I have to compare yesterday's crane count to fishing. Sometimes you don't see any, but the day is never wasted. Plus, a bad day of crane counting is still better than a good day at work.

The weather wasn't too cold for the start of Earth Week and the 5:30 a.m. start of the Annual Midwest Crane Count, though a few raindrops fell. My son accompanied me and we saw lots of deer, some turkeys and even a bluebird. We hiked around in the woods and saw the sunrise together. Even though we didn't see any cranes, hanging out in nature is not something we do enough of and the day wasn't wasted. Today, the same son would have gone canoeing with me down the Fox if I hadn't totalled the canoe earlier and if the Wauk. Parks canoe trip hadn't been cancelled due to the danger of high water.

Because I used to work weekends, and because of the coordinator's ACT tests last year, yesterday was the first time we were able to get together with others for breakfast after the count at the Machine Shed. Sara and her family were there as were several other counters, including first time Waukesha counter Kathy, who used to count in Central Wisconsin. It was interesting to hear how long the others have been doing the count, where they count, how many they saw, and why they are doing it. Sara, our coordinator, has parlayed her experience and devotion into a $5000.00 scholarship to Northland College in Ashland and will continue to lead our count from there as she increases her knowledge of the natural world.

There's a nice front page article in today's Sunday Journal Sentinel on the quest to reintroduce a second migratory population of whooping cranes in North America. Whooping cranes are the rarest cranes in the world and what we're doing in our count somehow helps in their reintroduction. Wherever sandhill cranes live, so whooping cranes can. By noting shifts in sandhill populations due to food, development or whatever, we are also helping tell the International Crane Foundation how successful their efforts at reintroduction could be. We're not just counting sandhill cranes any more. Sure, we're watching for a rare whooper, but we're also watching for leg bands, radio collars, and certain behavior... Are cranes exhibiting mating behavior or are they all males?  Are they guarding their territory or are they passing through? It all means something to someone. Getting out in nature on an early morning means a lot to me. 

I'm so glad Waukesha always stages their Fourth of July fireworks on the fourth of July. I noticed this year that Milwaukee and several other communities wasted the aesthetical opportunity by blowing their pricey and usually nice fireworks off in the rain on Tuesday the third. If only they'd have waited one more day . . .

The Expo Center is close enough to walk to and my son and I passed many fun looking backyard and street-side gatherings along the way. We found an excellent spot, which I won't divulge, that was mowed, practically bug-free, not too crowded and close to the action. There seemed to be people perched in every available vantage point -- even the Huber inmates once again had front row seats -- and thanks to the great weather, every spot was a winner.

I took my camera and tripod and got some decent photos of the explosions by leaving the shutter open a few seconds. I watch for specific things in fireworks and am always surprised by seeing something unexpected. This year my favorite shell consisted of a burst which darkened before multiple groups of sparklies lit up the entire area of the huge circle. The circumference of the explosion was so huge that I imagined I was looking at our earth from the darkness of space, and the multiple groups of sparklies were lit cities at night.

Obviously a lot of effort, and money thanks to Don Belman Homes, goes into creating, coreographing and launching a quality display. By not launching in Tuesday's wet weather everyone here enjoyed the best fireworks display I've personally ever seen. The calm winds were just enough to move the smoke but not too much to distort the "falling stars." Normally the smoke is an unpleasant byproduct of fireworks but Wednesday the smoke took on shapes of their own and was kept intact as it slowly drifted eastward. We saw so many huge rings and spidery trails of smoke that the smoke became part of the total experience -- something that would have been washed out on Tuesday.

If seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong were to visit what would you do? I rode my bike over yesterday morning to see him and many other participants in the TREK 100, the MACC Fund's Ride for Hope fundraising bike ride which began at WCTC. My black Schwinn rummage sale special was clearly in the minority as well more than 90% of the bikes appeared to be TREK bikes. It was a TREK Mecca with, it had to have been thousands, of pricey Trek bikes. The president of TREK Corp. was there and introduced Lance, who raced TREK bikes in seven straight Tour de France wins.

Armstrong said just a few short words to the crowd, once the mic problem was fixed, and joined others at the beginning to lead off the ride. I saw a lot of photographers crowding around him and I didn't want to be one of those, so I didn't get any decent pictures of him. Just as well, put everyone in a colorfull jersey, bike helmet and sunglasses and you'd be surprised how similar they look.

There was some variety though. I tried hard to spot non-TREK bikes and actually saw a few, even saw a couple tandem bikes. Not everyone wore Spandex either - I saw one guy with cotton shorts and a t-shirt!

I contemplated joining the TREK 100 this year, the first year I was able, but knew I wasn't ready. Not only was it $35.00 to enter plus $1.00 a mile in pledges, but I don't own a helmet, bike shorts or Spandex. While many distances were offered, my ego would only allow me to try the 100, for which I hadn't prepared. I know my bike would have made it but my body would have hated it. Maybe next year, with sponsors.

Because I wasn't in the ride this year I payed attention to the weather because, you know, it would probably be too windy or rainy anyway. Even though a short thunder storm passed through the area, it produced only a few drops, and for the most part it was a nice day Saturday.

From WCTC I continued on my bike around Pewaukee Lake to Hwy. 83 and KE in time for the start of a seven mile Ice Age Trail hike to commemorate National Trails Day. I read about the hike on WaukeshaNOW and it interested me. Hiking the trail costs nothing and, even though there's close to 1000 miles of Wisconsin trails, I'd never hiked it before. Not really sure how long a seven mile hike takes, I brought nothing but a camera and water bottle. The smart ones brought walking sticks, food, bug spray . . .

A little over thirty of us began the hike. The steep terrain soon leveled off and eventually passed right through downtown Hartland and beyond. We crossed paths with TREK 100 riders outside Bark River Park, where the Kiwanis Club was sponsoring a fishing clinic for kids. Rain threatened but trees along the Bark River sheltered us.

Seven miles, 14000 steps, 3-1/2 hours, and several friendships later the hike sadly ended and I continued on my bike the rest of the way around Pewaukee Lake, returning home via the Lake Country Trail. I learned a lot yesterday and was impressed by everyone I met and everything I saw. After 20 years of working weekends I told myself I'd never waste a weekend when I lost the job last year. I met a woman who had retired just the day before and her husband, a former Earth Science teacher from Oconomowoc, still teaching me about the plants and land. A gal from Milwaukee was just returning to hiking after recent foot surgery. One nice couple knew a lot about the area because they used to farm the land we were hiking on and still lived nearby. . . This weekend wasn't wasted.