Taking a second look

I was on my way back from getting gas in Jackson (something that I’ve only had to do about once a month in the past year) when I decided to turn into the South County Park to check out the lake.

The first thing I saw was a batch of geese (if they aren’t geese, I’m sure somebody will correct me) and goslings. They wandered away from the road before I could get stopped and grab my camera.

I was going to write it off as a missed opportunity when I saw where the birds and birdlings were headed. They must have been checking out the folks who were taking what I assume to be prom pictures. 

Click on the photos to make them larger.

Let’s make another pass

I was in no hurry to get home, so I elected to make another loop of the lake. That’s when I spotted this picture which was improved by the Golden Hour late afternoon sun.

My mantra is “Shoot it when your see it,” but that doesn’t mean you should quit before you see a better picture down the way.

 

Capaha Park Pool Rats

A bunch of the Class of ’66 folks who came to Cape for their 70th Birthday Party reunion (because lots of them turned 70 in 2018), were hardcore Capaha Park Pool Rats (a description coined by Terry Hopkins).

They thought they’d take advantage of being in town to congregate at Jack Rickard’s house at the base of what used to be the Mississippi River traffic bridge.

Pool Rat Memories

Just about the time the pool was razed, I asked some of the former lifeguards and swim instructors to tell me what they remembered of their swimming days in the middle and late 1960s.

Wife Lila, Bill Jackson and Terry Hopkins shared some touching memories you can read at this link.

Photos on exhibit

Many of the pictures in this gallery will be on exhibit at the Cape Girardeau County History Center across from the courthouse in Jackson. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 4. The exhibit will be up until around the end of October.

Some of the prints are available for purchase there.

Click on any of the photos to make it larger, then use your arrow keys to move around.

South County Park’s Jigsaw Puzzle

A Facebook friend mentioned that the lake in South County Park was dry. Before I could check it out, The Missourian had an explanation.  Photographer Fred Lynch fired up his drone for an excellent story-telling photo, making me feel guilty for not putting mine back together after an unfortunate connection with a telephone line.

Click on the photos to make them larger.

Project will take about two years

The Missouri Department of Conservation and the county came to an agreement  that the MDC would partner with the county to stock and manage the two lakes at the county park.

The latest project will involve draining the south laket, then adding improvements like fishing jetties, a new fishing dock, an island with a gazebo, and lighted sidewalks.

When the lake is refilled, it will be stocked with bass, bluegill, redear sunfish, and channel cat.

Drained more quickly than anticipated

The original plan was to drain part of the lake and allow fishing to go on while earth work was going on.

It turned out that the bathtub emptied faster than planned, which was good for the timetable, but bad for fisherfolks who were looking forward to dropping hooks in the middle of concentrations of fish.

I was surprised that I didn’t see any fish skeletons around nor any birds feeding on them. Either they were swept away so fast they weren’t trapped in shallow pools, or predators cleaned them up quickly.

Lake was leaking in 2007

In 2007, The Missourian carried a story that the lake was leaking around an overflow pipe at the south end. I’m assuming it was this pipe, which serves as a secondary path for high water, supplementing the open spillway.

 

 

Flags on Veterans Day 2016

Veterans Day flag display North County Park 11-11-2016This week, in particular, I needed to see the rows of American Flags flapping in the cool air against a blue sky punctuated with fluffy clouds. I got to North County Park just as the volunteers were starting to take the flags down before nightfall. This was taken with  Nikon D-7000 equipped with an 18-55mm zoom lens covered with a circular polarizing filter. (Click on the photo to make it larger.)

Flags in motion

A guy directing traffic made an exception for me to drive by to capture this video from the top of the hill and headed down to the highway. The video is shot with my DOD Tech DOD-LS470W dash cam. It hangs under my rearview mirror with an AmorTek SnakeMount, a cool accessory that will fit just about any camera out there.

I picked this camera because it has great low light sensitvity, it has a built-in GPS, and comes with software that will let you merge your videos with an interactive map. That’s really handy when I try to figure out where I took a picture. (I also have to confess that I put those specific links in because if you click on them, then buy something from Amazon, I get a tiny piece of the action without it costing you anything extra.)

I’m a sucker for flags

Here are other stories I’ve done about flags.