If you’ve ever spent any time at an old house or a cabin in the country, you probably know the joy of sitting on a porch or lying in bed while a gentle rain dances on a tin roof.  If you have been lucky enough to have experienced that, you know it is one of the simple pleasures in life.  If you haven’t yet been so blessed, I hope you someday get to live it.

   Stacey and I agree that the thought of a tin roof brings up several thoughts and emotions from nostalgia to dreams of “someday”.  A tin roof conjures up thoughts and visions of the simple joys in life, perhaps with a little bit of “rustic” thrown in.  Thoughts of relaxing with a hot cup of coffee on a cool, damp fall morning as the smell of wood smoke fills the air or a sipping cold glass of sweet tea on the porch swing, while escaping the sun and heat of a summer’s afternoon.  It’s hard for us to envision a tin roof without associating it with good things and a simple, pure way of life.

   We think and hope that we produce work that fits that vision and way of life; we know that we enjoy them.  Whether it’s a well-written book or stunning photography, we like the things that compliment those ideals and hope to produce publications, prints, and many other things that do as well.

   It was with those thoughts in mind that we decided, after much thought, prayer, and discussion, that we should start a small publishing company as an outlet for such works.  At first we will publish only my work with the option of possibly working with other authors, photographers and so forth in the not-too-distant future.

   So, it is with great pride and pleasure that Stacey and I announce our new company, Tin Roof Publishing.  We are already well into the work on a couple of our inaugural publications, the first of which will be a small item that we have big hopes for.  I can’t go much further just yet, but we are currently working with a print broker in California (one of the best in the business) to fine tune the printing details, etc.  Once that is done, some final work on the design will go pretty quickly and we should have a finished product soon thereafter.  Not long following that will come our second project, a book I have been working on for several months.

   Our new website will be www.tinroofpublishing.com, but it’s not quite ready.  Expect to see an initial website up in the near future.

  We are very excited and hope you will follow us on this new adventure.  And now, our new logo…

If you get one, comment below and let us know what you think!

Glenn

Kodak announced that they are discontinuing KODACHROME from their line of products as it now only represents a small fraction of one percent of their sales.

Probably the most famous image shot on the film was the afore-mentioned shot of an Afghan girl in a refugee camp in Pakistan.  The girl’s head is draped in red and her very intense hazel-green eyes stare right through you, their colors perfectly complimenting the green background and the splashes of green behind the rips in her tattered garment.  The image, shot by one of the great travel photographers, Steve McCurry, appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1985.  It is a haunting photo that was a big part of my early inspiration to be a photographer and is still one of my favorite images.  You can see the image HERE.

New and improved films and, of course, the digital revolution have teamed up to help phase out the beloved film.  It’s impossible to fathom the important images and fleeting moments that this film has preserved over its 74 year history.  There is a great article about the Kodak’s decision to end production, that includes some videos and a great slide show at this LINK. The direct link to the slideshow can be found HERE.

It truly is the bittersweet end of a photographic era.  And to Paul Simon; I hate to break the bad news but Momma (Momma Kodak that is) finally did take your KODACHROME away…..

I won’t bore you with too many details, but felt like I should update and let you all know a little about what is going on in my world, both the good and the not so good.

I did get to spend a few hours down at Mom’s house yesterday seeing an old friend I hadn’t seen in years.  In fact, the last time I saw this guy, I was less than 10 years old! 

Mike Zimmerman was a guy my big brother Kim was in the Air Force with (Kim is 18 years older than me).  Kim and Mike were stationed in Germany together, then later in Omaha, Nebraska together.  They were great friends and Mike even came in to be the best man when Kim married my sister-in-law Debbie.  As a little guy, I really thought the world of Mike and although, he has kept in touch through the years, I haven’t seen him since the early 80’s.  He now lives in Connecticut, has retired first from the Air Force, then from the Postal Service and he now works two days a week as an EMT and volunteers in that capacity three more days a week.  It was a great visit with Mike and his wife, my brother Kim and a couple of his grand kids, my sister Jeaneace and my Mom.  Oh, and of course I brought Beth and Zane along as well, but Stacey had to work.

So that was a big event this week that was good.  Now, unfortunately, we have to move on to some that are not.

Greg Harris has been my best friend for many years and along the way married one of my cousins, Judy Crow.  Greg and I met when we worked together at the Newton County Sheriff’s Office about 1991.  We hit it off right away and have been close friends since.  We were cops together for many years and, in fact, Greg still is in law enforcement.  He is now the Director of the 14th Judicial District Drug Task Force based in Harrison.  He and I got to spend a lot of time together late last year and earlier this year while I helped him build their new, gorgeous log house.  That was some time I immensely enjoyed.

About 10:30PM Wednesday night Judy called to let us know that Greg’s mother, Liz Means was being transported by ambulance from St. Louis, where she had been living for a while, back to Springdale, where she had lived for many years before.  Liz had been battling cancer for some time and had some some ups and downs lately.  It sounded as if she was deteriorating rapidly this time.  I told Judy to keep us posted and that we’d keep them in our prayers.  I hung up with a heavy heart and a lump in my throat.

When the call came a little after 4:00 A.M. we got the news that Liz had passed away.    Greg and Judy and Greg’s sister Hillary have a lot of things to take care of over the next little while and a huge ajustment to make.  They will feel a void for a long time, a void that will never be filled.  But, we’re going to do all we can to make the time even the least bit more bearable.  We were able to visit with them in Springdale today between Beth’s softball games and will see them again on Monday at the service.  Liz was a special person who will be missed sorely.  And Greg and Judy are very special people to us.  They could use some prayers if you are so inclined.

Speaking of losing special folks, I got another phone call from our old friend (and former part-time assistant) Angela about 10:15 AM Friday morning saying she had just heard that Martin (Marty) Roenigk had been killed in a car accident in Iowa.  A lot of folks know Marty and his wonderful wife Elise as the owners of the Basin Park Hotel and the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs and of the War Eagle Mill.  They have done a lot to really make those places special.

We got to know Marty and Elise several years ago when they were in search of a special piece of property of the wilderness variety.  At the time I had been the caretaker of a wonderful place over in Newton County, just out of Boxley.  It was a little over 1300 acres, some of it may still be in the top 10 scenic places I have ever laid eyes on, and I get to lay eyes on some great scenery.  To make a long story short, Marty and Elise bought the property and asked me to stay on and help them take care of it as well.  I was thrilled!

Marty set to work right away, telling me of all the great plans he had for the place.  He wanted to improve the very rough road that led from the highway entrance down to the bottom near the creek.  That was going to be quite a large and expensive project, but Marty let me know that he was willing to foot the bill if I could get the right folks lined up and get the job done.  It was important to Marty for most anyone to be able to access the bottom part of the property, where the creek was so scenic. 

The reason Marty wanted the special part of the property to be accessible by the general public is that he and Elise had planned all along to find a really special place like this, improve it as little as possible, but enough to make it available to people, then make a very generous donation to a conservation group that would conserve it for future generations!  Marty and Elise had been very fortunate in their lives and were very good at giving back.

Marty and I talked on several occasions about who the land should go to.  I was honored that he wanted my input on various groups and truly listened to my thoughts, not only on that, but also on how to best improve the place.    After Marty and Elise had put quite a bit of thought into it and had invested a great deal of money and work, the decided the property should go to The Nature Conservancy.  I was thrilled!

The Roenigks sold the property to TNC for a very small fraction of it’s worth(the tab for which was picked up by Wal-Mart’s conservation program “Acres for America”) and the property is now the Smith Creek Nature Preserve.  If you have never been there, you really should do yourself a favor and go.  It truly is a special place that I am truly honored to be associated with.  There is a little more info at http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/arkansas/preserves/art27772.html .

Over the years, I have received a few honors and accoloades, but one that truly stands out was when Marty called me to let me know there was going to be a formal Smith Creek Preserve dedication program at the Crescent Hotel and he wanted Stacey and I to attend.  It was initially going to be a fund-raising night before the Wal-Mart folks let them know that they were going to donate the funds to make the purchase.  I knew nothing of the Wal-Mart announcement so ,with the fund-raiser thought in mind, I went over to Smith Creek a couple of days prior and shot several images.  From those I made four prints to bring to the shin-dig as auction item donations.  When Stacey and I arrived, Marty and Elise found us right away and told us the news and insisted that we join them at their head table.  We tried to decline, but they would have nothing of it.  The ceremony began and it was Marty’s turn to speak.  He spoke briefly about what he had done and then,  in his generous way, quickly turned the attention to me, citing my role in them acquiring the land (in fact insisting that he come look at it after he had been told about it by Tim Ernst), helping make the improvements and up-keep on it, the numerous photo trips I made over there and just championing for it in general.  I truly was not expecting it, nor did I deserve it.  I was honored and blessed to have been able to be a minor part of it.  He and Elise were the true driving force that made it happen, but being the gentleman he was, he shared that with me.  Something for which I will always be grateful, honored and humbled. 

Elise lost a great companion, Eureka Springs lost a pillar of the community, Arkansas lost a great conservationist and the nature, wildlife and wild places in Arkansas lost a great protector and good friend.  You will be missed Marty!

And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the other big event from our lives this week.  Sometime back an unfortunate event happened, that for many reasons, I can’t go into details about.  We tried several ways on several occasions to resolve the issue but to no avail.  So, last week our Copyright Attorney, Carolyn Wright -truly the authority on such matters -(www.photoattorney.com), through an attorney in Mountain Home, filed a law-suit on our behalf.   It didn’t become big news until Thursday when the story came out in the Harrison Daily Times (www.harrisondaily.com). 

What followed on a personal level was an absolute outpouring of support through phone calls, e-mails, Facebook messages, chat rooms, people stopping by the house to visit, folks stopping us on the streets and more!  We got well wishes and support from all over the area and several states.  I can’t tell you how great it is to know how many friends you have in the world when you need them.  Of course there are several less-than-stellar comments on the reader’s comments section of the online version of the article and I’m sure there will be more, especially since folks tend to have a lot more courage in the anonymous world of internet comments.  But we expected that going into this thing and won’t let that get us down.  We intend to take the high road and refrain from that silliness, instead choosing to concentrate on what really matters.  But you don’t know how blessed we feel to be getting the support we are getting.  We are truly blessed to have such great friends and, although I REALLY hate to use the word, fans.  We are getting notes from people we have never met nor heard of who are familiar with us and my work.  They are offering some great support and sweet sentiments as well.  Thanks everyone and God bless!!

Glenn

Things have been pretty crazy in the world of the Four-Wheelers.  Mom has been pretty sick, but is doing much better.  Beth has been going to softball games (mostly out of state) and practice quite often, Stacey has been working her tail off, Zane has been very busy being Zane and I have had a few irons in the fire too.

On top of my volunteer Search and Rescue and Medical First Responder responsiblities (that has REALLY kept me hopping lately - TONS of major stuff from fatality traffic accidents to fatal heart attacks and much more) I have also started taking EMT classes.  I don’t expect to work as a full time EMT, but may try and work a few shifts here and there to help out,  justify my training and keep sharp.  A few extra bucks would be a nice thing too. 

So, with all of that, plus a ton of other stuff I won’t bore you with, we’ve been pretty busy.  I’m definately not getting to do the amount of photography I’d like, but have been able to sneak in a few session, plus I got to spend some time with a bunch of fellow camera nuts when I spoke at the recent Mid-America Photography Symposium.  What a great bunch of folks, I always love working with them!

Anyway, I have been able to do some bluebird shoots as a pair is raising some chicks in one of our boxes.  I’ve only gotten to spend a few afternoons with them, but am planning more soon.  I’ve not had time to edit and process most of them, but here is a small sample.  (Click on the image to enlarge)

Female eastern bluebird emerging from nesting box

I also struck out for a few hours yesterday morning in search of a certain subject I need a photo of.  I ended up seeing one all morning and it was too far away to get a good shot of.  I really only shot one scene and as often happens, just missed the best part.   When I first saw this scene, the fog was up into the trees and the sunbeams were piercing through.  I was quite a site to behold.  I had to park, gather my gear and quickly walk down to the place to shoot and by then the fog had broken up and was maily just above the water.  But, thanks to some very nice June rains this is still a nice scene.  I really liked the panoramic crop better than full frame…. (Once again, click on the image to see a larger version.)

Webb Branch, Newton County, Arkansas after a June Rain

So that’s it for now.  We are still kicking, just too busy for our own good.  We do have a couple of cool new projects we are working on, but I’ll have to tell you about those later.

Until next time, hopefully not as long, enjoy the summer and get out and see some of this cool stuff that surrounds us!

God bless….

It’s been a great trip so far and I will update with more details and some images later.  But, to summarize; I spent two days in North Alabama, near Scottsboro, for fishing and photography for PRADCO fishing brands.  While in the area, I got to visit somewhere I have wanted to visit since Jr. High, The Coon Dog Cemetery.  It’s the only one in the world and I can remember reading about it when I was a kid and thinking “someday….”  Anyway, more on that later.

I also hit the Unclaimed Baggage store, which is worth a visit as well.

After Alabama, I headed south, WAY south.  About half way down the Florida pennisula to Punta Gorda (almost two hours south of Tampa).  I was in Punta Gorda for a mid-year board meeting for the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association.  I’m Second Vice President of the group and surrounded by a great Board of Directors!  Our annual conference will be held in Punta Gorda this year and should be fantastic!!  Incidentally, we settled on our next three conference sites while at the meeting.  Next years (for which I will be the chairman) is in Huntsville, Alabama.  Right up where I just was.  After that, we’ll be in Branson, MO in 2011 and Johnson City, TN in 2012.

Yesterday, I left Punta Gorda and took my time coming up Florida, actually coming back via a slightly different route, coming up through St. Petersburg.  I crossed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (see images below).  It’s a very cool bridge, and at 5.5 miles, is the longest bridge in the world that uses a cable-stayed main span.  It opened in 1987 and replaced an older bridge on the same spot that was the site of a disaster in 1980 when a ship hit it, causing a large portion of the span to fall into the water, taking cars and even a Greyhound bus with it, 35 died.

Current Sunshine Skyway bridgeCurrent Sunshine Skyway bridge in the fog

So today, it’s on to Crossnore, NC to check in.  We begin training and photographing tomorrow.  The weather is calling for rain for the next few days with some possibility of snow thrown in.  I’ll try and update later….

 Well, “to bed early” is a relative term I guess and we finally made it between 10:30 and 11:00 PM.  Not too bad, but I was SO ready to sleep for hours and hours.  My body really needed it.  So, finally asleep by 11:00, and I mean sleeping good!

  At 11:26 PM, my first responder pager goes off.  The pager is one of those things that makes you suddenly sit upright in bed and you are instantly wide-awake.  It was a call that wasn’t really an emergency, although someone did need help.  I almost didn’t go, as there was already also an ambulance enroute an they would be able to easily handle the simple call without my help.  The only problem was that the house was in a pretty remote area just outside of the National Park and was very hard to find.  I had been there on several occasions and the ambulance crews usually had a hard time finding it.  So, I went mainly to help them get there.  Even with my knowledge of where it is, it actually takes me just over a half hour to get there due to the location and the roads.

  We made it there with no problems, completed the assist and was just finishing up with I heard traffic on the radio.  We were so far back in the woods and kind of “in a hole” with hills, surrounding us, that my pager wouldn’t even receive a signal, but I could pick up the broken radio traffic.  They were calling for our First Responders to go to one of the Park Service trailheads to assist with a Search and Rescue.  The trailhead was well out of our district, so I knew it might be pretty serious and involved.  With my association with the volunteer Search and Rescue for the park, they had called our department early to get me on the way.

  I arrived at the Compton Trailhead for the trail to Hemmed-in-Hollow around 12:30 AM.  Folks were beginning to gather and devise plans to get to the victim.  At that point, we knew we had a young man (early 20’s) that had fallen about 70 feet (that 7 stories!) and was severely injured.  One team of 6 people had already started down the trail to try and locate the victim to start giving aid.  Among them were Park Rangers, Paramedics with Air-Evac and some Compton First Responders.

  If you are not familiar with Hemmed-in-Hollow, it is one of the highlights of the area.  There is a 211 foot tall waterfall there that is the tallest falls between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains.  It is truly a spectacular area.

   The flipside of the coin is that the trail into it is one of the most difficult in the area.  It is steep and rugged and just a long way in.  It’s easy to get hurt there and very hard to get a hurt person out.

   OK, back to the story.  We began to gather around the Incident Command Post to get our plan together.  We were speaking with the person that had run out for help and talking via radio to the team going in.  We were consulting maps and waiting for more rescuers to arrive.

   More and more folks arrived, gathered gear, food and water, helmets, lights, ropes, packs and more and soon headed in.  It was a long hike in, and we were well down the trail before the first group actually made contact with the victim.  They began the task of assessing his injuries, starting IV’s, packaging him on a backboard and putting him in a contraption called a “Stokes litter” or “Stokes basket” to begin transport.

   If you aren’t familiar, a Stokes is a large metal basket about 6 ½ feet long and two feet wide that you can load a patient in, secure him using straps and other devices and get him out of the situation he is in.  You see them in use on TV when they are rescuing someone off a mountain, or out of the woods and they are similar to what you see the Coast Guard lifting folks into helicopters in.  They are a little heavy and a lot unwieldy by themselves.  Put a 200-pound patient in them and it gets worse.  Below is an image of a Stokes Basket.

   The Stokes can be mounted on a wheel to aid in getting it out of the woods.  That really helps, but it is still a difficult and slow task for the rescuers and an uncomfortable ride for the patient if he is conscious (ours was).

   Our group met up with the other folks the victim had been camping with and staged there until we heard from the first group.  They began the arduous task of bringing him out and a few of us started toward them to assist.  We met them along the trail and relieved some of the rescuers and began a larger team effort.

   We learned that the accident that had injured the guy had occurred around 10:00 PM and it was well after 1:30 AM, before the first rescuers had gotten to him.  And now he had several more hours to go before he would make it “out of the woods” both a literally and figuratively. 

     The next few hours were tough on us and had to have been hell for him, but it was a stellar example of teamwork among 21 folks.   We needed all 21 most of the time and more than that part of the time.  There were a few folks there who had been on many rescues like this and some even more technical.  But everyone would later agree that this was one of the toughest we had been on.

   Our patient was obviously in a great deal of pain, but seemed to handle it pretty well.  We continued to carry/roll/belay him out in the stokes, trying to make it to one of two Landing Zones (LZ) where an Air-Evac chopper could get him out of there.  We had decided to go downhill instead of trying to get him back up to the trailhead up top.  While this sounds like common sense, it’s not always the best way to go.

    We were working on the plan that when we got to the first possible LZ, we would assess it to see if it was safe enough and big enough to land the chopper.  We knew we wanted to wait until daylight to try and do that for safety reasons and figured we would be that long getting to a practical LZ anyway.

   Sure enough it was after daylight when we reached the first possible LZ (The Granny Henderson cabin).  A quick look around told us that due to some ice damage and brush; this was not a viable option.  So, we rested a bit and headed off to the next LZ, which a couple of the Park Rangers had described as looking like a department store parking lot.

   We wound down an old road across a creek for the second or third time and soon stepped out onto a slab of relatively flat rock that did, indeed, resemble a parking lot.  There was a small creek running along one side, but most of it was pretty much dry.  The large slab, known as Rocky Bottom, had to have been 150 yards long and 75 yards wide.  It was one of the best “natural” wilderness LZ’s I have ever seen.

    The Air-Evac pilot landed safely and his two Paramedics left us and made their way to the chopper to get it ready.  They soon came back and briefed us on how the pilot wanted us to approach the chopper and other needed information before we on-loaded the patient.  Then a few of us took him out of the Stokes basket (he was still secured to a backboard) and carried him to the waiting chopper.  He was loaded, we all got clear of the chopper and in a few minutes, they were on their way.  It was around 7:30 AM, or about 9 ½ hours after he had been severely injured.  Undoubtedly, this was the worst night of his life.

   The rest of us began the long hike out and arrived back at the trailhead around 11:00 AM, nearly 12 hours after we had arrived.  I later learned that, according to one of the Park Ranger’s GPS units, we had traveled about 9 miles.  A good part of that in very rugged terrain and carrying well over 200 pounds of patient and liter, not to mention our packs.  We had been up hills and down, waded knee deep cold water, and much more.  All this after several of us had spent a good part of the day in the cold water of the Buffalo River learning swiftwater rescue techniques, which is pretty physically demanding. 

   By the time I got home, I was exhausted.  My WONDERFUL wife, Stacey, had bacon and eggs just about ready when I got home and changed clothes.  I literally fell asleep while sitting in a dining chair and eating bacon!  What a couple of days it had been!  But, we’re all ready to do it again if the need arises.  BUT, if you’re out and about in the woods or on the water, BE CAREFUL!

   The following images are courtesy of April Wood, thanks April!  That is me in the red jacket and yellow helmet at the end of the backboard….  

Copyright April Wood

When I left he house on Thursday morning it was raining and 44 degrees. The Buffalo River wasn’t flooded, but it was higher, and colder, than normal with the recent cold rains. Perfect swimming weather, right?  

As fun as it DOESN’T sound, that’s exactly what I left the house to go do; spend a good part of the day in the frigid water. I wasn’t alone though; there were 17 other folks with equal apparent lack of sense. 

Actually, I was taking part in a three-day swiftwater rescue training course. The course is designed to teach us to assist or rescue people who are find themselves in a bad situation after an overturned canoe, their car gets washed off a low water slab, or some other calamity that has put them in a torrent of water. 

Day (Wednesday) one of the class was spent in the classroom learning about the dynamics of moving water, safety issues, rescue knots and rope techniques and more. Thursday and Friday were around and in the water. 

The class was being put on by the National Park Service folks here at Buffalo National River. I sometimes help them out when there is a search, a rescue or other emergency in the park (read the next blog to see what I mean). Our main instructor was a gentleman named Rick Brown, a retired Park Ranger who now lives in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Rick will also be one of the main instructors on an upcoming High-Angle rescue course I will be taking in the Blue Ridge Parkway in a couple of weeks. I’ll be photographing that course for Outdoor Life Magazine. 

Anyway, back to the class. The classroom instruction was great and really set the foundation for the water portion. Thursday found us just upstream of Erbie on the Buffalo River. The thermometer in my Jeep said 44 degrees, the wind was blowing and it was starting to rain. No worries, we all get into our wetsuits (some had dry suits), PFD’s (AKA “Life Jackets”), helmets and all the other sexy gear we needed and headed up to the training area.  

We spent a good part of the day in the water learning to self-rescue, practicing our throw bag techniques, learning aggressive rescue swimming, learning to manage capsized boats and other swiftwater rescue staples. Between sessions and throughout the day, we also got to try out some cool new gadgets like the Mokai, a small kayak sized boat with a jet-propelled engine similar to those found on jet-ski’s. Check out their website at www.mokai.com. What a great little boat! 

Swiftwater rescue is a very physically demanding discipline and the end of the first day found us worn out. It was great fun though, and some great instruction. We all went home, ready for warm food, a hot shower and a bed. We had to be back the next morning to do it again. 

It had rained on us off and on throughout Thursday, and then had rained more overnight. By Friday, the river was noticeably fuller (meaning swifter, stronger, murkier, and colder). We arrived back at Erbie and began to get back into our wetsuits. Now, if you don’t know how a wetsuit works, I’ll explain. A wetsuit is so named because when you have them on you get WET, they do not keep you dry. They allow a small amount of water to come into the suit, where it is trapped and warmed by your body. In a few minutes, you are warm, even in frigid water. BUT, that first few minutes is a different story. Then, you show up the next day and put it back on while still on the shore and guess what…. It’s still wet inside and somewhat chilly. 

Nonetheless, we all suit up and go at it again. Although Friday’s water conditions were colder and fuller, the day was muck more pleasant with sunny skies and warmer temps. Once you got that initial cold water shock out of the way, it was very nice, even occasionally a little too warm when out of the water and still in your gear. 

Friday seemed more physical than Thursday had been, partially because it was, buy also because the water was colder, which drains your strength remarkably fast, and we were still somewhat drained from the day before. On Friday, we learned some more advanced rope techniques such as using “Z” drags using ropes, pulleys and other rescue gear to gain a mechanical advantage when working in the unbelievable force of moving water. We also learned to set up “Zip-Lines” to ferry people or boats across treacherous water, worked on freeing someone from a foot entrapment (more on that in a minute) and learned to free ourselves from and avoid “strainers” (hazards in the water that the current flows through such as downed trees, etc). The strength needed to do that is just about all one can muster. It is truly unbelievable until you try it. Oh, and DON’T try it unless you are in a controlled setting as we were, with a simulated strainer. 

I mentioned foot entrapment a minute ago. A foot entrapment is one of the most common causes of drowning in many areas. What often happens is a boater ends up in moving water either from falling out or turning their boat over. Most folks immediately begin trying to stand up and gain their footing. In moving water this is the worst thing you can do! Victims will get their feet on the bottom and their foot will become lodged behind a rock. The power of the current will prevent them from being able to get their foot out and will push their upper body into the water. I don’t care if you are Mr. (or Ms) Muscle America, you can’t continue to fight the water, even a small amount is just too powerful. Less than a foot of fast moving water can wash a full-sized car or pickup downstream, so we don’t stand a chance. 

So, if you remember one thing about swiftwater safety (well, lets go with two). If you suddenly find yourself in moving water DO NOT put your feet down!! Instead, roll onto your back (especially since you have on your life jacket), put your feet downstream and up to where you can see them and ride it out until safer water. Use your feet as bumpers to push off of rocks and other hazards and use your arms to steer clear of them or to get to a safer area.  

The second thing to remember is to do all you can to avoid obstacles in the water such as trees, fences, rocks the water goes under, bridges or anything else that may trap you. You HAVE to respect the power of moving water. There is an old Chinese proverb that says “In the battle between the rock and the water, eventually the water will win.” But when you find yourself in a swiftwater situation, there is no “eventually” about it, you can get into a world of trouble in an instant.  

Below are a few images from Friday, click on them to take a better look. We went home exhausted and ready for a good night’s sleep, but as fate and the emergency pagers would have it, that was not to be. Stay tuned for the next blog to see what I mean…..

  I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!   Around here, it’s not “Happy Holidays”, “Merry X-Mas”, ”Happy Winter Holiday” or any of the ridiculous other PC stuff a few folks want to shove down our throats.  It’s Merry Christmas with “Christ” still in it.

  Anyway, hope it was a good one for you, we’ve had a ball!  Being surrounded by good friends and family always makes this season a joyous one.

  It will be 2009 before we know it.  Keep it tuned here for a pretty big Wheeler Photography announcement!  No hints just yet…. 

  Merry CHRISTmas!

One of the guys told us that when that he had started his truck this morning it was 6 degrees; the actual temperature, not the wind chill!  We are starting up again before daylight tomorrow, and will be outside most of the day.  The forecast for the morning says ZERO with wind and blowing snow.  I’ll update later if I don’t freeze….