Archive for ‘November, 2008’

Giving thanks to our Veterans

I owe the freedom and privileges I enjoy, in large part, to all who fought and are fighting… Those that fight pay an awful price for the rest of us. Thank you to all the men and women who served and are serving and to our Presidents and leaders that had the courage to lead and send.

I am thankful for the work I have and the ability to do it, for free enterprise and competition – for the freedom to decide what kind of work I want to do, the freedom to educate myself to do that work.

I am thankful for the right to believe as I think right, to worship, to have the Bible that is the cornerstone of my chosen faith. Those holes in the lamp shade – bullet holes… I am thankful for the right to bear arms… or not. (Though maybe the person who was taking pot shots at a sign and missed should reconsider…)

I am thankful for my warm house, that I selected, in the place I wanted to be.

I am thankful that I can walk by these mountains.

Veteran’s Day – thank you.

Rainy day Monday

Another gray day, making for not much “easy” in the way of photo taking…that, and I’ve been mostly “nose to the grindstone” with my day job…

But as I was working late morning, some movement out the window caught my eye…

And a friend of hers was munching away in the side yard…

Bob kept an eye out…

Karl was with me saying “Please, Mom, I don’t feel like chasing deer”. He generally doesn’t like them close to the house and will convince them to move into the woods where he’ll stand and look threatening until he’s sure they will not venture back. But on occasion, I’ve seen him pointedly ignore them, as if he’s tired of the whole thing. Not the rare bucks, but the does which are abundant, will often not move unless you get seriously close to them. Then they bound effortlessly away. I can understand his frustration.

The golden glow of the ground is not just dying grass… some of the gold is the larch needles that have fallen. The trees are looking a bit sparse, some already bare. There is some color left, but between the sparsely leaved and needled trees, the gray skies and clouded in mountain tops, Karl and I in our hunter orange were as colorful as anything!

Rainy day Monday.

About Bob

Bob has been a part of my family for a little over 7 years. According to the vet’s best approximation, he was about 3 at the time he joined Karl, Gus (another cat) and I, making him 10ish now. Bob came with his name and a few other idiosyncracies… Bob loves bubbles – well, I think he loves bubbles, he likes to pop them.

As many cats do, Bob likes fresh, running water. At the start, he would come running when I ran water in the bathroom sink, hop up and get a drink from the faucet. Then he started going in the bathroom whenever I was in the vicinity and waiting for me to turn on water. One day, I filled the sink for something and as it was filling, he started chittering – that chitter that cats do when they see a bird, squirrel or some other critter that excites them for the hunt. He was chittering at the bubbles and as one came near, he popped it with his nose. As a well trained human, I started filling the sink on demand…

…no more bubbles…

And lest you think this is not a serious interest, the following photos were taken February 6, 2007 and the “bubble water” is snow melt…

On the hunt…

…the elusive ripple and potential bubble!

The weather currently and according to the forecast, for the forseeable future, is looking about like the above minus the snow, i.e. gray, damp, rainy, foggy – not extremely cold or we would be getting snow (preferable!!!) instead of rain. Bob’s new thing on these dampish days is hanging out under the dryer vent if the dryer is running. And for the record, when I took these photos, yesterday, there was a fire going in the woodstove and he can go in and out of the house as he chooses – he chose his spot…

Bob.

Two walks

A bleak day… but as always, some beauty to be found. From this morning’s walk at the state park on Flathead Lake:

Below are from an afternoon walk at “home”. I believe Karl would title the first: “My mama dresses me funny”.

It is deer (gun) season. And although the land we walk is private and posted “No Hunting”, it is adjacent to 40 acres of state land which is huntable. I choose to be cautious. My personal vanity prohibits showing my own “hunter orange outfit”…I have a “one size fits all” vest made to go over winter jackets. It has been alternately rainy/snowy so I’ve been wearing raingear over fleece. With the gigantic orange vest I look like the great pumpkin in a cowboy hat. I have a felt, waterproof cowboy hat that has ear flaps that fold down for real cold. The thing keeps water off my face AND neck – my ears warm when it is very cold. I’ve had it a number of years so it has a somewhat odd shape at this point… However, vanity aside, I am warm and dry and both Karl and I are visible – which is the point.