Posts from the ‘Montana’ category

This morning!

This morning started out so very, very right – snow on the ground and still falling! Karl stopped on the front porch and stared – then ran out full of excitement….Bob not so much, but truth be told, he goes out in the snow and the wet and the cold…just not this morning.

It was coming right down but I do know this is a bit of a teaser. It was hovering near freezing, the snow was wet, the ground is not frozen so it won’t stick – probably not even through the morning, but it is the first “on the ground at my house” snow of the year.

And I got a chance to try out my new Uggs :)!

This morning’s coffee was extra good – how that happens, I don’t know…, snow on the ground, a warm fire in a warm house, interesting work for the day, Bob and Karl are well and happy – All is very good this morning!

Taking a turn for the cold

Although it has dipped below freezing several mornings just before sunrise, this morning was the first hard frost…a “the frost is on the pumpkin” kind of frost. And some freezing fog as well.

But, late morning after an early lunch, the sun was making an effort so Karl and I took a spin around our loop walk.

Frost, freezing fog and the now mostly bare larch trees changed the landscape from the brilliant colors of Autumn to the pastel hues of early Winter as the weather took a turn for the cold.

Rails to Trails, Somers, MT

Somers, MT is on the way to my favorite grocery store. Karl and I almost always drive through Somers and take a walk on the “Rails to Trails” path that starts just down the road from the Somers Cafe – on the way to the grocery.

When Sandy and Jerry visited earlier this Fall, we stopped here on the way to breakfast at the Cafe.

There is a sign in the train door about staying off the train… Jerry climbed on the train. Actually, the door was open then and you couldn’t see the sign until you were pretty much on the train but I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t have mattered if he COULD have seen the sign :)! He spent a bit of time inspecting things and then informed Sandy and I that he could get it going, i.e. they left enough of the engine. I have no doubt he could, but we moved him on before he started working on it. There is only about 10 feet of track…

Walking on, around the bend, you come to the Ice House.

I never knew it was the Ice House. There was a lot of speculation among the three of us when we looked at it together. Jerry noted that it was heavy duty structure with thick walls and substantial beams.

Just in the past 2 or 3 weeks, this sign appeared. And they moved the fence so you can get right up to the Ice House. Fascinating history! Somers used to be a commercial city with both the railroad and shipping via Flathead Lake.

Now, it is a fairly quiet secret of a small, pretty town with a great cafe and a pretty place to walk.

Rails to Trails, Somers, Montana


** “Rails to Trails” is a National conservancy that uses old railroad beds for the creation of walk/bike trails.

A Perfectly Lovely Day

November 1. Blue sky, blustery wind that made the 54F high seem cooler.

Dark clouds mixed with the blue over the mountains.

Late afternoon walk around our home loop. A perfectly lovely day.

Spooked

This story is true.

It happened last Thursday night.

Sunset is about 6:20.

The sun hits us from a southern locale at this time of year. It is full dark by 6:45.

Karl, Bob and I have a last outing about 8:30.

Moonrise is 10:00

The last outing, down the driveway and through the woods, is in the dark.

About 8:30 on Thursday evening, I put Karl’s blue light special collar on him, outfitted myself with bear spray (pepper spray) and flashlight, said my prayers and opened the front door loosing the dog, the cat and myself to the dark of a Montana woods.

Bob typically ventures out on his own around the garage and the adjacent wood pile for his evening errands

Karl and I head down the driveway. Karl has a regular stop to starboard and then we trot purposefully to the road, hang a left and head for the far southeast corner of the property for the serious business of an evening.

Mission accomplished and the return is either back to the driveway or along the eastern most property line. On this evening, we returned to the driveway.

Karl, ever vigilant, was on the alert. No barking, but he was often stopping and “huffing” to the east. I shined the flash I carried into the woods…at eye level, above my head, low to the ground…nothing. We continued toward the house with occasional sweeps of the flash.

A rustle!! I heard a rustle in the woods! – My flash returned nothing. Karl stood at alert but did not bark. We continued.

I kept up a regular sweep behind and around us with the flash…looking, looking, looking – into the dark for telltale red eyes. When the flash hits the eyes of human or animal, the retinal reflection is bright red.

Karl and I were 2/3 of the way up the driveway to the house. I turned and swept behind us with the flash. RED EYES! In the driveway!!! The red stopped AND THEN STARTED TOWARD US!

My heart thumped. The red was not deer. Deer eyes are close together and about my own eye level. This red was lower and wider.

I did not know what to think.

The eyes moved toward us.

Mild panic set in.

I commanded Karl, “INSIDE”!

Inside is a command that I use when I want Karl IN the house. I use it ONLY for that reason and he responds.

As Karl and I headed for the house, I glanced back and did a quick sweep with the flash…the red eyes continued toward us!

Mild panic turned to alarm. I grabbed Karl’s collar, commanded “INSIDE” again and we both took off at a run for the house.

Approaching the porch, I yelled for Bob…worried that whatever was following us would trap him outside. He was not to be seen.

I got Karl inside.

I turned and yelled for Bob again…nothing.

I doused the porch light and stood in the dark of the house…heart pounding…thinking of those eyes following…unnerved…

Tiptoeing into the sunroom, I waited a few moments…and then turned on the sunroom spots to catch whatever was following us…

Bob!!!, It was Bob. He must have uncharacteristically followed Karl and I on our down the driveway walk….

Spooked!

The road home from Whitefish

Errands took me to Whitefish this afternoon. While still mostly cloudy, the clouds had lifted enough to see more of the mountains and there were breaks here and there letting some sunlight through in the late afternoon.

The road home wore both fall and winter dress.

To the left, the ski runs of Big Mountain have their first bit of snow.

Snow machines in the shed wait for the snow to reach them.

Rounding Montana Highway 35 as it curves south towards Bigfork, the snow covered mountains at the south end of Flathead Valley caught rays sneaking under the clouds.

And then, the road to my house…

The road home.