The natural world, life, and dogs.
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 love snow. Snow is a big reason I moved to Idaho's mountains. If precipitation is going to fall from the winter sky, I prefer it be in the form of snow rather than rain. Seattle has way too much rain and too little snow. I don't miss Seattle's rain. Snow is a state of… Continue reading Snow: Too Much of a Good Thing?
It's snowing, again. I love snow! Even though winter officially started December 21st, and spring arrives March 21st, here in Idaho's mountains winter doesn't gain full steam until January. New snow intermittently drifts down from the sky through March and into April. Locals joke that it always snows on Memorial Day (late May), and it… Continue reading Half-way Through Winter
I’ve been feeling wordless lately. Shocker, right? It happens. No worthwhile topic I’m itching to write about. No current stream-of-consciousness idea presenting itself to me as worthy of words on the page/screen. Instead, I turn to my dogs and let them console and entertain me. They’re good at that. Conall’s Food Bank for Ravens has… Continue reading Wolf Moon
Blood. Guts. Bones. The past few days have delivered some up-close and raw aspects of nature. If you're made queasy by the sight of blood, large animal bones or small animal organs, you may want to skip this post. Nothing horrific, but nature isn't always wildflowers and butterflies. Sometimes, nature gets real. I've been writing… Continue reading Nature, Uncensored
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?
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
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
A note: This post is a departure from my usual efforts. While this essay does reflect on “the natural world, life, and dogs,” the themes of my Wild Sensibility blog, the recent event prompting it entails much sorrow: the sudden, tragic accidental death of my brother. This post describes my initial steps on the long… Continue reading In the Blink of an Eye
