Guess Who's Back

 Ah, the pretty pine grosbeaks came back to the neighborhood this past week.  They are friendly, gentle birds and they really cheer up these bleak days.

 

 

More to Come

 I've been taking photos of the mountain goats on the slopes I see from my living room.    At this distance, they are white spots with legs.

 

 

Even with a 500mm lens, you can barely make out that they are goats and not sheep.

Ah, but help is here.   My cousin Bud sent me his 1000mm lens.   Now, I have to get an adapter to attach it to my Nikon.

Soon, I'll be able to count the hairs on their chinny-chin-chins.

Hey, Clyde!

 Happy birthday, Clyde,

Waiting for the first snow on your day.   The forecast says there's a chance tonight.

 

 

 

Rare Bird SIghting

 I saw a melanistic shmoo today.

Otherwise, and more officially, this is called a spruce hen (female spruce grouse).   I think they look like schmoos.

The Morning After

 Our two candidates for the office of the United States Presidency participated in a heated debate Tuesday evening.   It was raucous, and unless you knew what to listen for, mostly without informative content.

The man who currently holds the office interrupted his challenger frequently with the result that the two talked over each other, thus making a lot of noise but offering no substance.   He makes assertions that might or might not be true, a frequent charge against him.

 Although he has repeatedly disavowed and condemned white supremacists, another of his comments this night again raised the specter of racism.

 

 

 

 

 

The challenger responded with unheard of insults ("Oh, shut up man."  "clown"  "racist"  "liar" and "worst president we've ever had") and refused to answer a basic policy question (re packing the Supreme Court) because "it would become the issue."

What?   Of course, it would.   Isn't that what election campaigning is all about?   Finding out where the candidates stand?

 

 

 Both, obviously, were trying to goad the other into making  mistakes.

I was sick and dispirited when it finally ended. With everything else going on in this country, this circus side show was too much

Is there a place on the ballot for NONE OF THE ABOVE?   Some say we get the government we deserve. 

 

 

 

I wrote this the next morning, after deciding to recuse myself from reality for an undetermined amount of time:

Today, my world shrank, constricted, diminished.

Today, no politics, no insults, no lies.

Today, no agendas, no aversions, no dodging.

Today, no protests, no riots, no looting.

 

Today, my world is within my grasp.

Today, people cut nets from entangled whales

Pull hooks from the fins of porpoise,

Bravely cut a bucket from a bear’s head.

 

Today, my world is filled with heroes

Tending the afflicted,

Protecting my neighbors,

Safeguarding our country.

 

Today, my world is held close,

Hoping for respite by redrawing its boundaries,

Holding doors open and saying thank you,

Searching for civility and, yes, even gentility,

 

Tomorrow?

It’s too soon to tell

If I will renew the lease on

My world of gossamer walls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Road Trip

 Took a few days and went up to Denali National Park.

The mountain was visible all day!    I have never ever seen that before.   She is so elusive, and makes her own weather, that she is usually cloaked in clouds.

Half staff in honor of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The Perfect Place for a Pee Stop

 

I put aside a whole list of chores that must get done and took the new camera for a Sunday drive instead. There must be a moral law against doing chores on a beautiful autumn day in Alaska.

 

 I passed through Cooper Landing and turned left at the Skilak Lake Road loop, some 19 miles of narrow two-lane gravel. I was now in the vast Kenai National Wildlife Reserve.

 

Last summer the Swan Lake wildfire jumped the Sterling highway and devastated much of the Skilak area. The burn is evident, but so is the rejuvenation of the area. Hordes of people descended on the area this spring in search of the delicious morel mushrooms. 

(Fireweed has sprung up in the scorched area. It will stabilize the soil.)

 

 (Many of the lakeside areas, as well as the campgrounds, escaped the fire.)

 

(Hundreds of birch saplings are growing among the burned spruce.)

 

 

 

 

I spotted a mound of gravel in a "somewhat wide" spot in the road as I came around a curve. It reminded me of the run-out lanes you see on steep hills outside of Alaska, where the run-out is deep sand that slows a runaway truck before it wrecks.

 

This thirty inch high mound wouldn't stop anything. Instead, it would launch any vehicle into space, a la Thelma and Louise.

I pulled over, thinking it might be a scenic overlook. I also realized that it would make a good spot to pee, so I maneuvered the truck at an angle that would shield me from any traffic.

As I reached for the key to shut off the truck, my gaze came front and center--right at a black bear sow about twenty-five feet in front of my truck. Across the road and a bit farther away was her young cub.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead, I realigned the truck by parking diagonally across the left lane so that I could take photos out the driver's side window.

These bears were difficult to shoot because they were between me and the sun. Nevertheless, there I was in the middle of the road when another vehicle approached. I am sure the occupants wondered what that crazy old woman was doing. Or maybe, not. My new hair cut stops just short of a buzz cut, so maybe they were wondering what that crazy old fool was doing.

 

 

 

When they got close enough to see hand signals, I started pointing at the bears. They continued to stare at me. I signaled some more. 

What were they thinking? Is this a hold up? Are we getting car-jacked?

I pointed some more--and more emphatically! By this time, their vehicle was directly opposite the bears.

The woman looked in the direction I was pointing. Her mouth fell open, and I heard "We drove RIGHT PAST A BEAR!"

Then, they were happy and no longer wondering about the crazy old woman in the road.

We shot photos until another vehicle arrived and I left to give them a chance to see the bears.

PS: I didn't tell the lady in the first vehicle what I was about to do before I saw the bears.