Monthly Archives: January 2014

New Neighbor

I saw my ptarmigan again today. It was the third day in a row that we met on the trail, at about the same place. It no longer flushes from me now, it just sort of waddles off on its feathered feet looking up at me the entire time. It was only two feet away from me when we passed each other today.

I didn’t even threaten it with a camera. Mainly because I didn’t feel like taking my gloves off, or digging the camera out of the coat. I just told the bird, “Good afternoon. See you tomorrow”, then we both went our separate ways.


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Ptarmigan

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While out on my walk today, I flushed a ptarmigan that had been lying low in the snow just off the trail. They’re beautiful birds, and I enjoy having them around the property when they grace us valley dwellers with their presence.

A cow moose and her calf have been hanging around as well. The willow off my deck has been thoroughly, if unevenly, trimmed. For some reason, they like to lay in the snow next to my wood pile. Which works well for me, since I only visit it once a week. That’s certainly more convenient than having them lay down on the trail to the outhouse.


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“Mountains of music swell in the rivers, hills of music billow in the creeks, and meadows of music murmur in the rills that ripple over the rocks, while other melodies are heard in the gorges of the lateral canyons. The Grand Canyon is a land of song.”
John Wesley Powell


A Good Way to Start the New Year

It’s a rare event in January, for me to look at the temperatures across the country, and see that Fairbanks is 20 degrees warmer than Minneapolis and only 20 degrees cooler than San Antonio. I was able to see that beautiful trifecta tonight.

The temp in Minneapolis: -10 degs
in Fairbanks: +10 degs
in San Antonio: +30 degs

To top it all off, the skies were clear here, and the aurora was humming across the horizon.

Priceless.