PSA: Watch for the deer ..

I took this photo in Logan County, just north and east of Bellefontaine, Ohio. I was actually in my car and had enough time to take the picture while we had this little face off.

It was this time of year when the deer are most active. When you see one, there is likely more! In this case, I saw two, then a little later several more. Due to changing food supplies, the rut,  and other factors, deer are extremely active in October and November ... drive safely! 

~ Rick  

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Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

©2017 Rick Cartwright

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Quoting Bob Dylan: 

Come gather ‘round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grow
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll stink like a stone.
For the times they are a-changin’.

Perhaps the words need to be modified: ‘soon, you will be chilled to the bone’, or ‘you’ll be knee deep in snow’.⛄️⛄️

Seasonal change is beautiful: Colors, temperature, it’s all part of natures yearly rotation as we travel around the sun. It sure makes life interesting. Yes, the times they are a-changin'. Enjoy!

~ Rick

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Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab. 

©2017 Rick Cartwright

Natures is always starting over ...

Heterobasidion annosum: a basidiomycete fungus in the family Bondarzewiaceae .. maybe.  

Stay with me for a minute: This looks cool, but is this a tree killer? This almost sounds like it’s from a science fiction, but it’s very real, and playing out right now. (from gardeningguides.com)

Tree fungus spreads just like any spore-producing mushroom. The fruiting body or exterior will ripen and release spores. The spores are carried on wind or by animal movement to a hospitable environment where they begin to produce a web of mycelium and begin the fruiting process again. Tree fungus spores land on wounds in tree bark. They begin to feed on the damaged tissue as they send out mycelium to grow. Some send threads of mycelium into the heartwood of a tree to eat that dead wood. Rotted wood drops to the ground and nourishes tree roots.

Nature has a way of clearing out the old and making room for new, healthy trees. I am glad I’m not a tree. 

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Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab. 

This old barn

This old barn is located on Statler Road, just east of Piqua. It needs some attention, and not just from my camera. Try this: close your eyes and image a time in the past when this barn was an important part of life. It would have been especially busy at this time of year. In my mind’s eye, I can see a busy family. Kids playing in the yard while everyone is busy preparing for winter.  

Today so much of what we called ‘farming’ has been commercialized. When you drive around here, you see barns like this often. They need repairs that are not justifiable, leaving the structure unsafe. In some way, still beautiful, holding the dreams of a past generation. 

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Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.

The harvest .. a time of renewal

October 2017: The harvest

The harvest is underway, and soon the fields will be bare. This is a time or renewal, enabling the next crop to be planted, grow and ultimately prepared for another harvest.  

I am reminded of a conversation I had with a doctor a couple years ago. Let’s back up: I don’t like to sleep. It always seemed like a waste of time. I have always been a ‘busy’ person, and sleep seemed to interfere with my ability to get things done. For years, I would sleep between 5 and 6 hours a night, and if I could keep it to 5 I was proud ... it felt like I was ‘getting things done’. 

In July of 2015 I had some health issues. My blood pressure was extremely elevated, and frankly, I am fortunate to have survived.  After much testing, and other interventions, the doctors had a frank conversation with me about my sleeping habits. He told me that I needed to get more sleep, or face the grime realities of it’s impact on my health. He suggested I need 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. That was difficult for me to accept, but the importance of sleep a reality I have accepted.   

I get 8 hours most nights now. I have to admit, it has helped. I still stress about not getting everything done in a day. Perhaps I get more done because I have better focus.

Like Mother Earth, we need time to renew. Do yourself a favor: sleep more. 

 ~ Rick

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Prints are available for many of the photos on this site on canvas, metal or glass. They are stunning and you can purchase them for a wall at home. Click the link or the ‘prints and such’ tab.