Paul A. Smith

PEPIN, Wis. -- As the nation's largest watershed, the Mighty Mississippi knows much about convergence.

But rarely has the principle been on display on as many levels as today on Lake Pepin.

Mother Nature dished up a warm, breezy afternoon that had elements of summer and fall.

Seizing the late-season opportunity, a flotilla of sailboats skittered over the lake's surface. At the public boat landing in Pepin, a commercial fisherman unloaded a jon boat heavily laden with carp and buffalo.

Bluffs rise on all sides; two states meet at the river.

GILLETTE, Wyo. -- The pronghorn buck looked across a quarter-mile of grass and sagebrush and seemed to smile.

There was ample reason.

Michael King and I crouch-walked in the animal's direction, binoculars held atop our heads like 6-inch horns, and did our best pronghorn antelope impersonations.

There are easier ruses to pull off. Some shag carpets offer more cover than well-browsed western grassland. And pronghorn have excellent vision.

SHIOCTON, Wis. -- From 50 yards, it appeared as a reddish lump at the gray base of a mature ash tree.

At 20, several rows of spots were visible on the tawny shape.

Animal or plant?

If you've spent any time searching the Wisconsin landscape for a specific type of the former, you know the latter -- especially peeling bark -- is more likely.

But as we approached to within a few paces, a shaft of sunlight penetrated the canopy and highlighted the forest floor.

A black nose glistened, a pair of ears stood alert.

SPIRIT FALLS, Wis. -- Cedars stood black against a blush of orange on the horizon; still, frigid air blanketed the swamp.

TOWN OF EAST TROY, Wis. -- The sky holds no secrets on this particular morning, even at oh-dark-thirty.

The celestial stage is dominated by a crescent moon in the east and the million white dots of the Milky Way overhead.

ASHLAND, Wis. --The ports of Lake Superior have never been strangers to the North Country's most valuable natural resources.

From fur trading in the 1600s and 1700s to timber, copper and iron in the last two centuries, prized materials have flowed through these waters and stoked local economies.

EAGLE, Wis. -- A mighty bur oak towers over the prairie in the Scuppernong River Habitat Area.

At about 60 feet in height and 12 feet in circumference, the tree has likely witnessed more than two centuries of history.