Morning has broken

One can only think of Cat Steven's song Morning Has Broken as the sun crests the mountains and the early morning mist rises.The wheat glows in the morning light . 

Weekend

The weekend brought fierce storms on Saturday. Fast moving  masses of clouds with jaggedy lightning. Jaggedy lightning is lightning that makes you scream. I first encountered this in Colorado at 8000 feet elevation.

Looking East toward the  foothills there was a giant bald eagle flying ( mid picture just over the mountain horizon) These guys are huge and have a wingspain of at least 6 to 8 feet. When you see one driving it is easy to get distracted .

Sunday was tamer with nice warm weather. The Most Coveted Marley was out in the yard admiring the flowers. I know they are just flowers. However last year not so many as the deer ate them all. I discovered bells filled with dried blood that make the deer stay away from the garden. Sounds pretty icky but better than the rats with antlers eating everything in site.

Nice lupine

As you turn off Hwy 35 there is a nice wetland. I particularly like these in the spring and summer as they are so filled with activity . There are always red wing black birds and other bird life around. One was squawking at me while I was taking pictures . I suppose I was too close.

Looking south down Hwy 35

Then the ever looming chore of stacking wood. I finally had time to go to Lowes and pick up 2 x 4 s and block . It is fun to cram studs into a corolla but we made it . 32 feet of wood stacked with 7 liters of water and a sunburn later it was time to go for pizza.

Mammut rides again

Nice peaceful end to a good day of work . Sun is getting low in the sky and dipping the tops of the trees in gold. Time to rest and take a couple of aspirin.

A Little Feet Adventure during Spring Melt

Saturday morning and time to load up the car. The Most Coveted Marley and I went on an adventure in Glacier. Snow melt going well with McDonald Creek filled to the brim. This is a creek but right now it roars like a mighty river. Marley is looking over the drop off and wants to explore. He is on a leash so he isn't going anywhere over the stone wall. 

 Farther up the road ( Going to the Sun) there is a pull off by some cataracts. The water here is 15 feet across and probably about 10 feet deep . The current is massive as it channels through the rocks.

 After hiking the Trail of the Cedars there is the Avalanche Gorge. The Avalanche trail branches off for a nice hike to Avalanche Lake. Lots of bears up there at the moment according to the sign posted at the beginning of the trail.

 Nice view of the mountains driving up the road.

 Swift flowing stream racing with great joy to the lake.

 cheerful blue flowers and some wild strawberries along the trail. The bear grass is just budding and starting to bloom.

 The Most Coveted Marley hanging in the backseat.

 Hiking along the road towards Fisher Creek is McDonald Creek as it exits from McDonald Lake. The continental divide is in the distance.

 The water is crystal clear and a beautiful colour with teals and turquoise.

 Looking across the creek the water is glorious!

We take some time to say Hi to the water spirit. The area is full of joy and abundant energy. Marley is enjoying the water taking a bit of a wade through shallow waters near the edge of the creek. Thus ends a nice balmy day and a water adventure for Little Feet.

Happy Iris in the yard

Silent Saturday

Smooth as glass

Wetlands

One of my favorite features on the landscape are wetlands. With the spring rains and snow melt the lakes and streams swell. The lowlands become lush with water and bird life. This is a setting full of energy. The water does not appear to have much current. 

 However there is steady strong current moving the waters through these areas. New nourishment is brought in and the energies are distributed . Life lines through out the valley.

 Even along the sides of the lake there is wetland activity . Places for waterfowl to nest and thrive.

One of the wonderful aspects of these areas is the bird life. The bird song is incredible. You can close your eyes and feel life beating all around you .

Raindrops, puddles and ducks

 It would seem that driving to work I am cruising through Iowa or Kansas. Green fields roll on for miles. Verdant fertile greening everywhere.

But look ! Where did they come from ! Yea you!Those 7000 foot Mountains. Ok so we are not in Kansas.

 We are having "Duck" weather. And to prove it there are the Ducks. We are at the north end of Lake Blaine and it is drippy out. However this pair of mallards don't seem to mind too much.

 A solitary water fowl on the larger portion of the Lake. The lake is what I call a trapped lake. No real outlet. Which is fine . Except it has rained forever and the snow is melting . At the moment the water is lapping at the road at my feet. Another foot and I will have wet toes.

 This is a sweet little Wind in the Willows type pond that is part of a small stream. The water is so clear.

 Nice quiet forests interspersed through out the fields.

 wildflowers dot the fields along the road . Below some nice friendly yellow daisy like flowers. The ducks and flowers seem to be enjoying the rain. We will have plenty of sunny days as the summer progresses.

B

Rainbow Friday

 Friday morning started out with clouds and rain . Leaving the forests that hug the foothills and traveling out to the broad fields in the valley I was greeted by a very nice Morning rainbow.

 I felt lucky to have a rainbow say "Hello" in the morning however a second rainbow was waiting for me after work. Two rainbows in one day !

More rain in the forecast for the next few days. Each day of rain puts fire season back just a bit so I am grateful for the moisture.

Snow Half way Down

 Monday was beautiful. Tuesday was a scene out of the movie Blade Runner.
Constant rain that took no breaks. Then today more of the same but with the
added benefit of snow half way down the mountain. The valley is at 3000 feet
and the mountains are 6000 to 7000 feet. So you can do the math.

 Mountain view as we turn into the driveway.

The nice thing is that here in the valley the iris are happily blooming . They
survived the rainfall and are celebrating spring.

after the storm

 Well we had some wind and a spot of rain , a few thunder rolls but no hail. First thunder of the season. Lots of trees tossing back and forth but all in all not too bad. They had large hail in Hamilton which is south of Missoula and about 3 hours drive from here. The dogs were not too happy about the noise but that is summer. We take the quiet with the not so quiet.

The calm before the storm

On a little trek to town and the green cans. I have the most coveted Marley in the front seat. This is good except now my car is full of fur. Again. So the short cut to the green cans is over Bachelor Grade. We have had a lot of rain recently so one can toodle along at 35 mph minding the gravel of course. No dust . It is fabulous. But I was thinking as I was coming home that I even like the dust in Montana. Even if you have to go 20 mph. So we have one of the seasonal up and down ponds on the way. Gorgeous bring you to tears teal waters. Well I was about to think the weather people had missed their mark when they forcasted the storm of the century. It is now gray again and clouding up . Rumor has it that we will have rain, hail and winds to 50 mph just because a storm is brewing off the Pacific. Fragile plants inside,check. The most coveted Marley inside, check. Car in the garage to prevent hail damage. Check. I will let you know what happens.

Moon in Trees

Moon in Trees, enjoy this auspicious bit of Energy tonight !

Evening Walk

 Time for an evening walk with the most coveted Marley. So I see my neighbor and introduce
the most coveted Marley. She says" so you have 4 dogs now?" I say " No still three dogs and
Marley . He is a person too." And yes that is snow on the Foot Hills. But it is at 6000 feet and I am
safely at 3000 without.

 So Marley and I travel on down the road and enjoy the wild flowers. It is a challenge to take a picture with
his leash tugging at my belt loop. However I do persevere.

 We see some nice new growth on the conifers and a dragonfly resting in the sun. It could be it is thawing from the long winter of gray.

 A half mile down the road we find the happy snow melt creek that feeds Echo Lake several miles south of here. The water is milky from all the minerals as it comes off the six to seven thousand foot peaks.

 The coveted Marley checking out the conifers. He enjoys walks and is good company. Some day
I will be returning him to his real home. So we will make hay while the sun shines so to speak.

 Nice purple flowers and baby green on the evergreens light up the evening.

Another perfect evening . Sun is setting and the world is glowing  golden for just a bit.