When I let Lola (the dog) out into the early morning darkness to do her business on Wednesday, I was greeted by brisk temps and the sound of more rain falling.

After an audible f-bomb and a heavy sigh at the prospect of yet another lumber in stank’ n’ dank spring conditions, I gave myself permission to take the day off.

However, knowing that I have itches that need scratching (not there), and that my already crap mood would be crapper if I didn’t get outside with my camera, I opted for a Photo Creep at the Hall’s Lake Natural Area with my semi-ghetto Nikon macro set up (z6 + 105mm macro lens, broken lens hood, shot handheld, no flash). Yes, that’ll do, thank you very much.

Some may ask, “Hey J, what’s the difference between a lumber and a photo creep?” Well, a lumber is a quick-paced hike between 5 and 8 miles. usually completed in under 2 hours, depending on mileage and conditions. And a photo creep is a 1 to 3-mile creep through the woods that could easily take as long or longer, but my heart rate stays in the “he might be dead” range, and the mileage does not qualify for The 2026 Soiled & Ignorant Tour.

***

So, off to Hall’s I went looking for signs of spring, critters, and if I was lucky, some color that wasn’t various shades of Michigan mud.

Well, there wasn’t too much color to be found, but I managed to capture some signs of spring nature nubbins, and even found a couple of red-backed salamanders (direct relations to my friend Sal at Deerfield) chilling out under some small logs.

The creep might not have burned off Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final beers, but my itch to be in the woods with my camera was indeed scratched. I hope to get back to regular lumbering on Thursday.

Cheers to scratched creative itches, nature nubbins, found salamanders, rain-soaked woods, photos taken, and bad moods put right.

Later.