Story Behind the Photo, edition five

I have many interests (don't we all?) but one thing they all have in common is nature. I'm a creature of the woods, a skulker of the forest, but the world around me offers other paradises. 

The photo above was taken at Pope Farms in Middleton, Wisconsin. Pope Farms was once a sheep farm on the edge of Madison. It's now a fabulous restored ecosystem with several types of native prairie and even a some wood. It's a great place to get lost during the warmer months. 

I miss green. Spring 2016 can't arrive soon enough.

BOUNS photo:

Notice that wooden tower in the distance? It can be seen from the top of the hill in the photo above. It's a ski jump, one once used by Olympians (and I'm told Teddy Kennedy once rocketed down that jump on a dare).  

It all takes me back to Henry hurtling down the ski jump in Blue on the Horizon. Imagine you are a troll witnessing the human madness. Certain death awaits young Henry yet he gleefully shoves off and soars into a triumphant descent down a wicked slope.  Now imagine you are a rabbit sized troll sliding down that jump on nothing more than a tortoise shell. Insanity! But Twig does it, and helps to save the village. Confused? Read Blue on the Horizon. It's free on Amazon, Nook Barnes and Noble, itunes,  kobo ...most places digital books are sold. 

Wisconsin was once littered with ski jumps. One even existed outside my hometown. Settled by the Norwegians I celebrate in Blue, they brought the traditions of their homeland to Wisconsin. You just won't catch me flinging myself down one of those things.