If it ever stops snowing

Every night I shovel snow for a couple of hours. The same job over and over. I guess the up-side is that if it ever stops snowing I can go skiing. But right now I can't get there. It's getting a little depressing. Everyone just wants it to stop for a while . This is how it looked on my way to work today. The snow was finally replaced this afternoon by high winds and the forecast calls for more snow each day.

I changed the blog header to reflect the mood. My neighborhood might be snowed in until spring... I hope we don't start eating eachother...

Missoula bike culture

Missoula is such a bike friendly town. Many people get around on bikes all year and bikes are everywhere. There is also no shortage of cars, so conflicts between bikes and cars are common. I really miss living in Missoula. Don't get me wrong, this is a good place to live too, and there are actually many more places to ride a road bike, but here people ride bikes to get a workout and will often drive to a trail head to ride, and in Missoula many people ride bikes as a primary means of transportation.

Now when I visit Missoula the bike culture seems a little alien to me. Perhaps I've become the alien and return to observe the culture.

As you can see, there is also no shortage of artistic expression.

Christmas thoughts

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or happy holidays to everyone who might be reading. What a difference a year makes. A year ago I was here, well not exactly here, but my mom was just through a first cancer treatment operation. I spent my days coming and going from the hospital. How different things were back then. It seems like it was only yesterday.

Tonight Christmas celebrations are over, I've watched all of the Christmas TV programs I can manage, and I decided to go and find a hotspot. I ended up coming to the hospital cafeteria. How calm everything seems. It's as if there really is peace on earth tonight. And how different things are for me and my family than they were last year. I realize that it's all kind of an illusion. I know that for some things aren't as good as they are for me. I know that there are sick people who suffer right here tonight.

Last night I took my mom to here church, her cancer a year in the past. I don't know what it is but I always think they are talking about me when they welcome the people who might be visiting, as if we've been lost at sea for years or something. (Oh what the heck,..) What land have I come to this time, Rough savages are they,. or kind friends willing to help out a stranger? I always think of this line when I drop in on someone's gig...

I had to fake my way through a few church hymns. I'm a pretty good faker. I have a pretty small singing range. Three or four notes.. They had the words to the music printed in the hand out they give you to let you know what's going on. But you could also look the hymns up in the hymnal if you wanted to read the music. One of the hymns was really complicated. I was looking at the score in the hymnal thinking, how do people fake something this complicated? So then I faked it with a thoughtful confused look on my face because the choir is up there looking straight back at all of the people in the congregation and probably trying to decide who is faking it. That's what I'd do if I were in the choir... Then I got to thinking how church hymns might just be some sort of honesty test...

There were the usual people at church. The young and the old. A pastor with a peaceful smile. I'm sure he knows who's faking it... A little girl with a battery powered candle who stood a the pew in front of us and then just dropped onto her bottom in a seated position with the weight of a bird. It gave me cause to think,.. If I stood on the pew and just and just dropped onto my butt I'd probably throw my back out...

But there was one older lady who really stood out. She had a red sweater on with a red flashing Christmas light necklace. I had to admire her courage for wearing that. This was after all a candle light service and they were going to turn the lights off at some point... Then I thought what if I wore a necklace like that?... What would people think? What if we all did? What if 17% of the population wore flashing light necklaces?..

As usual it was hard for me to keep my mind on the service, but I'm sort of glad I went.

Treatment options to consider

If you get a cold you can take Sudafed PE. If it doesn't work take Dayquil with vitamin C, or take Robitussin for mucous. If you think it might be C.O.P.D. you can breathe free with Spiriva. If you have alergies and not a cold, take Claritin as it works both indoors and outdoors and then you can do what you want. If it doesn't work fast enough take Zyrtek, it's faster than Claritin. Women who can't wait to go to the restroom should take Detrol LA and men who spend too much time in the men's room should take Flomax. For many men it can make a difference in one week. Ducolax doesn't make women go it just makes it easier for them to go and then it makes them lay around on with a smile on their face. When the moment is right take Cialis. If Cialis isn't right take Lavitra. Ask your doctor if you are healthy enough for sex. Sometimes back pain may result so apply a Thermacare heat wrap. Then take Ambian and go to sleep, but don't take it with alcohol. Make sure you can devote a full eight hours to sleep. Don't drive or operate machinery while asleep. As with all sleep aids, there is a risk of dependency. There are many treatment options to consider.

I can dig it

It snowed most of the day here today. There was too much snow really to drive a car around. The snow was just too deep. When it gets up to the body of the car it is just too deep. So after I dug myself out of my house I chained up my van which has more clearance and went to work. Why we opened I don't know as they were telling everyone to stay home. Cars were stuck everywhere. Even four wheel drives were stuck. You really needed chains or a monster truck to get around. Quite a few people have moster trucks actually but even they were having problems.

This is a picture of our parking lot at work today, a common scene. I just looked outside and it's still snowing and blowing. I'll have to dig out tomorrow again. The up-side to this is that I'll be skiing soon. I can already XC ski right from my house which I intend to do this weekend.

Flag picture

There's a great big flag not far from where I work and I've been wanting to take its picture for some time but couldn't figure out how to do it and make an interesting image. It's kind of up on a hill and there's nothing around it except sky no matter how you look at it, but it's so big it's hard to not be drawn to it. Today there wasn't a cloud in the sky and a strong cold wind. On my way back to work from lunch I was looking at this great big flag and drove into its shadow as the sun was directly behind it, so I turned around and went back to get some snaps.

I showed it to someone who thought it was interesting but also sad. I found that curious. I may not leave this up if anyone finds the picture offensive.

I retain the rights to all of my photos.  Please do not use without permission.

The trouble with compact fluorescent

Here's what I wrote about compact fluoresecent bulbs back when. Of course I started out writing about Nixon first...

Yesterday I started to write about President's day and it morphed into why I thought it was a mistake for Ford to pardon Nixon.

It just irked me when Ford died that everyone made such a big deal of how wise he was for pardoning Nixon. What the heck!? All it did was set the bar really low for people like W, I thought... And on the subject of W, I would have caught the shoe thrown, or at least made some sort of a martial arts motion with my hands... Grasshopper! How cool would that have been? It was perhaps Bush's last chance to do something cool.

I have another thing on my mind today. These little fluorescent energy saving light bulbs. The little curly bulbs. I got tired having regular light bulbs burn out all of the time so I bought a package of four of these. Well one of them burned out the moment I turned it on, so now I have to take it back. Then I found out that these bulbs contain mercury and should be recycled and not just thrown away. I'm pretty sure if I just take it back they will just throw it away. There is only one store that has taken responsibility for the bulbs that they sell in Washington and that is Ikea. Now I'm thinking that perhaps these things aren't such a great idea after all. I guess there is only one place in the state to recycle them. I need to look into this more.

Here is the link Lamp Recycle dot org that I found back then. And here is a link to my original post.

Birds of Prey crash

Ski season has started and today I watched what little coverage we will get here in the states of the World Cup and the US ski team. It's sad as we have such a good team this year and we won't get to watch much of it on TV. Here's a picture I took of my TV and one of our US Ski Team guys crashing on the Birds of Prey downhill. I'm sorry that I don't remember who this is but it isn't Bodie Miller. (it kind of looks like me :) Miller crashed too but went straight down after catching his tip on a gate. It looked like this guy only scratched his nose after crashing into the netting going perhaps 75 mph or more.

We haven't gotten much snow here yet but I think this cold snap will have frozen what snow there was into a solid base to build on.

The gesture of a shiver

I only left the house once yesterday. It has gotten really cold and windy. Around ten degrees or so I imagine and blow zero with the wind chill. I"m starting to get used to the cold now again but it took a while this year.

I left the house to go to the local grocery store operated by a guy from India and his family. I asume he's from India anyway. We've sort of become friends and he always seems happy to see me, although I suspect that not everyone here has been friendly to them.

We talked about the cold weather as I checked out with my groceries. He smiled and made the gesture of a shiver. I'm not exactly sure what he said other than it's cold, but there was warmth in his sheepish smile.

December tree

I haven't posted a cyber tree for a while, so here is a December cyber tree from the building next to the one I work in. It's dark back behind that building and I was out there taking pictures last night and this woman comes out a door to go to her car in a parking lot. I assured her I was just taking pictures and was from the next building, but it must have been kind of scarry for her. And really not the best situation for them to have to park back there.

Hands on my hips

The dogs that live across the street next to my mailbox hate me. And the thing of it is, I'm not very fond of them either. The wolf dogs that live behind me don't hate me, they aren't crazy about me but they don't hate me. They've been trained and their owner refers to them as "guard dogs". They're kind of isolated though and don't have much to guard. They never leave their yard. So I don't know what it is about the dogs arcoss the street other than they haven't been trained and are allowed to act however they want. They never leave their yard either.

Everyone in my neighborhood has dogs in their yards, and a couple of my neighbors have dogs in their houses. I'm not sure what's better and what's worse. I live on a corner lot and have a pretty big yard. One time I stayed home sick. I was really sick. I never call in sick when I'm not sick. But for some reason I had to go out to my car to get something. This was just after 8:00 am when usually I'd already have gone to work. One of my neighbors let their dog out. A great big yellow dog. It trotted across the street to my yard and went to the bathroom with master watching. I was a little shocked. I walked out in that direction and put my hands on my hips. The master, a woman called the dog and it trotted back in the house as she held the door open for it. I had to wonder if this was their routine each day after I left for work.

But the dogs across the street are fenced in with a chain linked fence. The corner of their yard is right next to my mailbox. So every day when I go and get my mail the dogs bark and growl at me when I go to get my mail. They start the moment they see me. The "master" of them, this old guy, is usually out in his back yard smoking a cigarette. When he hears them barking he will wistle as if he's controling them. He never comes over to talk or anything. I guess I'm just a problem for him. I'm the reason his dogs go off. It's like he can't decide what's worse, me or his dogs, but we both annoy him.

To tree or not to tree

That is the question...

Everyone around here is putting up Christmas lights and driving around with Christmas trees on the tops of their SUVs. It's time for me to put up my one string of lights. I used to not get a Christmas tree because my cat Spunky thought it was something I brought home for her to climb on. I guess she was a tree dwelling cat, or she might have been looking for birds. I don't know but it drove her crazy and she always fell the tree by the time I got home from work. She was a timber cat... But Spunky has died and now I don't have a good excuse other than I don't like cutting down trees just to look at them indoors. I realize most of them come from tree farms. There's a tree farm in my neighborhood. They decorated it with a bicycle of all things.

This might be a sign...

Hey, it is a sign.. I could decorate my bike..

***

Last year at this time my mom was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery. It was a difficult time. But now we've had another year that I wasn't sure we'd get back then. And so far she's still fine.

Forgotten groceries at Safeway

I went to Safeway last night after work to pay very high prices for a few things. Broccoli, skim milk, a bagel, a chicken, and some eggs. I got home and couldn't find the eggs. Well in the morning I really wanted to make a poached egg. I couldn't find the eggs. I looked everywhere. So I ate the bagel.

Well what it was, I left without them from the store. You'd think they'd run me down. I only had a few things. I took everythig the guy put where I could get it. I didn't bother to take an inventory... I thought perhaps it's a sign. I shouldn't eat eggs I thought,.. But I got to thinking about it and I really wanted them. I could make egg salad or something... So today I went back to Safeway and asked them If I'd left them. The same guy was there at the express lane and he remembered me not taking the eggs. I had to go to a different counter and another guy would check this list. My eggs were on the list.

I had to go to the back of the store and select another dozen. They could have sent someone to go and get them for me but no.. At least they gave them to me but I really feel the fault was with the checker for the way he put them in the bags and then not making sure I got them. I took what was presented to me and I just thought everything was in there as there weren't that many things.

Here's the deal, there were lots of things on the list before and after my eggs. So how could it just be me? Do that many people forget to take the stuff they pay so much money for, or do they fail to package and send you off with it properly? It sounds to me like Safeway has a process problem that works in their favor. And it wasn't like "We are very sorry Mr. Don." it was more like "Did you forget your eggs?"..

Homesteaders music

I decided to leave the highway in Montana and explore a remote town. It's strange. They built the town quite a ways off of the highway. Like they didn't want to be bothered by people driving by. It's almost scarry in a way. Of course I took a few pictures.

And no western town should be without a recording studio. I'm feeling some country twang coming on...

I retain the rights to all of my photos.  Please do not use without permission.

It might be genetic

All of the old ladies who lived in the valley looked the same. They all looked like my aunt. It was a regional look. I always thought it must have been because they all went to the same beauty parlor, but now I think it might be genetic..

On Sunday they all went to the same western themed restaurant with chandeliers made out of wagon wheels that hung above each table. Where you got a dinner salad with every dinner meal on the menu. Everyone went there for the salad dressing. They had a special Thousand Island dressing with extra salt in it. Potato chips were served with hamburgers and French fries came with the French dip. But what I liked was the paper place matt that had a map of the state and cartoons on it that I never seemed to tire off. In the lake there was a fisherman in a boat catching a fish. A cowboy on a horse over here and a logger in the forest over there.

My aunt looked like an old school teacher and had a chain on her cat eye glasses for hanging them around her neck although she always had them on her face. For all I know she really was an old school teacher. I don't think she ever went anywhere in her white Ford sedan without a white sweater and a large string of matching plastic beads. She had a white Angora cat named Sissy who made its way around the room behind the furniture and slept behind the fuel oil stove that was up against one wall in the front room of their house. When we came over my aunt would bring out a bowl of Chex Mix to serve us, an exotic delicacy for me. Something we never had at home. While my mom and aunt would visit I'd roam around outside behind the house where the fuel tank that supplied the stove sat out of view.

My Uncle had a shed back there where he made things out of wood. Over the door was a plywood fish. He made lamps that looked like covered wagons, and lamps that just looked like pieces of wood too short to make anything else. They just consisted of a piece of varnished plywood for the base and and upright piece of wood. I always marveled at how he got the cord to go up the inside out of sight. He made cribbage boards out of deer antlers, and crude duck decoys painted with whatever paint he had left over. His wood working varried in skill level. He seemed to produce lots of decoys and it looked to me like he didn't spend a lot of time on them. I'm sure if you put one in the water it would float upside down. He spent a lot of time on on the wagon lamps however. Not so much time on the regular board lamps.

They had a coffee table with a piece of glass on it with which they sandwiched old yellowing photos of family members that sort of matched the yellowing varnish of the table. If the conversation ever slowed down you could always resort to commenting on the photos. "That was George before he had his operation. He takes a hand full of pills now." "He hasn't been well for years." "He can't have salt."

Now when I return to that valley, the old women still all look the same. It must that beauty parlor.

Strange dream

I had a strange dream. I had to drive my car up a very steep road up a hill to where there were some houses. But I couldn't remember where I parked my car. So I was looking around for it and when I found it in a parking lot, it was more like a go-cart than a car. But since I found it and had to go up the steep road I got in/ on the car and up the road I went. When I got to my destination I parked the go-cart and looked down to the next house where one of my professors from art school was rolling around in the grass. He'd stop rolling and lay there motionless on his back with his arms and legs up in the air. That's strange,.. I thought. So I asked a guy who happened to be standing there, "Say, I think that's my professor." I said, "What's wrong with him?" He always does that, the guy responded. He has a drug problem. He's overdosed again. What!..? My Gosh! How horrible, I thought... We can't help him, the guy said.. So after watching him rolling around for a while, I got in my go-cart car and drove back down the hill.

I've posted this picture of Jake before but this is what my professor looked like in my dream as he rolled around.

Bigarm Bay

Here's another picture of Bigarm Bay from the set I took a few weeks ago at Flathead Lake. It would have been a nice morning for a paddle in the canoe. It's about time for me to edit the Flathead Lake photos on the side bar.

I retain the rights to all of my photos.  Please do not use without permission.

Forest sunrise

I took this picture yesterday morning while hiking to where I wanted to hunt before it got light. Actually this guy drove past me and then turned right into where I was headed and parked, keeping me from going down the road I wanted to hunt and claiming it for himself. I had walked a long ways to get there. He just edged me out of it. Pretty uncool of him I thought.

I've been in the mountains for a few days hunting. No luck... And if hunting is a skill, then no luck using my skills,... :) I'm happy not getting anything anyway. I hate killing animals, even fish.

There are a lot of ethical issues surrounding hunting these days. The whole gun thing, and all of the other rules, you can't do this you can't do that. There are those who would say nobody should be allowed to even own a gun. Then there are those who hunt who say this is ethical and that isn't. You can't shoot this way and you can't shoot that way. I've even been criticized by other hunters for having more than one box of shells. I've heard and seen it all when it comes to hunting ethics I think.

Coeur d'Alene river

Here's a picture I took along the Coeur d'Alene River in north Idaho a couple of weeks ago. You can sort of see the fall colors through the morning fog. Click to see bigger.

Bighorn sheep photos

Now I've done it...I've added some of my Bighorn sheep photos to the side bar.

To be honest, I'd rather photograph women,.. But this being Montana and all,..

And no, the sheep is not smoking a cigarette,... It's grass,..

Red state reactions

I usually listen to radio in the mornings on my vintage Zenith Trans-Oceanic. (no home should be without one) I like to listen to KOFI out of Montana as I get local Montana news when I'm not in Montana. Before the election, and before I got the e-mail from Park City, there was a story about a farmer in a small Montana town who parked a trailer full of manure in front of an Obama campaign office with a sign on it that read "Change we need, what a load of crap." Good Grief! I thought... So that probably had an influence on how I took the e-mail header.

Gosh I hope I didn't get someone in trouble down there for something as harmless as that e-mail header. Some poor person just trying to do a good job. I really wasn't offended.

And BTW, I really like Park City, it's a great place to ski. It really is beautiful there, and the nice thing is that you really don't need a car to get around there due to a really cool bus system that was free when I was there. Just fly into Salt Lake, and take a van (you have to pay for the van) to Park City. It's really slick. And they are 30% friendly to democrats,...( I'm just kidding! )

And on the subject of Obama getting elected and reaction in red states like Montana,.. I heard a story out of Montana this morning on how there has been a run on the gun stores for fear that Obama will take away guns. He's said he won't do that but he could appoint a judge who might be against 2nd Amendment rights. I guess you could look at it this way, gun sales are up and that's good for the economy...

And on the subject of guns and hunting, A friend of mine came to stay this weekend and hunt in the mountains behind my place. I was going to go but it's really socked in and raining and I'm sort of getting over a stuffed up head. Don't really want to get my rifle wet. So I'm going to put some chili on in the slow cooker and perhaps drive my truck back there this afternoon.

Bitter waring tribes

David Brooks was on the Charlie Rose show last night and said this; The conservative movment has been broken up into bitter waring tribes. Something like that. He reflected on the 1980s when the conservative movement was "flowering" and then pointed to a few events that served to divide the republican party and conservative movement. Taking on government, contract with america, and the religious right. But in a way his complaint was about the dumbing down of the right. The conservative movement of Buckley and the thoughtful debate of Firing Line, which I used to watch and enjoy, had somehow morphed into the the mocking rant of right wing radio to work the "joe six-pack" crowd into a thoughtless frenzy in a period of about twenty years.

I remember Rush Limbaugh once saying, Don't read the news, I'll read it and explain it for you. How small minded. It really is time for a change.

Three million to study bears in Montana

I wish John McCain would stop using the three million dollars to study grizzly bears in Montana as an example of wasteful pork spending. He did it again Thursday. It makes me glad I didn't vote for him. McCain didn't bother to come to Montana this whole campaign. Obama on the other hand went there 5 or 6 times.

Now I realize that the republicans have no interest in science, but you'd think they'd have some interest in creation, and you'd think they'd understand that a lot of money is generated when people come to Montana with the hope of seeing a bear or a bighorn or perhaps just to fish for trout. There was a piece on the News Hour tonight featuring trout fishing in Montana and global warming.

Well it just so happens that trout fishing in Montana is a three hundred million dollar a year industry according to the piece on the News Hour. Trout die if the water gets above 78 degrees. There has been a 5-7 degree rise in river water temps in Montana since the 1950s. We wouldn't know these things if we didn't study them...

A couple of years ago we had a German couple who were touring the west stay with us at our cabin. One of the things they wanted to do in Montana was they wanted to see a bear. So I asked them through an interpretur,. "Don't you have bears in Germany?" No.. "What about that city?" I asked,.. "Don't you have a city named after a bear?". I guess they killed all of their bears a long time ago.

Well The Grizzlies are pretty popular in Montana. As a University of Montana alum and former Griz I take issue with John McCain. Most likely his wife has a wardrobe that cost millions. I noticed some pretty serious bling too. Palin has only been in the picture for a couple of months and the tab was $150k for her wardrobe. Now that's wasteful spending... John....

Do me a favor. After you loose the election, don't move to Montana. Go to Wyoming and hang with Cheney. Just don't go hunting with him.

Bighorn Ram

Ok Curt.. this Bighorn picture is for you! :) Click on the picture to get up close and personal. It seemed that everywhere I went in Montana Sunday I ran into Bighorns! I'm not kidding. This one was about 50 miles from the others in my last post. I'm pretty sure you know where this is Curt, but we won't tell anyone else... None of these rams were like the one I saw on Wild Horse Island though. That BIGHORN was a monster and one of the biggest Bighorns I've ever seen. I got really close to that one too.

Fact is,.. I think I'm going to put together a collection of my Bighorn photos on the side bar for all to see :) I've been thinking about that for a while now, as Bighorns are my favorite big game animal and I have quite a few photos.

Bighorn sheep photos

I call this picture, "bighorn behind fence". I'm just kidding... I actually call it "barbed wire and bighorn". Well not really... I'm afraid if I'd gotten out of the car the sheep would have skedaddled, and then I'd have to call the pictures "bighorns in the distance". :)

There were some bighorn sheep next to the highway in Montana today and they were horny. ( Sorry,..I couldn't resist) The rams were trying to cut out ewes for themselves so they were pushing eachother around. It was kind of fun to watch. One moment it was like nothing was going on and all of the sheep were grazing, and the next moment one of the rams would cop an attitude and spring into action.

Jesus freak

Our cars and trucks define us. I think the font choice is a little dark for this decal.

Needles and pins

I bought a couple of CDs today. I was running out of road trip music. I went to get Charlie Haden Rambling Boy and I also bought Lucinda Williams "Sweet Old World" as sort of an afterthought as they had a low price on it.

If you are reading Curt, you'd like the Rambling Boy CD. You'd like the Lucinda Williams too but I suspect you might already have that one.

If you click on the Rambling Boy link and have highspeed you can listen to the album as it just starts to play. Charlie Haden is a jazz bassist who plays with Pat Metheny but this ablum is sort of classic country/ bluegrass. It has several greats on it. Pat Metheny, Vince Gill, Ricky Scaggs, Rosane Cash, Bruce Hornsby, Dan Tyminsky on mandolin and Jerry Douglas on Dobro. But the real reason I bought it was because of Haden's three daughters, Petra, Rachel, and Tanya's three part harmony. Their voices blend in a very special way I guess because they are sisters.

In this recording Haden goes back to his family roots. I can sort of relate to that. When I was young we played music together as a family in the cabin. I'd play mandolin and guitar with my dad who played banjo. My mom played church hymns on an old pump organ. We'd have a fire going in the fire place and make popcorn. That's a pretty simple pleasure.

My mom was classically trained and my dad an old time musician. I was somewhere in the middle. Piano lessons and violin in orchestra.

I was repsonsible for keeping my dad's banjo in tune. It was hanging on the wall in a room I had to go through to get to my room. So every now and then when I went by I'd take it down and tune and hang it back up. Now and then I'd have to put new strings on it. I hated doing that as sometimes I'd break the high string on it and my old man would be mad as it wasn't easy to get strings for it. There was something about it that made it really tricky to get that high string all the way up to pitch without breaking it.

Talk about being on needles and pins tuning that string! tink..tink..tink.. BOING! :)

Flathead Lake picture

Here's another picture I took this morning as the sun rose over Flathead Lake in Montana.

Merganser picture

A merganser cruising the bay this morning.

I retain the rights to all of my photos.  Please do not use without permission.

Making up

Here's a picture I took tonight of the bay. It had been stormy all day and even as I launched my boat it was raining. Before it got dark the sky opened up as if to resolve a quarrel.

Christopher Buckley endorses Obama

Would the late William F Buckley Jr. be rolling over in his grave at the news of his son Christopher Buckley endorsing Barak Obama? I don't think so, but Christopher Buckley has resigned from the conservative magazine, National Review, that his father founded.

In a Huffington Post article by Jason Linkins, the young Buckley is quoted as saying this about the state of the conservative movement;

"I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for. Eight years of "conservative" government has brought us a doubled national debt, ruinous expansion of entitlement programs, bridges to nowhere, poster boy Jack Abramoff and an ill-premised, ill-waged war conducted by politicians of breathtaking arrogance."

What I find interesting about this is the fact that he left the magazine over his endorsement of Obama, and that they were quick to accept his resignation. It reminds me of when Bush said either you are with us or against us and the lack of tollerance for a "reasoned argument for the opposition". McCain's nomination and campaign is reflective of the situation within the conservative right, and this lack of unity is what will most likely cost them the election.

Country twang

I was sitting at my computer today with my headphones on listening to country music while I worked...

"Hey baby I'm a country man,
why don't you come and join me in my new deer stand,..."

Well,..I guess it wasn't as bad as, "I want to get you in the sticks and check you for ticks"... or however that goes.

And come to think of it, whatever happened to Wordpecker?

Tamarack Larch

I haven't posted any cyber trees lately. Here's a young Tamarack /Larch tree about to change color and drop its needles for the winter. I think the Tamarack is my favorite tree. This one was deep in the forest along a stream enjoying a bit of warmth from the sun before winter settles in.

Grouse hunting

I went to hunting camp this weekend. Mostly just for a camp out but I like to hunt for ruffed grouse. They are like wild chickens. And they taste just like chicken. I know people always say that but these things really sort of do... I got one grouse and that's all I wanted. I use an old LeFever Nitro Special .410 double barrel shotgun that was given to me as a birthday present from my dad. Pretty rare old shotgun and perfect for grouse as it won't destroy them. I'm going to eat my grouse tomorrow night and I usually only have this meal once a year. Here's how I cook them.

First I breast the bird. I won't go into detail about that, but you end up with the breast back and ribs only, no wings and no legs. You can save and eat the legs but I sort of feel like Survivorman if I do that. They aren't big like chicken legs. The breast is what you eat. Ruffed Grouse breast is white meat. I put the breast in salt water over night. It sort of cures and cleans it and removes the gamey taste. Then I take it out of that and fillet the breasts. I marinade them in a mixture of olive oil garlic Italian parsley and fresh lemon juice for a couple of hours in the fridge. Then I quickly saute it in olive oil and a little dry white wine. I've tried a lot of different ways to cook grouse but this is best, and it's really good.

Turn things around

The past few weeks I've been sleeping with the window open as much as possible. The wind has been blowing at night and I like to hear the sound of it in the trees as I sleep.

"I think we should bring it about!" I shouted back to Mr. C who was at the helm of his scow boat. He just looked up at the main sail. I don't think he heard me, I thought. I was maning the jib, and growing more and more uncomfortable with the wind the farther we sailed out into the bay. We had a boatload of summer guests on board for no doubt for their first sail. They laughed and talked with no clue of how easily the boat could go over. He wasn't paying attention to me, I thought,.. Or he couldn't hear me.

Sometimes the wind would blow so hard at night that it was blowing asphalt shingles off of my house. I could hear noises coming from the roof. Well I don't have to go up there tonight anway, I thought as I turned over in bed. I can fix the roof when when the wind dies down. No one could expect me to do anything about it right now anyway...

With each strong puff Mr. C would point the boat upwind and relieve the pressure from the sails. Exactly the right thing to do on a scow boat to avoid a capsize, but kind of tricky too because if the boat stops control is lost and the wind can knock you over. He kept feathering it like this, and I had to trim the jib in unison. If I eased off, the jib would stop pulling so I tried to match his moves. "Are you good with this wind!?" I tried again, feeling somewhat helpless on the bow as I was getting more and more confused about what to do. The farther away from shore we got the stronger the wind. Finally word got back to him that I was concerned, and we agreed to bring the boat around and get off of the bay, but we had to wait for a lull in the wind to make our turn. So farther and farther out we sailed waiting for our chance to turn around, waiting for that lull in the wind.

How often is that true I wondered?.. How often do people keep going in the wrong direction waiting for a chance to turn things around? A chance to go back to where they started from.

It's gotten a little too cold to sleep with the windows open now. When the wind blows it removes leaves from the trees and with them any memory of summer. I'll be able to see the ridge again through the empty branches I thought as I left my house for work in the morning.

"You'd better do something about your roof." the neighbor warned from his side of the fence.

McCain Obama debate

I just got done watching the 2nd presidential debate. I don't know why McCain likes the "town hall" format so much,.. it forces him to stand up and walk around. He looks like he's about ready for a walker, and I really don't like being called "friend" I have a problem with that. McCain said "my friends" over and over. He hasn't earned my friendship at all. It's been my experience that when someone calls me friend, they really aren't my friend.

Browkaw sucked. All of the rest of the moderators have wanted to get the candidates to engage with eachother and Brokaw kept keeping them from doing so and insisted on sticking to the rules. So thumbs down to Brokaw. He's no Tim Russert. Bob Shieffer will moderate the next debate and that's good. Saving the best for last.

In the first part of the debate and throughout the debate actually, I thought Obama's answers had much more substance than McCain. McCain threw out taking points lacking substance and then faulted Obama, and kept bringing up his past record. I'm not sure anyone cares so much about the past right now.

McCain started to make a little sense to me when he talked about Russia and Ukraine, but on the subject of Pakistan and Iran I thought Obama showed more reason. I think leaving global conflicts up to military generals is an archaine armchair approach to dealing with these problems. McCain kept bringing up General Petraeus. I'd rather have Petraeus debate Obama at this point. We might learn more.

In the end and on almost every point, I thought Obama showed more substance than McCain.

McCain lost, Browkaw lost, Obama won.

A river runs through it

Ok so here is a picture of don, aka me. You won't see many pictures of don on bicycle log... (I always say that) but it's true... I looked just like Brad Pitt!... Well sort of a young Brad Pitt anyway... :) you can click to see me bigger.

Well at least I grew up in the church that the movie A River Runs Through It was based on. I watched that movie again yesterday on TV... Part of it anyway. The part where Brad Pitt was catching a great big trout while fly fishing on the Blackfoot river. They filmed most of the river scenes on the Gallatin River actually, and the church they used in the movie was also somewhere down there too. Here's a picture of the real church.

When the movie came out the congregation was somewhat offended by profanity used in the film. People who went to this church back then and even now didn't/ don't talk like that,.. well not back then anyway. As you might know bicycle log is a profanity free zone. Not so much because I went to this church although that probably has something to do with it,.. It's more for the little kids and something Veronica once wrote when Marta was first born.

Cloud house

A house in Peaceful Valley from my adventures today. Good place for a pink toilet. I could have hooked them up.

Pink toilet

Craigslist often has some nice phtography. I might start a section on my blog devoted to it... I try not to post other people's photography but this toilet was in the free section! This would be a good picture to hang in the bathroom. If a guy was color blind it'd be a pretty good deal. I had to think twice about it. I'm kind of a junk collector. Somewhere in my basement I have the perfect black and white snake skin toilet seat for it...

There is also some good writing on Craigslist. HERE is a good example.

Palin and the VP Debate

Ok so here are my thoughts on VP debate. I guess I owe it to anyone who has been reading.

First of all, I must tell you that my first pick for president at the begining of this campaign was Joe Biden. I've watched a lot of Meet the Press and Face the Nation and this guy in my opinion is qualified to be president. So I have a bias in this respect.

Sadly what is sold to the public is a popularity contest.

I think what defined this debate was the fact that Palin didn't totally F up. Debate boot camp did well by her. My impression is that she looked great on camera. I have been faulted by some perhaps "feminists" when I blogged about what a female politician would wear, and I cited Yulia Tymoshenko as an example of a great looking female politician. My criticizm wasn't about women as politicians, it was about the so called dress suit, which I hate. To Sarah Palin's credit she looked fantastic!

Ok so that sounds sexist. But I'm not kidding she's very photogenic, and has great legs. I don't think there's any question about it, but I disagree with her politics. With regard to this more drilling for oil, I don't think there's any assurance that the oil from more drilling in Alaska would be only for consumption in the United States. It's a free market and the oil companies are free to sell the oil on the open market to those who would pay the most. So this whole "drill baby drill" thing doesn't make much sense in the context that Palin argues. Like this drilling is going to solve our oil cost problems... What the heck? Alaskans get a kickback and the oil gets sold on the free market.

A lot of the debate had to do with Afganistan, Iran, and the war in Iraq. I have a problem with starting a war and then relying on generals to know what's best. I don't think might makes right. If this is true then I think we should elect a military general for president and nothing less. If General Petraeus knows what's best for the country, then why don't we just have him as president?

As far as looks go, Biden needs to go and see someone about his hair. Having said that, I totally agree with him on the issues and think he would make a far better VP than Palin and would make a great president.

***
I guess I should add that I thought Biden won the debate.

Bighorn Sheep on Wild Horse Island

I took this picture of a Bighorn Sheep on Wild Horse Island this morning. There were three rams down by the shore feeding but this one was the biggest. He has a scar on his nose from bumping heads. These things are imposing animals. They are much bigger in real life than they look in pictures.

Kick the dog

It was one of those days when I wanted to come home and kick the dog. But,.. I don't have a dog...

I used to have a cat but it died. (not from me kicking it) I wouldn't have kicked it anyway as I always felt sorry for the cat. That was why I got it in the first place. I wouldn't kick a dog either BTW, it was just one of those days.

So I guess I'll just kick McCain and Palin around a little... They deserve it today anyway.

When I first heard that McCain was pulling out of this debate I thought, there he goes again... Pandering for votes and trying to get Obama to agree saying it was the patriotic thing to do. My gosh! I'd like to hear what the next world leader has say about all of this. I see no point in putting off the debate unless McCain is unprepared. That's something I'd do!... I don't want a leader who is unprepared.

I listened to Bush define the crisis to the nation last night... Judas Priest!... It was so pathetic.

Then there is Palin. Oh.. my.. gosh... Now I'm pretty sure I'd rather have Katie Couric as VP... I can see why they don't allow Palin to give interviews.

When asked today by Couric why she didn't get a passport until last year, her smug response was that her parents didn't buy her a passport and a backpack. She had to work two jobs until she got married and had children. Well many of the young people I know of who have been traveling abroad are teaching or volunteering. And I think they just might be some of our best representatives.

Then Palin defined who the good guys and the bad guys are in the middle east...In her world. (?) Curious choice of words. I'd leave that one alone but I think if you get to know people from different countries you don't have such simplistic viewpoints of who is good and who is bad.

Ok,. Now I've kicked the dogs.

Pat Robertson on drilling in ANWAR

I was flipping through the channels yesterday during lunch and landed on The 700 Club. Pat Robertson said this on drilling for oil in ANWAR; "There's nothing up there but ugly tundra."

Hm,.. God made "ugly tundra" I thought...

He went on to say that nobody goes there because there aren't any vehicles that can take us there. I wonder how we'd get there to drill for oil then?.. Perhaps we counld drive there in Toyota Tundras. They're kind of ugly come to think of it...

"We need oil!" Robertson went on to say. When we make piplines the caribou flourish because the pipelines are warm.

Are caribou ugly? I wondered...

Tour des Lacs photos

My helmet is off to those who rode in the Tour des Lacs today... If you rode today in the rain either you are from Seattle, or you take your cycling way too seriously! :) I'm just kidding,.. good for you if you rode today. I know that's what you want to hear...

This is a picture of a lady cyclist who had more courage than I did today. I took it throught the windshield of my van. (didn't want to get my camera wet) I took more pictures but I think this one tells the story. Man, she has to be cold! She doesn't even have leg warmers or booties on! I doubt it was even 60 degrees out. Hard to believe it was 90 degrees on Friday. Goodby cruel summer,.. forget about fall,.. Hello winter!

HERE are photos I took last year on the second day of Tour des Lacs.

Twin Lakes Idaho

I took the new canoe out for my first paddle in it. It was as nice as I'd imagined it would be. I went to Twin Lakes Idaho. They are two mountain lakes that are connected by a small channel. The boat launch is in the middle so you can go to Upper Twin or Lower Twin. Pretty cool. I made my way through the lilly pads and out onto Upper Twin Lake first.

I soon re-learned my paddling skills, so I could paddle on one side and keep the canoe going in the direction I wanted. The water was calm and I had the place to myself. The forest smelled good in the cool morning air. I went about half way up the lake exploring the shoreline of Upper Twin. Then I ventured down onto Lower Twin for a a while. It's a pretty nice place and only about 20 minutes away. A good way to spend a Saturday morning. I'll be going back there but I have some other lakes to explore first.

Comb over

A fan would come on in the middle of the night that I could hear through the heating and cooling ducts. It would start out slow and then gain in rotation,.. d. d. d. d. d. d. d.d.d.dddd.... and then air would start to come out of the vent with a whosh. It was calming as I tried to sleep. It would come on and go off throughout the night.

The guest room in their house was comfortable but left me with a somewhat of an empty feeling. At least one of the kids didn't get kicked out of their room so I could sleep in a bed, I thought,.. I'd hate to look them in the face at breakfast knowing that I had kicked them out of their bedroom... as I ate the over cooked sausage, and competed for their orange juice and toast.

The guy for the weather service on the TV had a serious comb-over. I mean clearly this guy combed over the hair from one side of his head to the other over a great void, and then stuck it down with something, and come to think of it his hair was really dark for his age. Black against his pale skin. I could only think that his hair had become a frontal view mutation of what it had once been.

This is how we grow old I thought. We hang on to a vision of our former self. We look into the mirror and justify.

The other weather service guy on the TV had a full head of hair, but he didn't look any better. He just looked like an old guy with a full head of hair. The loose skin on his neck gave him away.

"Look at this fine thing" Chief Dan George said as he held up the salp of a white man. I could hear the fan as it came back on. d. d. d. d. d. d. d.d.d ddd. Then whosh. It was calming to hear the air come through that vent.

New canoe

They say that the two happiest days in a man's life are the day when he buys a boat, and the day when he sells the boat. (Where do I come up with these sayings?...) I don't think it applies to canoes anyway...

I decided that I needed a canoe. Well you just about can't get by without one around here...I bought a used one as I hardly ever buy anything new. Oh I thought about getting a kayak alright,.. and I'm not saying I won't get one at some point. I think a small canoe like this meets my needs better than a kayak. I can get lots of gear in it and also take someone else along if the need might arise. It will work well on the rivers as well as the lakes. They let the water level down in the winter on Flathead Lake making it hard to get a regular boat out most of the year and that was my main motivation for wanting something like this. There are lots of beautiful calm days up there in the fall winter and spring when a canoe would be a great way to enjoy the morning coffee.

Best thing, it didn't cost very much, and doesn't take any gas once on the lake. (and it just fits on the top of my car.) Yes, a canoe is a good thing for a man like me. I just might have to shake it down on Satruday as there are several lakes right here where I live. Pictures will follow if I go out. Then Sunday is bike tour day.

Endless summer

They say there are two things a man can love. I woman and a boat. I have a boat...

I love sailing the Hobie Cat on Flathead Lake in September. The sun is low on the horizon and it reflects off of the bay, and I always have it all to myself. The great big summer homes are empty.

Today the wind wasn't too strong next to the shore as I left the dock because the hills block it, but out in the bay it was a strong with white caps making it easy to goof up and capsize the boat, so I wore my wet suit. Nobody would notice if I turned over way out there unless they happened to be watching at just the right moment. They wouldn't be able to see me without my sails up. The distances are too great. Most likely I wouldn't be able to right it.

I've been thinking recently that it's really important to live in the moment. I thought about it the whole time I was sailing today. If something is good, then really drink it in. Life all too short. I don't know if it is selective memory or what, but I used to have endless summers.

I retain all rights to my photos.  Please do not use any of my photos without permission.

This bites

I finally got home after a long day at work and also after work. I looked around and got lost on the internet a little. Had Ugly Betty going on the TV. First time I've ever "watched" that program. It really wasn't that bad. Mindless. I can relate to that... Then I checked out the other programs that I could possibly watch. There was this one on Discovery called "I Was Bitten". An examination of animal bites...

On the subject of biting, not long ago I watched a show on BBC America called "Brittan's Worst Teeth". It was a show about these people who had really bad dental health... My gosh. And I watched it! They pulled several of this one guys teeth out. I even talked about it with my dental hygienist the last time I went in. She said that she saw it listed and wanted to watch it but missed it,.. so I told her about it.

SpokeFest photos

Here are some pictures from SpokeFest. It was the first year for this event and I thought it was a huge success.

It was only 21 miles but they had a shorter ride for the shorter riders. That butterfly is from EXPO 74, the first World's Fair with an environmetal theme. I think there used to be several these butterflies and they used to have fabric on the wings. They would fly and change direction in the wind. They saved this one.

Quite a few people were out to show their support and take a morning ride.

We all rode out of town together, and I really like doing that.

Talk about having a horn on your bike!

The route was beautiful. I was able to keep pace pretty well on my single speed but there were times I would have liked to have had a granny gear. "Doomsday Hill" was pretty tough with only one gear, but I made it to the top without stopping.

I don't know the name of this bluegrass band but these guys rocked! (or they grassed,..grazed?.) Whatever you call it, I'm not kidding, they were really really good! I had to just sit and listen for a while. Outstanding!

And to top things off, they gave me a police escort back into town :) Well done SpokeFest people!

Appaloosa

I went down into the Palouse country the other day so I took a couple of photos. It's a great place for photography as the landscape is unusual, but my first attempt wasn't so great. Here is a picture I took of a horse and rider. I don't think that horse is an APPALOOSA , it's so far away it's hard to tell, but I took a picture of one a few years ago in Montana.

I'm more at home on my bike than on a horse, but I'd love to have a horse like this. Lots of horses will walk right up to you, but this one wanted nothing to do with me.

Spokefest Spokane

I guess if I get up early enough tomorrow I'll do this SPOKEFEST ride. It's the first year for this ride and it's only 21 miles and that really isn't that far for one of these things. Usually the short rides for this sort of thing are 40 or 50 miles and the long rides are 100 miles or more. So I'll be curious so see if these people have found a niche in families and people who just don't think they can ride much farther. 21 miles is just so odd.

I wonder if the serious cyclists just blow it off? I bet the local club racers will show up and treat it like a 21 mile group time trial and try to do it in less than an hour. I think that would be kind of vulgar and of out of the spirit of this ride. not to mention somewhat dangerous on the trail section. We will see.

I plan to ride my single speed as it won't require the road racing bike. The single speed only has one gear, no shiters. There is one climb on it called "Dooms Day Hill" which is part of the BLOOMSDAY Marathon course. Not a great big deal on a bike, but might be kind of tough with only one gear I don't know. I've never been on it, but it can't be that bad.

***
While eating breakfast and filling out my entry form for the bike ride I realized it wasn't until Sunday...Since it was a beautiful morning I decided to go for a bike ride anyway. I rode the single speed 21 miles just to see how it would be. I averaged 15.2 mph and it took an one 1 hour 22 min. I wasn't trying to go fast but came back into a headwind. I realized that "Doomsday Hill won't be that easy at the end of that ride. So I'll just conserve the whole ride until then.

Sarah Palin goes down a dirt road

Well I just got done watching Sarah Palin give her acceptance speech. At first I was thinking, she's pretty cool. The speech could have been great and it was heading in that direction, but as it went on it became a little shallow. Instead of taking the high road, Sarah took a turn and went down the dirt road.

It was one thing for Giuliani mock Obama the way he did it, (he still reminds me of Bugs Bunny) but when Palin mocked Obama, it moved the speech and my impression of her from kind of cool to kind of tacky. I'm surprised she didn't criticize Madonna too. These "strong statements" as they have been called, just reminded me of office bickering. Well she might think she's a Pit Bull in lipstick, but I'm pretty sure I know a receptionist who could chew her up, spit her out, and then drop kick her just for an extra point... When Palin brought up Harry Reid it was clear to me that she was preaching to the Rush Limbaugh choir. If she wanted to win someone like me over, she won't do it that way.

There was that moment when they hauled someone out of the audience. I was glad to see that it wasn't one of the black people. I was getting kind of worried for their safety at times.