What Geezers do forEntertainment

In case you've wondered what older people do for entertainment . . . Dad watches the installation of a new water tank in our development. Actually, it was pretty impressive. Dad has followed the construction from the beginning--the digging of the hole, the pouring of concrete, and now the installation. I, on the other hand, stand on the top of the world with friends in Glacier Park.I did an eleven and a half mile hike yesterday, on one of the most beautiful days possible. Lots of grand vistas, and I have LOTS of pictures, but have chosen these two--one to show that I was there and the view was vast; the other to show "beauty among the ashes." The end of our hike included a trek through a burn area--a 2004 fire--but in the late afternoon, with the sun shining on the new low growth, we hardly missed the trees. It was just beautiful. That's my one lament about Texas--the turnings of the seasons, especially fall, just aren't much to brag about. I guess when it comes to "bragging," summer is our only resource, because it's LONG and hotter than Hades.

Sunday Canoe Trip

After our cold snap, we've gone into an Indian Summer--nights get down near freezing, but days are sunny and range between 65-75. On Sunday, we went to Upper Stillwater Lake and paddled around. Dad managed to fall in when we were beaching the canoe for our lunch stop--not serious, but really messy. The shore was very silty, so not only did his all-cotton clothing soak up lots of water, everything, including his wallet, got pretty full of fine grime. Didn't have my camera at the ready, so I can't show you how funny it was. It took him a while to see the humor in it.
But I did manage to get some scenic views ..... The fall colors are really developing now. Aspens are starting to turn yellow, and the larches will come on later in October. Here, though, all the trees are evergreens, so the color is down low. Don't know what the deep red brush is, but it sure is pretty.

Snow in them thar hills

We had a cold snap last weekend, and I took some pictures of the powdering of snow on the mountains we see on our daily walks, so am posting one here. Also took Orvis to the beach at Koocanusa and got a picture of heavier snow on Canadian peaks across the lake. It's a much bigger lake than shows in the picture--you can see only a small inlet because of the way I'm positioned to get the mountains. Then there's the one I took of Dad, radiating enthusiasm for the whole excursion: and also a link to another attempt by Orvis to catch a critter. The light is better this time . . . but that doesn't mean he caught anything. And then, there's the one of him ignoring a whole flock of ducks on the lake-- Needs editing, but I don't have time right now. I have also had my last hike in Canada for the season--took off from Chateau Lake Louise (fond memories for John & Darby??), and went up Big Beehive. Clouds were low, and we had a bit of "snain," but the colors were beautiful, and at the top we felt like we were on top of the world. Of course, I forgot to transfer my camera from my car to my fanny pack, so the only pictures I have are in my mind. Nice for me, but hard to share . . .

Orvis Chases a Squirrel

The other night, Orvis was having a fit trying to catch a squirrel that was on the stump where our Dish is mounted. There is a bird bath on the stump, too, and squirrels come up to drink fairly often. This one started teasing Orvie, and I was lucky enough to remember that our camera does videos (although I'd never done one), and to figure out how to do it before it got totally dark! Lighting is poor because of time of day, and I was trying to be really quiet so as not to distract the dog. The funniest action preceded this, but you'll still get an idea of what our pup was up to. Some folks have kid videos, and some of us have to resort to whatever is at hand..... Thank you, Darby, for helping me get the video posted. Now I just have to figure out how to get it into my blog. First try didn't work a-tall, other than to provide the url. Second try didn't work, either. YouTube says it's retrieving my blog information, but I sat here for 20 minutes and it stayed in a loop of "retrieving . . . .done; retrieving . . . . done." So--click the link and have a gander at Uncle Orvis being thwarted by a Montana squirrel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch6Nbztms-k

A Man and his Dog

A Man and his Dog Here is your dad in his boat--how far do you think he's going to get, rowing through the forest? Actually, he's trying to get Orvis accustomed to the boat so he can take him out on the water. I think he has a long way to go . . . Orvis bounced in and out and around, and it was all we could do to get him to stay still enough for a quick picture. It will be a hopeless project to get him into the canoe. While I had the camera out, I took a picture of our house as it is right now--no snow. The little flower bed in the yard was my July project--it was there, but needed weeding and re-planting. It has some perennials in it, and I'm hoping that in a year or two it will look full and pretty and it will show up better in pictures. We'll see . . . We lost a lot of the original planting after the first winter--the deer got in and ate our roses and two lilacs. Also, a sapsucker devastated one mountain ash tree and severely damaged the one that remains (center of this photo). So! We're trying to put in things that are easy-care and don't attract deer or sapsuckers. When we're here, Orvis keeps most of the wildlife out of our yard, but some early-morning grazers (deer) got the geraniums that were in those clay pots atop the rocks on the right side of the flower bed.

Orvis Joins the Whitefish Walkers

This morning, Orvis and I went in to Whitefish for my walk with the Whitefish Walkers. It was my turn to lead. I hadn't planned to take Orv, but it rained off and on all day yesterday, so he didn't get to play ball and walk with me here (because I played pantywaist and stayed inside). When he saw me put on my walking shoes this a.m., he got so HAPPY, found a ball and waggled all over--I just couldn't leave him here. So we drove in early, parked and played ball on the soccer field for a few minutes to tone him down a bit (ha!), then I leashed him and took him on the walk with me. He had two little dust-mop companions--"Bear" (black) and "Petey" (white). We walked up Grouse Mountain (really a big hill, with a nice overlook of Whitefish), and Orvis pulled me up most of the way. He was more subdued on the way down.

Just in case anyone wonders why we don't care a whole lot about coming up here in the winter . . . this picture was taken by our nearest neighbor, Buck, from his property last December. The building on the right is our garage (yes, it's big). The more distant building in the center of the picture is our house. If we were cross-country skiers or snowshoers, this would be a great place in winter. And for you downhill ski freaks, two excellent downhill resorts are within an hour's drive--Big Mountain in Whitefish, and Alpine Ski Resort in Fernie, British Columbia. The invitation is open to any & all who might want to come up for winter fun and games--but this Old Girl will not be on hand to child tend, cook and do laundry. Now, Maui in the wintertime might make me your slave . . .

This one will give you an idea of why we like to stay into the fall--this is the Fisher River, about a 45-minute drive from the cabin. The gold trees are "tamaracks," as they say in these parts--I know them as "larches," but tamarack does distinguish them from the alpine larches in higher places (like some of my Canadian haunts). The Fisher isn't a big river, but it sure is pretty. Dad sent me this pic from Texas--he has it on his computer as it's background, or wallpaper, or whatever you call it. BTW--I took the picture.

If you're giving any thought to visiting us, remember that you might get a very close view of wildlife. This was taken our first year here (before Orvis), and is about 15 feet from our living room window. That's a little tube-type birdfeeder he's nosing. As we watched, he pulled it down, rolled it around on the ground until the lid came off, snuffled up the seed and then shuffled off into the woods behind our house. We haven't had such close contact with bears since, but our neighbor up the hill, Becky (not to be confused with Bucky), saw a Mama Grizzly and cub last week down by the highway where we walk most mornings. I saw a pair of grizzlies in Canada last week on my hike to Rae Glacier--it's berry season, and they're down in the lower elevations where the berries are ripest. Getting ready for that long winter nap!