New Year's Day

The year has dawned as the old one ended; cold and clear. A perfect day to get out the camera and snow-shoes. I strapped my trusty blue and silver supports over my insulated boots. I then headed east through the small meadows and stands of Ponderosa Pines to the edge of the basaltic cliff rimming the Latah Creek drainage. Then lazily southward and up to the ‘viewpoint’ a few blocks from home, stopping occasionally to snap a picture of snow shadows and tree silhouettes. The most striking visual on this very cold, still day is the cascade of brilliant crystals of snow and ice that tumble silently from the pine needles and apparently from the moisture in the atmosphere itself. I surmised this from the fact that I saw the same event from an empty wheat field this morning while cross-country skiing. There was nary a tree or power line for over 500 yards in any direction. Tumbling gracefully, these ethereal and ephemeral glints of gossamer ice make you think of stories of the snow fairies of northern mythologies. It is certainly easy to understand the cultural need to explain such unabashed beauty.
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Snowshoe at Dusk

I went for a brief, yet hilly, snowshoe this evening at the Arboretum. The snow is deep and fairly dry. As I lurched down the trails I felt lonely and vaguely like Mary Shelley's monster or the big-foot in the famous video. Luckily I missed running into the cross-country skiers that I came up behind. I didn't feel much like talking, not to mention it would feel weird me being alone. In the dark. In the snow. Monstrous.

Thanks HDT; I Think I Will

"Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary."
Henry David Thoreau

Is That REALLY How You Spend Your Time?

Ok, so I thought that the guy on Sunset Hill with the perfectly manicured lawn, the penchant for removing every pine needle as it fell, and the same damn pink petunia borders every blasted year was... well, you know, OCD or at the very least boring and unimaginative. However, the new guy down the road from us takes the cake. Not only did he blow all the leaf litter onto our dirt road with his gas-powered leaf blower BUT he used said machine to blow all the pine needles off the basalt out-cropping on his property. Now, mind you, this is no small pile of rocks. It is a nice park-size thing probably as big as his house that looks very natural. Or, at least it did, until he 'maintains' it. He had done this once before and I thought maybe it was a fluke and maybe he was taking out his frustrations on any weed or needle that dared land on his outcropping. But, alas, no! I don't believe any weed, or grass stem, leaf or pine needle will ever have a snowball's chance in hell of lasting more than a week. And I thought that the pine needles cascading over the tops of the rocks had a nice softening affect on the scene. I bet his socks are perfectly arranged in his drawer and his spices are alphabetized...OMG! Get a hobby or something! (I will try to get a picture of this some time this week)

Magpies, Goose Eggs and the Headless Horseman

It is no longer safe around our house. You have to beware of the hulking dark shapes in the woods. I wouldn't want to be curb stomped by an angry momma moose! With that in mind I went for a late afternoon hike instead at Palisades Park. The light drizzling rain enhanced all the woodsy, decaying leaf smells.

As I approached the road crossing I was surprised by a burst of black and white from the trees and I counted at least 60 congregating magpies. They weren't as loud and obnoxious as they usually are so they must have been getting ready to roost. Or maybe they know what is in store for them the next few months, weather-wise. About the same time I spotted a large empty egg on the ground. It was white and I figured that it had to be a goose egg. Since it is so late in the season maybe someone near here raises geese. I guess it is possible that the magpies robbed Canada geese nests earlier in the year and the empty shell survived the dry summer months. I have often observed magpies stealing eggs from robin nests. Regardless of how it came to be there I soon spotted a second one and know it has to be the work of those crafty thieves.

About half way through my 4 mile hike I took a short rest at the base of the basaltic cliff that is the main feature of this park formally known as Rimrock. This undeveloped and relatively undiscovered park is a real treat. It overlooks the city of Spokane and the view at sunset from the top can be stunning. There are miles of trails and it is a great place to wander on foot, mountain bike or by horseback. I found myself thinking that if this area existed where I grew up, in flat-as-a-pancake Western New York, it would be a full State Park. It would be treasured and likely loved to death.

As I walked through the fading light of deepest dusk and through weeds higher than my head my memories were stirred about similar walks in my teen years in the fields near my house. Then I started thinking of earlier memories like the scary Halloween witch and caldron while out trick or treating when I was really little. That really scared me as a child (around age 4 or 5) and made me chuckle today. The headless horseman then made an appearance in my minds eye as well. Wouldn't that be a great costume to re-create? You would have to scare people from a distance so that you didn't run over anybody....hmmm, like at dusk at the far edge of a U-pick pumpkin patch! You would have to practice a very loud maniacal scream!

Song Stuck in My Head

"In the morning when you rise,
Do you open up your eyes, see what I see?
Do you see the same things every day?
Do you think of a way to start the day?
Getting things in proportion?
Spread the news & help the world go 'round.
Have you heard of a time that will help us get it together again?
Have you heard of the word that will stop us going wrong?
Well, the time is near & the word you'll hear
When you get things in perspective.
Spread the news & help the word go round.

There's a time and the time is now & it's right for me,
It's right for me, and the time is now.
There's a word & and the word is love & it's right for me,
It's right for me, and the word is love."

----YES (from the song "Time and a Word")

Birthdays...

Birthdays should be celebrated, thought about and enjoyed! We went to a jazz/world beat show on top of the Saranac building in Spokane which is the only totally green building here. It was a benefit to raise money for our cool community radio station KYRS. Jan and I went to the wooden boat show in Couer d'Alene and then to Joe and Sunny's house for a BBQ. Fun times!