Eagles....

The old age of an eagle is better than the youth of a sparrow---proverbs

New Years Eve....

This past weekend, I was in Yankton and decided to head out to Paddlewheel Point to take a few pictures. This is an area just south of the Yankton Chamber of Commerce along the Missouri River

and just off the Auld-Brokow Trail. 

Not only did I have a great sunrise to watch, I also had bald eagles flying over my head. At one time there were four of them in the sky above me.  Of course, I was all set up for landscape and macro work, and was unable to take a good picture of the majestic birds. Sometimes it is best to step away from the camera and try to take it all in.  There were geese, ducks and hunters calling in the game birds from the island to take their best shot, but with different equipment than mine! The sun peeked through the clouds offering a nice amber glow to the Meridian Bridge.  The river was nice and still, offering some great reflections. While I stood looking at the calm river, I did a little reflecting myself. Could this really be the same river that caused a lot of destruction this past summer? In fact most of the pictures below were taking in areas where water would have been numerous feet over my head.  She is a powerful old girl, the river.  Not only in shear strength, but it seems that if you grow up around a body of water like this, it keeps drawing you back to her.

I love my hometown of Yankton, South Dakota!

Mother Nature didn't disappoint me with her beauty on the last day of 2011.

 

Out and about at the farm.........

Meridian Bridge

The Meridian Bridge in Yankton, South Dakota was built in 1924.  This double decker, vertical lift bridge was initially a toll bridge.  Trains were to run on the lower deck and vehicles on the upper deck.  For some reason the trains never did travel on the lower deck. With the bridge being only 33 feet wide the lower deck was converted to the traffic heading south bound to Nebraska and the upper deck would serve as the north bound route to South Dakota on Highway 81.  In 1953 the bridge became a non toll bridge allowing free passage to it's travelers and in 1993 the Meridian Bridge was added to the National Registry of Historical Places.   In 2008 the Meridian Bridge was replaced with the Discovery Bridge built directly to the west.  Presently the Meridian Bridge has been converted to a pedestrian bridge for all to enjoy.  It will eventually link a series of multi-use trails along the Missouri River corridor.

Personally, I love this bridge. It has been an icon of the city of Yankton since it was built.  I have traveled over this bridge hundreds of times. It wasn't until a couple weekends ago, when I walked across the bridge for the first time, that I realized how truly grand this structure really is.   The overall engineering that went into building a structure like this just amazes me.  The nuts, bolts, welds, rivets were all done by skilled laborers with no modern power tools. If that isn't enough just think of working high above the Missouri River!

My hats off to all  the people and governing bodies that built this structure.  Thank you also to the people that helped save and continue to take care of this prairie icon.

Icicles

Icicles

Tiny droplets of water

stream down a cold blade of grass,

the stream slows as it gets cooler,

freezing the droplet into a milky white

fragile glass of nature.

The Holiday Season Has Begun!

This past Friday night was our local Parade of Lights.  It was the 20th anniversary and the city shot off a few fireworks to celebrate. Of course, I love taking pictures of fireworks so much that I didn't get much of the parade!  We start off this set of pictures with Joseph, our favorite reindeer....

Happy Thanksgiving

They sat carefree, relaxed and enjoying the

sunrise this Thanksgiving morning. 

Do they know it is Thanksgiving and are really reflecting

on what they are thankful for, or is it just another day?

To some people, it is just another day and yet to

others, it is all about the gathering of friends and family

and yet to others, there is work to be done taking care of others.

This Thanksgiving, take a look around and be

thankful for what you have and remember to say it

along the way to the people that mean the most in your life.

Happy Thanksgiving