This is probably the last moonrise that can be captured here until Fall – these photos from last evening about 7:30. From now through summer, it will be too light at moonrise. Full moon is two nights away but it was clear last evening and just barely close enough to a just after 8 sunset to catch the moon over the mountains.
The road to my home. My house sits on the far side of the wooded area looking to the Swan Range. Whether I’ve been gone on a quick errand or a months long rv trip, the turn on to my road home is a wonderful thing. I am always grateful that I have the opportunity to be right where I am and have Karl and Bob to share it with.
Photo taken yesterday, April 6, 2009.
Links to prior “Road Home” photos:
May-December Romance
Fall Edition
How’s that for a blog post title :) ??? It was a beautiful sunrise and I do like that dead tree and the way the jet trail was lit by the sun. Good way to start a Monday.
Ha, this bird I KNOW! Pileated Woodpecker aka “Woody the Woodpecker” if you are of my vintage. And in real life, they can be as much of a troublemaker as the cartoon. They are interesting and large and not all that skittish. I didn’t see this one until I was within 6 or 8 feet and may not have noticed had he not chattered at me in what sounded like irritation. Karl was some ways away so I just stopped and spoke back. He went about his business ignoring me while I got the camera out.
My pileated woodpecker story is that one day after patching about 8 holes in my guesthouse and barn made by pileated woodpeckers, I headed to the Swan River Nature Trail for a walk with Karl. Along the way a group of 6 people were crouched down with binoculars looking at something. I leashed Karl and we quietly approached to find out what they were watching…pileated woodpeckers!! They were a bird watching group from the midwest, all excited to see their first. I didn’t share their excitement…
But yesterday, having not left the property since the previous Friday and feeling like I just wanted to see another human being, I headed to Bigfork and the lake with Karl. Surprisingly there was little snow in the valley. I must be sitting right at the snowline. Although, the muddy brown of very early spring along with the blackened piles of snow from parking areas is not extremely attractive, it was nice to see more ground. Despite a brisk wind off the lake it felt warmer than I expected. Karl and I dawdled around the beach and then the cliff area we like.
This squall was making its way across the lake to the south. Squalls like this one passed through at my house off and on yesterday, but by mid-afternoon it cleared, warmed up and everything melted.
This morning, though, another fresh inch of snow coated everything. It is an interesting “Spring”.
*The woodpecker photos are also from our walk at the lake yesterday, although I see them in my woods quite often.
That above, produced this below…
yea, yea, yea…broken record…more snow.
Even Karl has had enough.
I have high hopes for April, mid-April that is. In the meantime, I can’t promise much in the way of variety.
Actually, this last storm wasn’t much of a storm at my house. The snow that has been falling overnight for the last several nights has been gone before noon as temperatures have barely hit freezing at night and are reaching 40 during the day. The local weather shows high wind in the valley, but my house is in a wind shadow once again and it is quiet. News reports list snow from 6 to 12 inches in Missoula (100 miles south) and south. Location, location, location!
A bit of alpenglow from last evening.
…And yes, that is a snow squall moving in from stage left. We had snow off and on all day but at my house, it melted between squalls and ended the day with just a dusting before it fell below the freezing mark.