Wednesday, June 30, 2010

this Austrian guy was carrying a heron....


Sounds like the start of a joke doesn't it?
It's not. This morning has been one of those days that demands it's own course despite my best efforts to tame it into productivity. Things got off to a bad start by my trying (and failing) to trim my hair into something presentable and humidity proof for an upcoming event. Then the minutes became ensnared in a series of mundane and insignificant distractions so that by late morning it seemed that taking Stanley for his walk before hitting the studio made the most sense. We were going to head up the canyon because I wanted to photograph the Mountain Lady Slipper Orchids but we never got there. At the trailhead this Austrian guy comes out of the woods carrying an injured Great Blue Heron saying "you help, are you specialist?" It's not just any day you meet someone from Vienna in the middle of nowhere Wyoming trying to hand you a bloody wader. In fact I'm willing to bet that if I live another 80 years I may never experience such a thing again. It was the first and probably the last time I will ever hold such a majestic creature. It was a bittersweet moment though because the biologist we found at the Fish Hatchery was more inclined toward killing the bird than saving it and was having no part of my taking it. So long story short, Ron, my new Austrian friend, decided to leave it with her on the promise that a licensed rehabber would stop by this afternoon before any final decision was made. I'm not sure we did the right thing but it's possible there was no "right" thing to do. Still, I thought it was blog worthy. I really liked Ron despite our communication difficulties. Apparently he lives 3 months each summer here where he spends 10 hours a day wandering the woods. The other 9 months of the year he lives in Vienna. We both dislike the casual killing of animals and lack of conservation that is part of the culture here but we both love the wilderness. He showed me his moose pictures and told me about the bear he met yesterday and then I drove him back to the canyon as he had many more hours of walking left in him.

Note: I had my camera but didn't photograph Ron or the heron, it didn't seem right. The picture above is not mine. Click here to link to it's source.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

a bear of a morning















Yesterday I got up at 6am (something I try to avoid doing with any regularity! :). I peed, let the dogs out (Mattie in her fenced area out the back door, and Stanley out the front because he doesn't run or chase the deer much, while Emily stayed in). I was half asleep and didn't have my glasses on but Mattie was going ballistic so I looked out the window and saw a bear running by. Behind it was a little black thing and I thought cool, it has a cub. Then I realized it wasn't a cub, it was Stanley chasing the bear; all 25 pounds of him! Instinctively (and stupidly), I ran outside in order to rescue Stanley who had stopped. The bear was still headed for the woods so I scooped Stanley up and then I noticed that the bear had also paused, was holding his ground, and had turned to face me. Suddenly it was clear that I possess no more sense than Stanley does, and all I could think to do was to start screaming "he's looking at me!". Like some kind of suicidal domino effect, Larry ran out of the house, and I don't know if it was his stunning masculinity, or just our increasing numbers, but mr. bear decided he'd had enough of us and ran into the woods. I guess that's one way to wake up!

Anyways, the bear must have been around for a while because all of the cats were pretty traumatized. We've gotten everyone safe and inside except for Nigel. I still can't find him but he gets really freaked out about bears, last time it took 3 days before we dragged him from under a neighbor's shed. Loose (our goose) also hid. We found him wedged in a tiny space between his pen wall and some hay bales. Apparently he's smarter than both me and Stanley combined.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

what's wrong with this picture???



Clue # 1: I just took it.
Clue # 2: Today is June 22nd.
Clue # 3: Yesterday was the first day of SUMMER!




Friday, June 18, 2010

walking away


I shot this on Wednesday at ZooMontana and for some reason I really like it. Unfortunately Shutterstock didn't. I've found that most of the other stock sites aren't worth the trouble it takes to submit to them, so I've decided to just post it here for anyone to use as they please. Not many people pop by anymore, but if you do stop by and you just happen to be right in the middle of some elaborate peacock project, then help yourself. As I was uploading him I was trying to think about what to write and decided to list some things that I've walked away from. This isn't a comprehensive list by any means, nor is walking away necessarily negative (I mean sometimes it's absolutely the healthiest choice to make). Here are a few trivial ones:

making "real" art
blogging whole-heartedly
gluten
any preconceived idea of who my child "should" be
forcing myself to be socially engaging
the idea that my house will ever be truly clean while living with 6 cats and 3 dogs
striving to be fashionable
convention






Tuesday, June 15, 2010

another zoe quote...



"you bought her new sheets?!
i can't even get you to wash mine."




Thursday, June 10, 2010

Monday, June 7, 2010

a few pics from penrose trail today


cow parsnip?


hooded coralroot


western tanager


poppies


shooting star


wild clematis


Tuesday, June 1, 2010