I started this photography journey 5 years ago! Hard to believe how fast time passes by! When the covid pandemic began I decided to take a photo a day and post on Instagram. I was trying to figure out how to use Instagram without posting the same thing as my personal Facebook. What I discovered is a whole new exciting world of photography and photographers who post a photo a day! I thought to myself how perfect during the pandemic lockdowns!
I started by taking photos of birds in my backyard! I expanded to taking my camera with me during my day and doing landscape photography. I’ve since upgraded my equipment and after 5 years have found a few great things about it all.
First, I love the chase! When I see a weather event happening I’m after it! I’m not a serious contender in the weather chasing business but in my little world it’s pretty fun! I love to find what nature creates for us and find a photo angle that expresses the amazingness about it. For instance take a look back to my previous post about the Lake Wissota Island in the fall and the story is pretty classic me.
Secondly, the thing I’ve discovered over the years is that what I was doing for myself actually is appreciated by many others. Instagram changes their algorithms every so often and it's hard to keep up with what the secret is to gaining viewers (I’m social media techy challenged it seems!). But I keep plugging along and enjoy when people find joy, too.
What posting a day on Instagram has taught me has become apparent over the years. When the day is hard and I’m not finding anything, I can always find something! When the day is uninspiring and I need to push to find something I always do. And I’ve learned so much from other photographers who post a photo a day. Relating that to life shows us that we can do it, one step at a time! The trick to it is to just go out, take the first step and get started.
Then it all comes together! When the day is good, great and perfect, getting the photo is satisfying and freeing. What a superb day that is! And it usually sprouts out of my frustration at needing to find something. There it is!! Amazing things happen in nature all day when you stop to notice!
Taking the small steps everyday always leads to producing something even if it is small. It may not be much but it’s something. Taking the small steps everyday is doing the small things that matter. The small things add up to the big things. Pretty soon you realize you’ve got some accomplishments! For me it was the portfolio of photographs that all comprised my book.
What are you waiting for? What have you done today to make you feel proud?
Author: Lisa Carey
The Balance Between Living with MS and Living Life
After having relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis for almost 22 years there are a few things that stand out as life changers. One is the anxiety of not knowing what the next relapse will bring and when it will hit. The other big stand out is how much the anxiety of “what if” takes from us.
MS is a chronic disease that is a marathon and not so much a sprint. I was relieved to learn when I was first diagnosed that it's not a death sentence. But it does bring urgent problems. Having MS is a rollercoaster but you literally have no idea where the next turn is. When a relapse hits it becomes the urgency of the day, week, month, half a year and it changes your daily life drastically.
I’ve had a few issues over the years that drastically changed my path. I went numb from the waist down which was a total urgent anxiety filled unwanted trip. I could actually feel the numbness creeping down my legs. Over time I overcame the issues of having no sense of feeling and what it brought. Over a longer period of time the numbness remitted and I felt better. I have no lasting impacts from that relapse, thankfully.
However, another biggie relapse was having optic neuritis that definitely changed my path. That episode unfortunately left permanent damage in my right eye’s optic nerve and I’m halfway blind in that eye. Living with MS, I’ve learned that we must roll with the punches, lean on your faith that everything will be okay and know that this too shall pass. Surviving such a relapse is about learning how to cope with what is thrown at us.
I’ve learned over the years that even though MS tries to and does inflict damage, my job is to deflect that damage, mentally and physically. I have chosen to give MS balance and a place and I live my life the best I can. It took me many years to get to this place and my hope is to help others living with the unknowns of MS to get to this place, too.
The hardest part of living with MS is the unknown. It takes away your sense of freedom and your sense of independence. I have fleeting moments of the person I was before I was diagnosed. Sometimes it's a place that takes me back, sometimes it's a song I hear. I think this happens to many people, not just those with chronic issues. When you are in the throes of a relapse, MS will however take your everything away. I’ll give it an inch, but I’m not giving it a mile!
Looking back to the previous me, I had a college degree, a great job and was determined to have it all. And I did have it all. Best of all, I still have it all! But it's different and I feel different. Dare to say that over the years I feel more relaxed about it all. Maybe this sense just comes with age and becoming older and wiser and having gone through all the stuff. I have the privilege to understand that no matter what, I will be okay!
So as I look at my life and all the challenges I can say I’m a survivor. In the grief process that MS brings, I am definitely at acceptance. And while I accept MS and what it brings to my life, I also am feeling like my old self. There is a little piece of the old me that comes out! It’s called resilience and living the life I want to live, albeit a little different than what I thought it would be. I have a home, a husband who stands like a rock for our family with three beautiful children and I get to use my camera and take photos everyday. I’m living my dream, actually!
I am filled with the gifts I’ve received in life and have found my strength through the years of struggles! The key to happiness is finding joy and you are much stronger than you think you are! It's all a mindset!
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
Life Re-Wired Podcast
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#multiplesclerosis #cancersurvivor #inspirationBest of 2024
Best of 2023
Best of 2023 Poster
Best of 2023 celebrates the beauty of Wisconsin through the lens of award-winning photographer, Lisa Carey. This stunning poster showcases nature’s artistry across the four seasons – the vibrant blooms of spring, the golden warmth of summer, the fiery colors of autumn, and the serene stillness of winter. Each image captures not only breathtaking scenery but also the spirit of Wisconsin’s ever-changing landscapes. From sweeping lakeshores, animals in action, to quiet forests, these photographs remind us of the wonder found in our own backyard. A tribute to both artistry and nature, this collection honors the unforgettable moments that defined 2023 in Wisconsin’s great outdoors.
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Nature’s Resilience Show’s Us Strength!
The purple coneflower is a symbol of nature’s resilience! The flower's strength teaches us about endurance and surviving challenges. As it’s associated with the herb echinacea it represents wellness and recovery with its anti-inflammatory properties. It helps us to understand negative energy or illness and uses its strength to focus on the good and to not only survive, but to survive well.
What a better plant and flower to pay attention to! Flower photography has been something I’ve completely enjoyed every summer. Getting the perfect angle to make a flower stand out a little better. I grow both purple and white coneflowers in my flower garden. They are the highlight of the suns rays and flourish. They also get many visitors including bees and butterflies of all kinds. When the flowers turn to seeds later at the end of summer you will also find Goldfinches busy grabbing the seeds. When you stop to notice you’ll discover a very busy bug land all summer!
It helps me to ground myself to notice what nature holds for us. I’m constantly trying to find the balance between living the life I want and not pushing my MS into a flurry. Being steady and even keel are the keys to winning at life when living with MS. MS can rear itself easily if I’m not careful. And the ramifications are big if I push myself too much. Most of my relapses I’ve learned over the years happen after I pushed myself too hard. I crave to feel normal. But sometimes normal is too much and I don’t want to awaken the sleeping giant within me. So I need to be aware. It can cause anxiety and concern when a MS symptom arises, did I go too far? What do I need to do to help myself and settle the giant back down? It causes me to stop and assess where I’m at and what I’m feeling. I take action by resting and eating right and staying hydrated and then more resting. I do my photo editing on my computer when I’m in rest mode. So my life’s schedule works very well being a photographer between capturing the photo and then resting and editing.
For moments of chasing the butterfly or bee with my camera in the garden, I can lose myself in something that’s completely positive and gives me a photo result that I’m hopeful I can share and make people happy. At the time I took the photo, I was completely content and being in the moment.
When you look at my book, that was the inspiration I had. I’ve been taking a photo a day since covid began in March 2020 and posting them on Instagram. And every photo captured has been a joy to get because it takes me to just that present time. What a gift! I forget about all the issues that plague my body and go after the photo. So the chase is important and just like the purple or white coneflower with the bees and the butterflies, it represents strength, beauty and resilience! And that’s where I find joy in living and finding the good! I hope you do, too!
To see my book and purchase a copy you can head to my main webpage! I’d love to send you a copy showcasing my work! Let me know what you think, too!
Coon Creek Canoe Races
My daughter and I were headed to a graduation party of a dear friend's son in Madison. After trying to find a park and ride to leave her car along the interstate without any luck, I just decided to travel the extra hour and pick her up for our overnight trip. And I realized we could take Hwy 14! A road I hadn’t taken since graduating from college in 1992!
I loved my ride from LaCrosse to Middleton, back to my hometown when I was in college. It was probably the beginning of me always taking the scenic route. And boy did it not disappoint 34 years later! The highway between LaCrosse and Richland Center, (which is about half way), is absolutely stunning terrain! The memories of all my trips in my cars that barely ran and I’m lucky to have made it home back then all came back to me!
On the way back the next day, we had to stop at Coon Valley. Coon Creek is a small creek but I found it to be a swift little creek that runs right through Coon Valley. It brought back memories of the Coon Creek Canoe Race in spring of 1991. The UW-L Recreation Dept put on a fundraiser that was a canoe race down Coon Creek for about 2-3 miles. A fun event! I was the Advertising Director at the student Newspaper, The Racquet. Fellow student, Duane Nelson was the Business Mgr and he mentioned we had been invited to run in the Celebrity Race of Coon Creek. It was held on that Saturday morning of the event and Brucie Bumchuckles from the local radio station was the 7 years reigning champion of the race! Duane asked me if I knew how to paddle a canoe! Um yes, I grew up on canoes! We were in!
We showed up early that Saturday morning for the race! We got our canoe and paddle, got set and started floating down the creek! Duane and I had talked about beating Brucie and knew he was ahead of us a bit. As we paddled hard, I noticed the cows and my memory is of one peeing down the embankment and the large flood of urine went right into the creek. Eww.
But up ahead was Brucie! He happened to be stuck on a sandbar and was hopping out into the creek to get his canoe unstuck. Duane said “paddle hard!”. And just as we were passing Brucie, he grabbed our canoe to hold us back while he tried to free his canoe off the sandbar. Duane jumped out to give us a push and we were released from Brucie’s grip! Duane almost didn’t make it back into our canoe.
I can still hear Brucie behind us paddling as hard as he could to catch us! But we were almost to the finish line and when we crossed the media covering the event passed us and went to interview Brucie about his upset by the college kids. Well, our job was done I guess. We upset the champion and it was sweet but uneventful at the same time! We felt good as we looked at our accomplishments and high-fived each other! I still have the trophy paddle somewhere in a box!
Later that night the party beer tent at Coon Creek Canoe Races in Coon Valley emptied and everyone headed to downtown LaCrosse’s Third Street.
Bar time came around and the bars emptied to the street. It was packed! One side of the street started chanting “Taste’s Great” and the other side chanted, “Less filing!” A take back to the popular Miller Lite beer commercials. People filled the street and no cars could get through. Next thing you know some college kid was jumping on the back bumper of a parked cop car and soon enough the jumping was enough to flip the cop car on its side. Gas was leaking from the car and someone lit it all on fire with a lighter, not the greatest idea ever to do! The car was engulfed with fire.
My roommate and I stood across the street and I realized the police in riot gear were walking down the street from both sides. Wow, this is crazy. The police shot tear gas into the crowd, I grabbed my roommate's hand and told her to squint as we ran to get out of the way! I realized we didn’t need to be here now! We ended up walking home a few blocks and my roommate lost her contact lenses in the tear gas.
What a day, what a night! The college student who had lit the car on fire was arrested some time later in North Dakota. I remember calling home and telling my mom that I was there as Dan Rather on the NBC Nightly News reported on it on her tv!
No one remembers that there was a celebrity race at Coon Creek except maybe a few. Many people remember the little riot that evening. The UW-L Recreation Dept. no longer was able to have a beer tent and a few years later the Coon Creek Canoe Races ended.
The Coon Valley is a beautiful place in Southwest Wisconsin. It's called the driftless area as the glaciers had ended and left big rolling hills. It's a mix of farmland and small towns and a large Amish population. A great little road trip down memory lane!
I Met an Owl Like Me!
I didn’t know I needed to meet a barred owl! I’ve always loved owls and when we lived in Colorado they were so easy to spot in the wild, especially when the leaves were off the trees. They liked to nest and perch in the scrub oak trees which are all over the front range of Colorado. In Wisconsin they prefer the pine trees and it's near impossible to see them. As we have moved back to Wisconsin I’ve been keeping my eye wide open for an owl, any owl! And I saw a Barred Owl which was wonderful about two years ago.
So when the Lake Wissota State Park near me was doing an owl program one Saturday morning early summer this year, I jumped and went! Something said to me that I must go! I got to meet Luna, a Barred Owl with the Beaver Creek Nature Preserve. She was quite the sight and it was great to meet her.
Her handler explained a little about Barred Owls and then said Luna came to them after her recovery from a car collision. She had lost her right eye. Wow, imagine that! She’s just like me!
I have MS and about 6-7 years ago I had a relapse with optic neuritis. For many people optic neuritis is the diagnosing symptom for ms. It happened to me about 15 years into this MeSs. I was out gardening and got a little too hot and the next day my right eye was fading in color.
Over the next 48 hours the fade had turned totally black except for my peripheral vision. I couldn’t see anything right in front of me except blackness. It was very upsetting and extremely concerning as it affected my eyesight so I went to the neurologist. I learned that steroid use may (may?) help it heal faster but the end result will be the same with or without the steroid use. Based on my past steriod use it can be very harsh on our bodies and sometimes I feel the treatment is worse than the problem. So I decided to wait it out not wanting to go through the side effects of steriods again knowing full well how important eyesight is.
The end result after about 6 months was that my eyesight was somewhat resolved. After a year it remained the same. And after about 5 years it has still remained at that permanent damaged state. I can see with my eye but it’s like looking through glass smeared with vaseline. I can’t read or really see what’s on tv or details when looking at people. My left eye can see all that, thankfully.
As a photographer I’ve learned to adjust. My right eye was my dominant. But not being able to see through my camera lens made me switch it all up to use my left! And that works just fine! I can see completely with my left eye no problem.
Thinking back to Luna, the Barred Owl who does public awareness for Beaver Creek. Does she know how important she is? Does she know why she is there helping others and helping us to learn about wildlife and their plight? This came to me as I watched her watch us with her one eye. And I realized I can use my knowledge (and my one eye) to help others who are living with MS. Navigating a chronic illness takes support from family, friends and support groups. So through the help of some friends, I was able to publish a book of my photography with inspiration as the background theme. And I’m working on a longer book about my life’s journey due to publish later this year. In this future book, you will read more about the issues I’ve had to overcome living with MS. And learn that survival is a mindset of positivity and finding what our strengths are. Living with one eye isn’t all that bad, my glass is half full, not half empty. I think it’s Luna approved!
Learn more about Luna and other animals at Beaver Creek Nature Reserve.
The Legacy of the Orange Tiger Lilies
My Great Grandpa passed away when I was young. I remember his strength at 90 years old when we played keep away as he sat in his chair in my grandpa’s house. That’s probably my biggest memory of him! Little did I know at the time how my future decades later brings it all back to him!
My Great Grandpa Joe was born after his parents immigrated to Kansas from Sweden. Joe grew up in Kansas and attended business school at Bethany College. His sister was getting married to a traveling lutheran minister from Illinois. My eventual grandmother, Ada, traveled to Kansas from Illinois for the wedding which at the time was a big trip by train. Ada met Joe at his sister’s wedding and I’m envisioning some hearts were moved!
Joe’s heart did move! He moved to Rockford, IL to follow his heart and win over Ada. They married and settled in Rockford, Illinois. It’s a good thing they did or I wouldn’t be here, nor would my mom or my grandpa! Joe was always interested in gardening and had a nice vegetable and perennial patch in the bungalow he and Ada had purchased. During the Great Depression the garden was ever so important! That is where the tiger lily story begins!
The tiger lilies began in Great Grandpa Joe’s garden! I’d like to think the seeds came from Kansas but that’s unknown. These tiger lillies have been alive and blooming ever since and I find that pretty amazing! The flowers bloomed for Joe at his bungalow where he planted them. After his passing the tiger lillies moved to my grandpa’s house in Rockford. When he had to move into an independent living apartment, the tiger lillies moved again to Madison, WI where I grew up and my family lived. My mom ended up staying in the area after attending and working at UW Madison. The tiger lily bulbs moved a few places with my mom in the Madison and Middleton area. She was sure to dig them up and take them with! When my mom moved to Chippewa Falls after we ended up there, the tiger lilies moved again! They are now in my garden and I’m proud to say they love where they are planted.
The thing about the tiger lilies to me besides their journey over the last 100 plus years is their color! It's significant as I was diagnosed with having MS over 21 years ago. Orange is the color that represents Multiple Sclerosis. The National MS Society and the ms group locally in Eau Claire, MS - Take Charge, all use the color orange in their logos and ribbons as its their color. And one of the photos I took in my garden is of Great Grandpa Joe’s tiger lilies that won an award at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair’s photography contest! As little as it seems, it's significant to me! He must be beaming with joy in Heaven! I’m the one with MS and while no one could’ve ever predicted it back then, our paths are laid out before us in purpose when you slow down to notice the significances!
The tiger lilies are about half up at the end of June now. They will bloom the end of July. I will be sure to update you all! And I know my Great Grandpa Joe and my Grandpa Bert are smiling down on the fact that these tiger lily bulbs have been nurtured and are thriving! Life is good!
Are You Mastering Your Day?
Parenting teenagers in their last years of high school isn’t for the weak or weary. Especially when you want to keep them on track. It's a balance of telling them you want them to do better than you and not to do what I did… yet without actually telling them what you did! We try to give them space to spread their wings and bring them back when they stray a bit. Yes, I got in trouble like most teens but I was a good kid, and my kids are good people, too! I just need them to realize the good that they have to reach their full potential in their life as they reach adulthood!
One morning as I drove my youngest to school I was keeping an eye on my older twins as they drove themselves to school. For some reason my daughter's Life360 tracker got “stuck” in the high school parking lot. And I knew full well that most of the time the app program didn’t glitch, but she had turned it off. So my radar turned on!
Now the thing that my daughter didn’t know is that while she shut off Life360 her iPhone was still in tracking mode and through the powers that be… I could see right where she was! And that’s right where I headed! To McDonalds, for a cup of coffee, I went!
I pulled into the parking lot and saw her friend's car. Yep, they were here! I parked and went inside and my daughter seeing me coming in headed straight for the bathroom. As I entered McDonalds I saw the women’s bathroom door close. I approached her friends who were standing in the McDonald’s lobby with their mouth’s open, staring at me, with goofy looks!
I asked them in a surprised voice “what are they doing here?” I said I was getting some coffee and what a coincidence! But they were supposed to be in class at school. Yes, they replied but they needed some food first.
And then my daughter appeared out of the bathroom with a silly look on her face. What a coincidence, I exclaimed! She was totally embarrassed. And I realized this moment was a great teaching moment for them. I asked them who they were hurting by not being in class, it certainly wasn’t the teacher. They said it was themselves.
And then I came up with the saying, “Are you mastering your day?” No, they confirmed they were not. And so the saying stuck and her friends will now text me or tell me when they see me their successes they are having and that they are mastering their day! I actually love where it has gone and I’m pretty sure I left a pretty big impression on them about doing the best they can in all they do!
So, I ask you, too! Are you mastering your day? It doesn’t take much, just do the things you should be doing! A regular day or off on an adventure, are you doing the right thing for yourself?