Weekends are wonderful and nothing quite compares to a weekend in the fall. In The American Notebooks, Nathanial Hawthorne wrote, “I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house." So we made sure to be out and about this weekend at the "autumnal sunshine" was glorious. After work on Friday we headed out to a park that is a few miles out of town and one of our favorite places to be outdoors if we have the time to drive out there. I went running and Arthur walk through the nature trails. It was 'golden hour'-- a photography term for the hour right before sunset when the light is softer and casts longer shadows. It also gives a golden tinge to everything the light touches. After enjoying the last few moments of daylight we came home to the delicious smell of a cider-glazed ham that had been cooking in the crock pot all day and settled in for a cozy evening.
Saturday morning I went out on my run first thing and it was pretty chilly, maybe even a hint of frost on the roof tops. But it was going to be a clear day for the rest of our plans-- I think it needs to be mandatory that great fall weather is not wasted on workdays but saved for weekends when it can be thoroughly enjoyed. We were headed to the Hildebrand Dairy Farms. They were having their fall harvest festival so we stopped and got a tour of the farm. We have switched to drinking their milk this past year but hadn't been to the farm yet. They currently have a herd of 150 cows that they milk twice a day. We got to tour the milking parlor and the production plant where they pasteurize and bottle the milk before they ship it to grocery stores state-wide. Another stop was checking out the barns for the cows and another one for the calves. We learned that cows will produce milk best at temperatures below 65F so they don't really mind winter. The fat content in the milk also changes throughout the year too. Additionally, the taste of milk changes depend on at what temperature the pasteurization process occurs. In a world where food production involving animals sometimes gets a bad rap it was good to see first-hand how the farm works. They aren't a large scale dairy with thousands of cows but the health and well-being of the cattle was really important. For example, you could look at the calves but not close enough to touch them just to make sure the calves don't get sick since they still have developing immune systems. Everything the cows are fed is also grown right there on the farm. Like the majority of family farms, these animals are their livelihoods so caring for the animals well is of utmost importance. It was also fun for us to see firsthand how buying this milk does allow a family farm in our area to continue as a small family farm. After the tour we got to taste-test some of their products. Their newest milk flavor is mocha milk- a mix of ice brewed coffee and their chocolate milk. We aren't coffee drinkers but I enjoyed this flavor combination. It was either grown-up chocolate milk or kid-friendly coffee. They also had some beef sausages, butter, and cheeses.
Next we ventured on to meet my parents and 4 year old niece to visit the Lazy T Ranch outside of Manhattan that was having fall activities. The ranch is owned by one of my dad's fraternity brothers from college. There were lots of fun "farm" activities for kids that my niece loved-- petting some of the farm animals, playing on the big round hay bales, sliding into a stock tank full of corn, and using a hand pump to race rubber duckies down guttering to another stock tank. Arthur and I enjoyed hiking up to the scenic overlook and looking across the river valley. We also all took a carriage ride around the farm and through the areas of native grass with Pete the horse. Other activities on the ranch included 3 weddings that afternoon. It would be a beautiful location for an outdoor wedding but Arthur and I don't want to go through that again.
After we had thoroughly worn out our niece we took her back home and she even asked to take a nap that afternoon. Arthur was headed to the K-State football game that evening with my brother. It seems like whenever they watch a K-State game together the outcome is not ideal. This time the score was favorable at the end but Arthur apparently had a few displays of fan rage so we will see if my brother invites him again. I hung out with my sister-in-law and held our new nieces who are a few months old now and cuter every day. To cap off the fall activities for the day the four year old and I worked on carving a pumpkin. She was less than enthusiastic about helping me pull out the guts but she did a great job of poking out the chunks of pumpkin when I got them loose.
To steal a line for Anne of Green Gables, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be
terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it?" October is such a wonderful time for harvest festivals, carving pumpkins, and football games. Omnia Vincit Amor.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Walk at Tallgrass
A few weeks after we got back from our trip to the northern lakes and forests we decided it was time for these Kansans to go wander around the prairie to reconnect with our roots. The weather for the weekend was going to be cooler for late summer so we couldn't pass that up. Usually with our weekend activities in the summer we leave by the crack of dawn so we beat the heat but with the highs only in the 70s there was no rush so we were able to get our weekend chores done before scampering off to play.
Our destination of choice was Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Strong City. It is one of our favorite spots and we still haven't explored all 40 miles of trails yet. We were going to try a new trail that day but heavy rains made some of the stream crossings difficult so we went with plan B. While we were at the visitor center there was a ranger lead wildflower hike heading out so we jumping in the group. We learned about the variety of sunflowers in the ditches along the highways and the 4 main prairie grasses. We also got pretty good at recognizing ragweed which was responsible for our allergies that week, purple sage, button gay feather, iron weed, and broom weed. Although the hike was only half a mile and a leisurely stroll we had a wonderful time reaping information from the ranger.
We then grabbed our day packs to head out on a 10 mile loop hike. We enjoyed being able to recognize and appreciate the flora around us. It is a different experience when you know the foliage that you are walking past and are engaged in thinking about it rather than rushing past. Although on Isle Royale we would have been completely overwhelmed with the extent of the variety of plant life. The first part of our hike was through the bison pasture. One lone bull was resting in a wallow fairly close to the trail and we marveled at its size. On the other end of the pasture the main herd was grazing on the rolling hills in the distance. One benefit to walking on the prairie rather than the forest is that you can actually see the large mammals in the area, even up to half a mile away unlike the moose that were probably lurking just of the trail of which we were completely unaware.
We have been out to Tallgrass a few different times and each visit has been a different season. Our first visit was in the winter when the grass was burned the fall before so the terrain was brown, black, and dry. We did have a great time watching the bison herd since it was blocking the trail. The herd was started in 2010 and has finally maxed out its numbers this year at 100 bison. Over the past three years we could tell the herd was growing from when we first watched on the winter day. The next time was in late June with the grass a brilliant green and splashes of wildflowers coloring the hill. During the summer month the other pastures are range for cattle. On this trip we witnessed the transformation of later summer into fall. The cattle are gone, the grass is several feet tall and turning a red bronze color, and the wildflowers are shades of yellows, reds,and oranges.
After we finished our hike, we cleaned up and went out for dinner at our favorite place-- Ad Astra. We had some time to kill after dinner so we drove out to the county fishing lake to scope it out for a possible camping weekend in the future. We then headed back to Tallgrass for the grand finale of the day-- watching sunset. We hiked out with our camp chairs and picked a spot on top of a hill looking out over a valley and pond. I had brought my sketch pad and colored pencils to do some plein air work (Plein air is a French art term for open or full air-- basically doing art outside). Note to self that sunsets aren't great to try to capture on the spot with a pencil because the light, shadows, and colors all change very rapidly as the sun goes down. Arthur, being the romantic husband that he is, pull up some of our favorite songs on our iPod and we danced together on the prairie as the sun was setting. As darkness settled in we watched the stars sneak out, one by one, into the dimming night sky.
We have mentioned that one lesson we learned on our backpacking trip was sometimes it isn't all about the mileage covered in a day. Instead of passing through nature sometimes it is good to sit and watch nature pass by you. Also while it was fun to go on vacation and see forests and lakes and wilderness hiking on the prairie is a unique experience all to itself. For this trip to Tallgrass we enjoyed going a little deeper with learning about the flowers and grasses and sitting watching the changing light fall across the hills as the crickets started their songs. Omnia Vincit Amor.
Our destination of choice was Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Strong City. It is one of our favorite spots and we still haven't explored all 40 miles of trails yet. We were going to try a new trail that day but heavy rains made some of the stream crossings difficult so we went with plan B. While we were at the visitor center there was a ranger lead wildflower hike heading out so we jumping in the group. We learned about the variety of sunflowers in the ditches along the highways and the 4 main prairie grasses. We also got pretty good at recognizing ragweed which was responsible for our allergies that week, purple sage, button gay feather, iron weed, and broom weed. Although the hike was only half a mile and a leisurely stroll we had a wonderful time reaping information from the ranger.
We then grabbed our day packs to head out on a 10 mile loop hike. We enjoyed being able to recognize and appreciate the flora around us. It is a different experience when you know the foliage that you are walking past and are engaged in thinking about it rather than rushing past. Although on Isle Royale we would have been completely overwhelmed with the extent of the variety of plant life. The first part of our hike was through the bison pasture. One lone bull was resting in a wallow fairly close to the trail and we marveled at its size. On the other end of the pasture the main herd was grazing on the rolling hills in the distance. One benefit to walking on the prairie rather than the forest is that you can actually see the large mammals in the area, even up to half a mile away unlike the moose that were probably lurking just of the trail of which we were completely unaware.
We have been out to Tallgrass a few different times and each visit has been a different season. Our first visit was in the winter when the grass was burned the fall before so the terrain was brown, black, and dry. We did have a great time watching the bison herd since it was blocking the trail. The herd was started in 2010 and has finally maxed out its numbers this year at 100 bison. Over the past three years we could tell the herd was growing from when we first watched on the winter day. The next time was in late June with the grass a brilliant green and splashes of wildflowers coloring the hill. During the summer month the other pastures are range for cattle. On this trip we witnessed the transformation of later summer into fall. The cattle are gone, the grass is several feet tall and turning a red bronze color, and the wildflowers are shades of yellows, reds,and oranges.
After we finished our hike, we cleaned up and went out for dinner at our favorite place-- Ad Astra. We had some time to kill after dinner so we drove out to the county fishing lake to scope it out for a possible camping weekend in the future. We then headed back to Tallgrass for the grand finale of the day-- watching sunset. We hiked out with our camp chairs and picked a spot on top of a hill looking out over a valley and pond. I had brought my sketch pad and colored pencils to do some plein air work (Plein air is a French art term for open or full air-- basically doing art outside). Note to self that sunsets aren't great to try to capture on the spot with a pencil because the light, shadows, and colors all change very rapidly as the sun goes down. Arthur, being the romantic husband that he is, pull up some of our favorite songs on our iPod and we danced together on the prairie as the sun was setting. As darkness settled in we watched the stars sneak out, one by one, into the dimming night sky.
We have mentioned that one lesson we learned on our backpacking trip was sometimes it isn't all about the mileage covered in a day. Instead of passing through nature sometimes it is good to sit and watch nature pass by you. Also while it was fun to go on vacation and see forests and lakes and wilderness hiking on the prairie is a unique experience all to itself. For this trip to Tallgrass we enjoyed going a little deeper with learning about the flowers and grasses and sitting watching the changing light fall across the hills as the crickets started their songs. Omnia Vincit Amor.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Random Awesomeness
To those of you faithful readers who are tired of wordy blogposts about the nitty gritty details of our lives this post is pure fun. Kick back and enjoy. I have only watched this 10 times in the past few hours. Omnia Vincit Amor.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Commercial TV Debut
A few weeks ago at work I was sitting in the office when my boss got a phone call from the marketing department. I happened to be the only other PT in the office and was minding my own business when suddenly I realized that I had just been volunteered to participate in the filming of a commercial. On a few occasions before I had been talked into doing a few TV spots and we had filmed some commercials in the clinic so it wasn't a big deal.
We realized that it was going to be a big deal when on the day we were filming the commercial the crew showed up four hours early to set up the equipment. There were a few cameras, lighting, and a clothing rack for wardrobe changes. There were seven or eight actors and a production crew of about 10. Of course all of this was taking place in our main therapy gym right in the middle of our work day. All the overhead lights were turned off to provide better lighting for the filming leaving us to work in the dark. The main camera was then stationed in front of the door to our office so we had to interrupt filming anytime we had to get to our desks. During the morning they were shooting clips of the actors doing various exercises. We tried to provide some professional consulting on the correct technique for exercises in between our real patients. All together it was a fairly chaotic morning.
After lunch I was called back for hair and make-up. Did I mention there was a make-up and hairstylist as well? Finally it was time for my moment in the spot light. My role was to be the PT working with a patient after knee surgery on step ups. Even though I was never the lead in the school musical I figured I had the acting talent to be a physical therapist-- after all that is my day job. However, this seemed to take more "takes" than I thought. I was instructed to look at my patient, to stand closer, to assist them up on the step, and most importantly to smile. None of this do I do in my really job. I am usually watching the patient's feet or standing back looking at their overall movements. After all it is PT and our goal is for the patient not to need our help. The actor who was my patient did a good job of walking me through everything involved in the filming and still shots they were trying to achieve. It took 20 minutes to get about 2 or 3 seconds of thrilling box step up footage. My next role was to assist a patient actor with walking on a treadmill for some still photography shots. This meant adjusting the lighting and moving the treadmill to have less cluttter in the background. My last job, and probably my favorite, was sitting in the background of a shot as an extra with another actress. When they filmed the shots earlier in the morning someone was working in the background so they needed us to recreate this to make the shots match. I sat on a stool while the actress kicked her leg out every once in a while. In the meantime I had a great time talking to her. She got involved in being an actress when she went with her daughter who was interested in modeling to see an agent. The agent told her she had a "very commercial face" and should consider acting. In the past year she has been in a commercial for a private jet service, training videos for Wal-Mart, and a few public service announcements. All the actors drove in from Tulsa to do the
filming for the day. I did find it intriguing that each actor looked "generic". With my commercial acting debut complete I had a chance to sit back and watch the rest of the filming. It was interesting to see how they considered the lighting, the background, the camera angle, and what the people in the shot will be doing. For each clip that would only be a few seconds took about 30 minutes to set up and 20 minutes to film. We also didn't have any speaking lines so I can't imagine how long it takes to film a full length commercial let alone a TV show.
While my moment in the limelight as a star physical therapist was interesting and gave me a new perspective on film, we were all glad to have our clinic return to normal without the camera or the lights and to do business as usual.
We realized that it was going to be a big deal when on the day we were filming the commercial the crew showed up four hours early to set up the equipment. There were a few cameras, lighting, and a clothing rack for wardrobe changes. There were seven or eight actors and a production crew of about 10. Of course all of this was taking place in our main therapy gym right in the middle of our work day. All the overhead lights were turned off to provide better lighting for the filming leaving us to work in the dark. The main camera was then stationed in front of the door to our office so we had to interrupt filming anytime we had to get to our desks. During the morning they were shooting clips of the actors doing various exercises. We tried to provide some professional consulting on the correct technique for exercises in between our real patients. All together it was a fairly chaotic morning.
After lunch I was called back for hair and make-up. Did I mention there was a make-up and hairstylist as well? Finally it was time for my moment in the spot light. My role was to be the PT working with a patient after knee surgery on step ups. Even though I was never the lead in the school musical I figured I had the acting talent to be a physical therapist-- after all that is my day job. However, this seemed to take more "takes" than I thought. I was instructed to look at my patient, to stand closer, to assist them up on the step, and most importantly to smile. None of this do I do in my really job. I am usually watching the patient's feet or standing back looking at their overall movements. After all it is PT and our goal is for the patient not to need our help. The actor who was my patient did a good job of walking me through everything involved in the filming and still shots they were trying to achieve. It took 20 minutes to get about 2 or 3 seconds of thrilling box step up footage. My next role was to assist a patient actor with walking on a treadmill for some still photography shots. This meant adjusting the lighting and moving the treadmill to have less cluttter in the background. My last job, and probably my favorite, was sitting in the background of a shot as an extra with another actress. When they filmed the shots earlier in the morning someone was working in the background so they needed us to recreate this to make the shots match. I sat on a stool while the actress kicked her leg out every once in a while. In the meantime I had a great time talking to her. She got involved in being an actress when she went with her daughter who was interested in modeling to see an agent. The agent told her she had a "very commercial face" and should consider acting. In the past year she has been in a commercial for a private jet service, training videos for Wal-Mart, and a few public service announcements. All the actors drove in from Tulsa to do the
 |
| Random generic people |
While my moment in the limelight as a star physical therapist was interesting and gave me a new perspective on film, we were all glad to have our clinic return to normal without the camera or the lights and to do business as usual.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
October
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