Big Winter in Montana

Wowie zowie! We surely have had the snow!  12 - 15 inches over the past 36 hours. It's so deep I practically sink out of sight. Right under the eaves it's a little less deep so that's where I have staked my claim to the outdoors. I feel like a soldier wandering around in my trench.

Kinsey came out to play with me. The first thing she did was throw the frisbee on the roof. Fortunately, she was able to knock it down with a broom handle. There's already a perfectly good one up there from last week. We won't be getting that one until spring.

Anyway, Kinsey took some photos of our play and I thought you might like to see. I've never in all of my two years experienced anything like this. It's fun but it tires even me out trying to run in it.

Hard work loping in the deep snow

Usually I'm pretty good launching but this snow keeps me close to the ground

Doing my best to race

Giving the old frisbee a good shake.

Lurching out of the snow

So there you have it. Big winter going on in Northwest Montana and I'm loving it!

Ciao for now,
Molly Montana

 ©Kinsey Barnard

What's up with this weather? Kinsey qualifies for Medicare

For crying out loud. What's up with this weather? My winter sports activities have been greatly reduced by unseasonably warm weather. Kinsey was supposed to take me snowshoeing and x-country skiing but there hasn't been any fresh snow in the past ten days and there's none in the forecast for the next ten. Bummer!

Kinsey says it's the sunniest winter she's seen in 12 years. There is a positive side for her, since she pays the bills. Our solar panels are pumping out energy like never before, in winter. The way things are looking, between our credits for excess production in the sunny months and the sun we've had, we may not have to pay anything for electricity this year. That warms the cockles of Kinseys heart. She is such a tight wad.

Kinsey is also quite the klutz. We were going to get out for a little cross country skiing but she slipped on the ice and twisted her knee. We did get in one short go on the snowshoes. Kinsey bot a new set and we took them out for a test run. She likes them! They are called MSR Evo Ascent. Click here to see what they look like.

In other news, Kinsey turned sixty five last Sunday. I think she was a little bummed. I don't think it's the sixty five that got to her so much as the fact she qualifies for Medicare.

Since Kinsey is babying her knee right now she went to see The Wolf of Wall Street. I got to stay in the car. When she got back she said it was a waste of time. Three hours of swearing and gratuitous, pointless sex scenes. Apparently, they use the "F" word over 500 times! Wow! She said even the guy selling the tickets was warning people about the sex and language. She said she actually saw a couple walk out. She might have walked out too but you know how she is about getting her money's worth.

Kinsey thought staying home and watching "Wall Street" and Gordon Gecko again would have been more entertaining. But, what does she know? Wolf has been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Although, she suspects the nomination had much to do with Hollywood's love affair with Scorsese.

That's about it from sunny Montana. Will write as soon as something interesting happens. Praying for snow!

You can follow the Old Girl on TWITTER. She's not on Facebook. Ever the contrarian.  She doesn't like it.

 ©Kinsey Barnard

STOLEN CREDIT CARD

Well, the weather is finally warming up. We're in the low thirties right now and it feels like spring!

Kinsey looked like a cartoon character dashing back and forth to the wood pile. She burned through a lot of firewood in the cold snap. You see, like me, Kinsey was raised on the waste not want not axiom. So, she almost never takes a green tree. Instead she uses dead and diseased trees. The problem with that is the most prevalent dead and diseased trees are spruce which have the lowest BTU. They also burn up really fast. Rarely does a Douglas Fir fall and even more rarely does a Western Larch fall, wouldn't you know?

The biggest thing that's happened around here is that Kinsey's credit card got hacked. In all the decades she has had a credit card it's the first time that happened. But, State Farm Bank was right on top of it and noted the out of the norm charge and shut down the card right away. Way to go State Farm. For those of you who use State Farm Insurance and don't know about their credit card you might want to ask your agent about it. By using it you earn State Farm dollars which you can apply to your insurance premiums. Over the years, Kinsey has saved literally thousands of dollars on her insurance premiums.

Now that it's warmed up I'm hoping Kinsey will spend a little more time out side with me. She did take me for a walk yesterday. She promptly slipped on the ice and fell on her patookie.  No more going out without her micro-spikes.

Below is a beautiful buck that stopped by. The photo's not too good. It's hard to see what an elegant rack he had. Kinsey was talking on the phone at the time and took it without paying much attention. But, it's better than nothing?

Hard to see but this guy has lotsa points

Kinsey's latest post on her blog.

©Kinsey Barnard

I ALMOST GOT NAILED BY A MULE DEER!

Well, well, well. Winter has come early. By last Monday morning we had a foot of snow on the ground. This is way early for there to be so much snow. Funny thing is, down in town they hardly had a flake.

Kinsey was caught with her pants down so to speak. She didn't have the studded snow tires on yet nor the snowplow on Mr. Toad. She wrestled around with the plow for about two hours before she threw in the towel and asked the neighbors for a hand.

Whilst Kinsey was battling the plow I was trying to drum up a game of chase with a mule deer that was out on the salt block. I crept up on her, thinking I would surprise her. Apparently, she has little or no sense of humor because she took right out after me and nearly got me with those sharp hooves of hers.  Whew! I made it back to the house just in the nick of time. I'm fast but my legs are short, the snow deep and it was a real nip and tucker. I probably should get a little more respectful. That probably won't happen until I get nicked. Gee Whiz. All I wanned to do was play.

©Kinsey Barnard

You almost can't see the deer for the snow but she's there pretending not to notice me. I thought I was fooling her but it turned out she was fooling me.

FIRST SNOW

Well, cowabunga! The extended forecast was for snow showers. Looked like that was going to start the first of the week but, heavens to Betsy it happened last night.

When I awoke this morning there was 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground! That's as big a storm as we normally get in the dead of winter. No shower that.

Now the question is, is this a harbinger of the kind of winter we are in for? Or, is nature blowing Her wad early and it will be a mild one?

One thing's for sure about Montana weather ..... it's like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.

©Kinsey Barnard

FALL COLORS AT DANCING DEER

Along with the mule deer come the fall colors here at Dancing Deer Ranch. A native Californian, I have come to truly appreciate the seasons after ten years living here. Where I grew up, near Santa Barbara, the temperature was pretty much perfect all the time. A winter temperature, on the coast, was forty degrees. Here in Montana the evenings often get into the forties at night during the summers. In winter you are likely to see forty below.

Down in the meadow, in view of the house, are the remains of a homesteader's cabin . I often wonder how anyone could survive these Montana winters in a place like this. It's easy for me. I have electricity, a wonderfully insulated home,  a four wheel drive vehicle to get me up and down the mountain and indoor plumbing. Can you imagine going to the out house at forty below? A sturdy people these early Montanans.

I digress. The extended forecast calls of rain and snow in the coming days so yesterday afternoon I took a walk in my forest to enjoy the fall colors. They will soon be gone. As usually happens I ended up at Walden Pond, my personal rendition of Thoreau's sanctuary. The pond is surrounded by aspen and cottonwoods and whilst it is beautiful any time of year it is most beautiful in the fall. This is the same pond where I had my moose encounter about a week ago.

Below are a few photos of the beauty my eyes begot.

Walden Pond

Aspen in full fall color

Aspen

How lucky am I that I never have to leave this blessed place to have all that is nurturing and important to me.

©Kinsey Barnard

AND ANOTHER THING!

After my morning rant yesterday regarding the made in China uniforms I decided Koty and I needed to get out in the woods for a dose of vitamin N. That would be a dose of Nature.

Following the monsoon, which was a corker (see WHITETAIL ON THE FLY), the temperature has risen dramatically and is now regularly in the eighties and nineties. So, if Koty and I are to get our time in the woods in we have to go early before it gets too hot.

Thanks to the torrential rains the wildflowers in the forest are as prolific as I have ever seen. My personal favorite is the wood lily. Generally, they are out in June but came late this year in abundance. There are photos of them below.

Whilst walking along I couldn't seem to stop myself from thinking about that stupidity of that MADE IN CHINA UNIFORMS SHOULD BE BURNED debacle. And, before I knew it something else occurred to me. This is another classic example of how the middle class in America gets the hindmost. The original uniforms were designed and made by Ralph Lauren. All American right? Well, accept for the part about the uniforms being made in China. I don't know how much the contract was for but Lauren should have donated them for all the free publicity he'll get. The publicity alone will generate hundreds of millions in revenue for the Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. I seriously doubt that he did. So, Lauren who is reportedly worth $7.5 billion gets the uniform contract and China gets the jobs. If you check out Lauren's Wikipedia it's pretty clear he even does more retail international markets. I do not begrudge Lauren his billions and, as far as I'm concerned, it is his right to do business wherever and however he chooses. But, for the Olympic Committee to choose him to make the Olympic uniforms was just wrong. Whilst the US struggles to provide more jobs the Olympic Committee gives the contract to a company where most of the employees, manufacturing and retail, are not on American soil? Seems like the new American way is the guys at the top take care of each other, Lauren is a big Obama supporter, and us little guys get what the bird left on the limb.

 Now for the best part of the post. The part that contains massive doses of vitamin N the wildflower photos.

©Kinsey Barnard

First Winter Dusting

We had our first winter dusting of snow here in NW Montana this week. I took this snappy out the passenger window. The view is over to the West Kootenai and Robinson Mountain. I was too lazy toto get out of the car so the lines you see intersecting the image are fence wire. I just rolled down the window and shot through the passenger side.

Robinson Mountain-Kootenai National Forest 10-14-2011

The most beautiful  thing was Wednesday I saw my first blacktail so the migration has started. I also saw what I like to imagine was my whitetail doe and her twins now foraging at the cattle ranch below. It probably wasn't them but it may me feel so happy and sad to say adios to them. Earlier I posted this tribute to the process. When Will I See You Again

©Kinsey Barnard

Steve Jobs - A Wet Fall So Far

Sadly Steve Jobs has past away at a very young 56.  I'm glad he was able to see his company finally come into it's own as a brand.

Open burn season began on the first of October but ever since then it has been raining so I can't get out to do Fall cleanup in the forest. Wasn't able to do much this spring for the same reason. The fuel just keeps piling up.

No one is more guilty of romanticizing nature than moi. But, the truth is nature is just like us, or we are just like nature, seemingly never able to do anything in moderation. Actually, it is an oxymoron to speak of nature and humans as separate in anyway, but we do. 

Yesterday I was literally cocooned in white billowy clouds. Written like that it sounds romantic alright but the truth is it was quite claustrophobic. I couldn't see two feet in front of my face. Koty was twirling around on the carpet trying to get me to go out. I refused. :)
 
It was not so long ago everyone was wringing their hands over the drought. Now we have more water than we know what to do with. Not really, the Kootenai River takes the run-off and sends it on down to the Columbia where lots of folks can use it in one way or another.

I, personally, do have more water than I know what to do with. Usually, by this time of year the water table has dropped down and the spring puts out a nice little flow throughout the winter. This year the pipe bringing the water down the mountain is still running at capacity!

One thing is for sure about Montana,you never know from one minute to the next what kind of weather will be coming your way.

©Kinsey Barnard

Lake Koocanusa at Record Lows

The first thing one might think when reading that headline is that there is a shortage of water around here. That would be far from the case this year. The lake has been drained to record low levels because the mountains are just loaded with snow. Most drainages in the area are 200%+ for snowpack and it's been so cold there has yet to be much melt. I've also heard this has been the longest winter on record. I don't know if that's true but I can say it's been a doozie!

Yesterday, I decided to go down to the lake and take a closer look at the lake.

The Canadian Rockies. This photo was taken right through the windshield as I made my way down the mountain. Unfortunately, they were shrouded by clouds which is quite common.

For those who may not know Lake Koocanusa, which is not really a lake but a man made reservoir, is located in the Tobacco Valley in northwest Montana. It was created by the construction of the Libby Dam completed in 1972. It runs some ninety miles right into British Columbia. The damn dam blocked the Kootenai River, the third largest tributary to the Columbia. Old timers still pine for the days it was once just a beautiful river valley. The goofy name comes from Koo - for the Kootenai, can - for Canada and usa - for USA. My image "Kootenai Spirits" is my small homage to the Kootenai Indians that once roamed these lands. It is a photo of the rock walls that were blasted out to make the lake. Your can read the story of the photo at EVERY IMAGE HAS A STORY.

I first stopped in at the campground at Rexford. And, wow, I was impressed.

This is the boat launch. No launching this day. You can see a couple of vehicles driving down to the bluff to look in the distant drink.

This is what the folks in those vehicles would be looking down on.

A few years back, 2007 I think, I took a photo of what I thought was the lowest I would ever see the resevoir. I called it "HEAVENLY EYE". Ha, I was sure wrong about that! The point in the photo above is the same as the one seen in Heavenly Eye but from a different angle. Still I think you can see the extraordinary difference. Here's the story from EVERY IMAGE HAS A STORY.

This is looking across the lake at Douglas Hill campground. If you look closely up in the left hand corner you'll see an RV. Unfortunately, I didn't see it myself until I downloaded the image but it gives you some perspective. Anybody, wanting to reach the water these days will have to use climbing gear to get to it!

Next I went over to Mariners Haven a private boat launch. Not any launching going on here either.

I walked right out to the end and it was kinda scary. It just dropped off into a huge canyon.

Another beached launch. Not surprisingly, there were no boats on the lake for Mother's day. 

Lake Koocanusa, Montana

The water is just beginning to run and it's running out of every creek and crevice.

We haven't seen much melt yet and the snow has continued to pile up all spring. According to the weather channel we are headed into the high seventies this week. If they're right, the amount of water that will come tumbling out of these mountains is going to be epic. I'm glad I'm up on the side of a mountain because I'm afraid some low-landers are in for some excitement.

©Kinsey Barnard

Still Snowing - The End of the World - Something of Beauty

It's beginning to get bloody tedious this failure of spring to appear. I'm still getting days where it snows all day. The snow is light and does not stick but still I'd sure like spring to show up. The extended forecast is for more of the same. Good gollie miss Molly, this is the longest winter yet.

A reader wrote me to say that the collapse of the middle class in America isn't going to happen because "IF we minions decide to invent and bring to market something that people want and/or need....think of paper clips, or BIll Gates. Steve Jobs, or Martha Stewart, Fred Astaire, audrey Hepburn, or anyone else who didn't start out with much money, but ended up with LOTS because of their talent...The minions can be come masters if they only think they can. These folks created LOTS of jobs for other people!" I'd argue Martha, Steve and Bill created more jobs overseas than in the US. The inclusion of actors as innovators completely escapes me. The only thing I can think of is movies let people live in a fantasy world. I think this person's view represents the majority, middle class view and is precisely why the collapse is already happening but going largely unnoticed.

I came across this article which shows me how the US stacks up on science and innovation.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12885271.

As a photographer, I naturally believe a picture is worth a thousand words and this image tells me all I need to know about the future of the dollar.

I recently read and article, I don't have the link, where a person posits the reason for the market to be rising in the face of a sluggish economy. The market rising in a poor economy seems, at face value, to be counter intuitive. It seemed such to me. But, the author points out that several large economies such as India and China are moving right along and many US companies have simply left the US to produce goods an services for those economies. This abandonment of the US will help their bottom line and make shareholders happy but they won't create much in the way of jobs in the US.

Lately, I've been pondering TEOTWAWKI (The end of the world as we know it). Heaven only knows recent events have been conducive to such dark notions. Much has been written and documentaries made heralding the end of times at 12/21/2012. They say the Mayans, Nostradamus and others have prophesied that date as the end. One would have to be living in a cave not to notice the harbingers that are all around us, earthquakes, tsunamis, freak storms, solar activity, planetary alignments and on and on. Depending on how you look at it, it could be very depressing.

Obviously, I don't "know" what the future holds. I do feel something is going to happen that is going to alter life as we know it. I use the term we in the global sense. But, rather than see the event as the end I choose to see it as some kind of new beginning. I don't see the extinction of mankind but I do see the survivors as those who have prepared themselves mentally, physically and spiritually. Change is always tough and if I'm right this event will be extremely challenging. But, the good news for me is that it will be an ending that leads to a more positive beginning so I choose to embrace it!

Well, that was heavy thinking. Fortunately, a friend posted a perfectly delightful video which I am going to enjoy watching numerous times. I first saw the Budweiser Clydesdales when I was about five years old, that would be 57 years ago. They always came to be in the parade during the county fair. For 57 years they have brought tears to my eyes just to see their magnificence, the power and grace of them. Gads, I am a wuss!

Spring? Happy Days are Here Again?

Well, the calendar may say it's spring but I sure wouldn't know it by looking out the window or at the thermometer. It snowed all day Friday and it's snowing right now. The temp is 35. Must be global warming. I said global warming was a boondoggle from the start and nothing has happened to change my opinion. The whole thing is just another scam to scare people and part them from their hard earned cash. Like we need more of those types of things.

Over the weekend the UN started to bomb the heck out of Libya and there seemed to be some progress on getting Japan's nuclear reactors under control. This morning the Dow made a moon shoot on all the happy news. Well, there was some not so good news on the economic front but on one wants you to focus on those. Building permits came it at an historic low and this morning real estate sales were reported down nearly 10%. Oil, which dropped during the Japanese earthquake, is now soundly back above $100.

These markets are just insane. It's like watching a manic depressive or someone with ADD. One minute this is good next minute it's bad. It happens so fast that it's hard to keep up.

There is one thing that seems to just keep moving along and that's precious metals. When I got into them, in 1999, gold was around $300/oz. Today, it's trading above $1,400/oz. I told many of my friends and acquaintances that gold was the place to put your money. But, the dot-com craze was the gamble du jour and I was laughed at universally. It always amuses me how people cannot wait to take the advice of so-called experts, all of whom have a vested interest in your taking that advice. And, when someone with absolutely nothing to gain tries to advise a little common sense they are shunned. There is an old saying "The more things change, the more they remain the same." One thing that never seems to change is peoples endless desire to be led down the primrose path.

The "Oracle of Omaha" came out and said Japan is a buy. So, I guess everyone will be buying the Nikkei. I use to have a lot of respect for Warren Buffett but that was before the media and the public decided to deify him. If you think Buffett gives a fig about you and your wealth think again. What he cares about is his shareholders and Bershire Hathaway. He talks his own book. He is well aware of the impact of his public proclamations.

Now I hear there is a new comet, Elenin, headed our way this fall and it's supposed to be a bad omen, as if we need more bad omens especially in the fall.

The "big" moon yesterday was quite something to see. They say it won't be that large again until 2029. It was much more extraordinary in person.

Things are changing and they are changing faster than most realize. I think within two years life as we have known it is going to be changed forever. How do I know? The same way I knew gold was a great investment back in 1999.