Preparing….

Winter sun in the Southern Heaven

clouds boiling over Jewel Basin

Frozen passage on the Lake

Winter Greetings from  Latitude 48.  ( Aye , I know that my friends in Canada and Alaska are more North ) On the winter solstice the sun will make it to 18.4 degrees on the horizon. That is low enough for me . I will be glad to see it's return to a warmer and more elevated position . For those in Montana Winter solstice will be here at 4:03 PM MST on December 21st. It amazes me how astute our ancestors were in noticing the turning of the stars and our sun , all without that annoying voice on the GPS. Although GPS is certainly a fun gadget , is it making us dumber and less aware of how to navigate? Brave our ancestors were to board rickety wooden ships and cross the oceans with hand held instruments. No GPS in sight .

This is a good time to take stock of where your footprints have been . Take a moment to consider how many people have received your kindness and compassion  Are you taking care of those things that have been put into your trust ? 

Winter Cleansing

We are two thirds of the way through Winter. Soon it will be a scant 4 weeks before the Vernal Equinox and the time to summon Spring.

Winter ,to the First Nations and the Native persons of the US , is a time of cleansing . To be brave like the Buffalo who faces in to the north winds is the work of the Winter .  The color on the Medicine Wheel symbolizing the North is White . Not surprisingly the North represents hardship and trials which when faced with courage also includes cleansing and strength. The winter winds bring snow so the Earth can rest under a blanket of white.  The winter winds take the leaves from the trees . Persons who face these winds head on like the buffalo learn patience and endurance in life .  Wisdom comes from the Northern direction. Take these last few weeks of solitude , when the Earth is still sleeping , to look within. To clear away that which is no longer useful . On a starlit night appreciate the quiet of the heavens and the distant howl of brother wolf.

the last hooray for the Western Larch 

 Our second snow coincided with the last golden colors of the Western larch , perhaps 4 inches that melted over this last week. The last rays of the day heightened the golds of the Larches. I will miss them until they return in the spring with their faerie green needles.

Magic sky

 The sky is ever changing. Much of winter is cloud cover in this North West corner. Unlike the startling blue skies of eastern Montana, we have the Pacific flow and moderate temperatures that comes with the clouds. The patterns and colors change by the minute and although you can count on grey skies occasionally the blue will break through.

The yard transforms into Narnia

Today's snow is piling up quickly . It started snowing mid day on Friday and has been steady. Tempertures in the mid 30s kept the snow from sticking until 2 AM this morning . Since then we have about 12 inches. Decks shoveled , paths cleared, young trees cleaned of their snowy burdens.  The bird feeder is tentatively filled. I say tentative as the bears are not hibernating just yet. But I feel badly for the  birds looking for a meal .  Everything is hidden under at least 12 inches of snow now.

Time to shovel the deck and clear off the wood pile 

 The smaller wood pile has been cleared off . The wood stove is working well  heating the house. I took off a few years from burning when I moved . It is nice to get back to the rhythm of the cozy wood stove . It isn't necessarily cheaper to heat with wood but certainly it is warmer as you can cozy up to the stove and read.

Steps leading from the deck , a good 8 inches of new snow

 A chore to be dealt with . Snow is easier to remove before it freezes over night and is more stubborn to shovel.

Doggy break in the Doggy Corral , Marley and Gus are considering the snow

The dogs are watching my activities in the yard from the Doggy Corral. A place not so much to keep them in but to keep the cats and bears out. Yes the Mountain lion can easily leap the 5 foot fence but at least he would have to make an effort to get the dogs.

Time to shovel a path to the garage. 

Snow is pouring and I have finished the path to the "Man shop". Very important as it really is not much fun to slog to the garage in the dark before work . And yes it is now dark morning and night. This is the time for the stout of heart . The Dark Season. I spend a lot of time with my lantern to and from the house after work . I keep in mind that about mid January the sun starts to reappear and there are a limited number of weeks that the winter steals the light.

Before the Storm : Happy in Montana

East end of McDonald Lake 

 I was just out splitting wood. It sounds very poetic. The reality is that it is very much like Yoda teaching Luke how to levitate things. You have to feel the force. As a female I have been indoctrinated to avoid hitting things. When you split wood the whole idea is to hit something and hard. Before you think this is a sad and difficult life I lead, know I can at any time turn on the propane furnace. I digress......

Saturday was a beautiful and noteworthy Fall day. So instead of cleaning the house, I went to Glacier for a quick peek before the Storm. Weather reports called for strong winds and snow starting Sunday afternoon for 24 hours. The trip to Glacier was of course rewarding . It was quiet as this is not the tourist season and the government shutdown had caused lots of people to cancel vacations. Oddly enough as I approached the entrance there wasn't anyone at the ranger station to check my season's pass. So I rolled on through. Slowly of course.

A random rock Cairn on the side of the creek

Looking west from a  creek as it enters the Lake

 After hiking a bit up at Avalanche and the Trail of the Cedars, the sun sets providing a spectacular show as it slides over the western mountains .

The definition of Serenity 

 Serenity is a state and choice of mind. It is also found in many of the Earth's sacred places. McDonald Lake is such a place.

Alpine Glow on the Continental Divide 

 Bringing the afternoon to a close we stopped for a quick drink from Mc Donald Lake and to take in the ethereal colours that result in the these high latitudes as the sun sinks westerly.

One last stop to say good bye to the Lake

 The skies were a bit hazy Saturday as people west of the Park were  burning brush piles and the the smoke was drifting east.

Leaving the Park 

 The western larch are in full dress today . Sunday the winds were 40 to 60 mph and stripped  the needles . Saturday was  the day to enjoy the beautiful golden trees.


Sunday continues with wind and at least later some sunny skies.  We lost our electricity in the wind last night ( twice ) so I cranked up the wood stove. A totally different experience burning wood in the West vs the East . The Lodgepole burns hot and you need to do smaller loads. A different rhythm from South Eastern hard woods. The house is toasty ( almost too toasty) We expect 15 degrees tonight . The house is buttoned up and my wood splitting was successful. I simply had to focus on the log in question and whack the hell out of it  . A little creative visualization helped. Grateful to be in tonight. Wishing the deer a snug sheltered pasture to pass the night.

Marley contemplating the Lake and afternoon

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.

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.