Winter Wonderland

I find it amusing. I love winter. I love snow. For the first time in two years, I get the opportunity to enjoy snow. Its wonderful. And yet....right now I hate it. I dread it. It just might become the bane of my existence. Snow is going to give me a heart attack. Its 4:45 in the morning. I fly out in roughly 24 hours. Its snowing. A lot. The last two weeks have been a nightmare of airport delays, closings, mis-connects and general traveling horror. And I am not even traveling! Yet! But I will be very soon and if the weather doesn't improve, I foresee severe headaches in my future. I have already had snow related itinerary changes. I will sit on no less then five planes by the time I get settled. Three of which are extremely weather sensitive. Its a good thing I used up my last nerve months ago. That single little beasty off to the right has a tendency towards amassing, multiplying and creating havoc. Go away.

Merry Christmas by the way.

New Beginnings

Its not often that fate grants us a second chance. For myself, I have been granted more then my fair share of second chances. I don't know if it is luck, fate, or just my pure stubborn pig headedness and drive to never give up. Regardless, I do feel truly blessed. I depart for the journey of my life in just a couple of days. This will be a true adventure in more ways then one. I am fortunate to have this opportunity. Not only do I get to go to a new country, but I also get to spend time with one of my oldest friends. For lack of a better word, I am awed by the opportunity I have been given. Sadly our friendship has been regrettably one sided. So...I shall start this journey without expectations, without fear, and with no hesitation. It is a great opportunity and one that I am sure I will remember for the remainder of my days.

The call of nature.

Ok. Its been about a month since I took the time to do anything with this blog. I have spent the last month in that primeval search for food. Proverbially speaking I wasn't really in search for food but it does happen to be a wonderful side affect of hunting. Hunting season wasn't too eventful. I enjoyed in immensely. I did not realize how depressing and damaging this separation from nature really was. Needless to say, I have taken advantage of my freedom and partook in a much needed nature break. The only drawback for all of my hunting and hiking and driving through one of the most beautiful places on earth is that I did not have a camera with me. Go figure. I love photography and scenery, but I didn't take out the camera and use it...or failed to bring it along in the first place. But...I did get a couple of photos and I have included a couple from other years. Someday I will dredge up my thousands of digital photos and perhaps post a couple. These will have to suffice for now. Enjoy.

Just out of Salt Lake City Utah. I don't remember the name of the lake. This was taken in June.

Just out of St. Regis Montana. Its over exposed, but I did that intentionally to offset the afternoon light and the light fog.

Guess how much? Not bad for a years worth of saving dollar bills and change. This is my rainy day fund. By god...its raining and I intend on spending it.

Cannon Beach. Either taken in October 2008 or April, 2007. I can't remember which.

I have a couple more of this deer. I find this funny. I spend hours hunting. I put over a hundred miles on my feet. I froze. I sweated. I bled. All to find animals like this while hunting. Granted, he is small and I passed up probably a dozen deer larger than this one, however I find it amusing to come back to work from lunch to find this small buck in the parking lot. This was an interesting deer actually. This is a mule deer, white tailed deer cross. He was with a mule deer doe. They will inter-breed, but...the offspring as supposedly sterile. This is why the mule deer will be on the endangered species list in a decade or two. A white tailed deer will always out compete a mule deer buck. They in turn breed the does. The does have sterile offspring. The mule deer buck goes without. Sounds like a bad date? Perhaps. No grand kids for the father of this buck.

More to follow as time allows. Advice of the day. Garlic beer and moderation are a must.