My Life, my photography, my passions
Nebraska during February and March can be very dull without much contrast in the scenery, browns and grays dominate. Even when the sun comes out it is still weak, so with a little help from On One Software in Photoshop I enhanced the sun just a tad and made it pop.
It’s March madness time! A time where college basketball fans, and those that just like to compete in office pools, fill out brackets to determine the NCAA championship. However Nebraska has it’s own form of March madness. The NSAA High school version.
For 101 years the Nebraska State Athletic Association has organized and crowned the high school basketball championships in the month of March. You thought Nebraska was just a football state, well it is, except the first two weeks in March. Then basketball fans come out in droves from every corner of the state and every size school and converge on Lincoln Nebraska to cheer their hometowns and watch good basketball.
Twenty four teams from each of the six classes of schools (Class A to Class D2) in both the boys and the girls basketball compete in Lincoln Nebraska. That makes a total of 288 schools, and approximately 3,400 students compete in the Nebraska high school basketball tournament.
Passions run deep in small communities and many schools normally schedule school days off during the tournament so students can attend. This is especially true of schools that normally compete every year. It’s also an opportunity for alumni who live in Lincoln to attend a “home town” game and have a reunion with classmates and friends.
I attended boys Class D2 games this year and followed Wauneta-Palisade. The high school student body is 49 students. Yes, you read right, 49 students from 9-12th grade, each graduating class contains approximately 12 students. Class D2 is the smallest class of school in Nebraska and as expected is comprised of rural schools in the far reaches of the state. Class A is the largest with a much larger student population of 1200-1800, comprised mainly Omaha and Lincoln schools.
But, regardless of the size school these students play hard! Each Wauneta–Palisade game was decided in the last seconds of the game with the Broncos making it all the way to the finals and losing by one point at the buzzer to Giltner. It’s always heartbreaking watching the seniors realize this is there last high school game. But they can’t sit still for long, because spring track season starts the next week.
Yes, in small Nebraska schools we raise all-round athletes, the same boys will play football, basketball, and then track. So, welcome track season!
To put everyone in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit I thought this week called for a little green and a few leprechauns. Last weekend a thousand people took part in the Leprechaun Chase 10K run held at Mahoney State Park in near Ashland, Nebraska. The race started and ended at the Strategic Air and Space museum, located next to the state park, and it was quite the site to see. They were not little green men, but fun just the same. I wonder if they found a pot of gold at the end of the race?
I did not run, nor did I walk, I was a volunteer and helped my daughters Spirit Squad (cheerleading) from Elmwood-Murdock high school with their first official fundraiser. The premise of this race is the women get a 5 1/2 minute head start, then the men (leprechauns) chase them. If a women wins they get free drinks, green beer, and if the men catch the women and win, the men get green beer.
Never have I seen so much green in one location. Obviously there was a costume contest and it was difficult to chose between the kilted red bearded Irishmen, or the mass of green above. So, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day I give you the bearded leprechaun below as a bonus.
If you have participated in a Leprechaun Chase race I’d love to see your costume or hear about your experience.
I love this little cabin on the farm pond. I could sit out here, fish, soak in the sun, relax, and just escape. This past week was encompassed several days of chasing geese hoping for the perfect nature shot of Canada and Snow geese circling and gathering in mass. I didn’t get my perfect wildlife shot, but I think this picture is worth the effort.
If you look in the sky you can part of the large gathering of geese, they landed on the other side of the hill, away from any accessible road. I like landscape photography, unlike animals and small children they don’t move.
Some of my best shots have been landscape images, including my recent Framed Cornfields image and the Great Goose Chase. If you want to view some video make sure to read my Day 100 entry. I have a special treat for you there.
You know spring is close when the Canada and Snow geese start heading back north. Nebraska is in a migratory flight path for many species of birds, including geese, who use the corn and wheat fields as feeding and resting grounds. So on my 100th day I bring you the great Nebraska goose migration.
This year, because of my 365 project, I had a purpose for driving around chasing after thousands of geese and getting a photo of this spectacular site. Thousands of geese fly over and then start to gather and spiral as they descend in what actually looks like an organized landing pattern. They are very skittish and typically chose sections of land that are difficult to gain access from the gravel roads.
Trying to walk out and sneak up on them is not easy. Goose hunters normally set decoys and sit in blinds waiting for hours. I don’t have that much patience, and you never know where they are going to land. So you watch the skies and chase the clouds of birds in the air. Many of my photographs the past couple of days were part of my goose chase.
The geese don’t stay long in one spot, some flocks will stop and rest and others will be taking off and continue heading north. In less than a week hundreds of thousands, if not millions of geese will fly over.
Below is a video a friend across the road from her house at a neighboring pond. Turn up the volume to enjoy the sounds of nature.
