Veterans Memorial Bridge – Take a Walk to Honor Veterans

Fargo, North Dakota.

The Red River of the North is the boundary between North Dakota and Minnesota. Over the years, several bridges have been built that spans the river at Fargo to connect with Moorhead, Minnesota on the east side of the river. Though it is still referred to as the Main Avenue Bridge like the ones it replaced, this bridge has special meaning to local veterans. But first, here are the construction details:

NDSU Horticultural Research Center – A Walk in the Gardens

Fargo, North Dakota.

North Dakota State University has a history of agricultural-related research. Near the west end of the campus, a small garden is easy to miss without noticing its presence. In early September 2020, my wife and I took a short drive to capture the garden on a late afternoon. There is a very small parking lot on 18th Street North, just off 12th Avenue North. It doesn’t hold many cars, but I’ve never seen the lot full.

Skydio 2 – My First Look at a New Drone

Fargo, North Dakota.

As this is being written in the midst of a Presidential election vote count that is seeming to take forever, I started looking for a diversion from hours on end of talking heads and electoral college maps. An email from one of my Civil Air Patrol (CAP) colleagues alerted me to a webinar featuring information on new drones in our fleet. I sat in on the webinar and immediately got the itch to find out more about this new generation of flying cameras.

Orchard Glen Nature Park – Apples Anyone?

Fargo, North Dakota.

I have a new favorite park in Fargo. Orchard Glen Park came about when property along the Red River was vacated due to excessive flooding in the spring. From the parking lot, a trail descends toward the riverbank and for a distance follows the bend in the river as it swings from northerly to easterly on its way to Canada.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – In the Neighborhood

This week, Ann-Christine asks us to feature images from our neighborhood, leaving the term with enough ambiguity for me to decide how large our neighborhood is. I’ve elected to choose items and places within 10-minutes of our home. The opening image, for example, is the depot clock in front of the former passenger depot in downtown Fargo.

Cellpic Sunday – 11 October 2020

Fargo, North Dakota.

Last week’s Cellpic Sunday introduced you to the NDSU Horticultural Research Gardens on the campus of North Dakota State University in Fargo. I had a bit of fun “chasing” another visitor around the flower beds. This little guy would see me and duck around behind some marigolds. He was big enough, however, that I could tell which way he went by the rustling of the plant leaves. At one point, he stopped near the zinnias and picked up something to eat. Apparently, he was hungry enough that he ignored me as I took his picture.

Cellpic Sunday – 4 October 2020

Fargo, North Dakota.

Fargo is the home of North Dakota State University and those season-wining Bison football teams. As a land grant college, NDSU is also an agricultural research university of some repute.

On the west edge of the campus, a small collection of gardens features plants native to the climate in the upper Midwest. In early September, my wife and I stopped there for a few minutes. I came to the realization after all that Fargo does have a botanical garden, something I have always thought was missing in Fargo.

Sunflower Fields Forever – Or Was That Strawberry???

Cass County, North Dakota.

North Dakota is a small state, just over 760,000 residents estimated in 2019. Much of the land in the state is devoted to agriculture, and most people know the reputation of North Dakota winters. That fact proves the phrase, “Make hay while the sun shines.” A drive through Rural North Dakota yields many colorful fields in mid-summer. Canola fields glow in bright yellow, wheat goes from green to those “Amber waves of grain” that “America the Beautiful” reminds us. The most spectacular commodity, though, is the sunflower. Perched atop a strong stalk, a bright yellow flower mimicking the sun welcomes the day facing our nearest star, and each head turns as the day goes on, flower facing west at the end of the day… until it gets large enough that its head can no longer turn.

Cellpic Sunday – 20 September 2020

Fargo, North Dakota.

Last week I posted a dronie view of the Red River from Orchard Glen Park. While we were at the park to use the drone, I grabbed some cellphone pics as well. Shot on the same day, here’s a more “up close and personal” view of the lake from the shoreline. This day found the river a beautiful blue color. All of the other shots captured earlier in the season featured the usual muddy brown river. It was so calm there was nary a ripple on the surface giving a great reflection of the trees and sky.

Aerial Views – A Gallery of Dronie Shots

Fargo, North Dakota.

It’s been over a year since I purchased the Mavic Air drone. For private pilots like myself, it is very easy to add the FAA license for Part 107 (commercial drone operations) to my rating, and the North Dakota Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is one of the leaders in drone operations for CAP. I wanted to be involved but had never flown a drone before. Knowing that a drone would add to my camera collection and provide a fresh perspective to my photoshoots, I decided to buy my own for both training and photography purposes. I haven’t used it nearly as much as I expected, but some of that lack of use can be attributed to the pandemic. In any case, after a year’s operational experience, I thought it might be time to share (and reshare) some of the images captured both during training and on my travels. The opening photo was captured during a late afternoon practice flight. The long shadows and golden tones give away the late afternoon time frame.