Happy New Year!

So I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I would love to expand on this a bit but frankly I just don't have it in me since I've spent the last 16 hours in the hospital. But please everyone be safe in your celebrations and ring in the fabulous new year in style! Love you all.

Snow Day!

I used to only associate snow days with going to school in the winter in Wyoming but apparently they are much more encompassing. I awoke to over 3 feet of snow this morning and a call into my boss that said work was cancelled for the day. Talk about awesome! Normally 3 feet of snow wouldn't hinder any of us rough and tough Montanans but the stuff is still falling and we literally have a white out going on. I can't see out 10ft past my bedroom window so its understandable not wanting to make the folks from Noxon and Thompson Falls drive into work in those kinds of conditions. The local weather station is predicting that we get another foot or so before the days end and then the day after tomorrow we're supposed to have another big storm. It definitely looks like its going to be a white Christmas after all. Woo hoo. Boy do I love winter! And you should note there is not one iota of sarcasm in that statement... I really do love winter. So if you are curious about this picture this is PRE current snow storm at one of my higher elevation study sites. I took it after the first snow storm we got down here in the valley and there was about 7 feet already up at the site that I had to snow shoe over. The tops of most of those trees you see are probably covered completely now and will stay that way til at least March. So for you Cali folks thinking about moving to Montana... you might want to reconsider!

The Doty's Are Coming Horrah Horrah!

Kami and Kenny are coming down from Kalispel Saturday morning to spend the weekend with me and Mace and I am sooooo looking forward to the visit. Not exactly sure what we are going to do but it will most definitely be the same ol "up to no good" game plan that we usually succumb to. Just kidding. Our time is probably going to used wisely by cooking together, catching up, and just being happy together. Its been way too long since I've seen the two of them. And out here in the middle of nowhere, visitors are a super big deal, especially ones as nice and sweet as the Doty's. As you can tell by the picture above they are a couple of wild and crazy kids. That's why I love em!

Something is not right... something is quite wrong!

So here I sit in my office today thanks to management meetings that go on adnausium once a month on Mondays and I realize something just isn't right. Anyone want to venture a guess what it may be? Stumped? Well today is December 1st and I'm looking out my window on a bright clear sunny day and its nearly 50 degrees out! This is just messed up. Now as some of you know already I'm am the ultimate winter baby. I love snow, I love cold, and I even dig the shorter darker days during winter that most people bitch about. So having this sunny warm weather on the 1st day of December is just nuts to me. I keep hoping that one of these days I wake up to about 3 ft of snow on the ground so that my winter field work can get underway. Its hard to snowshoe into a study sight when the snow keeps melting on the tops of my mountains. Its slushy and slippery and flat out dangerous to work in. I'm just praying for those days of nice firm, compact snow that I can troop over the top of in my Alaskan Guide Series snow shoes. That's right... my office actually decided to go high tech this year. The snow shoes that I have been using would make any Eskimo say "what the heck?". So maybe I just want to get out and try the suckers out I don't know but I need some snow to make it happen.

On a more personal note. I didn't shoot any deer this year. I shot at one yesterday on the last day of hunting season but missed. I actually pretty mad at myself though I'm not sure there are too many people out there that could have made the shot I was going for. I was up on a ridgeline and saw a doe running across the powerline about 400 yards away. I cranked up the power on my scope and started leading her as she ran but she stopped dead in her tracks the second I pulled the trigger and I knew it was a miss since I was aiming about 6 inches ahead of her hoping she'd keep running. I cranked another shell into the barrel and hoped to have gotten a second try at her but she had already ducked into the timber. Smart deer! Oh well... a couple of the guys I was hunting with got some does so it wasn't a complete loss and of course Mace filled his deer tags but no elk for any of us. Oh well some seasons are better than others and the warm weather and lack of snow didn't help any. All I have to say is Bambi better watch out next year *jokes*