animals (an excuse for posting cute pics)

I had the opportunity to dog sit a couple weeks ago.
while it was happening it was a lot of work, but now that it's over, i miss her.


Sydney the Austrailian Shepherd

she was very good. and sweet. i liked taking walks with her in the mountains.
i still want a dog of my own, some day, but i'm not sure i'm ready for the responsibility just yet.

gerbils are more my speed these days.

here's dingo, doin' what she does best.

the western montana fair was in town this past week, and on sunday i went with a bunch of friends and saw all kindsa great looking livestock. even a shaggy cattle (aka scottish highland)! there were cute goats and sheep and tiny horsies. i was pretty much in heaven. maybe i should live on a farm and take care of animals for the rest of my life. oh yeah...
doesn't everyone think that's a good idea for me??

town on fire

the sweet-pungent smell of the burningforest is drifting in through my open window, along with the cooling night air. july has turned montana into a drygrass tinder box waiting to be lit. opressive heat and lightning in august make this the fifth season of the year - fire season. it's too smokey to run on your favorite forest trails, or ride your bike downtown to the coffee shop. sunsets are extra brilliant, with plumes and sheets of smoke draping the horizon. the moon tonight was a sliver of tangerine, sitting upright on a soft bed of yellow and pink. our small and sheltered valley cradles the smoke lovingly, like a grandmother.

i wonder if the Nimi'ipuu and Shoshone traveled east of here, onto the Plains, during fire season to escape the haze. but who can know what fire season was actually like back then, before years of "management" by smokey and his cronies. time will heal us - or destroy us. one or the other is inevitable.

the cycles of time in this place are everpresent. change is our tie to the pulse of Earth.

triptastic

because this picture is better, or at least happier than the ones below.
when justin came to visit, we enjoyed an absolutely beautiful day at the bison range in moiese, montana. it was really lovely. there were baby bison, antelope, magpies, and all sorts of wildflowers blooming. i really like spring here. it was awesome that justin could come visit, too. we will go to arizona sometime, i'm sure. hopefully when it is not so ungodly hot there.

not ... happy

so this isn't my favorite thing to have to post.
but it's interesting, i guess.
blue got crushed by a giant truck.
she is still waiting for replacement parts.
meanwhile, i drive bessie, and will rent a car, i suppose, for weekend monitoring trips.
super!
life is grand