Steven Helmer Publications

After days of cool temps and rain, we finally had a nice day today so I decided to take advantage of it by lighting the grill. Since I needed something to throw on it, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and picked up a box of Johnsonville Mushroom & Swiss Grillers. This was not a planned purchased. I had planned on picking up either a couple steaks or some chicken. However, the grillers happened to be on sale for $3.99 and the mushroom & Swiss variety, which I had never had before, looked decent so I ended up making this purchase instead. Overall, I have to say my opinion of this product ended up being a bit mixed. One thing I found I did like about this product right off the bat was how easy it was to get the patties separated once I took them out of the box. I know this is something that probably isn't a huge deal for other people. But, one of my biggest pet peeves with most frozen patties (brat patties or otherwise) is having to spend several minutes...

This time, it was at another park while I was taking my lunchtime walk. I didn't get as good of a photo of this one since it was swimming in the pond quite some distance away from me, but I caught part of him before he went under water.

I just went for a walk up the street this morning because it was wet (more rain) and foggy. However, as I walked through Swan Park, I was pleasantly surprised to see this little guy. I've seen this muskrat at the park before. But, it is usually in the duck pond and I've never been able to get a photo of it before it dived under the water. Today, it stayed out in the open long enough for me to get a couple shots of it.

I wasn't originally planning on going for my walk at lunch today. However, the weather was nice and, since I figured it wouldn't last too long, I decided to squeeze it in at the last second. As a result of this, I didn't have anything with me for lunch so, after walking, I ended up stopping off at our local Kwik Trip convenience store for a burger. While I was there, I noticed this item on the shelf in their refrigerator section and was admittedly intrigued. I like pickles but very rarely have them as a snack. So, since this was only 99 cents and I figured, if nothing else, I could use some of them on my burger, I decided to give them a try. Overall, I have to say I was happy with my purchase. One thing I found I liked about this product when I was eating them at my desk was the fact they weren't packed in brine. This made them much less messy than pickles might otherwise be and, had my hand been small enough to fit in the bag, the pickle slices would have been j...

It was kind of cool outside the past few times I went for a walk and I didn't see too many turtles out as a result. It was warmer today, however, and I did spot these three on a log.

This is the time of year when the young robins are leaving the nest. I happened to come across this one while on my walk today. It must have just left the nest and was still trying to figure out how to fly because it didn't move the whole time I was taking photos of it. Hopefully, it figured out the flying part of things before something came along to eat it.

I decided to go for a walk at lunch today. Since it has been raining and I knew my normal trails would be extremely muddy, I stuck to the (still soggy) dog walking trails. I didn't see much, but I did come across this butterfly as it was resting on one of the plants.

It was still very overcast this morning and, with the rain we've been having, I decided to keep my walk short and went by the lake. Here are some of the photos I was able to get, despite it being kind of dark out. There were quite a few geese at the park this morning. This, of course, meant I had to watch where I was stepping out of fear of getting something smelly stuck to my shoe. But, at least they were cooperative as far as photos are concerned. The lake was really choppy this morning. I know there have been concerns about the rising water levels and those waves were actually pretty scary looking. Even the ducks were afraid of the water. They were all hanging out on shore or on some of the boat launch platforms rather than trying to swim around in the lake.

Synopsis: When 17-year-old Tyler gets in a fight with his girlfriend, Alison, while at a party and, believing they broke up, sleeps with Holly, a girl he met while standing in line for the bathroom. Realizing he and Alison still love each other, he feels guilty about his infidelity and tries to leave his mistake in the past. However, when an obsessed Holly transfers to his school, she makes it clear she has no intention of letting him do that. Who's in it? The movie stars Bella Thorne , Halston Sage , Taylor John Smith, Anna Akana and Nash Grier. Review: I saw this movie on Netflix a couple days ago and, thinking it looked somewhat interesting, added it to my list. Since our evening plans were ruined by bad weather, my wife and I ended up watching it last night. Even though I thought the movie sounded interesting, I did have some doubts about it when we started watching it last night. This is because, from the description, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a re...

My wife was in the mood for tacos yesterday and, since it happened to be Taco Tuesday, she ended up stopping off at the store to pick up the stuff to make them. In addition to buying taco shells and seasoning , she also ended up buying a box of Old El Paso Spanish Rice to serve as a side dish. I had seen this boxed product at our local grocery stores before but had never purchased it (or, at least I don't remember buying it). And, as a result of that, I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. But, as it turns out, it ended up being pretty decent. I ended up picking mulberries when I got home and wasn't in the house when my wife prepared this item. As a result of that, I honestly couldn't tell you how much work it required. However, my wife did not seem stressed  (as sometimes happens when she's cooking) when I came back inside the house and, based on that, I can safely assume the instructions were easy to follow and it wasn't overly difficult to prepar...

I've seen this little guy before. But, he's usually hiding behind a tree or on the island in the middle of the duck pond. I was lucky enough to be able to get within a couple feet of him this morning and take this photo. I really love the colors, especially the red eyes.

It looked like it was going to rain this morning (it did a little later on) so I decided to play it safe and ended up taking a short walk in the park up the street from me rather than a longer walk. There isn't as much activity in that park. But, I did see this squirrel as I entered it.

Here are my thoughts from last night's 2-hour series finale: 1. I was very disappointed by the way the first hour of this finale was essentially wasted. Other than Spencer ( Troian Bellisario ) getting clonked on the head by Mona ( Janel Parrish ) at the very end, the entire first episode consisted of relationship talk, wedding proposals and PG-13-level sex scenes. The writers could have used that time a little more productively, perhaps introducing us to Spencer's twin, Alex (also Bellisario), sooner so her story didn't seem so rushed. 2. I have mixed feelings about the whole evil twin reveal. It was, admittedly, a clever move, especially when it was tied in with some earlier head-scratching scenes that made me question how Spencer seemed to either be in two places at once or move from one place to another at superhuman speed. However, I also felt a little cheated. Rosewood has so many potential bad guys to choose from and it was a little disappointing it wasn't so...

I saw this fellow while on my walk at lunch today. I think there might be a nest/eggs in the grass behind him because, as soon as he saw me, he made sure to swim to a different part of the pond (even though there was quite a bit of distance between us at the time). I know ducks (and some other birds) will do this to draw attention to them rather than the nest.

Our weather this month has been almost fall-like with plenty of rain and some days with cool temperatures. Apparently, this tree is thinking the same thing because I realized today its leaves are already starting to turn colors. It's not even July yet.

Synopsis: Ten years after the rain stops falling, Oregon has turned into a desert wasteland and a warlord terrorizes local farmers in an effort to monopolize the remaining water supply. An orphan, Kendal, attempts to keep herself and her friends alive while searching for a distributor cap that will fit the airplane she hopes to escape in. Who's in it? The movie stars Haley Lu Richardson , Booboo Stewart , Max Charles , Jon Gries and Michael Welch . Review: I came across this movie on Netflix a couple days ago and thought it looked somewhat interesting. As a result of that, my wife and I ended up watching the film over the past couple of evenings. Mostly because I had not heard of this movie before and didn't recognize any of the actors, I didn't really know what to expect from this movie. However, it turned out to be a better film than I was expecting. The film does drag a little bit in the beginning and, when my wife and I went to bed after watching the firs...

A long time ago, back before global warming was the media darling it is now, I had a college professor predict another ice age that would start within my lifetime. This morning, as I went for my walk in temperatures that I would expect in early April (not when it is almost July), I started to think maybe he was right. But, I trudged through (fortunately, I had a change of socks with me this time) and managed to get a few photos. I saw this mallard swimming around in one of the ponds this morning. It was eyeing me the whole time so I suspect he was guarding a nest somewhere. I would have loved to have gotten a better photo of this heron. But, it spotted me right away and flew off the second I tried to get closer to it. I saw this little marsh bird poking its head out at me from the grass and grabbed a photo of it when it came out into the open for a couple minutes. This dragonfly landed next to me while I was checking out one of the ponds. Since it wa...

This is the view from outside my office on a day that was supposed to be cool but mostly sunny out. I've lost track of the number of days we've had rain this summer (it's beginning to feel like all of them). But, if it keeps up, I feel as though I'm going to have a decision to make - Should I attempt to build and ark or should I attempt to grow gills?

I figured there would be times when the two of them would fight. And, I was right about that though, fortunately, it seems to be mostly play fighting. What I didn't expect is their insistence on doing this in the most inconvenient places. This includes our bed in the middle of the night, when we are trying to sleep. And, I'm not just talking the foot of the bed either. I'm talking right on top of us as though we were some sort of lumpy wrestling ring. But, I guess I can't complain. They could hate each other and be drawing blood.

I actually took this photo last week but didn't have a chance to post it right away. I saw this goose resting near the lake last Friday morning and, since it was just sitting there, I grabbed a photo of it.

I stopped by the lake before going into the office this morning and, after quickly learning it was much colder outside than I first realized, ended up cutting my walk a little short. However, before walking back to my car, I did manage to snap a picture of this mallard as he was heading into the water.

Synopsis: After the local meat packing plant, the town's largest employer, is shut down by the health department in 1969, farmer Charlie Hewitt kills the local sheriff and assumes his identity so he can feed his family by killing at eating motorists who pass through. This includes a pair of Vietnam-bound brothers and their girlfriends who were passing through on their way to California, had an accident and must now find a way to escape the new sheriff and his oversized and deformed relative, Tommy. Who's in it? The movie stars Matt Bomer , Jordana Brewster , R. Lee Ermey , Andrew Bryniarski and Taylor Handley . Review: My wife and I ran down to Costco yesterday morning and, while doing so, decided to leave the kids with my parents. They weren't quite ready to come home when we got back so, while having some lunch, we ended up picking this movie to watch. I had some doubts about this film when I selected it on Netflix. This is largely because I wasn't a huge ...

Synopsis : When a salesman at a Hong Kong fitness equipment store foils a robbery attempt, he learns his father is a former secret agent and, seeking to learn more about his dad, winds up trying to keep a powerful new drug away from an arms dealer in Turkey. Who's in it? The movie stars Jackie Chan , Eric Tsang , Vivian Hsu , Min Kim and Lillian Ho . Review: There's a ton of pollen in the air right now and my allergies were acting up this morning as a result. While I was waiting for my allergy pill to kick in, I ended up scanning through our movie channels and, mostly because I hadn't seen it before, settled on this film. I've seen other Jackie Chan movies and found the majority of them enjoyable. As a result, I did have some relatively high expectations for this film. And, as it turns out, it more than met those expectations. The movie, as I was expecting, had some very entertaining action scenes that included everything from a fight inside an elevator (m...

Synopsis: Seven years after the spaceship Event Horizon went missing while attempting to explore the farthest parts of our solar system, it mysteriously returns and sends off a distress call. A crew is dispatched to locate and investigate the ship in an effort to find out what happened to the vessel and its crew. When they get there, they quickly learn they haven't been given the full story and must fight for their survival as a result. Who's in it? The movie stars Laurence Fishburne , Sam Neill , Joely Richardson , Sean Pertwee and Jason Isaacs . Review: I cam across this film on one of our movie channels a few days ago and, even though I knew my wife and I had watched it together several years ago, I decided to record it because I realized I couldn't remember much about it. We ended up watching the film Thursday and Friday nights and, overall, I thought it ended up being a good choice. I'm a huge fan of mysteries and this science fiction film proved to be ...

I'm walking through the house turning off lights Like I'm a police officer walking his beat. And, during the winter, I'm the first to look at the thermostat and turn down the heat. I find myself getting up at the crack of dawn, Even on mornings when I don't need to. Yet, in the evenings, I watch TV and movies While trying to pretend my eyelids are see-through. It's not like stuff like this Frustrates me or makes me mad. I just want to know, When did I turn into my dad? I'm getting gray hair, which isn't that big of a deal. After all, I'm not ashamed of my years. But, do I really need to get that gray hair Growing out of my ears? I seem to get aches and pains quite often. Everything from my fingers and toes to my knees. And, did I seriously just get another one in my back Because I had to sneeze? Stuff like this should probably be making me grumpy. Or, at minimum, be making me quite sad. I, however, can live with it Just as long as...

Synopsis: The daughter of a Polynesian chieftain travels the ocean in search of the demigod Maui to force him to return the mystical stone he stole from the goddess Te Fiti and stop the darkness that is starting to invade her island. Who's in it? The animated movie uses voices from Auli'i Cravalho , Dwayne Johnson , Alan Tudyk , Rachel House and Temuera Morrison . Review: I took off from work yesterday afternoon so I could get the lawn mowed. Since I had some extra time in the evening as a result, we ended up having a family movie night and picked this film because it was on Netflix. I've seen previews of this movie but, other than some of the music (we heard one of the songs during my daughters' recent ice shows), didn't know much about it and, as a result of that, wasn't really sure what to expect when we started watching it. As it turns out, it was a pretty awesome movie. One thing I found I really loved about this movie was the uniqueness it o...

I saw these mushrooms growing while I was walking by the lake this morning. Don't worry, I wouldn't attempt to eat them. However, I thought they looked pretty cool so I grabbed a photo of them.

It's still too wet to go for a walk on my normal trails so I stopped off at the lake again this morning and saw this mother duck on the shore with her kin. I got a photo but also made sure to keep my distance because the waves were really rough and I didn't want her to feel threatened to the point she took the little ones into that water.

When I decided to make my skillet lasagna last night, I realized I needed to run by the store to pick up some of the ingredients. This included pasta sauce. I originally planned on spending a little extra on a brand of pasta sauce I was familiar with. However, when I got to the store, I saw they had the Food Club brand on sale for just 99 cents and, realizing I probably would need two jars, I decided to pick up that brand instead. As it turns out, I probably should have just stuck with my original plan. To be fair, there were some things I did like about this sauce. One of the main ones was the thickness. This wasn't the thickest sauce I've ever purchased. But, given the lower price (especially since it was on sale), it was thick enough. And, at least when it came to that aspect, it worked just fine for what I needed it for. My problem with this sauce was the taste. It's really hard to describe but there was something that just seemed a little "off" abo...

I was inspired to write this story while trying to help my oldest daughter (who was still in elementary school) with her homework and discovering I was just as (possibly more) confused as she was. Since she inspired the story, I also hired her to do my illustrations. The book is available for sale online at Amazon , Barnes and Noble  and other book sellers. The Kindle version of the book (as is the case with all of my books) is just 99 cents.

I saw this mallard hen as I was walking back toward my car. I didn't see any ducklings near her so either she hasn't had them yet or she was hiding them somewhere.

This mother duck wasn't overly happy to see me and made sure to swim away with her kids in tow. I honestly felt a little insulted considering there was a very large predator bird (I think it might have been a young bald eagle that didn't quite have the white head yet) that was eyeing them and was only staying away because I was close by. Given the circumstances, she should have been thrilled I was there.

It rained this morning and, since I left my change of socks on the kitchen table, I decided not to brave the wet trails and skipped my morning walk. I did, however, stop off at the lake before coming into the office and saw these ducklings swimming around.

My youngest daughter had dance last night and, since my wife was with her, I ended up making dinner for us. I've been in the mood for lasagna. But, I didn't have time to make one in the oven so I decided to make skillet lasagna instead. This is actually something I used to make much more often when my wife was still working in the evening. It's easy to make and I can get about 8 servings for less than $10 (especially when I already have hamburger in my freezer). Here's what you'll need: 1 pound of hamburger 1 or 2 jars of pasta sauce (1 jar for every 1/2 pound of lasagna) 1/2 pound or 1 pound of lasagna pasta (one pound makes about 8 large servings) 1 can of mushrooms low-fat ricotta cheese Instructions:  Brown the hamburger and drain Boil the lasagna pasta until it is almost fully cooked but still a little firm. After this is done, combine the lasagna, hamburger and the rest of the ingredients in a large-enough...

And, now look at them. They are best buddies. Now if only us humans would learn a little something from them.

Synopsis : Aspiring hockey player Happy Gilmore has a powerful slapshot but his anger issues and weak skating prevent him from making a team. When he learns his hockey skills allow him to drive a golf ball further than any other golfer, he wins a local golf tournament and reluctantly becomes a professional golfer in an effort to save his grandmother's house from the IRS. Who's in it? The movie stars Adam Sandler , Christopher McDonald , Julie Bowen , Frances Bay and Allen Covert . Review: As I mentioned in another post , my wife and I ended up spending part of our Sunday afternoon relaxing on the couch and watching movies. This included back-to-back Adam Sandler films, including this one. While I'm not a huge Adam Sandler fan, there are a few of his movies I do enjoy to the point I have seen them multiple times. This is one of those films. As I've mentioned before, Sandler tends to be the weak link in most of his films. This is one of the rare exceptions to...

There's no special reason why I took a photo of these flowers. I just thought they looked pretty and, since I wasn't sure if I would find anything else worth taking a photograph of, I took a pic of them. I've been getting a lot of photos of dragonflies lately because they are beautiful to look at (and have quite a few varieties) and because they are fearless. I can walk right up on one, take as many photos as I need and it won't budge. I got somewhat lucky with this goldfinch photo. I didn't see it at first and was only able to take one shot before it flew away. I saw this little guy flying around as I was trying to catch my breath after climbing up a hill (I'm not REALLY that out of shape, it's just very humid out right now). I tried, several times, to get a photo of a bee on a flower but failed each time because they simply would not hold still long enough to get them in focus. I did, however, get a photo of this one on a leaf....

Here are my thoughts from last night's episode: 1.As soon as I learned Mary Drake ( Andrea Parker ) had not, in fact, left Rosewood, I correctly predicted she would confess to Archer Dunhill's ( Huw Collins ) murder. I'm going to applaud the writers on that twist because it was a plausible way of keeping the PLLs out of prison and, even though Mary didn't kill Dunhill, she did kill her sister and belongs behind bars. As a result, there's no need to feel sorry for her. 2. The episode also confirms what I mentioned last week, Lieutenant Tanner ( Roma Maffia ) isn't out to get the liars. I think she knows they killed Dunhill but also suspects it wasn't intentional and, because of that, was quick to accept Mary's confession despite overwhelming evidence that points to them. 3. That being said, the PLLs sure did seem like they were bound and determined to go to prison. Someone goes out of their way to hide a body for them and their first instinct is ...

Synopsis: After learning he only passed in school because his father bribed his teachers, 27-year-old hotel heir Billy Madison decides to return to school and complete all 12 grades in a 24-week period so his father will trust him to take over the family business. Standing in his way is a conniving hotel executive who will gain control of the company if Billy fails. Who's in it? The movie stars Adam Sandler , Bridgette Wilson-Sampras , Bradley Whitford , Josh Mostel and Norm MacDonald . Review: My wife and I were a bit tired out after attending a car show with our kids on Sunday and wound up taking an afternoon break on the couch. After surfing through our TV channels and discovering there was very little on, we ended up settling on this film. I've seen this movie before. But, it was a long time ago and, by the time we started watching it, I realized I remembered very little about it. After watching it, however, I did discover it was better than I was expecting it to ...

I just wanted to take a moment to wish happy birthday to the famous great white shark, Jaws, which opened up at theaters for the first time 42 years ago today. This is a movie I've seen a few times and do want to find time to watch it again in its entirety (I've tried on a couple different recent occasions but wasn't able to finish it) just because of the impact it had on movie watchers. Let's face it, when you see this movie, you do think twice about stepping into the ocean. Oh, and as luck would have it, it was released roughly 3 months before I was born, making it a pretty good year in my opinion.

It was raining out at lunchtime today so I ended up skipping my walk (those trails are already muddy enough without adding the extra water to them). Since I wasn't able to get any new photos, I figured I'd share one I took this morning, before coming into the office, of a small marsh bird perched in the high grass.

I went for my walk this morning and, even though I was the only one in the park that early, it was surprisingly quiet. I saw a couple birds and a young rabbit. But, none were overly cooperative with me as far as photo taking was concerned. I did, however, get a photo of this flower that was growing next to one of the trails.

Some other pics I took while out walking at lunch today.