New water project

From this blog or otherwise, you probably know I have a special interest in water. This week I started video production on a new documentary about regional issues of water use, that I’m guessing will have a lot to say about our consciousness and management of water in Minnesota.

Right here in the northeast Twin Cities metro area, the water levels in many lakes have been steadily decreasing in recent years to historical lows. The reasons for this have not been clear. Around White Bear Lake, the situation has obviously impacted residents and businesses on the lake. But it’s also seriously compromised the lake’s recreational features, likely affected local tourism, and been a major downer for a community whose identity is centered around this beautiful and historical body of water.

Moonrise over White Bear Lake, January 2012

This past year city, county, state and federal governments collaborated to support research by the US Geological Survey (USGS) to determine the cause of White Bear’s lake level declines. The findings to date were presented at a White Bear Lake Conservation District meeting this week.

One of my most formative experiences when first coming to Minnesota was taking a limnology field course at Lake Itasca, and I’ve been something of a water geek ever since. I’m still trying to get a handle on all the USGS study findings, but am fascinated by the methods they used – sampling wells to look at isotopic markers of different water sources, using a submarine EcoMapper to sample water quality along the lake bottom to find indications of seepage, examining well pumping volumes over time, etc. – to figure out what may be going on.

If you’re interested, you can soon view the findings at the USGS website. In a nutshell, the data indicate that our recent decline in lake levels are associated with greater pumping from high capacity wells (commercial, municipal, and irrigation) that has come with increased development in nearby cities. To a lesser extent, the decline also reflects a decrease in precipitation over the last several years. It’s pretty clear that our water use and water bodies in the area are directly linked through the Prairie du Chien aquifer below us.

What happens next will be the main subject of this film. I’m especially interested in capturing the community and planning discussions, as well as any policies and/or actions that may result.

This week at the Conservation District meeting, working with the videography and production assistance of Tim Splinter, we were able to capture a range of questions from the Board and residents during the meeting itself, as well as additional comments from local residents, a business owner, and a civil engineer. The meeting room itself was packed.

Among the people we talked with was Fletcher Driscoll, a distinguished hydrogeologist and lakeshore resident. His comments mirror the feeling I have that we may be entering a new era in our relationship to water here in Minnesota.

Prayers for Healing

Well, I’m finally to the point where I can show you this – the video I’ve been working on in some shape or form over the last couple years! I’ll let the video speak for itself, and welcome your comments. In this post, however, I’d just like to say a few words about the process of producing a video like this.

This isn’t my first experience producing. In particular, in 1998 I served as Executive Producer of the public television program Town Meeting: A Community Response to Sexual Violence when I was working at the Minnesota Department of Health. In many ways this current project reflects my own evolution from that experience on a personal and professional level.

Since ‘Town Meeting,” which dealt with the effects of sexual violence and the need for prevention at the community level, I have continued to learn a lot about the things that lead to pain and harm in our society. I’ve also learned from other people, from research, and from my own experience about things that are especially important in helping us stay healthy and weather life’s challenges.

Part of what I’ve come to believe is that violence, abuse and despair cannot be prevented or overcome without healing.  Feeling connected, cared for and at peace can happen in many places and many ways. The Healing Ministry that’s described in this video is one avenue I’ve found that offers access to these things in a thoughtful and powerful way.

As a member of the Healing Team, I worked with the group off and on over the course of about a year  to examine the ways we understood and might communicate about this kind of ministry. We talked about our own experiences, the effects, concerns and fears we’d observed, and language that seemed to best capture something that ultimately transcends words. I also had conversations and meetings with the church leadership, to understand their views and seek their approval for the project.

When it came time to start filming, I started asking people who came for prayers about their experience. The people you see in the film were the only ones I interviewed – mainly because I found what each of them said, and said so eloquently, was all that was needed. I confess I feel that throughout this process there was a certain grace at work, consistent with the ministry itself.  Filming and editing took place over about 6 months total, with the final product completed this past summer. Once the video itself was done, there were legal/procedural issues that took additional time and energy, and which, while trying, offered still more lessons about production and opportunities to experience the Spirit at work.

For the Town Meeting, I had a producer, director/editor, crew, television studio, and contracting organization to work with.  For this project, I was flying solo – producing, filming, lighting, sound, interviewing, editing.. the whole deal.  While it’s been a long process, it’s also been very gratifying to use and develop my skills through this project, to build on what I’ve learned and experienced, and to share that with you!

Apparition at Devil Track River

In early July the temperature of the air and water were constantly fluctuating not only along the shore of Lake Superior, but in the microclimates of the many streams and rivers that feed into the lake.

As the sun passed behind some clouds and the air chilled, I saw a sudden mist form over the mouth of Devil Track River. It passed slowly, like a specter, across the rocks and water, and then was gone.

North Shore morning and evening

More from a recent trip to the North Shore.

 

 

These shots were created using Photomatix software, which is able to combine multiple exposures – very helpful for crepuscular shooting!

Sunset in Croftville

There’s a cold front on the way, and I’m preparing to say goodbye to summer. My next few posts will likely be of shots taken over the past couple months in one of my favorite summer places, along the north shore of Lake Superior near Grand Marais.

Sunset in Croftville

It’s all about the light

Last weekend my husband Mike and I were down in central Wisconsin. We drove back in the sweltering heat along Wisconsin’s very scenic Hwy. 35 which follows the Mississippi River and meanders through swampy lowlands, across backcountry farms, and past magnificent vistas of the river basin and surrounding hills.

Around Alma we encountered a thunderstorm that rained down big splattering raindrops. When we were on the other side of it I was excited to find my favorite light conditions – a dark storm blanketing the sky, with some sun breaking through to illuminate everything before it. I love the magical effects these conditions bring. In this case the sun was softly filtered – perfect for a portrait. I asked Mike to pull over at a scenic overlook and he graciously allowed me to take his picture. This photo was taken with an automatic Sony Cyber-shot – no bells and whistles – the light does it all!

This photograph has helped me realize more clearly how portraits rely on two kinds of light – the light from without, and the light from within. Part of my delight in being a photographer is discovering a natural harmony between the two, and an even bigger love that seems to come along with that.

Barn Bluff, Redwing

Last month on one of the few warm days we’ve had this spring, I took a hike with Mike up Barn Bluff in Redwing, MN. Overlooking the Mississippi River Valley, the top of the bluff allows one to see more distinctly the islands streaking the wide river and the contours of the many hills surrounding the river plain.

At this point the grass was just starting to emerge, and the only things with much color were the evergreens. In the bright spring sunlight most of the color of the landscape was washed out. I did a sketch of the lines and forms before me, think a bit of Depression-era painters who tended to simplify shapes and lines.

A couple weeks ago I painted the same scene, making edits here and there, and having some fun using color to define the different shapes. I’ve left the painting kind of sketchy, partly because when I returned to it today, anything I added felt wrong and I ended up scrubbing it out. The painting was telling me it was fine the way it was and didn’t want me to mess with it.

Winchester, UK

Mississippi River Bluffs

Several weeks ago my husband Mike and I took a drive south along the Mississippi River, on Highway 61. Once you pass Red Wing, there are miles of bluffs that rise up off the river plain. With just the snow and bare trees covering them, the hill shapes were drawn so graphically – it was thrilling to drive along seeing all the forms and variations!!

This past weekend I explored that effect some more through painting.

Kilve beach

Last September, while on a walking tour of the Quantock Hills in Somerset, UK, my husband and I spent the morning on perhaps the most amazing beach I’ve ever seen. Forged during the Jurassic period, the natural formations of fossil-embedded cliff, bedrock, stones, and today’s seaweed were endlessly interesting.