Posts from the ‘Montana’ category

T.G.I.F. – Thank Goodness It’s Fall

It’s also Friday but on this Friday, I am mostly thankful that it is Fall … as of 2:02 p.m. MDT – the Autumnal Equinox – official Fall (Autumn).

Hoo … I say HOO-RAH!!!

When last we left our story, the air was clearer and it was cooler. It did not get HOT again but on the day before the forecast “PATTERN CHANGE”, the smoke came down with a vengeance. It was the absolute worst in a summer of really bad smoke. If the cold front and subsequent rain had not been in the forecast I might have been tempted to curl up in a ball and weep. As it was, I just kept saying “Tomorrow will be better”.

And it was.

The front came through with rain and snow and cool.

We had a bit of smoke in the days following, but nothing like the extreme conditions of late August/early September.

That first day…

I put away the air conditioners … all THREE! My two new ones came with handy covers complete with pouches for the remotes. I followed the manual instructions: drained, cleaned filters and ran fan only to dry out their insides. Then covers and into closets. I will pretend that they do not exist and will never be needed again. BUT, as noted previously, I am so grateful that I was able to get them and that they kept Bear, Auggie and me comfortable.

And while I’m being grateful …

Vegetables from Lower Valley Farm continue to be wonderful, varied and a pleasure to have and enjoy.

Week 18: radishes, lettuce mix, kohlrabi, carrots, cucumber, onion, shallots, spaghetti squash, tomatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, patty pan and parsley.

And so, we went from hot and smoky to cool and…

Graupel. Actually a Graupel Thunderstorm. It thundered, it lightning-ed, it graupel-ed. It POURED graupel!

And while it was doing that, UPS delivered my new little freezer:

That’s it under the table… the table that was to be the craft table that became the cat eating table that is now sort of an extension of the kitchen as it is home to the ice cream maker, the coffee pot (drip option for when a button push is preferred to a pour over) and the microwave.

The little freezer.

I’d filled my regular freezer and also the motorhome freezer with things from my CSA boxes and Farmer’s Market. It is the time of year when I start stocking up frig/freezer/pantry so that if driving is bad I do not NEED to go out and about for food. Enter this little freezer which fits under the table and gives me a bit of extra.

For extras like:

Week 19 of 21: Fingerling potatoes, tomatoes, baby arugula, garlic, red onions, cucumber, basil, zucchini, eggplant, delicata squash, red beets!

I continue to freeze or ferment anything I don’t eat during the week.

And on the way to pick up week 19:

It was a perfect Fall day and the barn was the perfect thing to set off the sky, the snow topped mountains and the clear air.

And now we are to today.

As Fall officially arrived…

Auggie started using the shelf above the dryer as his preferred napping spot.

Bear has become like his younger self, shedding the lethargy of the hot, smoky summer.

Peek-a-boo snow on the mountains to the East as we took our evening walk.

Sunset through the woods to our West.

T.G.I.F. Thank Goodness It’s Fall!

April!

Well, it’s been awhile and now Spring has sprung and it is April!

Work has stayed a bit intense and when I finish, despite wanting to write or share photos, I am out of steam for more time at the computer in the evening.

It is light now until after 8 p.m. so nice to go out in the fresh air for an evening dawdle in the woods with Bear. I miss snowshoeing but I am enjoying having to don less “gear”! The hat/gloves/boots/snowshoes routine does sometimes get a bit much but oh, what a glorious time I had this Winter making and maintaining the paths and watching Bear and Auggie enjoy them.

Rewinding a little, this is what it looked like the first day of Spring: March 20.

Lots of ground, but still many patches of snow.

A couple of days later and very little snow…

… just enough for Bear to lie on and lick! Karl loved to do that also.

The driveway looks quite different than it did December through mid-March. After 3 months of mostly white ground it is still a surprise to see bare ground. When there was so much snow, it felt like it could never all go away.

Now there is sunshine and even hints of new green on the ground!

April!

Alpenglow

Alpenglow happens when the rays of the setting or rising sun bend around the curvature of the earth and light up the mountains in the opposite direction: sunset lights mountains to the east, sunrise lights mountains to the west.

I went down the road close to sunset which was also supposed to be close to moonrise … a full moon rising. With the arctic front, came clear skies and I hoped there might be an alpenglow rising full moon.

The moon was late. Probably not the moon’s fault. I’m using a new moon phase app and this was my first try at matching its time for moonrise to actuality.

All was not lost as the alpenglow was beautiful.

West and Northwest, there was a pink glow on the mountains.

Even more north towards Big Mountain: you can see some of the ski trails about mid-photo.

The last bit of pink alpenglow above the road home.

More Fall

There is a bit of gold in the woods…

… the few aspen have turned and a lot of leaves are down. The larch are just starting to lighten on their own way to gold.

Weather has been beautiful: pleasant temperatures, soft breezes, mostly sunny days with that magic light of the Fall sun angle.

I missed most of the Farmer’s Market season this year, but this morning Bear and I headed to town and brought back an abundance of Fall produce:

Onions, a garlic bulb nearly as large as the onion, flowers, tomatoes, carrots, leeks, beets, greens, apples and a beautiful bunch of a variety of sunflowers.

Good stuff!

Later … the road home.

And from the same spot but looking a little more to the north.

More Fall.

Bear defense: Follow up to “Please do not believe everything you read”

Daily Interlake Bear Article

Above is a link to the local daily newspaper’s online article noting the results and findings pertinent to the death of a cyclist originally called “Grizzly Bear Attack” in news stories. At the time of the incident, law enforcement noted that they were unsure if it was a Grizzly or a Black Bear. Additionally, there was a short article that noted that the cyclist was travelling at a high rate of speed on a path with limited visibility and collided with the bear.

The article in last week’s paper reports that DNA results confirm the bear was a male Grizzly and that that particular bear had been trapped, DNA taken, and the bear released in 2006 in a routine study and collecting of information. The bear has not been involved in any human encounters nor property damage, i.e. livestock.

The articles on the incident are pretty basic and conclude a “wrong place/wrong time” horrific accident. I wish there was a bit more information. The cyclist who died was a well liked Forest Service person, native to this area and by all reports an all around good person to fellow humans, animals and environment. Still, travelling at a high rate of speed on a path with limited visibility has its risks. Mr. Grizzly Bear was on the path and “oof” – probably 185-200 pounds of bike and man slammed into him. I find it a bit hard to fault the bear for responding. The report now calls this a “mauling” and that means that the bear did not devour, but subdued and then left.

Some missing information, which is possibly due to respect for the cyclist’s family is: what about injuries from the collision? Newton’s first law of physics says something along the line of “an object in motion tends to stay in motion”. When the cyclist collided with the bear, the bike probably sort of stopped against the bear, but I’m thinking the rider did not and depending on if the bear was “standing”, the cyclist likely flew in the direction of travel and my point is … the cyclist was possibly injured badly, but that has not been disclosed. I think it is important information partly because the plethora of original articles were fear-mongering bear attack articles. And now we have what to me, is a lukewarm dissemination of the bare minimum of information, still with the headline: “Bear Mauling”.

The bear might have mauled, but even the article notes:

State wildlife officials removed traps and cameras from the area after failing to capture any bears and determined the grizzly had simply responded to being struck by a mountain biker traveling at a high rate of speed.

“Sight visibility at the location of the collision is very limited and the collision was unavoidable,” a July 2 press release from the agency stated. “The bear reacted, which led to the attack.”

I have no wish to blame the cyclist. But it does appear that he took a risk and paid a horrific price. I am terribly sorry for the wife, family and friends of the cyclist. I am relieved that the bear left the area and has not done anything which would lead to being euthanized.