Steven Helmer Publications

 Here are my thoughts from the Green Bay Packers 33-13 win at the Denver Broncos last night: There was quite a bit of improvement versus last week. The offense was finding the endzone all night and the defense was making things difficult for the Broncos. Considering Denver was one game away from the Super Bowl last season, that was an impressive task. Jordan Love may finally have his weapons. Obviously, health remains a concern, especially with receiver Christian Watson, but he seems to have receivers he has full confidence in. I think the less-is-more approach Green Bay took this season, allowing Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks to leave, gave him more of an opportunity to build a rapport with the ones who stayed, especially second-year player Matthew Golden. I liked the aggressiveness on defense. It's something that could be high risk but also has the potential to keep opposing offenses off rhythm, something that becomes important when your secondary is still a work in progress a...

Synopsis: Even though she has convinced herself she no longer has feelings for her ex-husband, James Lacey, Agatha Raisin is not looking forward to attending his wedding, especially after learning he is having second thoughts about marrying the beautiful and much younger Felicity Bross-Tilkington. The wedding, however, doesn't happen because the bride-to-be is killed while getting ready. After initially being considered a suspect until a hat purchase helped clear her name, Agatha is hired by Felicity's mom to find the killer. She agrees and gets help from her protege/rival Toni but, as the case progresses self-doubt and multiple attempts on her life have Agatha considering retirement. Review: While I have never been a big fan of the Agatha Raisin/James Lacey saga, the past few books from this series had me optimistic about There Goes the Bride when I checked it out from the library. As it turns out, it was a book I would consider a let-down. On the surface, the book has an in...

Synopsis: Stuart ( Kevin Sussman ) and friends are transported to a primitive Pasadena, with huts, no technology and a peaceful civilization that shares everything. While Stuart tries to find a piece of red quartz for the machine, Bert ( Brian Posehn ) falls in love with a native (Zoe Cipres) and Barry ( John Ross Bowie ) quickly makes his own negative mark on their society. My Thoughts:  This was the first episode to fly without the cameo safety net.  A true test of a spin-off series is if it can survive without the references to the original series and for the most part, I thought this one did pretty well. Not having the cameos gave more time for the main characters to do their thing. I liked how this episode reversed things a bit. Usually, the gang arrives in a world that is already screwed up in some way. This time, they arrived in what could arguably be a perfect, peaceful world and were the ones responsible for messing it up. I especially liked how it was a combination ...

My walk today came with some sadness because I came across a deceased muskrat. I'm not sure what happened to it other than it possibly was attacked by a hawk or something that was then scared off before it could eat. It seemed fairly recent though because the fur looked like it was still wet. Anyway, despite that, it did turn out to be a decent walk. I wound up skipping some trails because I didn't want to scare some green herons that were perched in the way but still got quite a few photos. Here are some of them: This frog was a bit of a surprise because it was some distance away from any of the ponds. Hopefully, it hopped back before it dried out (or was eaten by a snake). I mentioned the green herons. There were multiple birds hanging out around the largest pond, giving me plenty of opportunities to get photos from far enough away to keep from scaring them. I still haven't been able to photograph the large snapping turtles that have been swimming near the shore but did g...

  The squirrels need to go on a diet It sounds strange, but it’s true. The broken tree limb laying in my back yard proves it. The divots from the previous ones too. Perhaps they are having too many walnuts. Or are spending too much time at my bird feeders. They may get plenty of exercise But they sure are eaters. Today it was a large branch. Two weeks ago, it was literally half a tree. They may not look like they are getting chunky, But they must be carrying weight the naked eye can’t see. I’ll admit that there may be other explanations. Too much rain, too much wind, maybe ants or termites. It could even just be gravity Bringing the branches down both day and night. I’m not convinced though, Especially when those branches come down and aren’t quiet. The explanation, to me at least, seems clear. The squirrels need to go on a diet. ______________________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my other poems: The Night the Wisconsin Badger Tapped Out ...

I wasn't sure how wet the trails would be after the rain we got last night (or how many mosquitos would be out). However, they turned out to be manageable, and I was able to get my walk in today at lunch. I wasn't able to get photos of them because they were underwater, but the snapping turtles were swimming around near the shoreline, which was kind of cool to see. I did manage to get photos without them though. Some of them are below: I haven't had a ton of success with bee photos this year, but this was one of the better ones I've gotten. There were plenty of dragonflies buzzing around while I was watching the snapping turtles swimming, so I got a few photos of them. The snapping turtles stayed underwater but there were plenty of others that were out sunning themselves. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to photograph these two monarchs as they fed. __________________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my previous nature photo...