The Wandering Tattler

Garden of Plenty

2010-07-31T09:53:00.004-08:00

Our garden is coming along splendidly. The peas, spinach and lettuce are all done after a month or so of filling our fridge (and our friends' fridges) with green stuff. Now we've just started harvesting the first carrots and banana peppers. Even with a deer coming in and chomping on a few of the pepper plants they're still doing great, and soon we'll be able to sample our Sante Fe grande, anaheim and red chili peppers. I expect the poblanos, jalepenos and bells will take a few more weeks, though.

See? We can actually grow peppers!

Anaheim peppers

Our first crop of banana peppers.

Yay! Minnesota sweet corn!

Chleo enjoying the shade of our monstrous tomato plants.

Cinco de Mayo! Or is it Maio?

2010-05-05T06:35:00.002-08:00

Home on the Range

2010-04-16T14:14:00.003-08:00

Yeah, I know...I've been neglecting this blog the past five months or so. But with our new start here in Oregon, I thought I'd revisit it and use it to share some of our adventures living here on the ranch. This will be a pretty quick post, without much explanation, but there will be more to follow in the weeks to come.

One of our blossoming cherry trees. The grassy area directly behind the tree (between it and the next fence) is the proposed garden plot. Sonja's been busy clearing all the pruned branches and various detritus from the area in anticipation of breaking ground in a few days.

The house! This is the front view with one of our little arches. The garden is behind the big tree to the left.

Soon there will be green things galore filling the space behind Sonja. And no, we didn't get a new dog. This is one of our landlord's pups...a really sweet Aussie named Quigley. I think you can see the ranch horse, Ghost, behind the chicken coop in the background.

This is the view of the house from across the John Day River. The white building is the house, the large, red-roofed building to the right of it is the garage/shop, and you can see Ghost munching on his hay to the right of that. Highway 19 passes along the base of the hill behind the house.

This is the bridge across the river that we use to get to our landlord's house. The water is pretty high right now with all the snowmelt, but I expect that it will get much lower as the summer progresses.

And here is Ghost. We are looking forward to exploring the hills around the house on his back. He's a real sweetie without a saddle on, so I'm hoping that he's the same with one.

So there you go, the first batch of photos from our new home in Oregon. We are both totally in love with it and can't wait to start making the house our home and exploring the countryside. I'll be posting more pictures on here and in Facebook in the coming weeks...much more frequently when we finally get internet access.

Peru 2009 -- Finding Our Way

2009-10-30T18:48:00.004-08:00

I'm sitting in the only corner of our hotel room here in Cusco where the wi-fi doesn't disconnect me every three minutes. I shouldn't complain though...who woulda thunk finding wi-fi would be so easy in Peru? I thought I'd give another quick update, this one with more pictures. I had to use the crappy Microsoft photo editor for these, so they're not as cleaned up as I'd like them to be.

The legendary Lost City of the Inca. No words can adequately describe the magic of this place. Even the thousands of pushy tourists couldn't detract from the experience. Well, not much, anyway.

Llamas at Machu Picchu on Wednesday morning.

Sonja admiring some of the exquisite stonework characteristic of the Incan empire. The lines are so straight, and the stones carved so perfectly, you couldn't fit a pin between them! No mortar is used, either. Only perfect craftmanship (literally) holds these walls together.

The fortress of Ollantaytambo was much smaller than Machu Picchu, but impressive nonetheless. Even moreso when you consider it was the site of the Incan Empires only win against the invading Spanish Conquistadors.

After exploring the Incan fortress at Ollantaytambo on Thursday morning, we found ourselves in the middle of a festival in the village center. Men and women were packing the tiny village, many wearing traditional clothing.

Local women enjoying the festival, with a bored boy hanging out behind them.

A street vendor in Ollantaytambo.

Yes, this is exactly what it looks like: roasted cuy (guinea pigs). While I did manage to muster up the courage to try alpaca last night (not my favorite), I haven't yet decided whether I will attempt to partake of this particular Peruvian specialty.

The ruins at Pisac, northeast of Cusco, are very impressive in their magnitude and architecture. Some of it rivaled what we saw at Machu Picchu. We stopped there yesterday afternoon after an exciting ride in a local bus from Ollantaytambo.

We leave for the Amazon on Sunday morning, so I will probably not post again until the evening of the 9th. But then I hope to have lots of fun monkey, bird and rainforesty photos to share.

Peru 2009 - Walking in the Footsteps of the Inca

2009-10-28T18:05:00.002-08:00

This was our view this morning at around 6:30, as Sonja and I stood in awe on a terrace above the legendary Machu Picchu. It was as magical an experience as you would imagine in a place like that. The stonework was phenomenal, the ruins expansive, and the crowds plentiful. Still, we were able to find little nooks and crannies as we explore the site where we were able to enjoy the experience on our own.

Tonight we find ourselves back in the mountain village of Ollantaytambo. Yesterday we were greeted here with a wonderful festival, including dancing, music and llamas. Much quieter tonight, but still a cool place. Oh, and we saw the southern hemisphere night sky tonight for the first time! Too many lights in town to make out too much, but we do think we spotted the southern cross. Still can´t believe we´re in Peru, but the fact that the water drains clockwise in the toilet helps.

This won´t be a long update, since I´m typing this from an excruciatingly slow computer in an internet cafe, with a keyboard that has all sorts of funky keys (like Ç and ¿ and ñ. Bet your keboard can´´t do that!). But as soon as we find some wi-fi I´ll be sure to post a bunch more pics and stories.

Peru 2009, Day 1 -- 5972 miles in 24 hours

2009-10-27T03:50:00.003-08:00

Flying sucks. It doesn't matter how often you travel, or how comfortable the seats are in first class (and they ARE quite comfortable), flying across the world is still a grueling, agonizing, exhausting process.

We arrived in Lima about an hour ago and promptly found a Starbucks with a wifi connection. We also found a McDonalds and TWO Dunkin' Donuts. Man, I love American capitalist empirialism!

Anyway, I'm not all that coherent right now, so I'll keep this post short. In a few hours we catch a flight to Cusco, high in the Peruvian Andes, then catch a train to Aguas Calientes. After a LONG, good night's sleep in a real bed we'll hopefully be feeling like we're on top of the world. Tomorrow morning we will be climbing ancient Incan steps up into the ruins of Machu Picchu.

Flying first class does certainly have its perks.

I've never had a better meal on an airplane before!

Our first impression of Peru! Gotta love it.

We're Leaving, On a Jet Plane

2009-10-25T19:13:00.003-08:00

Well, we will be tomorrow morning, anyway. Everything is packed. We still have some room to stuff all sorts of fun items we discover on the other side of the world. This will be the first time either of us has traveled south of the equator. I can guarantee that one of the first things I'm going to do upon arriving is to flush a toilet and check which way the water goes down (FYI - in the northern hemisphere water drains counter-clockwise).

One of the other things I'm looking forward to seeing is the night sky. All sorts of fun constellations (the Southern Cross) and heavenly objects (the galactic center) will be visible...all of them for the first time. It will be strange to look up and not see some of our most familiar "landmarks".

Well, I hope to post here as often as possible while we're wandering through the high Andes. Check back often (or just subscribe to my blog using google reader, it will automatically tell you when I've posted). I'll be sharing our adventures as they happen.

Alpenglow and Anticipation

2009-10-24T16:46:00.007-08:00

Sonja and I took the dogs for a good walk this evening to make up for the fact that we're leaving for almost a month on Monday. I brought my camera along for the first time in what seems like forever to try to get back into the swing of photographing stuff. The alpenglow on the larch and the snow did not disappoint.

Our walk was cut a bit short by a neighborhood trespasser, though. He had been gorging on the rotten apples that had fallen off of a tree near the West Glacier school. Thirty minutes later he ventured into the park's housing area, where he was greeted by a few rubber bullets to the butt by one of our rangers. Hopefully he'll have learned his lesson and won't be back in the residential area again.

Meanwhile, with our departure for Peru only a day and change away, the anticipation is reaching a fever pitch. We're making list after list (things to do, things to pack, things to buy) and creating a big pile o' crap that will be going into our backpacks tomorrow.

I've also been pouring through our brick-like copy the Peruvian Bible, trying to get familiar with the families and their location in the book. There are a lot of new sections that simply don't exist in North American bird guides...and others that are hugely expanded (27 pages of hummingbirds!). In fact, one of the reasons we chose Peru as our destination (besides it being Peru) was the incredible diversity of bird life.

In the process, I tried to come up with a top ten list of some of the birds I'm most anxious to see. It was almost impossible to pick only ten (there are over 1,800 species in Peru!), but here are some that would definitely be at the top of any list, in no particular order:

How can we go to a country with penguins and NOT try to see one! The Humboldt Penguins are found in Islas Ballestas, which will be one of our last stops during our trip.

Ever since I was 8 years old, pouring through David Attenborough's "Life on Earth" (yes, I was that much of a geek), the Hoatzin has fascinated me. I mean, the babies have claws on their freakin' wings! Claws! On their wings! And they have a sort of rumen-type digestive system...like a cow! They're like thirteen different types of awesome!

The world's largest flying bird. Was there every any doubt that we'd go try to see Andean Condors?

Motmots, in general, are really freakin' cool birds. But the Blue-crowned Motmot is one of the prettiest. Oh, and their tails aren't grown like that. The birds trim them to make themselves more attractive to females (not sure if the females trim their tails, too).

Few birds families are as indicative of the Amazon than the toucans. And I personally think the Collard Aracari is one of the coolest members of this cool family.

Hummingbirds and more hummingbirds. As I mentioned earlier, the Birds of Peru book has 27 pages full of hummingbirds! I just happened to choose this one to include here randomly. Because there are tons of others I'm equally excited to see, like the Sparkling Violetear or
Rufous-crested Coquette, for instance. Impossible to choose a favorite.

Incredibly colorful tanagers are also one of the symbols of neotropical forests of Central and South America. This Paradise Tanager is one of the most colorful.

We'll get a rare opportunity during our time in Manu National Park to visit one of only a couple known macaw clay licks, where hundreds of Red and Green Macaws (among other species) congregate to lick the clay, which helps them digest the toxic fruits they eat.

On our boat trip out to Islas Ballestas we are also expecting to see Inca Terns. In fact, I've read that thousands of these birds will follow the tour boats hoping for a bite of the chum they throw overboard. Not sure how I feel about birding tours chumming the ocean, but I suppose it's not much different than feeders set up at hotels, right?

And finally, no trip to Peru would be complete without a visit to one of the leks of the Peruvian Cock-of-the-Rock. Peru's national bird has become a lucrative tourist draw, and all of the trips into Manu National Park now stop at one of several leks that can be found in the cloud forests above the Amazon Basin.

Yeah, I'd say we're excited.

Countdown to Peru: T-minus 10 Days

2009-10-15T08:32:00.005-08:00

Ten days from now we'll be hopping on a plane for our 3 1/2 week trip south of the equator. The endless trip planning has frayed our nerves a bit, but it's also elevated our excitement about this adventure. It still doesn't feel quite real...and probably won't until we land in Lima.

A lot of folks have been asking us what we're planning on doing while in Peru, so I thought I'd make a few posts here describing our itinerary. Below you'll see a map of our planned route (click on the image to see it bigger). The dotted lines represent air travel (except for those on Lake Titicaca, which will be a boat), with the solid lines being ground travel (bus, taxis, train or dugout canoes).

The other thing I wanted to do is highlight some of the things we are anticipating the most. I'll post several of these lists over the next couple of days.

5 Places We're Looking Forward to Seeing:

1. Machu Picchu

One of the world's most famous archeological sites, there's no way we could go to Peru without spending a day or two here.

2. Manu National Park

Nine days in the Peruvian Amazon, traveling by dugout canoes and staying in tents and thatch-roofed jungle huts. Need I say more?

3. Lake Titicaca

Ever since I was a little kid I've been fascinated by Lake Titicaca. Probably primarily because it's named Titicaca, really. Our time here at the "world's highest navigable waterway" (12,507' above sea level, required traveling over a 15,500' pass to get there) will mostly be spent staying with a family on Islas Amantani.

4. Colca Canyon

A two-day tour from Arequipa to Colca Canyon will give us a chance to see the amazing Andean Condors. The bus also passes through an altiplano wildlife reserve with an opportunity to see wild vicuña.

5. Isla Ballestas

We still haven't decided about whether or not we'll have time to take a boat tour of these islands, known as "the poor man's Galapagos". The biggest draw for us would be a chance to see Humbolt Penguins. I think we might just wait until we're back from Manu to decide if we want to try to do this.

There are certainly a lot of other places we'll be visiting, but these are the highlights. I'll post a few more lists of what we're hoping to do and see in the next few days.

Firefighter Refresher Training

2009-10-02T22:14:00.001-08:00

Ptarmigan Ptunnel

2009-09-01T20:08:00.004-08:00

Some pics from our Sunday hike with a couple friends up to Ptarmigan Tunnel.

Taking More Gooder Pictures

2009-07-30T19:15:00.008-08:00

Last weekend I got to go to Seattle to take an "advanced" digital photography class taught by a professional wildlife and travel photographer. Wolfgang Kaehler has worked for National Geographic and Life magazines and has made a successful career out taking pictures. Taking very GOOD pictures.

So, I went to his studio, joined three others hoping to learn how to improve their picture-taking skills, and learned a lot. We spent about four hours roaming around Pike's Market with Wolfgang, taking hundreds of pictures and challenging ourselves to think more about exposure, composition and lighting. Here are the best of my attempts.

Many Glacier

2009-06-12T09:09:00.006-08:00

After relentless pestering over the past couple of months, I've decided not to give up on my blog. While I still haven't found much inspiration to post, I will continue to use this place to share my photography. But don't expect tons of photos with each post, since blogger is still incredibly slow at uploading images.

I spent the past two days helping with seasonal naturalist training on the east side of the park, which gave me a chance to see the Many Glacier Valley for the first time since 1992. I've always said that the Two Medicine area is the prettiest in the park, but after spending a night at the Many Glacier Hotel, I think I might have changed my mind.

Swiftcurrent Lake
Mt. Wilbur
Another shot of Mt. Wilbur
The Many Glacier Hotel
On Wednesday, I swung by the St. Mary Visitor Center to drop off a poster I made for the bulletin board when I noticed how calm St. Mary Lake was. I've never seen it like that before, so I took the opportunity to swing by the Wild Goose Island viewpoint and snap a few photos.

I'm still having a hard time figuring out my polarizer. Many of the photos I've been taking with it tend to be underexposed. But trying to adjust for it by changing the aperature/shutter speed seems to wash out the white areas. Maybe it's just a matter of me trying to take good pictures in bad light (when the sun is in front of me, rather than behind). I'll figure it out eventually.

Days 35 and 36 of 365

2009-04-16T18:07:00.005-08:00

Day 35
Refreshing

There's nothing like spending an evening enjoying an episode of Battlestar Galactica with a cool Mexican Coca-Cola in your hand!

Day 36
Springtime

Spring is finally here! At least on our front steps, anyway. I actually heard my first warbler yesterday and saw my first swallows of the season flying around our house this morning. Sonja just started her surveys going up the Sun Road, but they've only plowed the first 20 miles so far. It'll be a while before she can get up near Logan Pass. Probably at least another month and a half.

Days 30 - 34 of 365

2009-04-14T15:19:00.004-08:00

Doing a little catch-up...

Day 30
A Rock and a Hard Place

Day 31
Hostel

Day 32
Two Trees

Day 33
Busy

Day 34
The Feast

Days 28 and 29 of 365

2009-04-07T19:00:00.004-08:00

I stayed close to home for these. I thought a study of the color green was very appropriate considering that it matches the shade of my sickly complexion these last couple of days.

Day 28

Day 29

Days 23 and 27

2009-04-05T16:17:00.007-08:00

I missed a couple days in there this past week, but I chalk it up to the hectic schedule I had during the last couple of days of training. It was a tough two weeks, but I'm now officially a structural firefighter for the NPS!

Before I get to the next couple of photos for my 365 Days project, I wanted to share some video from the fire training I was at. This first one is a little boring, but I'm the second person on the hose as we approach a "propane tree". Our task was to "capture" the flames inside a cone of water. This would give us the opportunity to see how powerful a tool water can be to not only extinguish but also to move and manipulate fire. It also was a chance to gain confidence in the ability of our equipment to protect us from heat.

This second video perfectly demonstrates what I meant by "capturing the flame". I took this during our vehicle fire exercise. And believe it or not, but this is in real time. It's not sped up at all. That day was so windy it made for a huge and dramatic fire inside that van. It was awesome!

I had a great time at training, but I am so happy to finally be home. I slept for over 13 hours last night and plan on duplicating that again tonight.

So here are my Day 23 and 27 photos:

Day 23
Capturing the Flame
I didn't actually take this photo, but it was taken with my camera, and that person standing there with the nozzle in hand facing that huge ball of flame is me, so I thought it qualified by default. This was also during the vehicle fire exercise.

Day 27
Three-toed Woodpecker
With spring finally making an appearance (it felt, looked and sounded like spring today), I can assure you that you'll probably see many more bird pics in the days and months to come. Not only are the migrants starting to arrive (this woodpecker is a year-round resident, though), but the weather is finally getting warm enough that it's actually comfortable to be outside fiddling around with my camera. I ended up taking 287 pictures of this very cooperative bird, most of them from less than 10 feet away. I think it's the closest I've ever been to a Three-toed Woodpecker. And I can now vouch that he is properly named!

Days 17-22 of 365

2009-03-31T21:11:00.008-08:00

I don't really like doing these multi-day updates, but since I'm still at training and have limited access to the hotel's internet tubes it's just gonna have to be that way. So here are the photos from days 17-22.

Day 17
Raven Over Lake Powell

Day 18
Engine 2

Day 19
Badge of Honor

That's soot on my helmet from my first live fire exercise!

Day 20
Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River

Day 21
Lake Powell's "Wildlife"

Day 22
Inferno

Today was our "propane tree" exercise. The objectives were to give us experience working with a large, hot propane fire, demonstrate how to envelope a fire within a cone of water, and build confidence in our equipment's ability to protect us. Seeing as how I was able to stand less than 2 feet from that blazing "tree" without much discomfort I think the stuff works. This shot is of one of our instructors observing the exercise.

Days 13-16 of 365

2009-03-25T20:26:00.005-08:00

Playing catch-up...

Day 13
Storm clouds over Page, AZ

Day 14

Day 15
After a tough day

Day 16

Day 12 of 365

2009-03-21T21:32:00.002-08:00

Day 12
Got to spend the evening back at the Castle for a special evening program. Good to see they're carrying on the tradition of offering night programs periodically. Did I mention how weird it is to be back here and not have to work? I had to keep reminding myself to turn off my "ranger face".

Day 11 of 365

2009-03-20T22:10:00.002-08:00

Day 11
Ok, so I missed a day. I would blame it on traveling, but that was today. I suppose I could have just posted a random picture, but the truth is that I didn't even touch my camera yesterday, except to pack it in my suitcase, so I don't even have the excuse that I just wasn't able to upload it.

Anyway, I may end up running into a situation over the next two weeks while I'm in Arizona at structural fire training when I won't be able to post for a couple days, but at least I'll continue to take photos each day. I'll just have to do multiple posts or something.

So today's entry is my friend's dog, Fiona. She's the most adorable bloodhound I've ever seen (he paid me to say that).

Day 9 of 365

2009-03-18T18:49:00.002-08:00

Day 9 -- "Morning in West Glacier"

Day 8 of 365

2009-03-17T20:02:00.001-08:00

Day 8

Day 7 of 365

2009-03-16T15:44:00.003-08:00

Day 7
I'm beginning to see a trend starting the past couple of days. I think I need to broaden my repertoire a bit. But at least I'm experimenting with perspective.

Day 6 of 365

2009-03-15T15:37:00.003-08:00

Day 6, March 15, 2009

5 of 365

2009-03-14T20:05:00.003-08:00

Day 5
One of the skills I need to work on is indoor photography. Birds, mountains, flowers and rivers I think I can handle. But for some reason, when I bring my camera inside the small skill I have seems to fly out the window. I struggle with composition as well as the more technical aspects of photography (shutter speed, ISO, aperture, depth of field). I also seem to lose all inspiration. This evening, for instance, I spent a good 45 minutes just wandering around the house whining that I didn't know what to take a picture of.

The good thing about this "365 Days" project is that it will force me to work under conditions that are less than favorable, particularly those times when I procrastinate until the last few hours of the day. It will be interesting to see how (or if) my photography improves over the next year.

4 of 365

2009-03-13T20:35:00.002-08:00

Day 4
I had to help perform the bi-weekly check on engine 2 today. While I'm not officially a firefighter yet, I will be as of a week from Monday. I'm heading to Glen Canyon National Recreation Area for structural fire training. I've somehow got to figure out how to pack all my fire gear (boots, helmet, SCBA (like SCUBA, but without the "underwater"), turnouts (fireman suit), etc.) into a single duffle bag. Should be interested. The cool part is that I get to spend two week playing with fire!

365 Days if Me: Day 3

2009-03-12T16:51:00.002-08:00

Day 3: "Commute"

Every morning my commute to work involves a three-minute walk along the middle fork of the Flathead River, which forms the southern boundary of Glacier National Park. This was my view this morning.

I don't know what everyone complains about. This whole commuting business isn't so bad!

365 Days of Me: Day 2

2009-03-11T18:15:00.003-08:00

Day 2

And here's an extra one that Sonja actually liked better than the one I chose. So it's today's honorable mention:

365 Days of Me: Day 1

2009-03-10T17:13:00.005-08:00

I just haven't felt the blogging bug lately. I don't know if part of it is the fact that it takes forever for blogger to load each photo or if I just haven't been inspired much, but I just can't seem to get in the mood to post much on here. So, I decided to try a project.

For the next year, I will try to take and post one photo every day. I'm hoping that this will challenge me to improve my composition and technical photographing skills, plus force me to get online and make a post. I'm going to keep it pretty open, so some days I might comment a lot about the photo, the process, etc., while other days I may just post the picture. I can't guarantee that I'll actually follow through with this, but I'm sure going to try.

So here it is: Day 1

Moving Day

2009-02-07T18:50:00.005-09:00

I hate moving.

There's just nothing pleasant about the experience. Well, I take that back. Maybe the anticipation of a new start and a new home and all that crap can be seen as a positive. I suppose it's not that bad.

Hell, we even broke out the champagne for our first dinner in our new house (we only bought it for the cool bottle, cuz champagne tastes like ass). But I still hate moving.

And we've certainly done enough of it in the past ten years. Fairbanks (AK) to Wilson (WY); Wilson to Kelly (WY); Kelly to Troy (ID); Troy to Seward (AK); Seward to Rimrock (AZ); Rimrock to West Glacier (MT); and today from our "temporary" house here in West Glacier to our permanent (or near enough) house less than a half mile away at the other end of the park's housing area. Hopefully, though, this will be the last one for a long while. We're living in a cute little cottage in one of the world's most beautiful national parks and paying a pittance for rent. Not too much to complain about there.

To be honest, this had to be the easiest move we've ever done, too. Eighty percent of our stuff was still sitting in the garage all packed in boxes from when the movers had dumped it there in September. All we really had to do was load them into a vehicle (thanks for the help, David and Bill!) and shuttle them a little ways down the street.

*sarcasm* Now the FUN part begins! *sarcasm*

I hate unpacking.

It's Always Bunny in Philadelphia

2009-01-23T20:49:00.017-09:00

Ok, I got a little distracted these past couple of days, which is why I haven't done anymore inauguration posts. But I'll get to them eventually. Right now, however, I'm in Philadelphia visiting some friends from a website I've been frequenting for almost ten years (it's not as weird as it sounds. Honest! I already met them once last year).

We spent the day seeing the sights in the City of Brotherly Love, but instead of posting a bunch of pictures of me standing next to the Liberty Bell or the Rocky statue I thought I'd share our adventure as experienced by Androgy-Bunny, our little mascot given to us by another friend from the aforementioned site.

The day started with a long drive into town. Rabbit was intially frustrated by the traffic we encountered, but he/she took it in stride.

Before long we were running up the Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

And, of course, we spent a few minutes hangin' with the champ himself. We had another "magical" moment at the top of the Rocky steps, but I'll save that part for later...

Needless to say, all that exercise made us hungry, so we all headed over to the world-famous "Geno's".

...and pigged out on some authentic Philly cheese steaks (prov, without).

Our next stop was to Independence National Historic Site. Rabbit wouldn't agree to this picture unless the ranger wore his flat hat.

The Liberty Bell was cool, as was Independence Hall. Too bad the ranger program we saw was decidedly not.

We also met some interesting people on the street.

And explored some of Philly's trendier streets.

After a while, we opted to take a little break...

...and enjoyed some suds in an Irish pub. But the highlight of the entire day occured at the top of the Rocky steps. No one could have imagined who would appear to share in our little Philly adventure...

And just for the record, this picture was Conan's idea. He took one look at Rabbit and immediately felt the sort of connection only another metrosexual with sad, yet slightly creepy eyes could appreciate.

Two Minutes that Changed the World

2009-01-20T16:18:00.006-09:00

I am completely and utterly exhausted right now, but wanted to make this post to commemorate this amazing and awesome day. Standing in a crowd of somewhere between 1 and 2 million people, I was witness to one of the most inspiring events of my life. And there was one particular moment in today's celebration that was particularly moving. It was the moment that Barack Obama became our 44th President.

The reaction of the crowd surrounding me was at least as inspiring as the event itself and is something I'll never forget.

There's so much to talk about and share regarding this incredible experience I had that I want to dedicate several posts to it. But not tonight. Instead, I plan to shortly collapse into the bed in my friend's basement here in Silver Spring, MD, and not move again until sometime around dinner tomorrow night.

Before I end this post, however, I wanted to share an image my brother showed me and I improved upon. This is a satellite image of the area directly in front of the Capitol during President Obama's Inauguration. In case you find it difficult to recognize me, I added an arrow. You might need to click on the image to actually see the arrow (and me).

A cool click and zoom version of this that lets you explore the entire National Mall image can be found here.

試し切り

2009-01-03T18:33:00.015-09:00

There is a word in Japanese, 試し切り (tameshigiri), sometimes associated with the Samurai. Literally, it translates to trying (試し) cutting (切り), and according to myth it refers to the act of "trying out one's new sword", often on a random passerby. It's unsure how much truth there is to this, though. I would expect that anyone living in feudal Japan would soon learn to give swordsmith shops a wide berth on the off chance a Samurai was picking up a new order.

Regardless, it's a fascinating (albeit gruesome) story. Whether or not Samurai actually stepped outside and sliced some poor chap in half to make sure their sword "worked", I'm sure many of us can relate to the concept. Who doesn't want to run right out and start playing with a particularly coveted new toy the moment it is out of the box? I have been guilty of tameshigiri, more often than I could count. Although, to my knowledge no one's blood has ever been shed as a result (except, on occasion, for my own).

While I didn't get a new sword to try out I did get a package in the mail that I'd been waiting for, a new lens for my camera (Canon EF 50mm F1.8, my first prime (non telephoto/zoom) lens). As soon as I ripped open the box I wanted to try it out. When you get a new lens, the first few pictures are always special. Here are the first two images taken with this one:

This one isn't all that great a picture, and there's a bit of noise in it from me fiddling around too much in Photoshop, but it is the very first one taken with the new lens. So it's a keeper.

This one turned out way more better. The sharpness is pretty good, even with the low light. The contrast is good between each of the objects, too. All around not bad for just sitting on the couch taking a picture of the coffee table.

Well, this morning dawned bright and clear, so I thought I'd try it out in some light, too.

I took Luna along too, although it was a bit cold for her. I think the two years we spent in Arizona made her forget she was born and raised an Alaskan dog. This is her shivering on the shore of Lake McDonald.

I hope you all appreciate what I went through to get this picture. I was up by the park's entrance sign taking some photos of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River (I wasn't happy with any of those) when I saw the sun lighting up some spruce trees down by the river. So I hopped the huge snowbank along the road and post-holed my way down into the forest. I knew we had a lot of the white stuff, but it's been a while since I tried walking through snow that was deeper than my waist. Not an easy task.

And once I got down there I was so pooped I just flopped back into the snow to take a break. That's when I looked up at this tree that was blocking the sun and thought the snow looked cool all highlighted like that.

Then, this evening I drove into town to get some groceries and caught a glimpse of that amazing phenomenon you see in the mountains during winter sometimes. When the fresh snow on the mountains captures the last rays of the sun, contrasted by the dark clouds behind, it looks like the mountain is glowing from within.

I'm really quite happy with this lens. Definitely worth the price! I think this little beauty will be attached to my camera quite frequently in the months to come.

Mario Rescues the Princess

2009-01-01T21:55:00.002-09:00

From the mind of Seth MacFarlane... what REALLY happened when Mario rescued the Princess.

Snow

2009-01-01T17:14:00.005-09:00

We took the kids for a snowy New Years Day walk this afternoon.

Snowy Fur

Snowy Sonja

Snowy Car

2008's Top Five "Birdy" Moments

2008-12-31T17:00:00.006-09:00

As has become sort of a tradition, I'm choosing to do a "Top 5" list to close out 2008. As has ALSO become sort of a tradition, I will be copying Patrick's idea.

So, here are my top five "birdy" moments of 2008.

5. 2008 Christmas Bird Count
I had been planning on posting a report of my experience with the '08 CBC, but I got a little distracted. So I figured this would be as good a place as any to put it. Even though the day was wet...very, very wet (it rained the entire time), I still had a great experience. I love participating in the CBC. Not only does it give me an excuse to go out birding (as if anyone needs an excuse), but the camaraderie of gathering together with other birders and tallying the day's count is always exciting. There's such a sense of anticipation and delight at learning what everyone saw during their count.

As I mentioned, my count was very wet. I volunteered for a 7.9 mile route down the Going to the Sun Road, starting at the Lake McDonald Lodge, then turning off toward Kelly Camp around the northeast end of the lake. The snowshoeing wasn't necessarily that difficult, but I still got drenched from the outside (rain) as well as the inside (sweat).

The most anticipated spot along my route was the bridge at the head of the lake over McDonald Creek. Sonja had been spotting dozens of eagles here a month ago, all feasting on the spawning kokanee salmon. I saw four, plus about a half-dozen Chestnut-backed Chickadees, some Pine Siskins and a Steller's Jay.

But the highlight of the entire day was spotting the little American Dipper happily diving into the creek in search of aquatic invertebrates. These little birds absolutely amaze me every time I see them. They have a tremendous range (from interior Alaska to Arizona) and are completely non-migratory (given that there is an open stream available year round). It's hard to believe that the little birds toughing it out all winter north of Fairbanks and those chillin' in the warm perennial streams of southern Arizona are the same species. This bird is why Sunday's CBC is on my top five list.

4. Any morning spent enjoying Montezuma Well
As much as I love living at Glacier National Park, I really miss Montezuma Well. There are very few places I have ever been where you can actually feel the spirit of the place. Montezuma Well is one of them. The sense of timeless magic and peacefulness is palpable. Each season has a different sort of magic, too. In the winter, my favorite thing to do is walk slowly up to the rim from the parking lot. As you crest the ridge you are suddenly bombarded with the adorable squeaking of dozens of American Wigeons. Hearing that sound brought a smile to my face every single time. In the summer, the place to be is in the little oasis at the end of the trail where the water emerges from the cliff face into the prehistoric irrigation canal, the Outlet. Sitting comfortably under the dense forest canopy with your feet soaking in the 74 degree water, while the Arizona sun scorches everything not in shade, is an experience you'll never forget. And the birds know this, too. Even in the heat of the afternoon I never failed to see/hear all manner of birdlife: Summer Tanagers, Hooded Orioles, Bridled Titmice, Canyon Wren, Rock Wren...

3. Madera Canyon
What more can be said about Madera Canyon? Any visit to that birding paradise deserves a spot on your top 5 list!

2. Madera Canyon
And if you go more than once, it deserves TWO spots on your list!

1. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Even my trips to Madera don't trump this little gem of an experience. It was my last official day working at Montezuma Well, and I decided to take a video camera to document my commute to work along the prehistoric irrigation canal that ran behind our house. I had assumed that I had seen all the new species that I would see in Arizona, considering we would be moving to Montana within a few days. Imagine my surprise when I heard a bird I had been dreaming of seeing for nearly 20 years during my morning walk. And I had the video camera along to document the moment! So here it is, my top "birdy" moment of 2008:

Happy New Year to all of my faithful readers. Here's hoping that 2009 lives up to it's promise:

Behind Our House

2008-12-20T11:34:00.010-09:00

After several days of biting wind and blowing snow, today the air is bright, cold and crisp. So, despite the subzero temps I grabbed my camera, pulled on my mukluks and post-holed my way through the snow and into the woods just behind our house.

I'm still having some difficulty figuring out how to deal with the white balance and contrast between shadows and light in the snow, but I think I'm getting a little better.

It's Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Curoivie!

2008-12-19T19:58:00.008-09:00

Time to make the donu...I mean curoivie. These cookies just scream Christmas to me. Growing up it was one of the things I looked forward to the most this time of year. I'd typically stuff my face with several dozen of these clovey little sour cream cookies. I've tried looking up the name we always called them (curoivie...pronounced ker-AH-vee), but they must be a super secret recipe Grandma Schweighofer's mom brought over for Austria/Hungary.

Best. Cookies. Ever.

And I think someone else in our family probably agrees. Although, I'm not sure if he's had as tough a time convincing his spouse that these are, in fact, delicious cookies. Luckily, after ten years she's finally beginning to see the light!

Even though it is not (is too) a competition, I think mine look way prettier.

Socializing Corporate Stupidity

2008-12-19T14:27:00.003-09:00

Be sure to click on this and read the fine print.

You know, even though politically I tend toward the socialist part of the spectrum (ok, maybe I don't "tend toward" so much as "abide entirely within"), this Big Three bailout just turns my stomach and pisses me off. I can almost understand the necessity of bailing out the banks in order to prevent a complete economic collapse, but something about rescuing Ford, Chrysler and GM from their own moronic policies is absolutely ludicrous.

I mean, it's their OWN DAMN FAULT no one is buying their shitty cars!

Congress balks every single time someone proposes socializing health care (which would actually HELP nearly everyone in this country) but bends over backwards to socialize corporate greed and stupidity. It boggles my mind. Really, it does.

The Shoe Heard Round the World

2008-12-16T15:36:00.003-09:00

In case you haven't seen this yet.

Funniest...Thing...Ever!

Triumph vs. Star Wars Geeks

2008-12-13T18:55:00.002-09:00

Only a true Star Wars geek can fully appreciate the humor in these clips. Personally, I didn't find them funny at all.

Nope. Not at all...

Santa, Baby!

2008-12-12T18:07:00.007-09:00

Santa visited our living room this evening to check on our cute little tree while on his way to the park's family Christmas party. Pretty cool that he thought to stop by and say hi, huh?

I heard he was a big hit at the party, too. Although, apparently he has replaced one of his reindeer. During a reading of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", jolly old St. Nick had a little trouble with the pronunciations. Yep, if you listen carefully you'll notice that one of Santa's regulars has been replaced with a rather spicy second stringer.

Just up the Road

2008-12-11T17:20:00.012-09:00

This afternoon I decided to drive a few miles up the road and take advantage of the gorgeous weather for a little photography. It's been a while since I've been up that way, which is rather unfortunate, really. Particularly considering I only had to drive for about ten minutes to get these pictures.

So here's what Glacier National Park looked like this afternoon.

The Bucket List

2008-12-11T08:20:00.004-09:00

Because I can never resist a good meme, and because I like to do everything that Patrick at the HawkOwlsNest does, here's another fun post (although I changed the name of it to something cooler).

If you want to participate, too, just copy the list, bold the things that you've done and feel free to add comments like I did. Let me know if you post it on your blog. And because it's difficult to determine which ones are bold and which ones aren't, I've put an asterisk in front of all those I bolded.

*1. Started your own blog
*2. Slept under the stars (I even convinced Sonja to try it once...without a tent out in the desert of New Mexico).
*3. Played in a band (5th-8th grade: trumpet; 9th grade through 3 years of college: tuba)
*4. Visited Hawaii (One of the best, and cheapest, vacations we've ever taken)
*5. Watched a meteor shower (see #2)
*6. Given more than you can afford to charity
*7. Been to Disneyland/world (both)
*8. Climbed a mountain (I summitted Long's Peak in Colorado: 14,259')
*9. Held a praying mantis (and I have the pictures to prove it)
*10. Sang/played a solo (believe it or not, I actually had a tuba solo in the brass quintet I played in during my junior year at the U of North Dakota)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
*14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil)
15. Adopted a child
*16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (been to the top of the Empire State Building, though...which is almost as cool)
*18. Grown your own vegetables (and they were huge Alaskan vegetables!)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
*20. Slept on an overnight train (just did that last month, actually)
*21. Had a pillow fight
*22. Hitch hiked (in Switzerland, after missing the last bus to town...got to ride in a posh Mercedes)
*23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (uh, I mean of course not!)
*24. Built a snow fort
*25. Held a lamb
*26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
*29. Seen a total eclipse (lunar only...although I'm planning a trip to Grand Teton National Park in 2011 for the full solar eclipse that summer!)
*30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (I'm a park ranger. We get paid in sunsets!)
*31. Hit a home run (and it was in a real game, too! Of course, it was a city league in Seward, Alaska, but that still counts. It was an in-the-field homer, though...never knocked one over the fence, before)
*32. Been on a cruise (many whale/glacier watching cruises for work up at Kenai Fjords, and a three day ride on the Alaska Marine Highway)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
*34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (well, I've been close anyway. Went to Germany and Austria when I thought that's where we came from. I learned recently that we're mostly Hungarian, but I'm still gonna count it)
35. Seen an Amish community
*36. Taught yourself a new language (does Klingon count? nuqDaq ta' SoH pol yuch? Translation: Where do you keep the chocolate?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (gotta be honest with this one)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
*39. Gone rock climbing (I was a regular Spiderman for a few years back in the mid-90's)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person
*41. Sung karaoke (unfortunately, for those listening)
*42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
*43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (we recently bought pie for a couple that gave us a ride to our car on the Going to the Sun Road)
44. Visited Africa (I'll be able to check this one off soon, I hope!)
*45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (drawn, yes. Painted, no)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
*51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (both, in Hawaii)
*52. Kissed in the rain
*53. Played in the mud
*54. Gone to a drive-in theater (saw E.T in the drive-in...and there's even a working one only 15 minutes from our new house! I know what we're doing next summer!)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
*57. Started a business (does CafePress count??)
*58. Taken a martial arts class (the only Western martial art: fencing!)
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
*62. Gone whale watching (even in a kayak!)
*63. Gotten flowers for no reason
*64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (always wanted to)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (I'm still kicking myself that I didn't visit one while in Germany)
*67. Bounced a check (uhhh...)
*68. Flown in a helicopter (as a helicopter pilot, I think the answer is most definitely, yes)
*69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (Grampa Dog is still kicking around on my dresser)
*70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
*73. Stood in Times Square (attended a musical on Broadway, too. I took Sonja to see 'Rent' for her birthday one year)
74. Toured the Everglades
*75. Been fired from a job (I guess I'm not a very good car washer)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
*77. Broken a bone
*78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (once, in Alaska...but don't tell Sonja)
*79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (hiked down into the Grand Canyon, too...which is way more impressive)
80. Published a book (always wanted to try writing one, though)
81. Visited the Vatican
*82. Bought a brand new car (Our little Subaru that could! I love Gilbert...)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
*84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (Are you kidding? I grew up Catholic...of course I haven't!)
86. Visited the White House (not inside...although I'm going to try to get a tour in January when I'm in DC for President Obama's inauguration)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
*88. Had chickenpox
*89. Saved someone’s life (sorta...although, truth be told I'm the one whose idea it was to try traversing the cliff with our big backpacks on in the first place)
90. Sat on a jury (almost...I was able to convince the judge to let me go)
*91. Met someone famous (Jane Goodall)
92. Joined a book club
*93. Lost a loved one
94. Made a baby
*95. Seen the Alamo in person (even looked for the basement...didn't find it)
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (seen it several times)
*97. Been involved in a law suit (currently in one....I hate insurance companies)
*98. Owned a cell phone
*99. Been stung by a bee
*100. Gotten a speeding ticket (but not for at least ten years!)

Giving of the Thanks

2008-12-10T19:19:00.012-09:00

Well, I've officially been guilted into finally posting some pictures from Thanksgiving in Minnesota. I was hoping that I'd at least beat my little brother to the punch, but no such luck. So, here they are...in completely random order.

And because those of you "in the know" already know who everyone is, while those of you not, you know, "in the know," don't really care, I will, I have decided, in addition, you may note, to using an obscene amount of commas, all properly placed, according to Microsoft Word, version 2007, I might add, not add, beneath, above, or otherwise, any commentary about them. Impressed much? I am.

Ahem, anyway...

A Witness to History

2008-12-10T12:06:00.005-09:00

Sonja and I are now faced with a decision. Do we want to be witnesses to history?

Yesterday I got an email from Senator Jon Tester's (D-MT) office. See, the day after the election I had emailed Montana's junior Senator requesting to be placed on a waiting list for inaugural tickets. Well, apparently my timing was perfect.

Because I now have two tickets for President Barack Obama's Inauguration Ceremony.

This may be one of the most historic inaugurations ever. Sure, every Presidential inauguration is historic, but only insofar as the potential each President has to make an impact. But for the first time since George Washington (or perhaps Andrew Jackson, as the first President sworn in at the U.S. Capitol building (pictured above)), the inauguration itself is an unprecedented event that will forever be noted in the history books.

I'm already travelling to the DC area at the end of January for work, and we have a D.C. friend who has offered us their futon if we choose to go. So, really, all we'd have to do is get a plane ticket for Sonja (something I think we will need to do very, very soon if we decide to go). It's definitely not out of the question.

But at the same time, I've already had offers to purchase these tickets from me. I'm still torn about that, since I'm of the mind that an event like this should be accessible to all Americans, not just those with tons of cash. Then again, ol' Dubya has repeatedly asked all of us to be "good capitalists" and spend, spend, spend. Ha...

Seriously, though, if you have any ideas for me please share them. I expect we'll make our decision within the next day or so, but would welcome any advice.

It's a Girl!

2008-12-06T16:21:00.003-09:00

We have a new addition in our menagerie, a pretty little Peach-faced Lovebird. I never considered owning one of these tiny African parrots, but we couldn't pass up the price (free!). Here she is, waiting for me to bring my finger closer so she can take a chunk out of it (I never knew lovebirds were carnivorous). Luna's already nearly had her nose pierced.

She is, shall we say, a bit feisty? I have a feeling it may take a while before she warms up to us (I'm thinking at least a year). From what I've read, it can be quite a challenge to tame an adult lovebird. It doesn't really matter though. She's already part of the family. We just have one decision left to make, and I thought you all could help out with that one.

Gorillas in the Congo

2008-12-04T17:49:00.006-09:00

As I'm sure many of you know, during the last several months Congalese rebels have been stepping up their attacks along the remote eastern border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition to the tragic human suffering and massive exodus of refugees trying to escape the violence, there is another victim being threatened. The critically endangered mountain gorillas, of which only 740 remain in existence (there are no mountain gorillas in zoos...only lowland gorillas), inhabit the area that is at the epicenter of this conflict. In fact, the rebels recently siezed control of the headquarters for Virunga National Park, one of only two protected areas in the world where mountain gorillas can be found.

Many people have been rightfully concerned that the violence will devastate the few remaining gorilla families. But just last week park rangers made a hopeful discovery on the slopes of the Virunga volcanoes: five healthy baby gorillas and a family thriving in the midst of chaos.

The following video was shot by these rangers as they were conducting a gorilla census last Friday. The images brought a smile to my face and thought they might for you, as well...

Sonja and I are in the beginning stages of planning our trip to East Africa, an adventure we hope to undertake within the next year or so. The highlight of this trip will be a trek into the Parc National des Volcans, located in Rwanda, to spend an hour with a family of gorillas. This video makes me hopeful that the fate of one of the planet's most critically endangered has not already been decided.

Winter

2008-12-02T09:58:00.003-09:00

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-19T14:30:00.003-09:00

Glacier National Park
Photo taken this morning by Sonja

San Diego

2008-11-16T17:41:00.011-09:00

A couple weeks ago I traveled to San Diego for a friend's wedding. I've been meaning to post some photos from my trip for a while now and am finally getting around to it.

A San Diego sunset

Harbor seals and a Ruddy Turnstone

Brown Pelican and Heerman's Gull

Whimbrel

Willet

Sand dollar in the surf

Marbled Godwits on the beach

I'm a Bit Jealous

2008-11-06T15:15:00.006-09:00

Ok, so I must admit, I'm a bit jealous. Working in the office I find it easy to forget that we live in one of the world's most beautiful places. But Sonja doesn't have that problem. She gets reminded of it every single day. Take the above scene, for instance. That was Sonja's "office" today. Not fair.

I know, I shouldn't complain. All I have to do is step outside and breath the crisp mountain air and gaze up at the mountains surrounding park headquarters to remember that I get to live and work here, too. But I don't get to see things like that every day.

I also don't get to check out grizzly bear tracks, or watch Golden Eagles soaring overhead, or scan the cliffs for sheep and goats, or any of the other cool things Sonja gets to do.

It's not that I'm complaining about my job, really. I just have to work a bit harder to make sure that I can take advantage of the amazing resources this place has to offer.

And honestly, just knowing that Sonja gets to see goats standing on a snowy (and empty) Going to the Sun Road on a regular basis makes me really happy. I mean, seriously, check out the pantaloons on this guy! It's awesome!

Thank You, America!

2008-11-04T20:47:00.008-09:00

Yes We Did!

Change is here...

Obama Polls Best Among Rogues and Shamans

2008-10-30T17:39:00.002-08:00

Looks like McCain has an uphill battle if he doesn't want to lose the coveted Night Elf demographic, too.

Hope is Coming

2008-10-23T17:39:00.004-08:00

With the election only 12 days away, I thought it was time to remind ourselves about the possibilities that face us if, and when, we all stand up together and make the right choice on November 4th. That choice is for a future of opportunity, not fear. A future of unity, not division. A future every American can be proud of.

A future filled with hope is within our grasp, and on Election Day we can change the world.

Yes. We. Can.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

--Barack Obama, January 8, 2008

A Montana Morning

2008-10-19T15:05:00.015-08:00

Sonja and I took advantage of the beautiful Montana autumn morning to take the dogs for a walk through the neighborhood and down to the Middle Fork of the Flathead River (which forms the boundary of the park). Lots of fun was had by all...

Both the larch and the birch were resplendent in their autumn hues.

We found the schoolyard at West Glacier Elementary to be pleasantly unoccupied. Translation? Playtime!

Two very different styles of frisbee catching. Luna keeps her eyes on the prize while Harvey barrels down the field full-steam, trusting that the frisbee will find its way into his mouth.

This is our new house, although we haven't been able to move in, yet. Next month it'll be ours.

A final thank you kiss from Luna makes it a perfect walk for a perfect morning.

The Endorsement to End All Endorsements

2008-10-19T08:34:00.002-08:00

Colin Powell has officially redeemed himself (to a point) in my view. This is arguably Obama's biggest and most influential endorsement, and should put to rest any further discussion about his readiness for the job of President.

If you don't feel like watching the entire seven minute interview, fast forward to 4:25 and listen to Powell's statements about some of the "accusations" McCain's supporters have been making about Obama. It's quite inspiring.

And then there was this:

"We've got two individuals, either one of them could be a good President. But which is the President that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire; because of the inclusive nature of his campaign; because he is reaching out all across America; because of who he is, and because of his rhetorical ability, and I think we have to take that into account, as well as his substance, he has both style and substance, he has met the standard of being a successful President...of being an exceptional President. I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Sen. Barack Obama,"

I couldn't have said it better myself, General Powell.

100,000!

2008-10-18T15:15:00.009-08:00

Today Sonja and I spent a couple hours volunteering for the Obama campaign in Kalispell. I didn't even have to twist Sonja's arm to get her to help me knock on 50 doors to distribute information packets and encourage people to vote early (have you voted, yet??? Why not?!?). It felt really good to contribute to this historic campaign, and made me even more excited about the seemingly very likely possibility of an Obama Presidency. Sonja even got to speak to a Vietnam Vet who will be voting for a Democrat for the first time in his entire life. He said that Obama's lack of military experience is completely irrelevant and that Obama "has the right ideas."

Rock on! Talk about breaking down barriers!

Obama held a campaign rally underneath the Arch in St. Louis today. I hear a couple people decided to show up and see him:

And here I thought Missouri was supposed to be a "red" state. I think it says something quite profound when over 100,000 people show up ANYWHERE, let alone a Republican stronghold, to see a Presidential candidate. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. This makes me so incredibly hopeful for the future of this country...a feeling I have never had.

Has McCain ever drawing a crowd even 1/10th of this size??? How inspiring is it to see so many people take the time and energy to go listen to a Presidential candidate? It's like New Years Eve at Times Square! Or the Superbowl! I never thought I would see so much excitement, so much energy, so much enthusiasm and passion for politics in America. Has Obama turned American voter apathy on its head?

It sure as hell looks that way to me!

And if you weren't amazed enough, check out this story from an Obama volunteer in Pennsylvania, reported on my new favorite website:

So a canvasser goes to a woman's door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she's planning to vote for. She isn't sure, has to ask her husband who she's voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, "We're votin' for the n***er!"

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: "We're voting for the n***er."

In this economy, racism is officially a luxury. How is John McCain going to win if he can't win those voters?

Shocking and sad, but hilarious!

When Life Imitates Art

2008-10-17T18:28:00.002-08:00

I'll let you decide who is imitating who.

Personally, I don't think I could ever have come up with a better comparison. Either the producers of Batman were incredibly prophetic...or the McCain campaign stole all their "best" lines from this episode.

Hazy Shade of Winter

2008-10-09T17:01:00.002-08:00

The snow has been steadily creeping lower and lower on the mountainsides this past week. Sonja captured this image on Monday as the clouds began to lift. While we haven't had any snow falling at park headquarters, yet, we did have a pretty hard frost last night, and when I took the dogs out for a walk this morning I could smell winter in the air.

This is one of my favorite times of the year, and something I really missed while we were in Arizona: the crisp, clear air filling your lungs, snuggling under a blanket with a warm cup of hot chocolate, the snot-cicles freezing on your beard...

I also missed living in a place where the ecosystem is largely still intact. A place where most of the large predators still roam the forests. A place where, every time you go for a hike in the woods the instinctual knowledge that somewhere out there, perhaps close by, is a large, furry animal that could eat you still has a ring of truth to it.

I was reminded of that very thing this morning while taking the dogs for their walk. As I stood on the trail, waiting for Harvey to finish one of his ten-minute marathon pees, my ears perked up as a mournful and haunting sound in the distance echoed over the tree tops. It was followed by others like it, some higher in pitch, a few quite deep. It was a sound impossible to hear in most parts of this country...the sound of wolves.

There's no other sound (except, perhaps, the cry of a loon on a fog-shrouded lake in the great north woods) that captures the essence wildness like the howl of a wolf. And I feel fortunate to be able to call them neighbor.

"That One" for President!

2008-10-08T12:51:00.003-08:00

Want to show your support for "That One"? Visit my store and buy a cool new bumper sticker I just made!

This Makes Me Happy!

2008-10-06T21:46:00.003-08:00

So does this...

And this...

And especially this.

Have I mentioned that blue is my favorite color? And 270 is my new favorite number?

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

2008-10-04T20:19:00.008-08:00

For the few of you out there that have yet to discover the magic of NPH in this brilliantly tragic comedy musical, I urge you to sit back, press play, and enjoy 45 of the most enjoyable minutes ever created for the internets.

And we finally got the internet tubes installed at home, so I intend to be a bit more active here in the future. In the meantime, go back and watch Dr. Horrible again. This time, sing along!

Sweet Agony

2008-09-29T14:21:00.008-08:00

Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I am in a lot of pain after our big day hike on Saturday. 13 miles isn't a huge hiking day, but it's big enough to cause some serious soreness that lasts for a while. We decided to finally tackle the famous Highline Trail, which starts at Logan Pass and follows the ridge of the Continental Divide for about 7 miles before descending to the Going to the Sun Road. We got an early-ish start, as evidenced by the sunrise photo above, and were able to hit the trail by 9:30am.

The first, oh, seven miles of the hike were great. The trail to this point is very easy, almost a stroll, with little elevation gained or lost. So, as you might imagine, this part of our trip went quite well. And the miles just seemed to fly under our feet.

While we didn't see any grizzlies, there was certainly evidence of their presence.

Long-leaved Arnica
Arnica longifolia
When we hit the seven mile mark, we opted to take a little side trip up to the edge of the Continental Divide, to an overlook of Grinnell Glacier. The sign said it was only 0.6 miles. But I'm here to tell you that it was the longest 0.6 miles I've ever walked. I think the trail gained almost 1,500 feet in that half mile. It was brutal.

Here's the divide, with the Atlantic drainage on the left and over the edge, while the Pacific drainage is on the "gentle" slope down to the right.

Grinnell Glacier can be seen in the center and a bit to the right, at the base of the large cliff in the background. In the foreground, near the bottom of the photo, is Salamander Glacier.

We weren't sure how far we actually wanted to hike, but figured we'd just go until we felt like turning around. Unfortunately (for my knee, at least), we didn't reach that point until we hit the 7 mile mark (and after the brutal hike to the overlook). At this point we faced a choice: hike the 7 miles back to Logan Pass, or cut two miles off and continue along the trail, but then face a descent of nearly 2,500 feet and the need to hitchike back to the pass to get our car. For some reason, the prospect of hiking another seven miles seemed much worse than a mere five.

This is a good shot of the first seven miles of the hike. I highlighted the trail (as best as I could) with red, including the side trail up to the Grinnell Glacier Overlook. You might want to click on the image to see it bigger and get a better idea of what a seven mile hike actually looks like.

The highlight of the second half of our hike was passing the infamous "Granite Park Campground", site of the 1967 grizzly mauling made famous in the book "Night of the Grizzlies".

Overall, it was a tremendously enjoyable, yet exhausting trip. We were able to find a ride up to the pass in less than three minutes, which helped. If you ever want to plan a trip to Glacier National Park, I strongly recommend this hike. Just be prepared for a long day.

And in other news, we found out today that we will, in fact, get to live in park housing! Yay! No more having to beg landlords to allow our pets. You have no idea how much of a relief it is to no longer be in "housing limbo."

Notes from a Wildlife Technician

2008-09-17T06:48:00.007-08:00

Sonja is now getting into the groove with her wildlife technician job here at Glacier. She's now seen several bears (both black bears), within about 15 feet of her. She got to chase one of them away from the road yesterday. For the most part, her days involve driving up the Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass, pulling over at specified points to scan the meadows and cliffs for bears, goats, sheep, and any other assorted wildlife that happens to be around.

One of her tasks during these surveys is to photo-document as many close encounters as she can. Here you can see a mountain goat approaching her survey site. Sonja's spotting scope is on the right. She's gotten much better, as she describes it, at "yelling at visitors" for feeding/harassing wildlife, too. It's almost a daily occurance now that she needs to admonish someone for giving a ground squirrel (one that should have been underground getting ready to hibernate for at least a month by now) assorted fritos, cheezy poofs, and raisins.

But I think what Sonja enjoys most are the daily reminders she gets of how lucky we really are to be living and working in one of the world's most beautiful places.

Now I just have to work on getting her to take more pictures like this one.

Distractions are Good

2008-09-14T16:02:00.008-08:00

I need to stop ignoring all the stupid polling going on right now. It's giving me an ulcer. How can the American public be so bloody blind to the fact that Sarah Palin is NOT who she says she is?!? And how in the hell did the race get so damn close??

I'm beginning to think that McCain isn't as stupid as I thought he was when he picked her as his VP. I'm beginning to think he also realizes just how bloody stupid a large percentage of the voting public really is...that they would not only accept a neo-conservative, speaking-in-tongues-speaking, oil-loving, global warming denying, machine-gun toting creationist, they'd fall all over themselves to see who can adore her the most!

It's revolting to watch. And the worst of it all is the new Republican chant being shouted at all their campaign events, "Drill, baby, drill!"

Can someone please save America from all the fat, greedy, "consume till you croak", bible-thumping, Earth-raping Americans before it's too late? Please, America...WAKE THE F**K UP! This world cannot handle another four years of the Bush Administration!

Big sigh...ok, enough of my "elitist, left-wing liberal ranting." Sonja and I needed something to distract ourselves from the depressing state of American politics. So we hopped in the car with Harvey and Luna and headed for the hills.

We haven't explored much of the area outside of the park, yet, and as a result haven't had a chance to take the dogs for a good hike. To change that I whipped out the map this morning and tried to find a suitable road into the surrounding mountains where we could go exploring. I found a squiggly red line that looked promising, so we loaded up and headed out.

(as you can see, we didn't take Gilbert, our beloved mountain-climbing Subaru. He's been hibernating in the garage for the past month and when we tried to wake him up for the drive he responded with a resoundingly silent, "I ain't goin' nowhere"...Yeah, I guess we should have had that "service engine soon" light checked out when it turned on about a year ago, huh?)

Anyway, once we got to an elevation that seemed to get us above all the locals with chainsaws, we headed up the road to see what we could see.

We did find a pretty little mountain-top lake, but even Harvey found it a little too muddy for his liking, so we continued on.

While it wasn't the most exciting hike we've ever been on, the mountain air was incredibly refreshing, the views were inspiring and the dogs had a great time. And really, that's all we were looking for anyway.

Grandma Schweighofer

2008-09-08T13:51:00.017-08:00

Emma Schweighofer
November 5th, 1915 - August 27th, 2008
(The following was written by my cousin, Jennifer Gillard. I wanted to post it for a couple reasons. First, Jennifer did a wonderful job capturing the essence of Grandma Schwieghofer. Second, I consider this site to be a journal of sorts for my life and wanted to keep an online record of it. And third, because I felt that the world (or at least my little corner of the blogosphere world) should be able to share in the story of this incredible woman.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~When I volunteered to do the eulogy for Grandma I wondered, how would I sum up 92 years of the life of such a kind and graceful woman? I thought about the stories she told all of us and that seems like the best way to go.

Emma Schweighofer was born 92 years ago on November 5, 1915. She was the oldest of 8 kids and grew up in a home in St. Paul where German was spoken.

While Grandma was growing up the Great Depression was going on. Times were tough and Grandma told of having only one dress to wear. She had many collars and cuffs that she could change to make the best she could of her one dress.

On September 30, 1939, Emma Block became Emma Schweighofer when she married Raymond, that handsome, fun-loving man she met at a New Years Eve party five years before.

Together they had four children and created the legacy of family that would grow to include 15 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

Grandma would often look at the pictures of us lined up on her wall or at all of us gathered in person and she’d say, “Wow, just look at what we started…”

All of us have memories of Grandma and stories to tell. Many of us have come up with the same themes that remind us most of the woman she was.

Emma’s four kids, Jeanette, Maryterese, Mark and Diane remember her strength, her courage and her dignity. They say that with their mom, you always knew where the lines were. There were rules in Emma’s house and you respect those rules no matter what your age.

Rule #1 – Don’t come home late, lest you be met at the door by Emma in her nightgown with a clock in her hand.

Rule #2 – Stay in the yard where I can see you.

Rule #3 – Make your bed. Every day. And she always checked.

Rule #4 – On Saturday, everyone helped clean no matter how clean the house was because it had to be ready for Sunday.

Rule #5 – Never, ever talk back.

The four kids remember German phrases slipping in and out now and then like, “Avut!” which means watch yourself, you’re in trouble. The tone and volume of that word indicated just how much trouble you’d be in.

Growing up, Jeanette, Maryterese, Mark and Diane remember their mother’s strength in the fact that Grandpa was often gone working on the railroad, so she cared for both the children and the home while he was away.

Soon enough, the four kids grew up and the grandkids and great-grandkids started coming. We all were her pride and joy. I’d be willing to bet each one of us here is convinced we were the favorite – right?

Many of us have mentioned Grandma’s ability to focus in on you in any given moment and make you feel like you’re the most important person in the world. Through our childhoods, Grandma was always there – smiling. She would grin from ear to ear when she would watch us open a present or play an instrument or give her some creature or rock we picked up off the ground.

Grandma also took great pride in teaching us what she knew. Many of us pulled taffy or made noodles in her kitchen. She passed on recipes to her kids that they passed on to us and we will pass on to our kids.

We also learned from Grandma and Grandpa a profound love of nature. She encouraged us to go outside and do stuff – look at birds, grow a garden, go camping, and most of all go fishing.

She loved to fish and she loved to eat fish. Late in her life Grandma developed an allergy to fish and nearly every time I saw her she’d ask if I’d been fishing and she would say how much she loved a breaded sunfish on a piece of buttered bread.

In fact, I tried that yesterday with some of the fish we had just caught, and it’s pretty darn good!

Yesterday, Jeremy, Diane’s oldest son mentioned how when his family would go fishing when they got back Grandma would ask, “Who caught the biggest fish?” The winner got $2. Now, I’ve checked with some of my other cousins and none of us ever got $2. I guess Grandma reserved special treatment for the Zellars boys!

So, yes – Grandma taught us all to love nature and savor and enjoy each moment. On a trip to Colorado when I was 10 or 12, Grandma and Grandpa traveled with us in this giant RV. One day we were crossing the great continental divide, which is a steep stretch of road. The RV gave up the ghost there on the side of a mountain. Since this was before cell phones it was going to take a while before help came. I must have looked distressed or bored because Grandma went into the RV and came out with two lawn chairs for us and there we sat on the Continental Divide relishing the view and enjoying being stranded because we got to take in a scene you would normally race right by.

We are all grateful for that love and appreciation for nature that Grandma nurtured in each of us.

Grandma was also always a prepared Grandma. She always had some little candy treats tucked away in the glove box of the car or in a little dish in her home. My favorites were the Werther’s Originals I would sometimes get when I would ride home in their car after church.

Over the past few days I have heard many people remembering Grandma and the things that made her who she was. They all came up with the same things.

Dignity and Grace – Grandma was always dignified in her dealings with other people, especially as she aged. And she moved through her life with the grace of God.

She was strong, courageous and resilient. Grandma struggled for many years with her health, but she always remained courageous and held onto her quiet inner strength. She never gave up – not once. You may call that stubborn. Grandma was a good German! She called herself a tough old buzzard. When the doctor told Grandma a few months ago that one way to treat the infection in her leg was to cut it off, she told him that “if they’re gonna cut off my leg, I’m gonna eat fish till I croak!” Did I mention she was stubborn?

She also loved people and was so engaging that she drew people in. She smiled a lot and genuinely delighted in the joys of her family and her family of friends. She never complained or judged – she listened and encouraged with the belief that no matter what the trouble that “you can do it.”

Finally is her faith. Grandma’s faith could move mountains. She had a piece and serenity that came from her complete faith in God. She lived in hope that no matter how hard, things will always get better.

So here we are at the end of the story. Let us all remember the lessons Grandma taught us and let them guide and comfort us:

Lesson #1 – Be strong.

Lesson #2 – Have faith and the faith to be courageous.

Lesson #3 – Be dignified.

Lesson #4 – Smile – a lot. Especially when one of your kids, grandkids or great-grandkids show you something cool.

Lesson #5 – Be a good listener. Gather what you’ve heard and tell good stories.

Lesson #6 – Go outside as much as possible.

Lesson #7 – Always make your bed before you leave.

With that I say goodbye, Grandma. We love you so much and will miss you. And now that you have such a good view from heaven, we all promise to stay in the yard, right where you can see us.

Change

2008-09-07T17:20:00.011-08:00

Change is a funny thing. It happens all the time to all of us. Like the cliche' says, it's one of the only constants in life. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not so good. Sometimes, it's difficult to see how there could be any good during a particularly hard change. My family and I experienced a change, recently. It's the reason I haven't posted in a couple weeks.

I actually just got back from Minnesota. I'd like to say that the trip to the land of my birth was just for fun, but no. My grandmother passed away on August 27th, so I went home to be with family and help my mom a bit with all the arrangements.

Changes like this are inevitable, expected even. But it's never easy. What I tried to take away from this sorrowful event was the time I was able to spend with family members I hadn't seen in a long, long time. In fact, I think I got to see almost all of my extended family...I just wish it was under happier circumstances. So, in a way, aspects of this very unhappy change were filled with joy. The joy of coming together as a family to celebrate the life of one of the most amazing women I've ever known. The joy of spending a few short days laughing together, crying together, and strengthening the bonds that hold us together.

I promised some folks that I would post my cousin's eulogy on here, so you can look for that in the next couple of days. I think that it deserves a post of its own.

But for now, I did want to share some news that also relates to change. The kind of change that brings hope to myself and millions of others around the country and around the world. And it all has to do with two men, one of which we got to see today.

Guess who? I'll give you a hint. We weren't the only ones who showed up to see this person.

There were also these people.

And this guy. But he looks too friendly to make that hint useful, so here's another one of a different one of these guys.

Notice the glare he's giving me? Guess he either didn't like getting his picture taken or I just looked suspicious. Still can't figure it out?

One of these was hanging on the wall, too.

No, I didn't get to see the big cheese, himself (although if he ever comes to within a three hour drive of us, you can be darn tootin' that we WILL see him). But we did see the next best thing:

The next Vice President of the United States: Senator Joe Biden!

Yeah, he totally rocked. Said all the right things. Got the crowd jumping and cheering. He really is quite an incredible orator. All off the cuff, too. No teleprompters, no notes. Although he did comment at one point that he felt bad that his staff had prepared such a nice speech for him to give and he'd ignored it for the first 45 minutes.

Both of us were very impressed. Although, I suppose I should admit that there wasn't any doubt we would be. We weren't a very unbiased audience. But neither was anyone else, which made it even funner!

A Berry Good Weekend

2008-08-25T14:27:00.007-08:00

Our theme for this weekend seemed to be "how many berries can we stuff in our faces before we throw up?" We never actually found out the answer to that question, but we did both experience berry-overload at various points during the weekend. Saturday we took a trip up to Huckleberry Mountain specifically to pick it's namesake berries. But as you can see from the handful, we didn't find just huckleberries.

Here's a photo-montage of the various, non-huck yummies we found along the trail.

Saskatoon (aka, Western Serviceberry)Because we left the plant guide in the car, assuming that we'd be able to easily identify any huckleberries we found along the trail, we were initially confused about whether or not these were hucks or not. Turns out they're not. Also turns out they don't taste very good. Not that they're inedible, just rather bland.

ThimbleberryThese were the real treasure we discovered along the trail. Incredibly sweet and yummy, we were amazed that other hikers had apparently been ignoring them. Not that we minded. Sonja and I were happy to exploit the other hikers' disinterest in these little gems.

Clasp-leaf Twisted Stalk (aka, Watermelon Berries)Another surprise were all the uneaten watermelon berries we saw. Either the other hikers along the trail were so intent on the huckleberries that they just didn't care about all the rest, or not many people around here know how good these things are. Oh well, more for us!

We also saw a couple berries that we did not try, mostly cuz they looked like eating them would give us a gastronomic experience we'd rather avoid. Here are two of those.

QueencupI don't know about you, but this just looks like a berry you don't want to eat. We didn't know what it was until we got back to the car and looked it up. All the guide says is that these neat little berries are "inedible". No fun descriptions of all the nasty things that might happen to someone who decides to try eating one. Oh well...

Utah Honeysuckle (aka, twinberries)The guide didn't actually say whether or not these berries were edible. But something just didn't look right about them, so we left them alone. Of course, we've made decisions like that about odd-looking fruits we've encountered before. During our trip to Hawaii, we hiked out to the end of the NaPali Coast Trail and made camp on the beach. The entire time we were there we noticed these odd little non-descript, round, green, ping-pong ball sized fruits dropping off the trees left and right. When you opened one up it was bright orange inside. We made the decision they were probably poisonous and left them alone. When we got back to town the next day we were chatting with some other hikers and they asked if we gorged ourselves on all the ripe passionfruit falling off the trees along the beach. D'oh!

Regardless of whether or not we made a mistake in not eating the twinberries, we certainly enjoyed eating the rest.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-20T13:27:00.008-08:00

Sunset Over Saint Mary Lake
Glacier National Park, Montana
August 13, 2008

Alpine Wildflowers

2008-08-19T12:13:00.006-08:00

Our timing was impeccable with our arrival at Glacier National Park during the peak of alpine wildflower season. The colors of these tiny survivors have been spectacular during our hikes up above treeline. Here is a sampling of some of my wildflower photographs from the past two weekend hikes we took into the alpine tundra.

Rosey Paintbrush
Castilleja rhexifolia

Yellow Columbine
Aguilegia flavescens
Common Pearlyeverlasting
Anaphalis margaritacea
Explorer's Bog Gentian
Gentiana calycosa
Alpine Forget-Me-Not
Eritrichium nanum
Alpine Fireweed
Epilobium latifolium

Goat Days on Siyeh Pass

2008-08-18T14:18:00.003-08:00

Another weekend, another hike in Glacier. It was sort of a special occasion, though, since this past weekend was the first annual Mountain Goat Days survey, sponsored by the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center (CCRLC). I figured since I now work there I might as well participate in some of their activities.

The purpose of Goat Days was to try to get as many volunteers out in the field in as many different parts of the park as possible, all scanning the cliffs for mountain goats. As of right now, the park service has no real estimate of how many goats inhabit Glacier National Park, and as a result, have no idea what is happening to the population with the impacts of global climate change.

So Goat Days was born. It will hopefully give the park a point-in-time assessment of how many goats might be in the park. At least in areas that are visible from the 700 or so miles of trails that criss-cross the backcountry. And if this thing catches on and becomes an annual park-wide event, we may actually be able to extrapolate some general population trends. But that's still a ways off.

To do our part, Sonja and I elected to conduct two surveys, one in an area called Preston Park and the other on top of Siyeh Pass.

We opted to split up, with each of us conducting one of the two surveys to save time. You can see how excited I was about getting to be the one to climb to the top of the pass. That ridgeline behind me is the eastern slope of the Continental Divide, with Piegan Mountain behind my right shoulder.

While I didn't see a single goat during my survey, I was greeted by a nursery group of bighorn sheep when I got to the top of the pass. At 8,080 feet in elevation, it's supposedly the highest maintained trail in the park.

One of the things I look forward to most after climbing (then descending) up 2,900 feet over a 9.4 mile hike is to peel off the hot, sweaty boots and dip my feet into a crystal clear, and frigidly cold, mountain stream.

Ahhhhhh....

There are very few things that feel quite as refreshing as this.

I did end up seeing A goat...as I was hiking back down the pass after my survey was over. Sonja saw eleven, ten of which were actually during her survey. Lucky.

Grin and Bear It

2008-08-14T14:28:00.005-08:00

Pop Quiz: Who belongs to the choppers you see below?

Still not sure of the answer? How about another clue. This one will probably give it away, though. Here's another, rather characteristic body part of the same animal:

Ok, that makes it easy. It is, in fact, a member of one of North America's most infamous (and wrongly so, I might add) inhabitants: Ursus arctos horribilis...the Grizzly. But this isn't just any grizzly. It happens to be the very first grizzly that Sonja got to help outfit with a radio collar!

Yesterday we were informed by one of my coworkers that a local biologist from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks was going to be processing a young male grizzly they had captured in the Swan Range just to the south and east of the park. And wouldn't you know it? They had room for an extra hand to help out. So Sonja jumped at the opportunity and got to help outfit this bear with a radio collar.

No, the bear is not dead...just tranquilized. Sonja said these guys are really professional with how they treated the bear, handling it with the utmost care to ensure that it was not harmed at all by the experience. Unfortunately, Sonja wasn't able to join the team for its release back into the wild but the lead biologist did ask if she'd be interested in helping out with future captures.

She said yes.

Here's a short video of the bear in the capture cage just prior to it being poked in the butt with the tranquilizer.

That growl is pretty darn impressive for such a small grizzly!

Getting to Know Glacier

2008-08-12T14:47:00.002-08:00

I didn't have any new pictures to post, so here's another one from our hike on Saturday at Logan Pass.

Tomorrow I get to explore Glacier National Park as an employee for the first time. I'll be getting paid to drive over the Going to the Sun Road to visit the St. Mary Visitor Center and attend an alpine research training session one of my coworkers is presenting.

I also wanted to mention that my new commute is a drag. I have to choose between either a 2 minute walk or a 30 second bike ride between my front door and my office. Bummer, huh? At least the Red-breasted Nuthatches and Columbia ground squirrels (yes, those are the ones we used to feed at Two Medicine, Janine) keep me entertained on my way to work.

I also forgot to mention that the other evening we took Harvey and Luna for a walk down the bike path to Lake McDonald, during which we saw not one, but two black bears cross the path in front of us. They both seemed to be doing their best to ignore us as they crashed through the woods. I don't blame them, considering the bear jam they had to deal with as they crossed the park road minutes before. Surprisingly, neither Harvey nor Luna seemed all that interested in them while they were visible. Their ears perked up a bit, but there wasn't any barking or freaking out. At least until we got to the spot along the path where the bears had crossed. Then it was a whole different story.

Have I mentioned how much I love my new home?

Home, Sweet Home!

2008-08-11T14:07:00.018-08:00

I always hoped that one day I'd be fortunate enough to get a job at my dream park. But I never thought that it would happen so soon! But here we are, living and working at one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

It's not just a national park, either. It's also an International Peace Park, a World Heritage Site, and a National Biosphere Reserve. Yes, Glacier National Park is so awesome it needs to be protected four different ways.

So, we arrived on Friday around lunchtime and began settling into our new, temporary house.

We're still hoping that we can figure out a way to live in park housing long-term, but it's not a done deal, yet. So we're going to be spending much of our upcoming weekends house hunting.

But we're also planning on doing a fair bit of exploring, too. This is Sonja enjoying sunset on the shore of Lake McDonald.

Some of my most vivid memories of visiting Glacier as a kid (besides the bears and mountains and the awesome Going to the Sun Road) are of the rocks. Every stream, every lake, every puddle just seems to explode with color in a way I've not encountered anywhere else.

So, to kick off our exploration of our new home (did I mention we're now living at Glacier National Park? Cuz we are!) we decided to make the short drive from our house up the Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass on Saturday morning. A nice, easy trip from our house.

Something else I remember quite well from visiting Glacier is seeing the incredible wildflowers along the boardwalk up at the top of the pass. I know that's one of the reason Glacier is one of my mom's favorite places.

Paintbrush, alpine monkeyflower and some little yellow thing I never learned the name of seemed to be the most prominent flowers blooming on Saturday.

This is an alpine monkeyflower (I think) being visited by a honeybee.

It wasn't just the flora that came out to welcome us to Glacier, either. The bighorn sheep made a very photogenic appearance.

Maybe it's because I hadn't had an opportunity to walk the boardwalk at Logan Pass since I was around 7 years old, but I never remember the wildlife getting this close. Well, no wildlife bigger than a ground squirrel, anyway. That's Sonja standing on the boardwalk behind the sheep. I swear that the sheep approached me and not the other way around.

And the sheep weren't the only ones. The mountain goats wanted in on the action, too. I was really bummed when I got home and saw that the camera focused on the mountain and not the goat when I took this picture. Talk about a perfect pose. Bummer...

And when I say they got close, I mean they got close! As a park ranger, it's my job to make sure that people don't approach too close to wildlife. Particularly to wildlife that can seriously injure them.

But honestly, I don't think there was a way we could have avoided getting this close to these goats. There were about ten of us standing on the trail, trying to figure out what to do as the goats surrounded us. It quickly became apparent that they couldn't care less about us. We might as well have been rocks as far as they were concerned.

This was particularly surprising to me considering there were two tiny kids in the group. The little ones were definitely the most skittish around us, but even they still passed with ten feet of everyone.

We were apparently so boring that the goats had to entertain themselves. These two started horsing around and chasing each other in the snow no more than 30 feet from us.

I always wondered where people went to get such good photos of mountain goats, considering their usual habitat and general skittishness. I guess now I know.

Anyway, I think it's safe to assume that you can expect to see lots of pretty pictures being posted on here in the coming weeks as we get to know our new home a little better. If you'd like to see all 29 photos from this past weekend (plus some extras from a little side-trip we took on the way here last week), you can visit my photoset at flickr.

But for now, all I can say is...it's good to be home!

Of Cuckoos and Careers

2008-08-02T05:45:00.005-08:00

I spotted what will, in all likelihood, be my last Arizona life bird...at least for a little while anyway. I was walking to work yesterday morning when I encountered a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. I'd been trying to find one of these ever since I learned they nested here. It took me until four days before we move to actually see one. Fortunately, I had a video camera with me, so I got some footage of the encounter:

And speaking of our big move, it's looking very likely that Sonja will have a job waiting for her when we arrive at Glacier! She'll be working as a bio-tech doing wildlife observations along the Going to the Sun Road. From what her new supervisor says, the job focuses mostly on grizzly-road interactions, so she'll be spending most of her time looking for bears. Both of us are really excited for this really amazing opportunity for her! Everything just seems to be coming together perfectly for us.

We leave on Tuesday morning, and plan on arriving in our new, temporary home on Friday. I hope to post at least once more before we leave, but you know how I tend to be about that. Either way, I'll be sure to post some pictures of Montana as soon as we get settled in.

Time for Some Campaignin'

2008-07-30T22:05:00.001-08:00

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Hike China

2008-07-30T17:08:00.004-08:00

With the Olympics just a few days away I thought it would be interesting to ponder what backpacking around China might be like. Well, here's a guy that wondered the same thing after seeing an email containing some rather improbably photographs of a "trail" in central China classified as the "world's most dangerous".

Here's a great video of what he saw when he travelled to China to learn for himself the truth of this provocative email forward:

Someday we'll hike that trail!

Summer Hummer

2008-07-27T08:17:00.002-08:00

Black-chinned Hummingbird, female

Arizona Monsoon and a Spider

2008-07-25T19:16:00.005-08:00

The monsoon activity this season has been particularly colorful, with lots of fun fireworks. Here's a sample of images from last night's storm system.

The lightning was concentrated just over the horizon, so my attempts at capturing a nice bolt weren't quite as successful as I'd hoped. These pictures remind me more of some of the scenes from the recent "War of the Worlds" movie than anything else. I kept expecting one of the machines to rise up over the ridge at any moment.

After the storm we had a visitor to our back step. Might be our last tarantula before we leave in a little over a week.

McCain's Also a Liar!

2008-07-24T17:50:00.002-08:00

Either that or:

1) He's already as senile as Ronald Reagan was when he left office; or,

2) He's as big a moron as the current Idiot-in-Chief.

Just watch...

McCain is a Traitor!

2008-07-22T17:13:00.006-08:00

I decided to find out what the networks were saying about Obama's trip overseas, so I turned on the CBS Evening News. There I saw Katie Couric interviewing both Obama and Senator McCain. And I must tell you I was SHOCKED when I saw McCain. There he was, sitting in New Hampshire, condescending smile spreading across his ancient, wrinkley features, when I noticed something missing from his lapel. No American flag pin.

He's refusing to wear an American flag lapel pin! Can you believe the audacity of this traitor?!? How dare he show himself in public without draping himself in red, white and blue?!? Don't believe me? Here's the proof (click the image for a larger version):

It's disgusting. I can't believe he still calls himself an American. If this isn't proof that he hates America, I don't know what is!

. . .

. . .

. . .

See how ridiculous that sounds? It's an ugly, stupid, tacky lapel pin that demonstrates absolutely nothing about how patriotic or unpatriotic someone is. And what's with the double-standard? If the media is determined to hold Obama's feet to the fire on such a meaningless triviality, they should do the same for McCain.

Speaking of which, I was appalled watching Katie Couric's interviews with Obama and McCain on CBS Evening News this weekend. She was playing hardball with Obama left and right, throwing him different variations of the same damn question trying to force him to screw up (which he didn't, by the way. tee hee!).

Meanwhile, she lobs stupid softball questions to McCain like, "You seem frustrated with Senator Obama. Why?" and "Why do you think Obama doesn't think the surge is working?" It was laughable, really. And no different than the coddling way the press has treated Bush for the last seven years.

Katie Couric should be ashamed of herself. How she can justify calling herself a journalist after that blatant display of pandering to the whining right-wingers ("boo hoo, Obama is getting all the press, I want my mommy!") is beyond me.

I encourage anyone who prefers intelligent, honest and responsible journalism to boycott CBS "News" until they hire a journalist who has a little integrity.

Fire in the Sky

2008-07-21T19:40:00.004-08:00

The monsoon is in full swing now, which means that the evening skies tend to be filled with storm clouds. I glanced outside about an hour ago and everything had a subdued orange tint, not that different than what it was like in Fairbanks when the city was shrouded in wildfire smoke. No wildfires tonight, though. Just a brilliant sunset illuminating the monsoon storms.

And behind our house was this monster cell. Although it looks more menacing than I think it actually is. We only spotted one flash of lightning in the 30 minutes we were outside with the dogs.

My task over the next two weeks is to try to capture some pictures of some of the lightning storms that we get, like this guy did.

I was playing around with the flash on our way back to the house this evening and got this photo of Sonja (the ghostly figure standing to the right of the yield sign) with Harvey and Luna. I thought it was interesting that Harvey's eyes glow orange, while Luna's glow green. Cool, huh?

¡Viva la Mexico!

2008-07-13T19:24:00.010-08:00

Because we will be leaving Arizona at the beginning of August, we thought it was about time we ventured south of the border. Besides, Sonja had never been there and we just couldn't justify living in the Grand Canyon State for nearly two years without going to Mexico at least once. We did have another excuse to go, though, since some friends of ours wanted to throw us a party before we left. I mean, how can you pass up free cake and margaritas??

We didn't go very far into Mexico (I think if we had actually measured the distance we traveled from the border fence it wouldn't even come to a quarter mile), but we were officially on the "other side."

That wall is a depressing reminder of the ugly side of our country's immigration issue. It's also a stark reminder that many Americans view our southern neighbors with a great deal of mistrust and more than a little contempt. But the four of us (we went with Andy and Matt, two friends from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument) all had a great time.

At lunch, the very first thing our waiter brought to our table (before any chips, water, or even menus!) was four shots of one of Mexico's most famous commodities. As a result, Sonja got to "enjoy" her first ever shot of tequila! She was actually disappointed to discover that it didn't really taste like much.

As always (sheesh, I've been to Mexico twice now and I make it sound like I go every weekend), the contrast between the American side and the Mexican side of the border was quite pronounced. Not that you can tell from this picture, but everything just "felt" like we were in another country, even when we were standing right next to the wall, with the U.S. just an easy egg toss away. I can't really explain why, but I like it. Not the obvious poverty that surrounds you, of course, but the sensation that you have crossed an imaginary, yet very real boundary between two completely different worlds. It's an experience far too few Americans get to have.

Too bad the experience crossing the other border (the one we'll be moving next to) doesn't provide the same experience. Unless you count the sudden appearance of Tim Horton's on every street corner and poutine on every menu.

Nah, not the same.

Madera Revisited...One Last Time

2008-07-08T20:21:00.009-08:00

One of things I'm really going to miss about living in Arizona is the (relative) ease with which one can access some of North America's premiere birding hot spots. Take Madera Canyon, for instance. I've been there three times in the last four months and have seen some of the most amazing birds I've ever encountered. Sure, it's a three hour drive to get there. But the payoff is so worth it.

This trip was no different. Sonja had to work which meant I was going it alone. I don't think she minded all that much, though. She seemed to be getting a little tired of driving so far just to go birding. I left home around 3:30am in order to make it to the canyon before the heat of the day. As it turned out, I could have left an hour or two later and had just as much success, considering how quiet it was for the first couple of hours.

The morning started out exciting, though, as I spotted what I thought was one of my three main target species for the day, a White-eared Hummingbird. Alas, my excitement faded as soon as this little guy took to the air and two brilliant white patches appeared on the tip of its tail. Still, it's not often that one gets a chance to admire a Blue-throated Hummingbird, so even though it wasn't a lifer for me I still took the time to enjoy watching it get chased off the feeder by a noisy Black-chinned Hummer.

Another non-lifer I was hoping to see again was Madera Canyon's resident Flame-colored Tanager, particularly because I wanted to try to get a better photograph of it. My last attempt at trying to capture this bird in a photo was less than satisfactory due to the fact that the damn thing refused to leave the very tops of the 30 foot sycamore trees. Things worked out a little better this time around.

After singing his little heart out at the top of a tree (of course), he finally decided to descend a bit and put on a little show for me (I was surprisingly the only birder around for the first hour or so). I did miss my greatest opportunity to snap a picture when he landed no more than ten feet from me. I was so thrilled to see it so close that I sorta forgot I had my camera around my neck.

This one's kind of a weird angle, but I like how it shows off the brilliant plumage that gives this bird its name.

The other bird everyone comes to Madera Canyon to see is another that has never disappointed me (at least not in Madera): the Elegant Trogon.

By the time I heard the trogon's croaking bark in the distance over three hours had elapsed since my arrival and I still hadn't seen any of my target species. As soon as I heard it, though, any disappointment I was starting to feel quickly vanished and I began to focus on simply enjoying the experience of birding in Madera. It's hard not to enjoy it when you get a bird like this looking down at you from just overhead.

Such a cool bird. Seeing (and hearing) him again made the whole trip worthwhile for me.

Four hours in and still no lifers (or so I thought...turns out I wouldn't identify one until I got home Monday night and examined my photos), but I didn't care. I was having a great time relaxing in a lawn chair at one of Madera Canyon's "Birding B&B's" taking photos of the gorgeous Broad-billed Hummingbirds that seemed to be everywhere.

You can't ask for a more photogenic bird than this one. But the excitement of the chase quickly returned when two guys in the chair next to me asked if I was still looking for the one bird I wanted to find more than any that day, the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher.

Then they pointed up to a branch overhead. Turns out there was an active nest in a tree no more than 30 feet from where I was sitting.

Not only did I get to see a Sulphur-belly, I got to watch them fly in and out of a nest cavity as they brought an endless supply of bugs to their demanding brood.

But the most exciting bird for me that day was one I hadn't even considered looking for until one of the birders I had been chatting with mentioned that they had seen dozens of them a ways down the road. So, on my way out of the canyon, I made a quick stop at a pull-out and headed down the trail in search of a little bird I really hadn't thought twice about, the Varied Bunting.

None of the pictures I've ever seen of this bird come remotely close to how gorgeous it really is. The deep maroon, violet and indigo of its plumage blend together in a way that is almost indescribable. It was one of the most surprisingly stunning birds I've ever seen.

When the day was done, I left Madera Canyon with three new lifers: Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Varied Bunting, and the Cassin's Vireo I couldn't properly identify until I got home. If those three birds (plus all the others I saw) weren't enough to convince me that the trip was worth it, the Gray Hawk that flew over my car as I was driving through suburban Tucson in search of a gas station most certainly was.

Glacier National Park is going to be an incredible place to live and work, there's no doubt about it. I'll even get to flesh out the grouse section of my life list a bit. But I will most definitely miss the world-class birding we've been able to experience during our time here in Arizona.

The Jumping Point

2008-07-04T16:04:00.005-08:00

On Monday I went for a hike down a trail not far from our place with a friend from Flagstaff. We hiked the four miles in to a place along Beaver Creek called "The Crack" nice and early to avoid the heat of the day. But we both decided we wanted to get back home by mid-afternoon, which meant turning an easy four-mile walk into a not-so-easy four mile death march in 106 degree temps with little to no shade.

So, to prepare ourselves for what we knew was going to be an unpleasant afternoon, we opted to take one last dip into the creek before hitting the trail. We just happened to be passing by one of the more popular "dipping" spots, too: The Beaver's Tongue (named for its tongue-like shape and the fact that it's perched 18 feet above Beaver Creek, I suppose).

I won't belabor this too much, since it's really not a very interesting story. Suffice to say that jumping off the tongue is not necessarily an easy thing to do the first time...unless you've got balls of steel. Which I don't. Here I am pondering the pending dip.

Note the impressive physique. Yeah, baby. That's what I'm talkin' about!

Anyway, it took me about eight minutes of standing at the edge, staring down into the deep green pool below me before I finally got the nerve to leap off of the ledge.

Ok, so it wasn't so much a "leap" as it was a dorky power-walk off the edge. With a loud and impressively high pitched little girl-like scream accompanying my descent.

You can call me "Grace", thank you very much.

As fun as this looks, the amount of water that shot up my nose made it decidedly less so.

Zion: Angel's Landing

2008-06-28T06:43:00.000-08:00

I've hiked a lot of trails that many people would consider crazy. From climbing Long's Peak in Colorado, to traversing a cliff in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park wearing a 50 pound backpack. There have even been a few times on a trail when I seriously questioned my judgement (or lack thereof). While Zion's Angel's Landing trail doesn't necessarily top my list of "crazy" hikes it certainly deserves a placement near the top.

I had originally planned to do the hike as sort of a celebration for the exciting news I got earlier in the day. Unfortunately due to Sonja's sore knee she couldn't go along. So, in order to make for a safer hike everyone wanted me to do it in the company of one of Zion's interpretive rangers, who was doing a guided hike up to Scout's Lookout at the top of the Walter's Wiggles section of the trail, rather than go it alone. But after speaking with the ranger prior to her hike, she suggested that if I wanted to make it to the top I should probably just do it on my own anyway. It was already 6pm and sunset was in three hours, so if I was gonna go, I had to just do it. I figured there'd be plenty of people on the trail with me if something did go wrong, so I went for it.

This was my destination, the top of that large sandstone "fin" in the center of the picture. The trail begins right about where I'm standing and proceeds along the left base of the cliff until it cuts sharply uphill, then scales the left side of Angel's Landing.

This was the lower half of the uphill section, looking down from near the base of Walter's Wiggles, one of the more famous sets of switchbacks in the national park system.

Now, I had mentally prepared myself for one helluva strenuous hike. I mean, I'd seen pictures of the wiggles and heard stories of it taking almost three hours to just get to the top of them. So when I reached this section I started climbing it with the belief that this was just the warm-up for the big push up the wiggles once I got to the top of these. I mean, it hadn't even been 45 minutes and I was already within two or three switchbacks of the top of this set. There just had to be more to go. Or so I thought.

Imagine my surprise when I climbed over the rise to see this in front of me. That's Angel's Landing, which meant that the section I had just powered through was "Walter's Wiggles". I seriously turned around in disbelief and asked a guy who was journaling nearby, "That was it?!?" He kind of looked at me weird and then nodded.

It actually wasn't until after my elation at discovering the "hard" part of the hike was over that I got a good look at what I still had to do.

Just looking at this picture it doesn't look so bad. I mean, there are steps carved into the rock and a handy chain to hold onto. Doesn't really look so bad. At least, not until you glance to either side of the trail...

This was the view directly to my left as I ascended the Landing. That ground you see above my hand is more than 1,600' below where I was crouching. And it wasn't a nice sloping descent to reach it either, but rather a sheer, vertical cliff straight down to the bottom. I didn't actually have the nerve to poke my head over the edge to look. It was hard enough to stretch my hand that close to the cliff. I wasn't about to actually lean out over it.

Now, it would be challenging enough to have to endure this view from one side of the trail. But no, on the hike up to Angel's Landing, you get it from both sides!

To really get what I'm talking about you'll need to click on the above picture to enlarge it. This is the section known as "the bridge". On the left, no more than 12 inches from my left foot, is a sheer drop of over 1,600'. On my right, no more than three feet from my right foot, is a sheer drop of over 800'. And directly in front of me the trail actually gets narrower by about a foot or two! Nice, eh?

The image is a little deceptive, since my grip on the chain doesn't really look all that desperate, but in order to click the shutter button on my camera I needed to use my right hand. Unfortunately, the chain was also on my right, and I wasn't about to stand there without holding onto something attached to the rock. So, I contorted myself to be able to capture the scene in two photographs without having to release my death grip on the chain.

Of course, it didn't really occur to me that it might be a little easier to just turn around and face the other direction. At least not until about five minutes ago as I was typing this.

This is looking back down towards the bridge section from about 2/3's of the way to the top. The entire time I was climbing, fighting vertigo and taking photographs to document the hike, I kept thinking about how much more difficult this was going to be on the way back down.

But the view that grew more impressive the higher I went kept spurring me forward and upward.

And I really mean upward. This was the last 50 yards of the trail to the top, and to take the picture I had to look practically straight up. This trail has been officially designated as non-technical (meaning it doesn't require ropes and harnesses), but I think that's being very generous. If they hadn't installed the chain there's no way it was pass muster. Not that it would prevent crazies from trying to scale it anyway.

And the requisite self-portrait from the summit, with the setting sun turning the cliffs of Zion Canyon brilliant shades of crimson and gold.

I had made it to the summit in a little more than an hour and a half. Not bad for an old, fat, out-of-shape park ranger, eh? While I was sad that I couldn't share the experience with Sonja (who was also sad she couldn't go along with me), I was relieved that she didn't try it. Attempting this hike without being 100% would be begging for a disaster. Besides, even at our best I would have been a nervous wreck, worrying about Sonja slipping on the rocks or not holding onto the chain tight enough. Next time we're in the Southwest we'll summit together, though.

I'm really glad I did it. The hike was pretty damn amazing.

Zion: The Call and The Narrows

2008-06-25T18:47:00.007-08:00

One of the most memorable experiences I had at Zion was receiving the phone call from Glacier informing me that I was being offered the job. Now, normally, I can't stand seeing people talking on cell phones in national parks. In fact, I usually have to resist the urge to rip it out of their hands and throw it over the edge of the cliff. Seeing "that guy" blabbing away on his phone (it's never a woman doing this...it's always a man) when he should be enjoying his vacation is a source of constant irritation for me. So, you can imagine my disgust when I suddenly realized I had, at least temporarily, turned into "that guy". Not only that, but my father-in-law just happened to be ready with his camera to capture it.

Of course, the fact that this was an extremely important call that would ultimately reshape the course of Sonja and my lives, I think I can forgive myself for the temporary lapse in judgement. And, yes, this photo does actually capture the precise moment when I learned I got the job at Glacier. Pretty cool, huh?

So, after all the excitement of "the call" we all needed to go cool down in the Virgin River that flows through the heart of Zion Canyon. We headed up the Riverside Trail to the beginning of the Zion Narrows, one of the more famous and popular hiking spots in the park.

No one but Sonja and I had the guts to go wading upstream, though. So while Mom, Dad and Nick relaxed at the end of the foot trail, Sonja and I splashed our way up into the Narrows.

There were a lot of other people with us, so it wasn't the most tranquil experience, but it was a lot of fun. It also felt really nice to be partially submerged in 58 degree water while the sun was baking us overhead.

Next up: Angel's Landing and Antelope Canyon

2008-06-25T18:35:00.016-08:00

Exploring Zion National Park, Part 1

2008-06-25T09:47:00.008-08:00

With Sonja's parents and nephew visiting for a little while we felt it was appropriate to take some time off and do a little exploring with them. This is Nick's first trip out to Arizona and thought it would be a good opportunity to show him some of this beautiful state. So we decided to take him to Utah. He can see Arizona some other time.

Our first big destination of their visit out here was Zion National Park. Neither Sonja nor I had ever been there, so this meant that all of us would get to see something new. Of course, I knew it was going to be beautiful, but what we saw just took my breath away. Zion is by far one of the top five most beautiful places I've ever been.

But we had to get there first, which involved an eight hour drive (including side-trips and meandering back-roads) from our place to the Bumblebutt Motel just outside the park entrance.

Even though it was ungodly hot outside (the high that day was 109), Nick seemed to enjoy his first view of the Colorado River when we crossed over it at Marble Canyon.

Sonja also enjoyed taking in the view.

We opted to take a more meandering scenic route past the Vermillion Cliffs, location of the original California Condor release site. We didn't see any condors, but the views of these monstrous red cliffs were spectacular.

Uh, yeah, I realized after I wrote that how not monstrous those cliffs look in that picture. Oh well, you'll have to take my word for it that they're big.

Speaking of enjoying the view, as you can see Nick was often so moved by what he saw that he felt the need to turn away and text his girlfriend to keep from weeping.

We spent most of the day on Monday exploring some of the trails along the scenic drive in Zion Canyon. It really doesn't matter where you go in the park, it's all gorgeous. This is one of the views from the Emerald Pools trail.

The Emerald Pools offered a chance to walk behind several small waterfalls, which was very refreshing as the temperature slowly crept its way up the thermometer throughout the morning.

By the time we reached the upper pool we were all pretty relieved to be out of the sun and enjoying the towering cliffs surrounding us. But it was still early and we had a lot more to see...

Next up: Exploring the Zion Narrows and Angel's Landing...

**All the photos in this post (and the subsequent vacation posts yet to come) were taken by me even if you don't see my name on them (it's easy to take nice pictures when you visit a place like Zion). If you want to see them a bit larger, just click on the image.

Wild Montana Skies!

2008-06-25T08:16:00.002-08:00

Well, I've got news. While I know that some of you were at least aware that I had applied for a few select positions at other parks, I'm sure many of you will be surprised by the news that I was recently offered (as in Monday morning) and accepted a new job. Yep, Sonja and I will be leaving the Verde Valley in probably no more than three weeks, just in time to escape the humidity of the monsoon season.

As you can probably surmise from the title of this post, our destination is somewhere in Big Sky Country. And for a park ranger, moving to Montana can mean one of two things: enduring the remote lifestyle at any number of tiny, po-dunk, backwoods national monuments out in the middle of the endless prairie or, living the high life as a ranger at arguably one of the most sought-after national parks in the entire country.

Guess which one applies in our case? Here's a hint:

Yeah, baby! By the end of July Sonja and I will be moving into our new home at Glacier National Park while I begin my role as the Research Education Coordinator for Glacier's Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center. While I won't be doing much front-line interpretation, I will be helping to bridge the gap between the research done in the park and the programs given to the public. I'm really excited about the possibilities this job offers. I'll be able to help shape the future of education and interpretation in the park, making the science that occurs there more relevant and more accessible to the public. It's gonna be awesome!

I always hoped that someday I'd be able to work at Glacier. Ever since my family began taking summer vacations there back in the 70's, I dreamed of that possibility. In fact, if you had asked me just a few weeks ago to rank all of the 391 national park units in preference of where we wanted to work the most Glacier would have been sitting pretty in the top spot.

Like with any big transition, though, it's still hard to comprehend it as a reality, despite the fact that I just spoke with my new boss this morning and began discussing the various projects I'll be working on when I arrive. I don't think that will change until we actually arrive there next month, either. But I'll be too busy finishing up here at Montezuma Castle to have time to worry about that. Yikes...

Anyway, I'll be posting some pictures from our weekend trip up to Zion National Park later today. I just wanted to get the big news out.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-06-22T06:33:00.005-08:00

It's been a little crazy around here the past week or so. We've had house-guests pretty much daily since last Monday, which doesn't provide much time for blogging. First it was some NPS colleagues of mine who were here to help me lead the interpretive training for our seasonal rangers. Now, Sonja's folks and nephew Nick are here for a visit.

Later today we'll be leaving for Zion National Park for a few days, but when we get back I hope to have some exciting news. In the meantime, enjoy this photo from an early morning birding trip I took with Nick yesterday. He hardly even flinched when I woke him up at 5:30am to get ready to go. I think he even enjoyed the whole experience, even though we didn't find the bird we were looking for. He even spotted some birds I would have missed, including a nice look at a Blue Grosbeak. Not bad for a 16 year old non-birder.

Red-tailed Hawk
at Montezuma Castle

I Wanna Wear Olive Green

2008-06-11T22:30:00.007-08:00

I thought this was pretty fun. It definitely made me smile.

And happy birthday to Sonja! She turns old-thirty today!!

This is the look everyone gets a few days before turning 31, I guess. I'll post more pictures from last weekend's hike into Clear Creek Canyon tomorrow.

Turtles and Skunks

2008-06-10T17:37:00.005-08:00

As a biological technician for the monument, Sonja gets to help out with all sorts of cool research and management projects. One of these involves trying to capture the two species of turtles that live in the Well, Sonora mud turtles (native to the Well) and red-eared sliders (pet store turtles that people released into the Well). One of the techniques they have begun to try is to set up "have a heart" live traps, which are essentially wire cages with a spring-loaded door that snaps shut when an animal (hopefully a turtle) climbs into the cage. They're hoping to catch some of the invasive sliders so they can be removed from the well.

So, yesterday was the first time they tried this technique, and it was Sonja's job to wake up early and check to see if the traps had caught anything.

Well, it did. But it wasn't what they were intending to catch.

Instead of a turtle, they accidentally caught a hog-nosed skunk (here's a link to a simple, but interesting page from Tonto National Monument's website on the four species of skunks in Arizona). Now, releasing any other small mammal from a live trap would be a relatively simple procedure, involving nothing more than opening the hatch and letting it out. But skunks require a level of care and patience way beyond other furry little guys. That is, if you want to avoid getting sprayed.

Sure, the video's a little boring, but it gives a neat insight into some of the things Sonja gets to do on a daily basis.

On another note, I had an interview for a job at the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center, which is located in Glacier National Park, yesterday morning. I think it went pretty well, but I won't know the results for at least a week and a half. I'll keep you all posted!

**FYI -- No skunks were harmed in the making of this post. The little guy eventually walked out of the trap and waddled away into the wilds.

Stinky Fingers and a Stream Stomp

2008-05-25T13:45:00.007-08:00

The stink on my fingers won't go away. It's been about six hours and countless hand-cleansings since I misguidedly picked up an unusual ground beetle I spotted on the road this morning, and the stench it left behind on my fingers is still quite discernable. I believe the beetle I found is in the Genus Pasimachus, but I could be wrong. It looks pretty darn close, though. It could even be the species shown in that link, but I didn't bother to look it up while it was still in my hand. Now, while I normally refrain from picking up our local Pinacate Beetles (also known as "Darkling" beetles from the Genus Eleodes) due to their tendancy to live up to their other name (stink beetle), I didn't even consider that this one would have the same sort of defensive behavior.

Well, I'm paying the price for my curiosity. My finger smells like ass. So, naturally, everything that I bring near my mouth using my left hand also smells like ass.

Smelly fingers aside, Sonja and I took the dogs out to enjoy the spectacularly beautiful weather today. It's sunny and about 75 degrees, with a nice breeze to keep things cool. We walked up the ditch to one of the better dog swimming holes in Beaver Creek to let Harvey play around a bit (he's feeling much better now...all of his swelling and hives have gone).

It was really nice to just wade around in the pool and watch Harvey do his rock diving thing. He looked ecstatic as he dove for rock after rock after rock. It's nice to see him feeling so much better.

Luna, on the other hand, seemed very bored. She doesn't look it in this photo, but she kept staring up at us with this forlorn look on her face wondering why she couldn't run around off leash. She'll just have to stay bored, though. We're not going to take the chance of her running off and disappearing again. She did her best to make up for her apparent boredom, though, finding the only rotting piece of dead stuff in the area to roll around in. Luckily, it was only a little dead lizard, so it wasn't nearly as gross as some of the stuff she found on the beach in Seward (nothing like a dog that smells like rotting salmon). Still, it meant she earned herself a good washing off in the stream.

She definitely was not thrilled about that. Not sure how well it worked, but at least she doesn't smell like my finger.

Crazy Go Nuts

2008-05-24T17:27:00.002-08:00

That's how I feel the weather has been lately, at least. Of course, I haven't really been around to experience it for the last week, but the last couple of days have been strange. For Arizona, anyway. While we should be having temps nearing or exceeding 100 degrees on a daily basis now, things have been quite different. I think the high temp today was around 65, with rain off and on the whole time. I think Flagstaff even got snow. Not that I'm complaining, of course. It just doesn't feel right. Can anyone say "Global Climate Change"?

Anyway, today feels like a cow near a mountain sort of day, so there's a cow near a mountain for you. I took that picture last weekend when Sonja and I went p-doggin'.

And continuing with the random disconnectednessocity of this post...

So my week in Harpers Ferry went quite well. Got to broadcast my mug all across the park service on Thursday, trying to teach interp-types how to do a ranger-led walk/hike/tour thingy. It was pretty fun, actually. I think we had something like 30 parks watching, including folks from the Everglades, Grand Canyon and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park (yeah, I'd never heard of that one, either). I have the entire four-hour broadcast on DVD now, so if anyone would like to see it, let me know.

A Prairie Afternoon

2008-05-18T18:01:00.005-08:00

After spending most of the morning enjoying Sonja's urban p-dogs, we headed north of Flagstaff into the short-grass prairie of the San Fransisco Volcanic Field to find their country cousins (still the same species, just less apt to encounter humans). We found two. Two prairie dogs, that is. Not colonies. But even though we struck out on p-dogs, there was plenty of other stuff to keep our interest piqued.

Of course, no prairie afternoon is complete without a visit from a pair of Burrowing Owls. We watched these two for a while as they flew back and forth, called to each other, and occassionally disappeared into their burrow. This was particularly exciting for me, since my only other Burrowing Owl sighting was along I-25 in New Mexico at about 75 mph.

The Horned Larks were everywhere today. We didn't even bother trying to count how many we saw.

I enjoyed seeing the larks' creativity in finding any perch that gave them a bit of a view over the short grasses. This one choose a much more scenic perch than most. The most popular, by far, were the numerous cow patties.

And then there were the lizards. I'd been wanting to see a collared lizard for years, so I was super psyched to see this female Eastern Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris) hanging out next to the dirt track we were driving down. She was amazingly tolerant of us approaching close to her as she clung to her little tuft of grass.

To give some perspective, you can see her standing in the grass in the far lower right hand corner of this picture (you might need to click on the image to see her better).

As we were leaving the area we spotted another collared lizard hang-out, with numerous individuals running around on the volcanic rocks. This male happened to be right next to the car...and once he got sick of me hovering over him, decided that being UNDER our car was the best place to sit. Sonja had to poke him with our window scraper a couple times to encourage him to get out from under there.

The last, and perhaps most exciting, lizard we saw was this Long-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia wislizenii). We didn't get much time to enjoy him, though, as he very quickly dashed off into the grasses.

Yeah, today rocked. Tomorrow I'm leaving for Harpers Ferry, WV, to help out with an interpretive training broadcast. So I probably won't be posting again until next weekend. Not that it will be any different than my normal posting frequency, but I figured I'd at least mention it.

P-Doggin' in Flag

2008-05-18T17:09:00.004-08:00

Sonja and I spent the morning up in Flagstaff so she could show me some of the prairie dog towns she'll be studying this summer. It was the closest I've ever been to p-dogs, and I must say they are quite charismatic. Sonja's going to have a blast this summer with her behavioral observations. She's beginning work on her thesis, "Behavioral Responses to Predator Stimuli in Urban vs. Rural Gunnison's Prairie Dog Colonies" (we call it the "Ninja Report" for short), this month and should be spending several days a week with these colonies throughout the summer.

Later this summer I'll get to be a subject in Sonja's study as I walk Luna through some of the colonies so she can measure the p-dogs' responses to us. But for right now she's just trying to find enough colonies for her study. For such a prolific rodent, they seem particularly susceptible to dying. The badgers, coyotes and plague do enough damage for this deserves-to-be-listed-as-threatened species. Throw in the poisoning, bulldozing and target-practice that moronic rednecks inflict upon these guys (all quite legally, by the way) and it's a wonder any are left at all.

The Insatiable SUV

2008-05-12T14:21:00.002-08:00

I heard this short bit on NPR's Day to Day this afternoon and wanted to share it with everyone. Follow the link and click on "Listen Now". And if you are one of the SUV owners that this story refers to, you have my sympathies...but not really.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90371604