WINTER – The Sequel

Well, things have cruised further into winter here; however, so far it's not so bad. The snow comes and goes, but as the weeks pass it takes more time for it to melt. Snow from the last storm is sticking around a lot longer. We have had several sunny days lately, but it has not gotten overly warm. Doesn't even reach the fifties, and the nights are in the twenties. Still, as long as you dress right it isn't too bad. Of course, the horses that have to dig through the snow to get at the grass may have a different take on it. Which reminds me of something I read recently. In the winter of 1886, when cattle ranchers lost about a quarter million head of cattle because of a particularly hard winter in the northern plains states, the cattle that survived were ones that followed horses around. Apparently, cattle either do not paw through, or else are not very good at pawing through snow and ice. Therefore, the cattle that followed horses were able to get at food and water the other cattle could not get to. Interesting if true. As they say, "Dog may be man's best friend, but it was the horse that built civilization".

There was a night a few weeks ago (I don't think I already wrote about this) that was very foggy, and the temperatures were below freezing. The next morning, after the fog lifted, there was the most beautiful scene to behold. All of the trees were covered with ice. Not long, hanging icicles, but tiny crystals of ice. I walked out among the trees to photograph it, and found the stirring of the air was causing thousands of these little ice crystals to float down from the trees. It looked like silver glitter floating through the air. With the glittering trees and shimmering air, the whole thing was like some scene from a fairy tale movie. I've never seen anything like it. I video taped it, and it looks okay, but still doesn't convey the scene to its fullest. You can only see the floating ice crystals that are close, you can't see them stretching off into the woods like you can with the naked eye. I did take a couple of stills which are below, but it still isn't quite the same.

We have some pretty strong winds here on a regular basis. Two weeks ago we had one that lifted the dog kennel and hurled it about 150 feet from the house. It was completely flattened. The panels were stretched out over the ground, the gate was bent, the roof frame connectors were bent pretty bad, and several grommets were ripped out of the roof tarp. It took me about an hour to disassemble. "Disassemble, Stefanie" (that's a reference to the movie Short Circuit for those who are going, "Huh?"). A few times while I was carrying the panels back to the house I was hit by gusts of wind that actually stopped me in my tracks. Fortunately those gusts only lasted a few seconds, and I could continue on my journey, but I couldn't move until I had been dis-gusted. I know, that was 2/3 of a pun; p-u.

The other interesting thing about the kennel being transported from the house, was that it couldn't just blow away and partially wreck the kennel. No, it had to come just close enough to the house to shear the arm off the satellite dish for my internet service. I thought that was a particularly cute little trick. When I called my internet provider I was informed that I would have to pay for the repair because this was considered and 'Act of God'.

Act of God??? It made me wonder how they go about proving that. Has anyone ever challenged that? I mean, how could you possibly prove something was an act of God? First, I think you would have to prove there is a God. Then you would have to prove that God actually committed that act. How on earth would anyone do that? Maybe in heaven, but not on earth. You mean to tell me that God has nothing better to do than smash my satellite dish? Was he feeling a bit capricious that day? If so, why did he single me out? What did I do to so provoke God? I had no idea I had that much influence over God's actions. If I do, perhaps I should see if I can get that energy put to more constructive uses – like ending war, hunger, sickness, death and a few other of the minor annoyances in life.

Obviously, I have gotten my satellite dish repaired. Another interesting part of this story is that I was charged a $50 Service Fee, and $50 for travel expenses. Isn't a Service Fee supposed to cover travel expenses? Isn't that like saying we are charging you a $50 Service Fee, and a fee of $50 for our services? Yeah. Okay. I'm schizophrenic – and so am I.

In other news...I have two cats, a terrier mix, and a German Shepherd. Which one is the best mouser? The cats! No. The terrier! No. The GS. The cats have one mouse to their collective credit, Pippa has none, and Mahkwi has at least four. She has killed one in the mud room, two out in the woods, which like all good pets she brings to the house to share, and one in this very room where I sit using the computer.

A funny coincidence it that Mahkwi has been trying to catch mice out in the woods for ages, and been unsuccessful. Then one day recently I watched Never Say Wolf. I hadn't seen it since it originally came out on TV. If you remember, the guy in the story found the wolves were surviving on mice in winter when there were no caribou around. The entire time I was watching this movie Mahkwi was laying by the couch dozing, and perking her ears up while staring at the speakers when the wolves whined. After the movie was over I let the dogs go outside, and within about twenty minutes Mahkwi had a mouse. I had to laugh. It was like she had been watching the movie and said, "Oh, that's how you do it," and went out and got a mouse. She got another one the next day.

The one she killed in here in the computer room, I, the true villain in this story, put her on to.

I was sitting here reading email when I saw some movement on the floor out of the corner of my eye. I looked over to see a deer mouse run quickly on into the room, go, "Yikes!", and run back toward the wall behind the desk. So, I called Mahkwi and tapped on the floor where I saw the mouse. She took a couple of sniffs, and immediately got quite interested. She pushed around through the obstacles leaning against the wall for a while, and then sat down and continued to stare at that spot. She stayed there when I left the room. She doesn't give up easily. About an hour later I heard a lot of crashing around and sounds of things being knocked about. So...

Away to the stairs I flew like a flash, or The Flash, ran down the steps and fell flat on my ash (not really, but it rhymes).

What to my blood-shot eyes should I see, but my computer room in complete melee. Items were strewn across the floor, I saw in amazement from the door.

The next sight my wondering eyes met, was Mahkwi saying, "It's here. Behind this cabinet!"

The hunt was on, I knew at once, for my Mother didn't raise a dunce (at least I like to think so).

Grabbing the cabinet I yanked it from the wall, and Mahkwi, like her ancestors, answered the call.

I heard a snap, then another and another. Then she was done, and I said, "Will the mouse recover?"

She didn't look up, just dropped her mangled prey on the floor, and as she left the room I heard her mutter, "Nevermore."

Wow! The mouse was Lenore?

I actually felt kind of sorry for the little mouse. They are cute little critters, and I know it was just trying to find a warm place to spend the winter, but I was told there is Hunta virus up here. Plus, they can destroy wiring, etc. At least its death was quick, but I couldn't help but feel a little pang of guilt when I saw its little eyes popped out of its head and belly split open.

Mahkwi was a good girl and did her job, but I keep thinking that the last thing this little mouse saw was...

The Demon Dog from hell!!!

I have done something up here I never thought I would do, joined a Volunteer Fire Dept. I have maintained throughout my life that, while I am deeply appreciative there are people who fight fires, they are crazy. Well, now I have proved my theory true. I have joined them. I used to have superpowers, but my therapist took them away.

Actually, I wanted to get back into mounted search and rescue, as I had done with the Sheriff's Posse in Yolo County, but all the mounted SAR people here live on the west side of the Rockies, and I am on the east side. I did find out that the Volunteer Fire Dept. here would be the closest thing to that. I also found out they are in dire need of EMTs. Since I was a Medic in the Army, and worked ambulances for a brief time after I left the service, I thought I could serve our little community here better by going back into emergency medical work. There are two ambulances at the firehouse, but they can not go out without an EMT. The EMTs they had moved or retired, and now ambulances have to come from Browning. That ads a lot to the response time which, as you all know, can be fatal. I am excited about going back in this field, and serving our community in an area of real need. It will be something new to learn and do. It's actually old for me, but things have changed a lot since I was in that field. I am sure there will be lots of new things to learn. I'm always up for learning new things.

So, I am now becoming a member of the Babb Volunteer Fire Department. They actually gave me a code to get into the firehouse at the first meeting I attended. I was surprised, and asked later, "Shouldn't I fill out an application, or something?" Imagine how amazed I was, being from California - land of the legal eagles, to be told, "No, we know where you live." It's nice to be trusted. I'm really looking forward to working with these people. They gave me a warm welcome at the meeting. It's hard to find nicer and more caring people than the ones you find serving their community voluntarily. I found that to be true in the Posse, and I find it true here also.

For those of you who are wondering when you will get to the end of this post, and where the new photos are, well, you are there and they are here.

Till next time, don't forget, to make your prayers come true, you have to get off your knees.

A snow day.

dawn over the mountains

Dawn on Triple Divide Mtn.

Grazing in the snow

A sunset

Another sunset

A frosty morning. Ice on the trees.

Ice encrusted trees

Ice rimmed aspen leaves

Moon over Yellow Mtn.

Sun shining through snow coming straight at you.

Incoming storm

Typical windy day

It's a standoff! Dog (protected by truck) vs. horse

And how do the dogs cope with the winter up here?