The natural world, life, and dogs.
Sometimes you don’t realize just how stressed you’ve been until the cause of that stress is lifted. Case in point: a yard fence for my dogs. What I thought would be a simple thing to acquire turned out to be anything but, and the stress just kept building. In the span of the past week,… Continue reading From Low to High In a Week
The past month has brought lots of bird activity to my little patch of earth. Most of the through-migrating birds (geese, cranes, many songbirds) have flown by on their way north. Those birds calling this area home - some year round, some just during their breeding season - are engaging in the annual spring rites… Continue reading Birds of a Feather…
The snow just keeps falling. And accumulating. I measured 40 inches (101.6 cm) on the ground this morning, February 17, 2021. Forecast calls for more snow over the next several days. Ullr - the Norse god of snow and patron saint of skiers - sure is delivering this winter. Skiers are happy. My last post… Continue reading Snow and Voles: the Drama Continues
I'm fortunate. I get to see lots of wildlife where I live, adjacent to a national forest in Idaho's mountains. While I rank the wolf - including the one I was privileged to see in its natural environment back in 2006 - as my favorite animal among the local wildlife, red foxes are a close… Continue reading Outfoxed
At daybreak this morning the temperature is nine degrees Fahrenheit. Fog - common most mornings from autumn through spring - drapes the pastures on the valley floor, hiding roads, homes, trees, fences, and cattle under a fluffy light gray blanket. Fog lingering on the valley floor. Some days I watch the fog creep slowly up… Continue reading Frost: Nature’s Flocking
A drop in temperature, into the zone well below freezing, brought frost, highlighting bits of the natural world that would otherwise remain obscure. Spider webs. I started this recent morning walk with my dogs thinking my phone camera would remain in my pocket, that there wouldn't be anything new or interesting to photograph. I was… Continue reading Webs
Peak wildflower season in the mountains. I could use a little brightness right now so I'm setting the dog photobomb wayback machine to springtime in the mountains. Enjoy! Look at the cute tree swallow! Not technically a dog bomb.... Incoming on the left... ...moving through. My favorite, a Lewis's monkeyflower on my little monkey, Finn.… Continue reading Dog Photobombs VII: Late May through July, 2020.
There's a trail in the Payette National Forest not far from my home that has always been a favorite. A few days ago, I got lucky: the morning I decided to run/hike there with the dogs - October 5th - the wildfire smoke that had been blanketing this area cleared out the night before. The… Continue reading Getting High (in Elevation)
My previous posts featuring rural fences were all winter scenes. I hadn't thought about a spring or summer rendition because I rarely see fences on the forest trails my dogs and I spend our time on, but this morning, as we finished a high-elevation mountain hike I was struck by the beauty of stacked log… Continue reading Fences VII – Spring at High Elevation
I had no idea what a house wren was until Conall caught a baby wren in the yard two years ago, spitting it out unharmed. That's when I noticed an upset adult wren on the other side of the fence, in the wildflower garden. Wrens were using a small hole in the siding of my… Continue reading Spring 2020 Critter Encounters: House Wrens
Wild Sensibility 