The natural world, life, and dogs.
If you pay attention, the natural world offers endless entertainment. This winter there's almost daily life-and-death drama unfolding right in my yard. Nature's circle of life, on a small scale. In late December I wrote about two ravens who had discovered my dogs' discarded marrow bones. I toss them over the yard fence into the… Continue reading Conall’s Food Bank for Ravens
Starting with his earliest forays into the forest near home as a puppy, Conall has had the ability to follow his nose to animal bones left on the ground. Some bones appear in the normal course of life, after animals die from natural causes or as a predator's meal. Other bones appear after hunters kill… Continue reading Who Stole My Treasure?
A symbiotic relationship is one that benefits members of two different species or groups. Last summer I wrote about the symbiotic relationship between ravens and wolves. While I wish I could personally observe that relationship in action, wolves are too elusive (as they should be) so it's only the ravens I'm privileged to see up… Continue reading Symbiosis: Ravens and Dogs
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
Ah. This - procrastinating - is something I'm good at! "To put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done."Merriam-Webster Dictionary In the first comprehensive English dictionary, Dr. Samuel Johnson defined procrastinate with a single word: delay. But there's much more to it, an underlying reason for the delay, whether anxiety, wishful thinking,… Continue reading Procrastinating
Autumn in these Idaho mountains arrives in late August and continues until the snow comes, usually in late November. A few late-blooming flowers offer splashes of color while the grasses, leaves and larch needles transition from green to various shades of yellows, oranges, reds and browns. It's pretty, in an understated way. This has been… Continue reading Dog Photobombs VIII – Autumn
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)
A forest trail run in the Payette National Forest this morning. A loop on trails maintained for mountain biking with lots of variety in terrain. Remote, at elevations between 6,000 - 7,000 feet. So peaceful. So pretty. My therapy. Maybe yours, too. Enjoy! Near a big aspen grove (the same one with the Basque tree… Continue reading Autumn in the Payette
