The 2023 Brazil Journals, Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-Two

The Day of the Jaguars

 

 

“Adventure may hurt you, but monotony will kill you.”

—Ghaniya Dewy Arassyi

 

 

Once again, we leave the dock at 5:30 in the morning as the sun begins to rise and bathes the scene with golden light.   Soon we are abreast of the jabiru nest, but none of the birds want to pose for us.

 

A male jaguar has been spotted so off we go on a “Ferrari boat ride” only to spot just the tip of its tail as it disappears into the tall vegetation.  No pix.  

 

As long as we’re in the lagoon, we take a look around and spot two Tiger heron nestlings.   They are big enough to fledge and certainly that nest is crowded if they both lie down.

 

 

Back on the main river, our old faithful Marcella makes her appearance.  The boat drivers let other drivers know when they’ve spotted a jaguar.   It does increase traffic to the sighting, but then everyone gets to see a cat.   

Once again Marcelle obligingly swims the river.

This happens in Africa, too, when a guide finds a lion, leopard, or cheetah.  He lets other drivers from his camp know so they can bring their guests there.

 

Occasionally, photographers ask for a couple minutes before the guide texts the spotting.   Sometimes it’s granted and sometimes not. It works both ways, so usually they let the other guides know in a reasonable time.

 

Marcella swims along the river in her search for a caiman.   We leave her to explore other tributaries and find some capped herons.   All but one fly away and that’s enough for me!

 

We get some good poses and shots of this unique bird.

 

Then we race to another lagoon where two juvenile male jaguars were seen.   This time we find them sleeping in dense vegetation right along the bank.

 

 

The second jaguar is in the vegetation over the rump of this one in front.

During late morning, a jaguar named Ti appears in the dense vegetation and climbs down the bank to hunt.    This is Marcella’s grandmother.

 

After about 45 minutes of following Ti, I catch her leaping for a caiman but the reptile escapes.   It happens that quickly.   One second they’re hunting and the next they’re leaping.

THE LEAP!

 

So far today, we have seen five jaguars.   What will this afternoon bring?

It’s time to head back to the hotel and a break from the hot sun.   I look at a small thermometer I have attached to my photo bag and it reads in the mid-to-high 100-and-teens!   

A pair of Southern Screamers

 

Can’t be, I think, though I do think it’s the hottest day yet and I am wiped out by the time we get back.    I leave my photo bag with its little thermometer  outside on a chair in the shade, sans cameras, of course.

I check the temperature after a while.    It still reads over 110.   I bring it in and check it against the air-conditioned room.   It still agrees with that temperature.

 

 

 

The Misadventures of Me and How was Your Christmas Weekend?

If I had to pinpoint exactly when the trouble began, I would state unequivocally it started when I woke up late Saturday evening, looked at the clock, and realized the electricity was out.

 

Not again, I muttered, and went back to sleep.  Sunday about 5 AM, I woke up again.   Still no power.   The house was getting cool and I decided I would stay in my nice cozy, warm bed until daylight and damn the torpedoes.   Daylight, this time of year, is around 9:30.

 

I got up just before ten and wanted a warm breakfast in my 59-degree house before I tackled the no-electricty chores.  No power means no microwave unless I braved the cold and started the generator and I wasn’t ready to tackle that.

 

First, I boiled some water for tea and then got out the frying pans and lit two burners—one for eggs and one for a pre-cooked patty sausage that was frozen and needed to be thawed/warmed.   

 

After eating, I went to the garage to put on some warm clothes so I could shovel a path to the generator through a new 16-inch snow dump, but a smoke alarm was beeping at me for no apparent reason other than to annoy me.   I tried waving a broom under the alarm, but that didn’t do anything.

 

It was located right over my truck and I could not reach it unless I pulled the truck out of the garage.  In order to do that, I had to disconnect the electric door opener and raise the door manually.  It sounds easier than it was.  

My garage is more full than usual this winter.   In addition to my truck and mini-van, a four-wheeler and the John Deere riding lawn tractor are stored inside.   It make getting around difficult.

 

Remember, when one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong in an-ever-increasing continuum.

 

I could not reach the cord to disconnect the opener drive.   I hauled a ladder over and still couldn’t reach the cord.   I employed a broom to bring the cord closer and yanked on it when I caught it.   Then I lifted that heavy door,  employing a push broom to get the door high enough.

Yanking on this red cord detaches the drive that opens the door so the door can be lifted manually when the power is out.

 

I pulled the truck out into the 16” of new snow and went back in to deal with smoke alarm, which was beginning to really annoy me.  

 Climbing the ladder, I was able to reach the garage door and pull it down.   I moved the ladder over to below the alarm and tried to shut it off.   Apparently just opening the door and getting fresh air was enough because it stopped beeping.    That was just before I was going to yank it out by its roots.

The smoke alarm is hanging by its roots right next to the orange cord.

 

Donning some warm clothes, I grabbed the shovel and went out to clear a path to the generator.  I started it, went back in the garage and tried to manually set the transfer switch which would bring electricty to the parts of the house that are wired to the generator.  The automatic transfer switch quit working some time ago and now I have a little lever that I use to pull down on the switch.   Well, when I did that, a piece of the switch broke off and the little lever was now useless.

 

Okay, now what?   Screwdriver—multi-purpose tool.   Carefully, and hoping I didn’t get electrocuted, I managed to get the switch levered down.

 

Now it was time to put the truck back in the garage so I moved the two ladders out of the way and manually opened the garage door.   For the life of me, I could NOT get the truck backed in correctly.   In and out, all the while letting cold air into the garage which feeds cold air into the house, too.

 

At length, I managed to catch the right-side mirror on the garage opening and break it.   Got the truck in and inspected the damage.  I will need a whole new assembly.   In the meantime, the whole thing is wrapped in a bungee cord.

 

Used a ladder to reach that damn garage door and pull it down.

 

Then I went upstairs and went back to bed.   I read by “Kindlelight “until I fell asleep for a long nap.

 

That was my Christmas Eve day.   Hope yours was better.

 

PS:   An avalanche closed the highway from late morning on the 24^th until early evening.   The power stayed out all Christmas Eve day and night, as well as all Christmas Day until about 8 PM while the temperature plummeted to 6 degrees below zero.   Today, it’s a brisk 16 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

The lights on this tree were not illuminated all weekend.

A Longer Interlude than Expected

 The interlude lasted longer than expected for a couple reasons, the foremost being a huge dump of snow that knocked out electricity to this valley--but only in one small area that included me.

We had 8 to ten inches of snow Friday, then 16 inches Saturday.  I think.  I am getting the days mixed up.I have never seen this much snow so early in the winter.  Seven feet?  Eight feet?  Who knows anymore.  There are giant piles in my yards and I think I'll open a ski resort.

Anyway, no electricity all Christmas Eve day and no electricity Christmas Day until about 8 PM.  In addition, the temperature started going down today and it's already minus 6 F., but at least the things that keep other things from freezing are working now.

That's a big WHEW!

Now it's time to recover and get back to the Brazil Journals.  Haven't been able to work on them because there's no computer, no Internet, no nothing when there's no power.

I don't feel very Christmasy right now but I hope yours was wonderful and a darned sight more relaxing than mine.

Brief Interlude continued

 The forecast called for a change in the weather that threatened to ruin the feathery, frosted tree branches that transformed this area, so I grabbed my camera and headed the seven miles into Moose Pass to get some shots there.

Mid afternoon is late to be taking photos in December.

Driving past Trail Lake.

I don't know the original use for this little building, but I sure like the looks of it.

And the official greeting sign.

The town Christmas tree.

One of, if not the oldest buildings in town is the iconic Estes Bros store.   It's almost a 100 years old.

If the state highway design engineers get their way, it will be demolished to make way for highway improvements.   The store pre-dates the highway that is threatening to destroy it.

A closer look.

Then there's a lodge that has been here since the 1950s.   First called the Jockey Club, it is now called Trail Lake Lodge.

Across from the lodge is the community hall/library.

And the Methodist church.

Down the road is the Alaska Railroad siding with a snowplow parked and ready.

The post office.

On the way out of town, one of the prettiest homes in downtown.

Another iconic building is the old Moose Pass Inn, scheduled for demolition because of its advanced state of deterioration.

Trail Lake again from the other angle.

And back out the Seward highway.

Hope you enjoyed a brief tour of a snowy Moose Pass.

A Brief Interlude

 While I write the story of the day we saw seven jaguars in the Brazilian Pantanal and prepare the photos that go with this remarkable day, I want to show you what things look like around here this snowy December.

It began several weeks ago with a three-foot snowfall.   Along with that snowfall came a two-day power outage due to trees falling onto transmission lines.

Snow level on the deck is almost as high as. the rails.

Took me a couple days to get rid of all this snow so I could fill the bird feeders.

Those orange markers are 42" high.

Where to put all that snow?

Driveway with the phone line hanging low.

Steller's Jay in the snow

Thanksgiving cactus bursting into bloom.

After we dug ourselves out from that, a warm front moved in, along with wind, and knocked all the snow off the trees.  However, that same storm dropped wet snow that froze onto the tree branches, and everything else, and once again the trees looked like they were flocked.

This was different, though.   That frozen base could not be knocked off  by the weight of more snow.   A couple more storms brought more powder snow and viola!  

Black-capped chickadee.

Downy Woodpecker at the suet block.

Steller's jay with a mouthful of peanut butter.

Black-billed magpie with a face full  of snow sits on the window sill of the upper windows.

Pine grosbeak.   I was a little concerned that she was here by herself for several days.

Then a flock of five came by and I thought she'd leave with them.   But no.   One stayed WITH HER!

Hairy woodpecker, larger than the Downy woodpeckers.

We now have a beautiful snow-covered landscape.   I've been out taking photos around the area to commemorate the occasion.

The view from my loft window.

Driving up to my house with branches overhanging the driveway,

Driveway

The hood of my pickup is at the bottom.   Look how low the phone lines are hanging.

Mist over Tern Lake.

Front of my house.

View from my loft.

Looking east from the highway.

I'll have more snow photos before I get back to the Brazil Journals.

In the meantime, wishing you a Merry Christmas from the snow globe.