Today: Ellery McCardle, a reporter at KARE 11 since August 2016. Among her work, McCardle has hit the road for an outdoors photography series — Photo Stop — which is part of the KARE 11 Sunrise morning program.
Reading
New book "The Lost Brothers" by local author Jack El-Hai. It's about the Klein brothers, who disappeared in Minneapolis in the 1950s. It's one of the oldest active missing-child investigations in the country. It's our latest pick for our Sunrisers Book Club. Every month on KARE 11 Sunrise, we pick a local author, read his or her book, and discuss it with the author. We have so many talented writers in our state!
I'm also reading the novel "Swede Hollow" by Swedish author Ola Larsmo. It was just translated into English and released in the United States. It tells the stories of Swedish immigrants who settled in St. Paul in the late 1800s. It's interesting to read about the struggles they went through, many of which are similar to what people go through today coming to America. It has been an eye-opener for me.
Following
I follow almost every national park that has an account on Instagram. It's my personal mission to visit all 61 parks. I've done 16 so far, including five this year. Their posts give me great ideas of when to visit each park and the best views.
I'm following a lot of our KARE 11 viewers. We recently launched a new Facebook page called "That's So Minnesota" where people post their beautiful photos from around our state. It's giving me inspiration as a photographer and a lot of ideas for road trips.
Watching
"Abandoned" on Hulu. Abandoned places have always fascinated me and I love seeing the contrast of past vs. present. I follow the work of Seph Lawless, who photographs abandoned homes, malls, amusement parks and more. His work is featured in this show.
I always have to have a campy '80s or '90s sitcom in my queue. This month I'm watching "Designing Women."
Listening
I just binge-listened to the podcast "The Thing About Pam." It's produced by Dateline NBC and told by Keith Morrison, so going in, you know it's going to be a riveting story. If you like true crime stories, you won't want to pause this one.
Each week I listen to the podcast "The Masked Man Show." I'm a World Wrestling Entertainment fan, best-known as WWE, so if I can't watch a particular episode of "Raw" or "Smackdown," this will give me a recap and keep me guessing as to where the story line is going next.
Doing
For the last several weeks I've been photographing the fall colors across Minnesota and doing so by visiting different state parks. So far, I've been to Jay Cooke (twice), Wild River, Maplewood and Mille Lacs Kathio. I'm also keeping my eyes to the sky. I'm a proud "AvGeek" (aviation nerd), so you'll find me taking photos at the public viewing spot at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Aviation has transformed how we live, and it fascinates me. Watching airplanes take off and land is always exciting, and if I can photograph an airplane that doesn't usually stop at MSP, well then, that's a fun afternoon.
