Changing Direction…

The nice thing about being semi-retired is that we can change our direction when ever we want. Over the past year, we have been making changes to where we are and what we do, or so it seems. Sometimes the changes are subtle, such as shifting from corporate photography to stock imagery and  joining some distribution portals (agencies). Sometimes it’s abrupt, such as adding a paid consulting element to the volunteer work we are doing for the National Parks. It can also be conceptual, such as our ideas for creating a line of local (Oregon) greeting cards and breaking into the fine art market or creating a complete set of fire department procedures to be sold over the internet.

Change… at times it’s hard to embrace and other times it’s just what you do.

Look who came to dinner!

We’ve been at Grand Canyon N.P. for almost two months and have just one week left. We’ve had snow on the ground for the past three weeks – upwards of two feet at one time, with another 6-8 inches added just this past week.

The Park Service provided housing for us this time around – it would have been utterly miserable trying to stay warm in our trailer, let alone keep it from freezing up!

We’ve been snuggled into a modular trailer unit in one of the residential areas. It is a quiet neighborhood; but we have a lot of daily visitors.

The deer come in all sizes, from the littlest one that is so cute – I hope it survives the winter – it seems so much smaller than the other fawns. A lone doe and her fawn are our most regular visitors, but occasionally we get a larger group. Of course, we also get the stags who come to check out the “ladies!”

The stags come in 2-3 points – up to many points. It is amazing to see how many have broken antlers.

We’ve only had a few elk sightings, they must be staying elsewhere.

At least we know one thing – the animals will be glad when they can stop eating from the broken juniper and pine branches and see grass again. So will we…… see grass that is…

Happy New Year!

A Return to the Canyon…..

As we drove away from Grand Canyon National Park last summer, we knew we’d be returning five months later. Good byes are always easier when you know you’ll be returning. And July would soon be upon us and we were headed north to Churchill Manitoba with its polar bears, beluga whales, red fox, and a whole new subarctic world.

Returning was like coming home – we are back among friends – being welcomed with open arms, lots of hugs, and smiles. Even the wildlife seemed to know we were back.

It has turned to winter and this morning we were greeted with snow on the ground. Like little kids we bundled up to head to the South Rim to check out the views. The ravens were playing, the snow was flying up out of the canyon, fog rimmed the northern edge…..

It is good be to back….

Sounds of an Ancient Culture

A rough dirt track follows the south side of the deep sandstone canyon. For a mile or so there had been little to see, just the beauty of the canyon and the occasional eroded ruin. It took over an hour to get to the end of the road.

As we rounded a corner, a sunburst illuminated the rust colored sandstone arch that protects the multi-room ruin. A stop for pictures was required. Stepping around the 4X4, white flecks in the dirt seemed out of place. Our guide picked one up; it was half of an ancient seed pot. The hillside was littered with the shards from the Pueblo civilization.

The first inhabitants of the cliff dwellings at Mummy Cave were called the Basket Makers, an early Anasazi culture. They were experts at wicker basketry, remnants of which were left in their dwelling and burial sites. The Pueblo people came next; then the Navajo. At one time, the Canyon de Chelly canyons were home to over 1,000 people. Farmland in the bottom of the Canyon has been cultivated by the Pueblo and Navajo for over 1,000 years – it is still farmed today.

The Navajo people respect the ancient sites. They know that spirits dwell in the ruins; spirits that shouldn’t be disturbed. They’ve heard them, felt them, and know to leave the ruins untouched. Unfortunately, others don’t have the same respect and fences must keep them away.

If you stop and listen, you can hear the sound of an ancient people. They are still here.

Looking for the last of summer…

As the air gets cooler and the rains starts again we find ourselves yearning for a little more summer. You see, we really haven’t had summer this year. We went from spring in the Southwest to summer in the sub-arctic, which really isn’t summer at all. Then we entered fall with its cooler temperatures and the beginnings of the rainy season. Oregon is like that.

So the trailer was hitched up, and rolling south we have finally found a little summer. Yes, it’s fall here at Zion National Park, but we call 80 degree days summer. Along with summer, we have the added benefit of golden fall leaves situated in a photographer’s paradise.

We’ll be here long enough to dry out, get some sun, and make a few pictures before moving on to Canyon de Chelly, and hopefully, a little more of this colorful summer.

What’s New at CatonPhoto.com

Can you believe it is September already and fall is just two weeks away? As many of you know, we put CatonPhoto.com on sabbatical and tried our hand at sometime totally different this year.

We’ve had two great volunteer experiences. Our first was a two month stint at Grand Canyon National Park where we worked in their emergency services branch building a continuity of operations plan for the park and helping out as needed on emergency calls and other odd tasks.

Second up, we spent five weeks at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre in Churchill, Manitoba, on the western shores of Hudson Bay. You only have to read our blog stories to know we had a great adventure – over 30 polar bear sightings, hundreds of beluga whales, red fox kits, and scores of birds. The tundra in spring is a glorious sight! Don’t miss the Churchill photos in the Portfolio.

We’re now enjoying the warmth, color, and freshness of summer. In the past few weeks, we’ve picked huckleberries and blueberries to make freezer jam, enjoyed fresh heirloom tomato salsa with fresh sweet peppers (and a few jalapeños!), and even had the air conditioner on for a few days. Not bad for two people who thought Spring would never end!

Our photos are now being marketed by age fotostock (Spain), Alamy (UK), Dreamstime, Fotolia USA, and BigStockPhoto stock distribution agencies. New technology has come our way in the form of a Nikon D700 camera body and an 80 to 400mm zoom lens.

What’s to come? We’re taking the cameras and heading for Boston for a fall color New England cruise – our first time at cruising! We don’t have to write a report, wash dishes, or anything. It is time to be pampered!

November sees us loading up the trailer and driving south to once again volunteer in the National Park system. We’ll be back at Grand Canyon with stops at Canyon de Chelly, Zion National Park, and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Who knows what adventures are in store for us!

One last thought of Churchill…

Every night at 10:00, the town siren wails a warning. Move inside children, adults too. It’s best to heed the warning as the denizens of the ice have moved ashore and they are the world’s largest land carnivore.

Car horns formed a cacophony of noise that sounded like a wedding or celebration; but not at 11:00 at night. Following the horns were gunshots and small explosions. The conservation folks were chasing the bear, hazing it so it would leave town. Later there was another, and early in the morning another yet.

The town – Churchill – rests on the western shores of Hudson Bay, just north of the 58th parallel. While sub-arctic, its environment is very arctic in nature. It happens to sit in the area where one of the world’s largest concentrations of polar bears comes ashore each spring to await the autumn freeze.

Polar bears usually eat ring seals and don’t typically hunt humans. But there are delinquent, old, sick, and hungry bears that will attack, as well as females with cubs that feel threatened.

So the siren sounds a warning and the town’s people heed it – there can be bears roaming the town on any night.

People create a sense of place…

The Churchill Northern Studies Centre is located in a building on a old rocketry and aurora borealis research center. The building is austere, run down, and way out of date – a lifeless relic of the cold war.

But, where ever we go and whatever we see, it’s the people that create a sense of place. Audrey, Rosalind, Robert, Emma, Aisling, Gerry, Cliff, Kat, Carley, LeeAnne, Avril, Mike, Kim, Christina, Devon, and Marie create that sense of place at CNSC. They are the staff and volunteers that we worked with at the Centre. Cooks, housekeepers, maintenance people, program coordinators, and administrators all make CNSC a place where people can feel at home while important work is done.

We tried to lend a hand in some way to all of the CNSC staff. In return, we were rewarded by each person in small and large ways. Sometimes it was just having someone new to talk to and to share our experiences with. Or, it was the camaraderie of working as a team to put out a meal and clean up after 80 people. Other times, it was the opportunity to lend our unique expertise to the operation.

To all of you, our new friends, we send our sincerest thanks and our best wishes.

Nine months to get there, two days to go home…

It took nine months to get to the Churchill Northern Studies Centre in northern Manitoba. Our application had to be vetted, interviews completed, references checked, and schedules arranged. It’s not a simple process, but a necessary one. Churchill is way beyond the end of the road. You don’t go there lightly and weather can make access difficult.

“You are going WHERE? To do WHAT?” Yes, those are the questions we received when we told family and friends we were going to volunteer at CNSC.

The answer was always, “we’ll wash dishes all day for the chance to see a polar bear in the wild!” For five weeks, we washed dishes, cleaned rooms, made beds, mopped floors, washed more dishes, and assisted with many other tasks. And though summer came late to Churchill this year, the tundra bloomed, the red fox kits appeared, the bears came in off the ice, and the belugas filled the river. We witnessed it all; with awe, inspiration, and respect for the researchers who spend months following their goals and dreams.

We met interesting people from all over Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. We hiked with researchers and helped on their projects. We held baby plover chicks as they were being banded with Rita and Simone, and gosling chicks with Tom, Shawn, Jess, and Jay. We watched in awe as Carla and Vanya fed baby yellow warblers with an eye dropper. And, yes, we slipped into tidal pools following the lead of Amanda, Erinn, and Ingrid, our favorite planktoneers!

Volunteering at CNSC may not be for everyone. The work can be tiring and long and sometimes you feel like you haven’t been outside for days. But, knowing you are helping in your own small way to support the science that is making a difference in our world makes it all worthwhile.

Our thanks to Volunteer Coordinator Heather MacLeod, and the entire CNSC staff for making our volunteer experience such a wonderful adventure. We wish everyone the best of luck during construction of the new building and renovation of the current one. Life will certainly be easier with more space, more bathrooms, and a larger kitchen. Remember, though, there will always be another dish that needs to be washed!

Now, we are looking forward to a little rest before starting the next adventure. What’s next? First, a fall color cruise from Boston to Montreal for a little pampering and relaxation. Then it’s back to the SW to volunteer for the U.S. Park Service at Canyon de Chelly, Grand Canyon, Glenn Canyon, and Zion.

The wild ride continues. Maybe we’ll go even farther south -> Antarctica may be on the horizon…

It’s a good day at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre when…

1. There are not too many dishes to be washed.
2. You can understand the Canadian, Newfoundland, Scottish, Irish, British, and French accents.
3. You are no longer considered a “nut-job” for being a volunteer dishwasher.
4. CNSC staff share their Tuck Tape for repairing your clothing.
5. There are chocolate chip cookies or brownies for dessert.
6. You don’t fall in a pond and get a “booter” or your jeans wet to way past your waist!
7. You can get a ride to town on your day off instead of being stalked by bears while walking.
8. The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and the storms have all passed.
9. The wind is blowing and there are no mosquitoes.
10. You have more freckles on your arms than mosquito bites.
11. It’s calm and the mosquito swarm can’t carry you away.
12. You can kill two mosquitoes on every swat.
13. You have a bug hat and 100% DEET when there are mosquitoes.
14. There are fewer mosquitoes inside than outside.
15. It’s cold and the mosquitoes are DEAD.
16. A researcher asks you to join them in the field.
17. A polar bear is sighted.
18. The researcher is afraid of bears and lets you run ahead of them (you don’t want to be last).
19. The polar bear doesn’t eat you because you are too slow.
20. You have a day off and the bears want to pose for photos.
21. You don’t have to room with a snorer.
22. Researchers take showers! (Though not showering is built in mosquito repellant!)
23. The Aurora Borealis is out – and you are up at 1am to see it.
24. You can find a place to plug in your laptop.
25. Your flight to Winnipeg is confirmed…