Then and Now in the Wilderness

Back when I was still young as in my late forties, I still took hunting, fishing and canoe trips into the Canadian, Montana and Minnesota wilderness. This picture is from a two week canoe  adventure in northern Ontario, Canada. We explored a river system without seeing another person. Now almost thirty years later and well into the myriad aches and pains of the Golden Years my choice of adventures is severely limited. Thus, last fall Mrs. T. and I found ourselves on a three day bus tour to see the flora and fauna of Northern Minnesota.  Join us....

 

In Yellowstone Park,  Western Montana and the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness in Northern Minnesota I've looked for Wolves and heard a few at night but never actually seen one.  The Wolf Center was my last chance. The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future. The International Wolf Center maintains a live wolf exhibit, featuring an ambassador wolf pack to enhance both in-person and online educational experiences. These ambassador wolves contribute to the Center’s mission by reinforcing  educational messages and by creating a connection with  visitors.

There is something very special about large wilderness predators be they grizzly bears in Montana, Brown bears in Alaska, Mountain lions in Idaho. Wading quietly in a trout stream seeing tracks on the shore the senses come alive as nowhere else. Cautious, silent, tuned in to every sound, aware.  The wilderness. There is nothing quite like it....:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dovekeepers

Perhaps you know the story of Masada. The inspiring story of the Jewish rebellion again the Roman Empire and final resistance to its mighty Legions from a mountain top. This novel is the story with a somewhat different perspective and twist. I found it very well done...  Click on Mark Twain above for details...

Dreaming of a Better World

 

Oh that's bad!  Actually my real dream of a better world involves the current moron residing in the White House

Birding the Beautiful Whitewater Valley in Minnesota.

Invited by our friends Mr. Science (Gary) and his wife Bobbie, we spent the day winter birding in  the beautiful Whitewater Valley.  And a bountiful day it was.  I won't list all the species and numbers. but a few highlights include many eagles (some nesting), lots of red tailed hawks, several  rough legged hawks also a few kestrels, plus a single Coopers Hawk.  There were  large numbers of the usual small and medium sized winter holdovers,  not including our human "snowbirds" who tend to hang out in places like Florida and Arizona. Lastly, the top sighting of the day was  20 Trumpeter swans,  a rescued species nearly extirpated in Minnesota some decades ago.  Two photos from Gary.  Plus a note on winter fly fishing.

The very large and magnificent Trumpeter Swan resident once again in Minnesota.

 

 

Many eagles were seen  today with three females on their  nests already.  Apparently it's  difficult to tell if they have laid eggs or are still redecorating a previously used nest....

The Whitewater River and its' small tributaries are all excellent limestone trout streams.  Some have a open winter season. I've tried a few times but winter and fishing do not go together very well for me. Once camping in mid November at Mammoth Hot Springs Yellowstone National Park and fishing downstream on the Lamar River, with myself about freezing, cured me of the habit forever....:)

 

Sunshine and Retirement

When I retired from teaching I was 62 and still loved the kids, history and geography. What I didn't love was how computers made us all more 'efficient" by requiring more redundant and unuseful paperwork than ever. I did a rough calculation several times and determined  most of the staff was wasting two hours a day on this nonsense.   For Special Ed teachers with Federal requirements it was in excess of three hours per day. We had just built a more "efficient" house for us largely paying for it with the sale of our old one next door to a woods we already owned. But not quite. My beloved spouse volunteered to work two more years and pay it off. Thus, I became a House Husband. She loved it when she came home to find dinner ready, the laundry done, as I had put serious study into these diverse tasks. Still there was a little slack time here and there and I needed to find a mentor on how to use it. He was a friend of Mrs. T's who lived with us and his name was Simba.

Yes this is Simba and this is how it all began. While I don't have any actual pictures of his mentoring retirement techniques, the following pretty much demonstrates the method.    

I found the idea to  follow the sun around the house all day and to nap the most effective. The aquarium sun lamp technique was definitely unworkable and I also  had my 130 German Shepard Baron pile on top of me for warmth just plane dangerous. Thus I survived two years of retired house husbandry very amenable and WE BOTH LIVED HAPPY EVER AFTER IN RETIREMENT.....:)

 

Feminism and Me

Though I abhor stereotypes, in this case based on womens tendency to family and community values and mens tendency to value dominance, power, money and war, I hope to live to see gray-haired and young women take over the Earth. We'd all be better off....

Book Review of John Sanfords Storm Front

So in spite of not being regular thriller reading I inherited one of premier mystery writer John

Sanford . So as a first time reader of him here is my take on one of his many novels. Click on Mark Twain above to find out...:)

Pelican Island

 A few years back and our first trip to Florida, we were visiting Barb's  first cousin Joe and his wife Mary.   They were taking us to see Pelican Island.  Much further back yet, at the turn of the 19th century, the passenger pigeon, the Carolina parakeet, the American bison, 80% of Floridas birdlife and a series of other birds and mammals had all but disappeared. They were slaughtered in an orgy of greed, profiteering and carelessness. The wonderful wading birds of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts had become the staple for women's fashionable hats. There was only one place, on the Atlantic coast, a tiny 5.5 acre island named after the birds, where a small flock of Brown Pelicans survived. And it went on and on. Till some true American heroes stepped forward and took action. Tormented by the slaughter, a German immigrant, named Paul Kroegel eventually made heroic attempts to ward off feather hunters from Pelican Island with his own 10-gauge shotgun. Kroegel's bravery and dedication received the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt, one of my personal heroes, established Pelican Island in 1903 as a "preserve and breeding ground for native birds" and appointed Kroegel as the first Refuge Manager. It was the beginning of the conservation movement and the start of the National Wildlife Refuges. Today, they are the largest system of lands for wildlife in the world.

With Joe, our genial host driving, we headed off to the barrier islands, which encompass Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. Small Pelican Island itself stands alone and protected amidst the refuge itself. It proved to be a fun day.

A sign and a Kestral welcomed us. We had a picnic lunch overlooking a small marsh and then took a hike to look for birds.....
 

An anhinga watches over the scene.

 

                                          And a Red Shouldered Hawk watches the scene

 

The namesake of the refuge, the brown pelican, reflects on the more secure days as he and his comrades now enjoy in this beautiful place.

The refuge islands lie off the coast of Sebastian, Florida and the Indian River Estuary. If you click on the picture you can see the town in the distance. The Audobon Society and concerned citizens had to fight in the 60's to prevent "development" from once again destroying the barrier island chain.

                                                               









Later, Barb and Joe keep an eye out while "Chicken" Troutbirder, cautious of Atlantic rip tides, goes ankle deep.