Calendar time!

I always look forward to the photographs Tom Schoening snaps on behalf of Peterbilt dealership chain Sioux City Truck Sales (SCTS) for its annual calendar – and his efforts the for the 2013 edition do not disappoint!

In fact, he’s got a remarkable story to tell about how he nabbed the cover shot for the 2013 SCTS calendar (seen at right):

“Late in the summer of 2011, I went to Dakota Dunes, South Dakota to snap photos of the trucks removing the flood control dikes,” Schoening said.

The record Missouri River flood of 2011 had finally receded and contractors were removing the earthen berms that had protected the residential community from floodwaters. After a tour guide led him past the National Guard security checkpoint, he watched huge roaring machines dumping dirt into a long line of dump trucks and began looking for a spot to set up his camera.

Suddenly, a young deer walked up to the top of the dike. The formerly round dirt mound, which had once been an easy ramp, had been sheared into a 10-foot drop-off and the doe was obviously confused by the sudden change in terrain, he related.

“I ran to a position so I could capture the doe in the foreground and the equipment operators in the distance,” Schoening said. “I snapped several shots before the deer turned around and dashed back into the brush, unharmed.”

In addition to the “deer shot,” Schoening also collected an interesting mix of new and antique Peterbilt trucks operated by SCTS customers served by the firm’s four full-service dealerships in: Council Bluffs, Sioux City, and Des Moines, Iowa, along with a location in Norfolk, Nebraska.

The trucks featured include a wide-cab new Model 587, several shots of an Extended Daycab, a brawny agricultural sprayer, and even an old a 1967 Model 351-A, among others.

Schoening noted that two of the 2013 calendar’s photos weren’t snapped by him: December’s livestock hauler and the tractor pull found on page two.

Good stuff for the New Year methinks; and on that note I’ll wish you a "Happy New Year" and hope that 2013 doesn’t open with the sound of our nation going over the fiscal cliff!