Photo calendar, 2024
And now for the Fourth Annual Photo Calendar! This year saw another decline in the volume of pictures taken, but I still managed to get out with my camera once or twice a month. As a matter of fact, knowing I'd be putting together a calendar is often what got me outside to make sure I had enough.
One of these years I'll be lazy enough to do a "B-sides and rarities" edition where I make a calendar from past years' pics that didn't make the cut, but it is not this day.
2023 at Home
We stayed pretty close to home over the course of 2023. Early on, I wondered if my entire calendar would be made up of pictures taken along the walking trail behind Northwood Technical College. I was also this close to calling it "2023 in Barron County", but there are two photos that came from neighboring counties.
January
Taken on January 11th behind the college.
February
Taken on February 8th after a particularly heavy snowfall that made for some very trenchlike trail conditions. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was getting ready to defend Echo Base.
March
Taken on March 24th, this one is reminiscent of November on the 2022 calendar.
April
Taken on April 18th while walking around campus.
May
Oh, look: another one from the walking trail. This one was taken on May 16th, our anniversary, during an extended period of severe haze brought on by wildfires in Canada.
June
Taken the morning of June 14th upon my arrival at the college. A couple sandhill cranes were walking around, and I had to snap some shots even though it meant being late to work.
This was shot with the venerable Minolta MD 70-210mm f/4 and may be my favorite picture taken in 2023.
July
Taken on July 8th from the UWEC Footbridge while taking a friend on a tour of Sarah's alma mater, UW-Eau Claire.
August
Taken on August 6th after having lunch with our dear friend Sara at Stout's Island Lodge.
September
Taken on September 13th on the UW-Eau Claire - Barron County campus that neighbors Northwood Tech.
October
On October 20th, after taking Ginny to a routine appointment at the Chetek Veterinary Clinic's new location in Cameron, I decided to take an unexplored scenic route home. I'm sure glad I did! I came across what I now know is called the Cameron Flowage on a particularly gorgeous fall day. I took a bunch of pictures.
November
Sarah was very excited to put up her own Little Free Library (Charter #166635) this past summer. This picture of it was taken on November 26th, one of the few snowy days we've had so far this winter.
December
And we come full circle. It's sometimes a challenge to get a December picture early enough to be able to have the calendars made and shipped before the end of the year, and after the previous snow had melted I wasn't sure what I'd get. Thankfully, it snowed again and I got this during a walk behind the college on December 5th.
Happy New Year!
"Therefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well pleasing to him."
2 Corinthians 5:9, WEB
Tags: ginny, meet-the-mayhaks, new-year, photography