Road Trip!

Packed and ready for my four day road trip north. I don't plan on being at my destination until around 2:00, so there will be plenty of time to stop and take photos if anything looks interesting. I'll leave early tomorrow and make a run through the wildlife refuge, then maybe a short stop up at the lake to take some photos.

Saturday will be looking for Sandhill Cranes both early in the morning and late afternoon, with dinner at Moose's Pizza (yum!)  Sunday will be an 'oh my god it's too early' run up to GNP, to beat the traffic and the entry fees, and will return on Monday. Should be a busy and fun weekend!

Camera gear and clothes packed, along with three jackets. Yes, three, because it’s October in Montana and you never know what the weather will be like. It could be sunny and warm, cool and breezy, or 20 degrees and snow so, a jacket for each type of weather

Can I now say that I am a truly professional photographer?  I packed more camera gear than clothes… 

Basque

I found out this past weekend that I am about 5% Basque. I did a little research, and this is what I found  

The Basque have been around for thousands of years. The Romans encountered them around 200 B.C, but they have been there long before that. They descended from Europe’s first humans, and skeletal remains from a cave in Basque country date back to 3,500 to 5.500 years ago, and their closest living genetic relatives are the Basque. They do not have a country, but live in the Pyrenees Mountains, which are on the border between Spain and France, although they are neither Spanish nor French.

Their language, which they call Euskara, is one of only four languages spoken in Europe or Scandinavia that is not an Indo-European language. It is probably the oldest language in modern Europe and is unrelated to any other known language in the world.

In the Middle Ages, they became expert sailors and ship builders, and were among the first whalers in the Atlantic, venturing as far as the coast of Newfoundland. “And while most of us grew up learning that Magellan was the first person to circumnavigate the glove, Magellan actually died in the Philippines. It was his Basque captain, Juan Sebastian Elcano, who finished the voyage.” 

Basque sailors also made up a large part of Columbus’ crew, and some came to the New World with the Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s. Others migrated in the 17^th through the 19^th centuries, and settled in various countries in South America. 18% of Peruvians have Basque surnames.

Many Basque migrated to the US during the California gold rush. When they didn’t strike it rich, they started working as sheepherders and miners.

Basque are known for their culinary societies; clubs where men traditionally gather to cook (women have only recently been allowed to participate). San Francisco’s famous sourdough bread has been linked to the bread baked by Basque miners.  

The Basque are known to have developed the breed of dog known as the Pyrenean Shepherd, the foundation stock of the Australian Shepherd.

 

Changing of the Seasons

The first day of Autumn was only three days ago, but a lot of trees around here are turning yellow very quickly, and some are already losing their leaves!  My ash trees are among the latter, and as I sat on the back porch this evening, the slightest breeze sent down a flurry of leaves. Song birds and geese have been gone for several weeks already. I think it’s going to be an early winter this year. 

Moon Magic

I took my dog outside this morning as it was beginning to get light out. The full moon was hanging on the downward side of the western sky, and I stood and stared at it, with what felt like the first sense of wonder I’ve felt in a very long time. I really looked at it. I wanted to look inside it and through it; so badly that I thought if I stared at it long and hard enough, I would be able to.

The light from the moon is really just a reflection of the light from the sun, but it is so incredibly bright, almost as if it is coming from within the moon itself. What are those dark patches? They look like silhouettes of the continents on earth. What makes all of the craters? Asteroids? Comets? Meteors? (Are they all the same thing?) Or did it happen millions of years ago, such as the earth did. Which came first, the moon or the earth? Did they evolve together or separately? The only thing holding it in earth’s orbit is the gravitational pull from the earth. What would happen if it were to be knocked out of earth’s orbit? Would we still have high and low tides and if not, how would that affect our oceans, and all of the sea life within them?  Would it affect our seasons, and if so, how? Would it have an effect on other planets and their moons? How would it affect us? And those poor coyotes would have nothing to howl at anymore.

Autumnal Equinox

The first day of Autumn. My favorite time of year, and yet it saddens me to know that the days will get significantly shorter at what feels like an ever increasing rate. However, those shortening days will lead to the Winter Solstice, when the days begin to get longer.

 

 

89 days

A Hermit Kind of Day

It was a hermit kind of day. Stayed inside with the shades drawn and the phone on mute, locked both of the front gates so no one would disturb me. No TV, no radio, no noise.

I washed a few dishes, straightened up a little, and washed my hair. Other than that I did absolutely nothing.

I stayed in my jammies all day, and if not for my dog, I would have stayed in bed all day, just relaxing and napping as I felt like it. That’s just what I felt like doing - but the pup needs to go outside and play and run… and bark.  Apparently the bark collar battery is dead. Needless to say he spent a lot more time inside than outside.

 

Winter Preface

Well, I held out for as long as I dared, but this morning I finally re-lit the furnace.  I was planning on lighting it over the weekend and just plain forgot. But it’s going to be getting down into the high 30s at night this week, and windy, so best to just get it done today. Can’t light it when the wind is blowing because the wind comes down the draft pipe and blows out the match!

Ugh, I hate having to re-light it every year. I think somewhere in the cobwebs of my mind, I feel like as long as I can put that off, it will keep winter away. If only…

 

Magic Carpet Ride

This morning on my daily walk around the complex at work, I noticed a lady sitting in the grass beneath a tree and, I thought, reading a book. What she was actually doing was something on her phone…  It made me a little sad. 

Does anyone read books anymore??  And I'm not talking i-pads or e-books - I mean REAL books. Paper and print and glue. I would so much rather shut out the noise and electronics, and have a book whisk me away to another time or another world, even if only for a few brief moments. 

Books are my magic carpet. 

 

20 Years Ago

It still feels like yesterday.

There are so many thoughts racing through my mind; so many emotions flooding through me: great sadness, anger, confusion, fear, empathy, sympathy, and so many more. I think the initial feeling on the day of the 911 attack was nothing more than pure shock. But now, after 20 years of remembering, and hearing stories from the people who survived either the attack itself, or the loss of friends and loved ones in the attack, the emotion is even higher.

Sept. 11, 2001. I was at work, listening to the radio. The news broke in and said a plane hit one of the World Trade Center towers in NYC. What?!?! I ran into our break room, where a dozen other people were already watching the TV news. We all thought it was an accident - the plane's controls were not working, or the pilot passed out, or died. Then the news camera moved to show another plane heading for the second tower. At that moment I knew there was something terribly wrong happening right before our eyes. My heart sank and I went numb when the plane hit the second tower. What the hell was happening?? As the events unfolded and the death toll rose, everything seemed so surreal. In the days that followed the disbelief and shock of what happened finally began to sink in. How could this be happening HERE?? I don't typically watch the news, but I watched the coverage on TV with horror. I felt so terrible for those who died, but even more so for those who lost loved ones in such a terrible act. I think there were a lot of us wandering around at the time, feeling very lost, confused, shocked, and afraid of how far this was going to go. This past week I've been watching documentaries on PBS about 911, and while the replays of the events are still horrible to watch, the interviews with people who experienced it first hand are so interesting. Their strength and insight, along with their tenacity to get past what they had been through, just amaze me. The one that really hit me was a gentleman who was a fire chief, and was dispatched to ground zero with his crew. Imagine the thoughts that went through him when he sent his crew into one of the towers to try and evacuate and rescue people who were trapped inside. Among his crew was his younger brother, who was killed when the tower collapsed. On the one hand, the entire crew, including his brother, had a job to do - it's what they are trained for. But wow, when it's a brother... I cannot even imagine the terror, guilt, sadness, or any other emotions he might have felt when he watched that tower fall with his brother inside. There are probably so many more back stories like this one that we may never know. We NEED to know their stories, and to always remember one of the worst tragedies in our country's history. May we never forget.

 

Happy Birthday Cowboy

“HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY TO MY PATRIOT DAY PUPPY! Cowboy was born on this day in 2015. So hard to believe it's been SIX years! How the time has flown… but he's still a puppy at heart. One birthday photo for each year (except of course, the first one, taken only a few days after I brought him home). What a dog. The first few years were pretty rocky, and full of craziness, stress, wrong decisions, and wondering what I was doing wrong. I thought I was a pretty decent dog trainer until this crazy pup came into my life.

It took a much more knowledgeable friend to teach me an entirely new way of training dogs. It took a LOT of patience and praise, some creative play time, realizing that he was probably a LOT smarter than I was... Thank you Joni M, for your training advice and guidance, and for never failing to point out better ways to bring out the best in this little guy - I am forever grateful. And thank you Connie and John K. for trusting me with your precious pup. I wouldn't trade him for the world.”

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From Joni: “Happy birthday Cowboy! What a great story about a boy who changed everything! So proud of you guys!”

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Weekend Road Trip

What an absolutely amazing sunrise this morning!  The sun was a huge flaming red ball, rising up over Mount Sentinel, against a backdrop of a smoky pink sky. Even the mountains were tinged in pink. I wish I’d had my camera with me, but then I would have undoubtedly been late for work… 

Off to Kalispell after the horse show on Saturday. I’ll stay at Bev’s house, and we’ll go check out the Sandhill Cranes, congregating at the wetlands near her house. Moose’s Pizza for supper on Saturday!