January 11, 2012

Moonset & Sunrise over the Cascades

I saw this incredible sight out the window as I entered the loft Monday morning about 7:30, and was able to capture it with my camera from the deck.  This was a Full Wolf Moon.

Tuesday morning's incredible sight was hot-from-the-oven sourdough biscuits!  So good with butter and blackberry jam.  JB is going to experiment a little more with the bread.  The problem with GF flour is that it is heavier than wheat flour, so like with my oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies, it takes a few batches to get it just right.  But it is well worth the effort.

Tuesday was another beautiful but dry day.  All indications are for a low snow pack this year.  Sandy, my BFF in northern California, says they are really in need of rain Down There and she is afraid "they" will soon be using the dreaded "D" word (drought).  We experienced a few dry years while living in the San Francisco Bay area for nine years (1969-1977).  When we left in September of 1977, we drove by an almost empty Lake Shasta.  It was good to see the lake full to the brim when I flew over it last May on my way to visit Sandy.

It was 36 on Monday, which has enticed the birds Up Here again.  I love to watch the little nuthatches on the trees looking for bugs.  They are up and down the trunks like a woodpecker, and hang upside down on the branches.  The hawks and eagles are riding the thermals looking for a meal, or maybe just enjoying the ride.  The dogs are constantly outside running after the deer.  We can tell when there is actually something in the area because Jesse will bark.  Dinga barks just to hear herself.  Jesse only barks when he actually sees something.  It will be interesting to see if we have any videos of deer when we check the game cam again.  (I'd like to check it every day, but JB wants to wait til Saturday.)

It is 10 degrees outside this morning and JB is going Down There.  With no snow on the lower road, he really cannot take MAX so he will be driving his Jeep down to my Jeep.  We tried putting the chains on it yesterday, but to no avail.  A test run down the driveway was done with no problems, so he should be okay.
When I wrote about the cougar tracks, Aunt Nene e-mailed me about the cougars on Mica Peak which is southeast of Spokane Valley.  Their ranch was in sight of it and her Father, my Grandpa Herb, would tell stories from the sheepherders up there.  The cougars could take out a sheep literally in seconds.  In one of Tom Brown's books, Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking, he relates a story of when he was in the mountains of Colorado.  While watching a small herd of white tail deer, he noticed a cougar stealthily approaching them.  When it was close enough, the cougar suddenly ran and leapt on one of the deer.  From it's first leap to the death of the deer was only seconds.  When the cougar had dragged off the carcass, Tom went down and measured the footprints.  While running, it was bounding 14 feet!  Mr. Brown has a fascinating series of survival handbooks that are well worth reading for someone living as we do, or anyone just interested in the subject.

Thought for the day:  I hope it helps you to hear the voices modern man misses - not just the voices that speak to the five senses, but the universal voice that speaks to the heart.   Tom Brown, Jr. (from the introduction to Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking)