dedleg.com

We’re finally winding down on the camping coverage. This post is a collection of odds and ends that were left over. Like this first one, for example — when I see something in nature that’s shaped like a heart, it’s pretty much a biological imperative that I take a photo of it. Maybe that’s just from the time the emo bit me, I don’t know.

You best believe we came prepared. On our last night, that big bottle on the bottom right somehow made its way into my stomach, and mostly before dinner. I figured, hey, packing up a camp site in complete disarray and carrying piles of shit back up to the car isn’t frustrating enough on its own, let’s add a debilitating hangover to the mix. So yeah, it was fun. Well, at least the 8,000 pounds of food I ate throughout the course of the day to nurse my ailment was.

I never would have called caterpillars fast-moving creatures before, but trying to take a decent picture of this dude was surprisingly difficult. I guess all those little feet actually do something! See, this is what camping is all about — getting lost in the merciless wild, and learning a few things from Mother Earth. Like which leaves you don’t wipe with.

On Friday, we conclude my camping saga with the extremely, uh, interesting (in the worst possible way) bus ride back. Get excited, folks — it was probably the strangest bus ride of my entire life, including the time in first grade when Sam Gage impulsively took a shit in the back of the school bus, using a Ninja Turtles action figure to cover his genitals. Oh, childhood.

Our second day of camping began with a breakfast of beers, quickly followed by the most (i.e. least) epic boat race of all time. Much time was spent laboring over the inspired designs and shit-talking the other contestants, despite the fact that even the best crafts in the fleet were still only half-seaworthy (no relation to Seabiscuit, the racing horse… really, no relation at all, including any similarity in terms of actual racing ability).

The first and only rule was that our boats had to be entirely constructed out of natural, biodegradable materials. This was my entry: The Garbarge… a miniature Nina, or Pinta… or Santa Maria, only covered in beer logos. It was constructed out of twine, a stick, and cardboard ripped from beer boxes — probably the least waterproof material I could have found in the entire campsite. On that note, the pictures of the actual race turned out considerably less impressive, since they primarily featured capsized vessels — nonetheless, I am proud of my ship, and thankful that its last minutes were spent on the water, where it truly belonged. I can think of nowhere it would have rather died.

Insects that have hair always weird me out. Weirder still, this moth apparently likes brain teasers. And not just any brain teasers, I might add… Mensa-approved brain teasers, which are basically just an exercise in frustration and a way to make yourself feel really stupid. Mensa: feel free to use that sentence as a recommendation on the back of your next book.

This is pretty much the toughest-looking butterfly I’ve ever seen… much cooler than that nerdy moth relative of his a few photos up. This guy’s got a piece ripped out of his wing like an archetypal junkyard dog’s torn ear, which I imagine he acquired at a bare-fisted butterfly cage match, or something like that. I would have asked… but I was too intimidated.

In honor of Independence Day, and not just the movie, but the holiday that inspired it, today’s visual delights will be strictly pyrotechnic in nature. Like, pyrotechnics in nature, you know, ‘cuz I was camping? Keep up, guys.

First, I present to you, dedlegvision — our video debut, such that it is, stars a lightning storm over the St. Croix River in Wisconsin, captured on my recent camping trip that you’ve all grown sick of hearing about.

The soundtrack is not quite right, I know… it’s just that damn song is always playing, no matter where I go… even when I’m trying to sleep. It’s enough to bring a man to post extremely self-indulgent videos on his blog. But self-indulgence is the rich history of blogs. What can I say? I was raised on the bread of livejournal, and I drank from the cup of xanga (nerd jokes).

And so begins a very long, and very gratuitous series of photography posts chronicling my recent camping trip to Nevers Dam in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. It’s going to be very hot, it’s going to be very uncomfortable for everybody.

These are going to be some heavy-assed posts because I shot approximately a billion photos on this trip and I’m really self-indulgent. Depending on what you come to this site for, that might work in your favor. And if not, I’m confident that one day, after much time and awkward prodding has passed, you will come to love me. It works like that in arranged marriages, anyway.

Shortly after we showed up, the sky starting looking kind of creepy.

As it turns out, a pile of really mean thunderstorms moved in, with very tornado-friendly conditions in tow. Now, setting up a tent in gale-force winds is not exactly an argument-free undertaking at this point. Luckily, we’re told that tornadoes “tend” to veer away from rivers and other bodies of water. Now, waterspouts on the other hand…

More to come. You know where this is going. That’s right, PICTURES OF CLOUDS AND SUNSETS bitches!