Photography Weekend

Saying goodbye to Nikolai for the week at his dorm room at Bemidji State University. Time is flying by and soon a college dorm will be in his permanent future and not just a six week stint.
 

By Allan Olson
It was a great weekend to be outside, my only wish is that some of it could’ve been spent fishing. Friday I took the kids to our secret little swimming spot and apparently interrupted someone else’s swimming adventures. The kids enjoyed playing with their dog and we were only there for an hour, which was more than enough to see that the winds had no intentions of dying down as they were crashing into the beach.
That evening I met a friend to take some photos of the evenings strawberry moon –unfortunately the cloud cover took care of the full moon photos but the clouds did provide a little bit of a break to allow me a quick shot of the partially covered moon.
Saturday morning, Nikolai and I were up early to catch the Chippewa Triathlon Race – we spent the day taking photos of the competitors in the various stages of competition. Unfortunately, the race starting point was altered due to the high winds and the fun shots of the portages and the competitors going through the culverts weren’t on the docket for this year. With the race over, a friend and I went to scout out the new race scheduled for Sunday. The turnaround spot was the burned out third river bridge – a location I didn’t know existed. With some help by a Chippewa National Forest employee, I was able to find my way back to it. I drove to within 700 feet of the location and decided that since the spot I was at, I was still able to turnaround at, it was a good stopping point. I put on my sweatshirt and bug spray and headed for a walk – leaving Nikolai and my friend waiting to see if I would make it back from the unknown. It was a cool location, but after some thought decided that the current bridge would be a much better vantage point for taking photos, and I wouldn’t be standing in the woods and tall grass dealing with mosquitos and ticks.
Sunday morning, I was up early again, trying to capture a good sunrise photo, but of course, the clouds and rain were a big deterrent and kept me from getting the photo I wanted. I went back home to grab Nikolai for the canoe race, because I apparently misread the start time and was ultimately four hours to early. So we headed back home once again. After some cleaning, a nap, some food, I was back on the road again for the canoe race. At the Knutson Dam, I was attempting to take some photos of the pelican and Great Blue Heron on the rocks and because I wasn’t following my own rules, I managed to drop my camera on the asphalt path. It still works, but I definitely beat it up and I’m afraid I’m going to once again have to send my lens off for repair and possibly my camera as well. The good news is I still got the shots of the birds and of the canoe race.
Once the canoers had crossed the third river bridge one last time, I headed for home; it was time to take Nikolai to Upward Bound. I didn’t have as hard of time as I thought I would, but I’m certainly going to miss him being around. Thankfully, he will only be gone during the week, so it’s kind of like just being the school year – except he’s staying overnight for the next six weeks. Hopefully, he will learn something, have a lot of fun and meet some new friends in this experience.
That evening, I once again was on the hunt for some photos, this time my photography partner was Abigail. She pretty much commandeered the camera and took a variety of photos of the woods, the sunset and more. We had a fun time and we were gone for just over an hour.
Plans for this week, hopefully some fishing, just maybe the wind and weather will not be a factor and Nikolai and I can spend it in the boat. The other three kids of mine will be heading north to their grandparents for the week, so the following week will be even quieter, it will be a glimpse into the fast approaching future as empty nesters.
Please remember to watch out for the buses that are carrying our most precious cargo. Also, snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit.


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