Tag Archives: Prairie Garden Trust
Prairie Garden Trust hike
Henry and Lorna invited me out for lunch yesterday, followed by a walk up to The Point and along Hiller Creek (Hiller’s Creek?). Things are just about to get spring-tacular so we’ll have to do this again in a couple of weeks.
Dog Heaven
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This is Sammie. He lives with Henry Domke in the middle of the beautiful Prairie Garden Trust. Like our pups, I’m certain Sammie loves the snow. Here he’s surveying his domain from a bluff overlooking Miller’s Creek. Henry’s uncropped photo gives you a much nicer view of the bluff. Don’t miss it.
Rain drops on palm fronds at Prairie Garden Trust
There is a gentle rain this morning at the beach on Sanibel. I ventured out onto our poarch the and the rain drops.
Tree House Magic
A tree house is a frivolous thing. No practical value (unless you’re living in the African bush). But if you can recall that childhood rush of climbing to the top of a tree for absolutely no reason other than the joy of doing it, you can appreciate what brings four good friends (and friends of) together every year to re-experience that feeling.
Tree House III (this is the third year of the project) is in the middle of the Prairie GardenTrust, which is managed by my friend Henry. He invited me to to come and be part of TH3 this weekend, which was perfect in every way. We finished the day yesterday by climbing up to the third level (about 30 feet up) to enjoy the view and reflect on project.
A Walk Around the Lake
The video above (4 min) is a walk around the lake at the Prairie Garden Trust with Pete, Sam and Boots.
Apple TV and the economics of television
“Over time, niche content will change the economics of television. Millions of Americans will add one or more Internet-connected set-top boxes to their living rooms. Once they do, look out. As they discover there is niche HD video content that matches their precise interests, the existing TV networks will see their viewers erode even more. Further, brand marketers will see they don’t need media to reach people in their living rooms. They too will produce their own content that will be distributed over the Internet for consumption on TVs.” — Steve Rubel on Apple TV:
For example: I’d love to watch a weekly 10 minute tour of the Prairie Garden Trust by Dr. Henry Domke. Just Henry walking and talking, sharing his love and fascination with the flora and fauna. Okay on a video iPod…great on Apple TV.
Prairie Garden Trust Podcast
My friend Henry Domke has produced and posted the first Prairie Garden Trust Podcast. Friends and supporters of PGT can now get regular updates via podcast. While I’m not exactly an “outdoorsy” guy, I’m stoked about Henry using this new technology. He invested a couple of hundred bucks in a podcast starter set (mics, mixer, headphones, etc) and is using GarageBand3 (MacBook) to produce. In a matter of hours, he had his first show online, ready for subscribers. His first show has a couple of rough edges but he’ll smooth those out as he goes.
In The Old Days, he might have tried to find a radio station that would give him (sell him?) some time on a Sunday morning. Today, he’s global. Anybody, anytime, anywhere. If they care about his topic, they can listen. Still another example of The Long Tail at work. No topic is too obscure. If one person cares enough to produce the show … and one cares enough to listen, the costs of production and distribution are so close to zero, there is no barrier to getting started.
My Wilderness Adventure
Following my brief stint on The Tree House ground crew, Henry took me on a mini-tour of the Prairie Garden Trust. I think it’s hundreds of acres and we saw some small fraction of that during the hour we spent in Henry’s little four-wheeler. I did this in iMovie and have come to the conclusion it will do everything I’m likely to want or need to do. I haven’t given up on Final Cut Express but it’s obviously more app than I need. (Alas, more shelfware). As for this little ride-around video…it’s quick-and-dirty and doesn’t begin to capture the beauty of the Prairie Garden Trust.
I’m blogging this
I’ll explain the provocative headline, but first, a few words about smays. I don’t photograph well. Too much gum showing (or none). More grimace than smile. But I’m not self-conscious about it, as evidenced by the frequent images here at smays.com. Then, every once in a while, someone takes a photo that I really like. Henry took this shot and it nicely reflects my mental image of myself. Sort of “Keith Richards-without-the-guitar-or-the-money.” It’s probably as simple as: good photographers see things differently than the rest of us.
Speaking of really good photographers. One of the people working with Henry and Bernard on the tree house project is their long-time friend Nick Kelsh. I thought he was just a sweaty, middle-aged guy yelling instructions at me down on the ground. In fact, Nick is a nationally prominent photographer, co-founder of a successful Philadelphia design firm and the author of eight or nine books. What Nick is not, is self-conscious. This is what Nick called his “gay porn” pose, chosen to showcase his improvised safety harness. Nick’s son, who was on the ground with me, seemed neither embarrassed nor surprised, leaving one to wonder if this was the first time Nick has done this sort of thing.