chucalissa indian village: [atlatl]

chucalissa indian village: 04 [atlatl], a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

Even on this cold day, MAGS members enjoyed visiting the grounds of Chucalissa, learning about the history of the plaza, and doing a little bit of spear throwing, aided by the use of an atlatl. The atlatl consists of a shaft with a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of a six-foot-long spear. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the spur. The spear is thrown by the action of the upper arm and wrist, using the atlatl as a low-mass, fast-moving extension of the throwing arm.

chucalissa indian village: [paleo-indian site]

chucalissa indian village: 01 [paleo-indian site], a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

Sherri and I joined about 20 members of the Memphis Archaeological and Geological Society [MAGS] recently for a day of fun and volunteering at the Chucalissa Indian Village. This was taken during our tour of the museum.

barefoot winter hike [shadow me]

barefoot winter hike: 11 [shadow me], a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

the hike is almost over.

barefoot winter hike [near sunset]

barefoot winter hike: 10 [near sunset], a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

At the beginning of this 6-mile late afternoon hike the temperature was 43ºF, but as I crossed this bridge on the way back to the parking lot, I think it had dropped 7 or 8 degrees. During the winter months the sunsets even look cold to me.

clark preserve winter matrix effect

clark preserve winter: 11, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

clark preserve winter cyanotype

clark preserve winter: 08, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

reflections in the wetlands

Exposure: 1.6 sec
Aperture: f/20.0
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Self-timer; tripod; zoom while shooting

clark preserve winter

clark preserve winter: 04, a photo by Argon[one] on Flickr.

Even though the day was a bit cool in the wetlands, it had been almost seven months since I last visited this place, so I spent a lot of time walking, observing, listening to the sounds of the wilderness on this day. I was the only person on the boardwalk. It was so quiet, the forest seemed loud. I could hear each rustle of the fallen leaves on the boardwalk as the winter wind blew them about. Tree branches brushed against one another, making scraping, cracking sounds. Even the wind was loud. It was a perfect day.

Exposure: 0.4 sec
Aperture: f/20.0
Focal Length: 55mm
ISO Speed: 200
Self-timer; tripod