Last night there were thunderstorms rolling past Grand Portage just to the north. We had the rare treat of being able to watch the lightning without any real concern for getting caught in a downpour of rain.
My crazy cousin and I were out driving around until 2:00 AM watching the storms from different vantage points. Our favorite spot of the night was this location overlooking Teal Lake. I don't even remember how we got on the subject but as we sat in the car watching the lightning we were listening to The Doors on the car stereo. The first song we listened to was "The End", a 12 minute "psychedelic rock epic" according to Rolling Stone magazine. Over the years I've listened to this song countless times but as seems to be happening lately the lyrics at the beginning of the song really struck a chord with me. In the case of "The End", it goes like this:
This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend
The end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes again
It's odd how these songs are popping up in my life these past couple of weeks. After listening to The End by The Doors we listened to another one that has resonated with me recently, Eye of the Storm by Godsmack:
Whistle blow down spirit, you're crawling in the middle
Don't you point your finger at my face
'Cause every bad decision that you made you're living with
And everyone else is to blame, here we go
In the eye of the storm I make my stand
But I'm not waiting for the walls to close in
I just brace myself for the winds to change their ways
In the eye of the storm I'm making my stand
Anyway it was cool to connect with my elder cousin as we sat there and shared this music while watching flashes and bolts of lightning dance across the sky. After a while I got out of the car and set up my camera to try and capture the show. I was able to catch one good blast of lightning on the far side of the lake and somehow it seemed to be the perfect image to go along with the mood and feel of the music we had been listening to.
Yesterday my good friend Roger and I crossed the border into Canada and did some off-trail hiking to this waterfall on the Arrow River. I have been to this waterfall a few times before but it was Roger's first time seeing it. It is one of the most beautiful waterfalls I've photographed.
Not an easy hike to get to it though. The distance is not all that much but the woods and brush are very thick. And yesterday the temperature was in the mid 80's so it was pretty warm. Thankfully there was a strong breeze to keep the heat (and bugs) somewhat at bay. Even though we were there in the middle of the day I used my 6-stop ND filter so I could make some long exposures and smooth out the look of the water. An exposure length of 1 second was all I needed to create a nice silky effect.
Grand Portage State Park, MN
The top of Middle Falls of the Pigeon River glowing in the light of a full moon.
Another spectacular fireworks show in Grand Portage this year! There was fog in the bay which added a unique look to the display (and it helped keep the bugs down).
I've been doing a fair amount of biking this year but I haven't been posting much about it on my blog. Decided to change that this week and post some photos from yesterday's ride. It had rained all morning and the weather was clearing during the ride which meant it was pretty muggy. The horse/deer flies were also pretty horrible. But the route is a favorite and rides really well. As always saw a lot of neat things along the way!
The lesser-traveled roads are my absolute favorite.
Gravel doesn't get any fresher than this!
Cook County sure has some awesome gravel routes! So lucky in that regard...
Labrador Tea
Beautiful sunset last night over Lake Superior in Grand Portage, MN. It had rained most of the day (I had 1 inch of new rainfall in my rain gauge) and as the sun was setting the weather was breaking. It made for some really dramatic clouds and light to finish out the day!
Yesterday after photographing the Pileated nest I also got this photo of one of the adults foraging in the forest beneath the tree that the nest is in. Most of the time he was very difficult to see but for a few moments here and there I was able to get a clear shot of him. I liked this photo and wanted to share it in addition to the photos of the nest.
