad, I still find enjoyment in the process and the fact that for once in my life I am consuming my art supplies at a fairly rapid pace.

We did the route I loosely refer to as “Upper Center Creek”, from Fir Road back to my house. I like this route because it was the very first route I did in a kayak. It’s about 5 miles and has some nice rapids and passes the old lakeside park. The only part I tend not to like is the Dyno factory, and the pipes of water (?) that drain directly into the creek…which I find fairly disturbing. Each year the river changes a little bit because of floods – sometimes clearing out debris, sometimes creating new obstacles. This year there seemed to be a lot more obstacles than in previous years, but it was fun nonetheless.

We stopped to release a sea turtle that was snagged on someones trot line, so if nothing else we accomplished a good deed.

As lame as it may sound, the fact that I am at a point where I need more cards it exciting to me. I feel like this trivial process makes this particular hobby just a little more legit than previous ventures. Plus, not only am I ordering more, but my first order was twice the quantity of all the abandoned projects of the past.

Joplin

1. Hackett Hot Wings
2. Magic Noodle
3. Pizza by Stout
4. Bella Peppers
5. Red Onion

Really, the only one that surprised me was Magic Noodle. Not because it isn’t great (it is!) but because I can’t recall it ever being even slightly crowded. The other four are obvious favorites of just about everyone I know. It seems like half the people I know would list “Red Onion” as their favorite Joplin eatery. In fact Steph and I are going there tonight!

Another of my favorites that didn’t make the top 5, but was fairly high on the list was Andy + Bridgette’s favorite – UnderCliff. Ichiban Sushi was just shy of the top 5 as well. I was surprised that Big R’s BBQ wasn’t anywhere on the list. That place is great and it’s always packed!

What I found interesting, though not hugely surprising was that one of my long time favorites, Club 609 was way down the list, 2 slots below the Dairy Queen / Orange Julius booth at the mall. The biggest common complaint was that the prices have gone up so much in recent years that they far exceeded the food, service and overall experience. Which I would probably have to agree with.

Overall the list was just a reminder that we have a lot of really great dining options in Joplin.

The Tour de Lakes was different than other rides I have done in that it was almost entirely through developed areas. But traffic really wasn’t a problem and the volunteers and LSPD did a nice job of watching out for the bikers. Probably the only thing I didn’t particularly care for was the rest stops, or lack of – only 1 on the 32 mi and 4 for the 65 mile route. Things I liked about this ride were the areas around the lakes, the ice cream at the finish line, and the goodie bags (complete with cool t-shirt, nice biking socks, water bottle, headband, and a few other things). It was by far the best goodie bag I’ve ever received at a cycling event.

This was Ian and Cara’s first official ride event and I think they both enjoyed it. While it was not my first ride, it was my first ride on my new road bike, and not to my surprise it worked great! We only rode the 32mi route, so it served as a nice warm-up for some of the other upcoming rides, such as Tornado Alley, Maple Leaf, and whatever else I may end up riding.

I rode from my house up Old 66 and got on the trail where it crosses the road just before Steph’s parent’s house. I wasn’t sure which direction to go, so I chose east into Carthage. The gravel on the 2 mile section from Carthage is extremely coarse, more like driveway gravel than something suitable for a bike trail. It was rideable…but barely. I heard that there was a mis-communication when the gravel was ordered. The trail going west toward Oronogo is the correct small gravel normally found on bike trails.

It turned out to be a bit shorter than I expected, my entire trip was only 11.5 miles. Most of the trail crosses through farm land, so I wouldn’t describe it as terribly scenic, but nearing Carthage there is a nice canopy of trees shading the trail. Also this section appears to receive heavier use, so it was a bit more worn and the rough driveway gravel was less annoying.

When complete, the Ruby Jack trail will ultimately run from Carthage to the KS state line. Initially it was planned as a bi-state trail all the way to Columbus, KS. However, Cherokee County passed an ordinance in response to those plans that effectively prohibits the rail-trail from entering Kansas. So until the good people of Cherokee County overcome their fear of bikers and joggers, the trail will stop at the state line.

Rough gravel aside, I am really excited about this trail. I think it’s a great asset to the area and another excellent component of the ever expanding trail system in the Joplin area.