Saturday Night

Whitefish at Dusk

 Saturday Night and a quick visit to the McKenzie River Pizza for a pie to go. Since Whitefish is a ski town the decorations are still up creating a dusky festive atmosphere downtown.

Great Northern Railroad

 Whitefish is also conveniently connected to amtrak and served by BNSF. One of the historic train engines sit outside the station . The station itself has a nice museum and features a Stuffed Mountain Goat. The Flathead Valley is fairly large with several different communities with different flavors. Whitefish has a nice small town feel to it with some great skiing near by .

Black Star Sunset

 We were blessed with clear skies again tonight with longer daylight hours. The sun blazes a good bye over the Black Star Brewery . They make some local brews and have a  place for lunch with spectacular views of the ski mountain.

Remaining Vestiges of the Holidays

So many trees decorated this year around town that I was exempted this year from the chore at home . The train station is in the background on the left of the tree . It has a nice Swiss look to it . Dusk is one of my favorite times mostly because that is what I get to see more than not but the sky takes on a life of it's own with deepening blues and painted fire colours.

Whitefish Mountain formally named Big Mountain for decades

A good nite to Whitefish for now . Pie in hand I turn the car toward the eastern mountains where I know of 4 dogs waiting for their slice . I know, they are  very spoiled puppies.

wordless thursday

Alpine Glow

How high is it?

Sun lingering low in the Southern Sky

Those who live in the Southern climates have the company of the sun year round. In the Great North West and some places north , the sun has a wild mood. In the summer it is frolicking till the late hours with dark coming well past 10PM. In the winter the sun barely crawls to 19 degrees above the horizon.  This could explain the lingering and piling of the snow in the winter. Then the tilt of the earth swings wildly back toward the Sun for the Northern Hemisphere  in March and April in anticipation of the warm season. What does it matter how high the sun climbs? Since we are part of Nature ( not just watching ) we have as a humans developed a close relationship with the Sun. The sun via vitamin D regulates our bone growth, immune system, and chronic illnesses. In fact sunshine influences expression of 10 % of our genes. So when the sun is less than 50 degrees on the horizon the rays are not able to shoot enough UVB rays to us to create Vitamin D the way mother nature intended. Here on the 48th parallel we only have 5 hours of above 50 degree sun on Summer Soltice. Sadly today the sun has only climbed to 19.6 degrees. Thanks sun good effort but no cigar. How do we know how high the sun climbs in our area? The US Navy has a website that allows you to calculate where the sun is positioned for your latitude. That being said once you find the availability of a natural source of vitamin D you can decide on supplementing . Dr Mercola has some informative reading on vitamin D replacement.

Two of the six Turkey friends

One of the fun things of being off from work and home is watching the local traffic. Earlier in the day a flock of  about 6 turkeys tromped through the yard. They seemed to loathe the deep snow and made their way slowly through the woods sinking up to their turkey "knees". I caught them on their way back through closer to sunset. I am still watching for something different than the usual deer tracks . With the abundant game surely mr cat is somewhere in the area.

Welcoming 2013

Swan Range in the Clouds

The little snowman house

Snowman House

This little snowman house is special. It has survived a couple of decades after my mother made it in a ceramics class at a local park. So it is fragile . Like life in a way. It has traveled nearly 3000 miles bouncing around in the back of a 26 foot Uhaul. That is a miracle in itself that it made it here in one piece. Decorations and keepsakes always have a story . This little snowman house has it's story and it is sweet. I hope this holiday brings sweetness into your life too.

Lengthening Days

Frosted Foothills

Many people imagine that January is a gloomy month. However for me getting through November and the first three weeks of December is the chore. The days are getting shorter and are grey more than not. After the Winter Solstice we start adding minutes to the day as the Northern Hemisphere tilts back towards the warmth of the Sun. Many folks think that the seasons are caused by our relative distance to the sun. However we have the changing of the seasons due to the 23.45 degree tilt of the Earth's Axis. Our position in the grand ellipse around the Sun has little effect. How amazing that a slight nod towards the Sun can create our warm summer season allowing us to grow food.

Sun riding low in the Southern Skies

 For now the northern reaches of the Swan Range lies sleepily beneath this years' snowfall. The valley is sunny while the foothills have their own weather events at 7000 feet.

Wheat sleeping beneath the snow

 The promise of a crop this spring as the snow nourishes the seeds and protects them from frigid over night temperatures .

Strawberry Mountain Gleaming in the distance

Finishing the journey home Strawberry Mountain is glowing with the recent snow. I particularly enjoy the cloud play.

Snow shoeing on the access road to Strawberry Mountain

A fine end to the day before night fall over takes the daylight. A bit of snow shoeing up the access road to Strawberry Mountain. I recently snagged a pair on sale at Sierra Trading Post . So far they work pretty good. With a beautiful sky above and a foot of snow under my feet , it couldn't be better. A good day to face the sun and appreciate the warmth. Say hello!

Sunshine and shoveling

Digging the path

After 16 inches of snow Friday and Saturday morning the Sun broke through the clouds and the morning work was admired. A path was made to the drive and the ritual of piling the snow has begun. Key to the summer survey is where to put the snow in the winter. I am lucky as there are several areas to "pile".Also key to the strategy is to shovel the snow while it is still soft. We had a nice day Friday in the high 20s as the powder accumulated. Saturday was also balmy however over night to Sunday morning it went to 14 degrees. Powder is definitely easier to move than snow frozen over and over. This comes back to the whole philosophy of making hay while the sun is shining. Or something like that adapted to snow. 

roof glacier

 People from the East marvel that I have no gutters. Well if I did put them on they would just be ripped off during winter. Likewise when putting a chimney on the roof , the closer to the apex the better as said roof glacier delights in ripping off chimneys as well. Icicles above dance in the afternoon  sunlight with lots of rainbows in the shifting light .

Western Larch dressed in snow

The Western Larch is bare for the winter but today dressed in a snow gown. Many a newby has accidentally cut all of their larch in the winter thinking they are dead. These Evergreens are also deciduous in that they shed their needles in the Fall creating a golden landscape along the lower elevations of the Mountains.My daughter and her BF were here late September . They helped with clearing some of the extra brush . We made two big piles of brush. My best intentions were to have it chipped up before snow however now I am glad I am tardy in my chores. The local deer population has been munching on the conveniently low branches now that the snow is covering so much of the grasses. They seem to enjoy the soft bark and remaining green needles.

Evening Rays

A fine end to a day of working outside. The sun casts some golden rays our way painting the tips of the trees as sunset nears.