Fish Like a GIRL

Groundhog Day! It always reminds me of the movie with Bill Murray. Lately the weather has been reminiscent of that as well. Still too warm. Still not enough snow. Ice conditions have gone from bad to good to back the other way again (so at least that has changed, I suppose). Pond hockey in Eagle River has been canceled and snowmobiling has yet to even begin. 

So what is a person to do?

Photos of trees holding snow, even if it was only a brief moment in time, make for an interesting background for the laptop.
(Photo by Beckie Gaskill/Lakeland Times)

As for me, I have been somewhat busy planning for spring. Between gardening and fishing, there is plenty to look forward to. Field season for citizen science projects is just around the corner and soon we will be getting after invasive species in the water and on land. So perhaps it is a good thing we have some downtime for a little while. If we are honest, there are still plenty of things to do in the Northwoods, even with a lack of snow. It is quite easy to sit in the house like a spoiled kid and cry, “I’m bored!” But there is still fun to be had. A quick look at a chamber website will show events at area libraries, live music, wine and beer tastings and even some events coming up at the Campanile Center in the not too distant future. The North Lakeland Discovery Center always has different programming and is a fun place just to stop by and visit. 

Rhinelander is home to the ArtStart Gallery with exhibitions on their calendar throughout the winter. Or why not take a walk through the indoor farmers’ market at the YMCA? 

Speaking of walking, there are plenty of hiking trails ready and waiting as well. Snowshoeing and skiing trails may not be what we would expect for the beginning of February, but with some nice waterproof boots and a few layers of clothing, the warmer temperatures make for a great hiking experience.

Experimenting with depth of field in a photo, then using a bit of editing later, can make for a cool photo, too.
(Photo by Beckie Gaskill/Lakeland Times)

What ever happened to dinner and a movie? That’s something I can honestly say we have not done in just about forever. But it makes for a great evening. Make it a date night or bring the whole family. There are a lot of great places to eat all across the Northwoods that would love to see some hungry people walk through their doors, especially given the circumstances of the lack of winter weather. Even heading to a hotel for the weekend, to swim in the pool and just be somewhere other than home can pass some time and at least give the feeling of being on vacation.

Drastic times call for drastic measures, as the saying goes. I say this in jest, of course, but it is true. There are always things to do, even if the weather is not what we would like it to be. Even grabbing a camera to get outside and find some cool things to photograph is fun. It is something I have really enjoyed for the last decade or so. I think that is especially true when things are not quite what they should be. It is always amazing the things we can see when we really pay attention to the world around us. I am always surprised by at least one “really cool” photo that comes out of what I may think is nothing on each trip out with my camera. 

Of course, I have gotten quite a few tips over the years from The Lakeland Times editor Dean Hall. I am sure most readers are  aware of the amazing work he does with a camera. 

While I would not purport to be anywhere near his caliber of a photographer, I still find it fun. As I write this column there is a bit of freezing fog and drizzle this gloomy morning. But rather than look at it as a gloomy morning, I was outside finding cool frost patterns on buildings and checking out the twinkle of the frost on the trees. It quickly became a postcard-perfect morning.

Not every trip brings photographs that are worthy of a gallery print or anything of that nature. Sometimes I simply take photos of — the ground, a pine cone, a puddle — anything that might make for a cool looking desktop background on my laptop. Then I can change out backgrounds all the time and never get bored looking at the same old, same old on my computer day after day.

On occasion, though, I do come up with some photos that are worthy of a little more attention than just sliding them into a folder on my computer or posting them to social media. Sometimes it takes a little editing, but that can be just as fun as taking the photographs is itself. 

There are so many companies out there today that have great options for photographs a person wants to display. Gone are the days of — should I get this in a 4X6 , or and 8X10? — and grabbing a hopefully not too boring frame from a big box store. Now I can get my photos printed on metal or glass or a variety of different things. I have a photo collage on metal hanging in my dining room, and it gives the photos a whole different feel than the gallery prints I have in the bedroom. Experimenting with photo frames used to be fun, but now we get to experiment with the media on which we have photographs printed. Because the orders are done through a website to these various companies, and there is great photo editing that can be done right on a smartphone now, that can even eliminate the need for a camera at all. Of course a good quality camera gives the photographer a much greater level of control over the original photos, more editing can be done, and a hundred other reasons Hall might give us for wanting to use a camera over a cellphone, but cellphone technology has obviously come a long way. That said, taking photos, editing them and ordering prints can all be done on a cellphone with good results.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].