Tragedy in the New Year

Pallbearers prepare to transport Russell Piehl, to  Fairview Cemetery in Denver, Iowa on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. Piehl was a Mercy AirMed flight paramedic and was killed along with two other crew members in a crash of the Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa AirMed helicopter north of Ventura on January 2nd.

The Patriot Guard stands holding flags during the funeral of Russell Piehl, of Forest City, at  Fairview Cemetery in Denver, Iowa on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. Piehl was a Mercy AirMed flight paramedic in Mason City, and was killed along with two other crew members in a crash of the Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa AirMed helicopter north of Ventura on January 2nd.

Melody Piehl, front left, of Forest City, wife of Russell Piehl, reacts as she is surrounded by family and friends during her husbands funeral at Fairview Cemetery in Denver, Iowa on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013.

©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

The Last Day of 2012

From left to right, Ben Roussell, 7, Joe Roussell, 9, and Joshua Heine, 9, all of Cedar Falls, race down a hill in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012.

Ben Prostine, of Cedar Falls, cross-country skis through Fairview Cemetery in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012.

©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Braving the Storm

Theo TePaske, of Waterloo, wears a face mask to guard against wind gusts as he rounds up shopping carts at Walmart in Waterloo, Iowa on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Winter Challenge

Brandon Swindler, of Ames, follows the flag markers as he runs in the fifth annual Iowa State Snowshoe Championships, which is part of the Braveheart Snowshoe Series, held at Hartman Reserve in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Winter Activities on Main Street

Ron Dillavou, left, carves an ice sculpture with a chainsaw as passers by look on in front of the World's Window on Main Street in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier


Jim Nadeau, right, of Waterloo, carves an ice sculpture with a chainsaw as passers-by look on, in front of the Black Hawk Hotel on Main Street in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier


Justin Welch, left, and Jodie Roettger, right, of Heritage Farms, drive Molly Jo Trolley II down Main Street in Cedar Falls,Iowa during Jingle and Mingle on Main on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Silo Summit 2010

Ben Caskey, front right, of Iowa City, advises climbers on proper footing as they prepare for the Silo Summit, an annual collegiate silo ice climbing competition hosted by Don Briggs, since 2001, at the farm of Rusty Leymaster, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier


Climbers scale the silo at the farm of Rusty Leymaster in Cedar Falls, Iowa, as they practice for the Silo Summit, an annual collegiate silo ice climbing competition hosted by Don Briggs, since 2001, on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier


Paige Messner, of South Illinois University at Edwardsville, rests in a crevice as she practices climbing the iced silo before the Silo Summit, an annual collegiate silo ice climbing competition hosted by Don Briggs, since 2001, at the farm of Rusty Leymaster, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Winter Art

Frost collects on a branch along Main Street in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Still

Ice collects on tree branches along Main Street in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Brisk Run

Carrie Denton, of Raymond, frosts over as she participates in the practice run for the Fools 5K run/walk at George Wyth State Park in Waterloo, Iowa, on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009. Donations raised from the event will help in the rebuilding of park facilities that suffered flood damage.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Frost

Frost cascades across a window on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
©Dawn J. Sagert

Winter Walk

Sue Holms, front center, and Al Holms, back center, of Waterloo, walk their four dogs Sammie, front left, Bo, back left, Sydnie, front right, and Cheyenne, back right, on the Cedar Valley Bike Trail near North Hackett Road in Waterloo, Iowa, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Dry Winter

Dried branches stand tall in a pool of snow on Hartman Avenue in Waterloo, Iowa, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.
©Dawn J. Sagert

Ring of Ice

A ring of snow-covered ice surrounds a rock in the Cedar River in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008.
©Dawn J. Sagert

Only seconds after I started trying to find the angle I liked the best, the ring released itself from the rock and plopped into the river. At least I got this one :-)

Iced Over

A layer of icicles covers a car in a used car lot on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, following Saturday's winter storm.
©Dawn J. Sagert


Icicles adorn a stoplight at the corners of University Avenue and Round Street in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008, following Saturday's winter storms.

©Dawn J. Sagert

Play Date

Loki, a two and a half month old Huskie, left, playfully attacks Meeko, a two-year-old Min-Pin, right, in the snow on a play date in Hudson, Iowa, Sunday, Dec. 07, 2008.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

Isn't he just vicious??! :-)

Hungry

A squirrel munches on corn left in a feeder on a tree perch on Chalmers Avenue in Waterloo, Iowa, Tuesday, Dec. 09, 2008.
©Dawn J. Sagert


A squirrel munches on corn left in a feeder on a tree perch on Chalmers Avenue in Waterloo, Iowa, Tuesday, Dec. 09, 2008.
©Dawn J. Sagert

Season's First Snowmen

Jackson Joblinske,6, left, and Mason Joblinske,9, right, of Waterloo, work together building snowmen in their front yard on Lyon Avenue,on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008, in Waterloo, Iowa.
©Dawn J. Sagert/The Waterloo Courier

The End is Near?

Ice melts in residential area of Waterloo on Monday (and everywhere else too). Thick sheets of ice and slush break apart as small streams of trickling water move through.

It's SO nice to see the pavement again!


Waterloo park offers slushy appeal as temperatures rise to the upper 30's today, Wednesday, March 12, 2008.

Word of the Day

Almost everyday I try to give myself a word or theme to photograph.



Today's word was "contradiction".

Desolate Beauty

Winter rests peacefully over George Wyth State Park in Waterloo, Iowa on Tuesday evening, March 4, 2008. Although storms continue to pass through the area causing many delays and school closings, they leave behind this desolate beauty that lends calm.