By Joann M. Ringelstetter
On February 2, a snowstorm was predicted for much of Wisconsin, starting by around 9:00 am in the Madison area. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground when I awoke, but the next several hours turned out to be pretty uneventful. By late morning, it began to snow heavily. As I watched, the snowflakes grew bigger and bigger and I saw two deer outside the living room window. They were looking for any birdseed that had fallen from the birdfeeder.
Then I noticed two more deer in the woods. By then the snow was coming down so heavily, I didn’t know if I would be able to capture any photos of them. As I focused my camera lens on the two deer in the woods, they began to nuzzle each other.
When the two deer near the house discovered that there wasn’t much food to be had below the birdfeeder, they headed up the hill into the woods to join the other two. An hour later, when I thought these deer were long gone, I saw them resting in the snow not far from where they were standing when I photographed them.
In addition to the deer, the squirrels were very active during the snowstorm. One was seeking shelter from the snow that was now being blown by the wind.
Another was frantically digging under piles of snow and occasionally popping up with a seed in its paws.
And then there was the female pileated woodpecker that comes on a regular basis to the peanut feeder hanging right next to the window.
Her flaming-red crest looked even more brilliant with the white snow behind it. And I was feeling extremely blessed to have such wonderful wildlife and such a beautiful snowfall to watch and to capture with my camera.
Although Groundhog Day was wrapped in a wintry snowstorm, both Wisconsin’s famous groundhog, Jimmy, and Pennsylvania’s, Punxsutawney Phil, predicted an early spring. Meanwhile, Ruth and I are planning our spring escape to the backroads of Ohio.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animals. Show all posts
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Laughing with the Llamas
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
Joann and I enjoy so many things about driving on the back roads of Wisconsin and other great places in this country. We laugh about a lot of things – mostly our silly jokes, puns, and memories, and our incessant teasing of each other.
Sometimes we’re lucky enough to come across some animals out in the pasture, and some of the cutest and funniest we come across are the llamas. Often what we find is a small farm with just a few llamas and sometimes there is only one llama.
Or two.
Then one night on the way home from a day of photographing, we came across a pasture full of llamas. We had never seen so many llamas, and stopped for a while to try and get some pictures and just to watch as they moved about. Joann watched through her camera lens, and I watched with my binoculars.
Since that first night of finding the llamas, we have returned several times. The next time we drove by specifically to see the llamas, the pasture appeared empty, and we thought they had sold all of the llamas or the farm had changed hands.
Then just last month at the end of our weekend trip to Iowa, we came past the same pasture again. As we passed the main part of the pasture where the llamas had been on our first stop, it was again empty. But as we drove further along the road, we found that there were several groups of llamas up close to the fence. We were tired, and it was getting late, but there were llamas!
Joann got out and grabbed her camera. She cautiously crossed the road, and the llamas stayed where they were, just checking her out. She inched closer and closer, stopping every now and then to take a couple of photos in case they bolted. Finally, she was right at the fence.
There was a little white llama that was very curious, but also very cautious. It wanted to see what was going on, but it wasn’t brave enough to come to the front to be the center of attention.
It just kept popping up in different spots to watch Joann.
There was also one with a spotted face and body, and a shear cut that made it look like a clown. That one was so cautious that it would never stand still long enough for Joann to get a picture.
This group of llamas is very well taken care of. They are sheared in different manners leaving them all very different looking. I wonder if the owners have them sheared based on their personalities.
As the llamas moved about, sometimes they would position themselves so they ended up looking like a pushmi-pullyu (pronounced “push-me—pull-you”), the mythical creature from the 1967 Dr. Dolittle movie. This animal had a llama head and front feet on each end, and each end wanted to lead.
The Llama
Ogden Nash
The one-L lama,
He's a priest.
The two-L llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-L lllama.
Take the backroads when you can and watch the pastures for a pushmi-pullyu!
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Joann and I enjoy so many things about driving on the back roads of Wisconsin and other great places in this country. We laugh about a lot of things – mostly our silly jokes, puns, and memories, and our incessant teasing of each other.
Sometimes we’re lucky enough to come across some animals out in the pasture, and some of the cutest and funniest we come across are the llamas. Often what we find is a small farm with just a few llamas and sometimes there is only one llama.
Or two.
Then one night on the way home from a day of photographing, we came across a pasture full of llamas. We had never seen so many llamas, and stopped for a while to try and get some pictures and just to watch as they moved about. Joann watched through her camera lens, and I watched with my binoculars.
Since that first night of finding the llamas, we have returned several times. The next time we drove by specifically to see the llamas, the pasture appeared empty, and we thought they had sold all of the llamas or the farm had changed hands.
Then just last month at the end of our weekend trip to Iowa, we came past the same pasture again. As we passed the main part of the pasture where the llamas had been on our first stop, it was again empty. But as we drove further along the road, we found that there were several groups of llamas up close to the fence. We were tired, and it was getting late, but there were llamas!
Joann got out and grabbed her camera. She cautiously crossed the road, and the llamas stayed where they were, just checking her out. She inched closer and closer, stopping every now and then to take a couple of photos in case they bolted. Finally, she was right at the fence.
There was a little white llama that was very curious, but also very cautious. It wanted to see what was going on, but it wasn’t brave enough to come to the front to be the center of attention.
It just kept popping up in different spots to watch Joann.
There was also one with a spotted face and body, and a shear cut that made it look like a clown. That one was so cautious that it would never stand still long enough for Joann to get a picture.
This group of llamas is very well taken care of. They are sheared in different manners leaving them all very different looking. I wonder if the owners have them sheared based on their personalities.
As the llamas moved about, sometimes they would position themselves so they ended up looking like a pushmi-pullyu (pronounced “push-me—pull-you”), the mythical creature from the 1967 Dr. Dolittle movie. This animal had a llama head and front feet on each end, and each end wanted to lead.
The Llama
Ogden Nash
The one-L lama,
He's a priest.
The two-L llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-L lllama.
Take the backroads when you can and watch the pastures for a pushmi-pullyu!
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Shunpiking with Sheila
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
About six months into our labor of love – this backroads blog and our photo website, we received one of our most gratifying comments. It was simply signed “Sheila K” and it said “Wonderful, amazing pictures and stories. Traveling the countryside with a sister and enjoying the beauty around you is a blessing. I look forward to Monday for only this reason - your blog. You are both very gifted ladies.”
Joann and I eagerly read any comments we receive, and often question each other about the author of comments. Did either of us know a Sheila that would have left such a nice comment? We couldn’t think of anyone we knew.
Several months later, Joann called our sister Linda about something unrelated, and the subject of the blog came up. Joann told her about the nicest comment we had received from someone named Sheila K. Linda said, “That’s my friend Sheila from work.” As the conversation progressed, Linda said that Sheila would like to go shunpiking with us, and that she would like to come along, too.
Finally, the following September, we made a plan for a Sunday morning. Joann told Linda that we were pulling out at 5 AM, so they had to be at Joann’s house or miss the “bus”. They both arrived on time and we left at the appointed hour.
At close to dawn, we were nearing our first stop when Sheila said, “We’re almost to LaValle; you should check out the old mill there sometime.” We laughed as we told her that this was to be our first stop. We have been there several times, but locations are different depending on the season, time of day, and weather.
After the mill, we started our normal meandering along backroads. We usually go out with at least a half-baked plan. Sometimes it only includes our first stop and the general direction we will take after that. This was one of those days.
Shortly after sunrise, we could tell that it was going to be a sunny day. We knew it wouldn’t make for the best pictures, but you have to take the day you get, so we decided to make the best of it. Along one of the backroads, we found a fence that had a boot on every post. We’ve seen this several times in different states and it always makes us laugh. Where do they get all of these styles of boots from, and what makes them want to do this?
When we were all hungry for breakfast, we found ourselves near the Juneau County Fairgrounds. We had our muffins near an old schoolhouse on the grounds. The sun was already up and there were butterflies visiting a stand of woodland sunflowers next to the car.
In a small town where we stopped for a coffee refill, we came across an old phone booth. Joann and I had been to the town before, but somehow, we had not noticed the old phone booth. If it wasn’t for a coffee stop, we might have missed it again. Linda had to try out the phone booth, and Joann snapped several pictures. She told Linda she could show her kids since they have probably never seen an old fashioned phone booth.
At one stop, we found a llama and several donkeys in a field. The llama was very protective of the donkeys and we enjoyed their antics. The donkeys were curious about us, but the llama didn’t want them getting too close.
In another small town we stopped to check out an old creamery. We found the creamery, but the lighting wasn’t very good, so we made a note to return and continued on. As we were trying to leave town, we found that the planters along the street were antique items. We loved the rusty old wringer washing machine planted with pansies and vines.
During the remainder of the day, we visited more farm scenes and old buildings. In one old building in Vernon County, as Joann was taking her photographs, Linda and Sheila couldn’t resist peering in the windows of the office to see what they could see inside.
It was one of our normal long days of photographing and Linda and Sheila said they were exhausted when we got back to Joann’s house.
Now that the weather is nice, meet up with some friends and hit the backroads. There are a lot of cool things to see.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
About six months into our labor of love – this backroads blog and our photo website, we received one of our most gratifying comments. It was simply signed “Sheila K” and it said “Wonderful, amazing pictures and stories. Traveling the countryside with a sister and enjoying the beauty around you is a blessing. I look forward to Monday for only this reason - your blog. You are both very gifted ladies.”
Joann and I eagerly read any comments we receive, and often question each other about the author of comments. Did either of us know a Sheila that would have left such a nice comment? We couldn’t think of anyone we knew.
Several months later, Joann called our sister Linda about something unrelated, and the subject of the blog came up. Joann told her about the nicest comment we had received from someone named Sheila K. Linda said, “That’s my friend Sheila from work.” As the conversation progressed, Linda said that Sheila would like to go shunpiking with us, and that she would like to come along, too.
Finally, the following September, we made a plan for a Sunday morning. Joann told Linda that we were pulling out at 5 AM, so they had to be at Joann’s house or miss the “bus”. They both arrived on time and we left at the appointed hour.
At close to dawn, we were nearing our first stop when Sheila said, “We’re almost to LaValle; you should check out the old mill there sometime.” We laughed as we told her that this was to be our first stop. We have been there several times, but locations are different depending on the season, time of day, and weather.
After the mill, we started our normal meandering along backroads. We usually go out with at least a half-baked plan. Sometimes it only includes our first stop and the general direction we will take after that. This was one of those days.
Shortly after sunrise, we could tell that it was going to be a sunny day. We knew it wouldn’t make for the best pictures, but you have to take the day you get, so we decided to make the best of it. Along one of the backroads, we found a fence that had a boot on every post. We’ve seen this several times in different states and it always makes us laugh. Where do they get all of these styles of boots from, and what makes them want to do this?
When we were all hungry for breakfast, we found ourselves near the Juneau County Fairgrounds. We had our muffins near an old schoolhouse on the grounds. The sun was already up and there were butterflies visiting a stand of woodland sunflowers next to the car.
In a small town where we stopped for a coffee refill, we came across an old phone booth. Joann and I had been to the town before, but somehow, we had not noticed the old phone booth. If it wasn’t for a coffee stop, we might have missed it again. Linda had to try out the phone booth, and Joann snapped several pictures. She told Linda she could show her kids since they have probably never seen an old fashioned phone booth.
At one stop, we found a llama and several donkeys in a field. The llama was very protective of the donkeys and we enjoyed their antics. The donkeys were curious about us, but the llama didn’t want them getting too close.
In another small town we stopped to check out an old creamery. We found the creamery, but the lighting wasn’t very good, so we made a note to return and continued on. As we were trying to leave town, we found that the planters along the street were antique items. We loved the rusty old wringer washing machine planted with pansies and vines.
During the remainder of the day, we visited more farm scenes and old buildings. In one old building in Vernon County, as Joann was taking her photographs, Linda and Sheila couldn’t resist peering in the windows of the office to see what they could see inside.
It was one of our normal long days of photographing and Linda and Sheila said they were exhausted when we got back to Joann’s house.
Now that the weather is nice, meet up with some friends and hit the backroads. There are a lot of cool things to see.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
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