Cattle island

The river is dropping quite fast and either today or yesterday the cattle discovered they can cross the river safely, and crossed over to the island.

My sixth sense kicked in yesterday that the cattle may cross the river any day now. I think my sixth sense was a combination of the river level and noticing a slight difference in their grazing pattern. Today I checked and found a majority of them at the NE end of the island.

While at the river I checked the water temperature and found it to be ideal for swimming. As our high temperature today was 91 F, I went for a swim.

I found an interesting rock in the river.

I found a dead fish. It was a decent size fish and seemed to be about 9 inches or more long. The fish was by a bunch of underwater sticks. The fish appeared to have two holes in its side. The river current is not strong so I doubt it got impaled on the sticks. The fish was slippery and it was with great effort that I was able to hold it. I wanted to take it to my neighbor Bob as he is a fisherman and he could tell me what kind of fish it was. However the river bottom is not level and I stepped into a hole and that jarring movement caused me to drop the fish. The water was deeper here and the current stronger and the fish quickly sank out of sight.

Seven cattle had seen me by now. They were in my south pasture and came over to the fence where they could get closest to me. They were still a ways away but I didn't want to give them an idea of where to adventure to next. So I got out of the water.

Later five more cattle came to join the seven. They came up from the lowland where the cattle initially cross to the island. A few minutes later the other 9 came to the NE part of the island. They wanted to join the five on my side on the high bank. But between the high bank and the river being a little deeper this is not a place to cross and they couldn't. But still I was worried one would be a knucklehead and try.

So I went over to the south pasture fence. The cattle on my side of the river came over to me and therefore were no longer directly across from the island. We were on the north side of the NE end of the island. Finally one of the nine figured out they could cross the river on the north side of the NE point of the island. The rest followed. I could see the smaller ones work to cross against the river's current. All made it. Of course there was some bellowing by both groups. I am not sure if it was encouragement, disapproval on getting separated, or bragging on how they crossed the river.

They all came to stand by the fence across from me. No one was hungry. No one was tired. They all stood or milled about or watched me. Number 3 licked my hand as I put it out on the wire for her to smell it. That gets the cattle used to me. A couple cattle gnawed on either an old, old wood pole fastened to the fence or on an old wooden fence post. Both had the orangeish color of moss or lichen or being in the elements for decades.

The mosquitoes were eating me alive so I left them to go check gopher traps. I actually caught one gopher. I knew a few were still up and around as I heard a couple of them chirp their warning today and actually seen one run to its hole yesterday.

Still, I am finding trapping them difficult. I lay the trap and cover surrounding holes with dirt. They seem to be avoiding the traps. I don't know if they are getting ready for hibernation, whether they are few and far between, or whether they are getting smarter. They usually don't re-open the surrounding holes. It is like they pick up and leave, else use a hole or two I hadn't found. Yet, if I move the trap I find most of the holes re-opened several days later.

Sometimes after setting a trap I will find a whole new set of holes a relatively short distance away where there had been no holes earlier. I suppose clearing the pocket gophers out isn't helping as that is giving the gophers room to move.

I don't know. They will be going down soon for the year. On the plus side I don't have to check and reset traps every day. On the minus side is I haven't gotten rid of all of them.

Another reason I know the gophers are not hibernating yet is that yesterday I saw a nice looking eagle circling and circling low over my pasture above the gopher barrens. A nice sight.

Garden and deer

Tonight I finished weeding my garden. My garden is pathetic. Hardly anything I planted came up.

I have:

• 10 stalks of corn
• 10 green bean plants
• a dozen radishes
• a dozen beets
  
• 1 pea plant
• a handful of carrots
• a handful of green onions
• 2 parsnips

The zucchini plants that I did not purposely plant are all up and doing the best of everything in the garden.

I found that 3 sunflower plants also came up on their own and were doing fine until the deer came and ate them. Tonight I found the deer hoof prints in the soft soil next to the little stalks that are left of the sunflowers.

What I was more upset with was the deer ate the leaves of the lower branches on one of my cherry trees. This was the only young fruit tree I had no fence around. I had taken the old broken fence down after having the cattle in the fruit tree area and had not put up a new fence.

A few other fruit trees had a simple couple strands of wire around them and the deer left those trees alone. I know deer can get through fences, but for some reason they won't go through these fences. So that saved a couple other fruit trees.

I placed two strands of wire around the cherry tree until I can select which of my fences I will use around this tree.

@#%* deer!

Fence and gate

I got a latch last Thursday, and installed it, completing the rebuild of the short section of fence between my backyard and the hayfield. Finally!

Photo 1: the old fence after the heifer broke it.
Photo 2: after I removed the fence. The "hole" seems wrong.

Photo 1: working on the new fence
Photo 2: completed fence and gate

Here is a the new latch.


Well, another project done. How many more left to go?

2 hikes, 1 long day

What a long day on Saturday!

I got up after 5 am.
Met the hiking group at 7 am.
Was on the first trail to Ptarmigan Tunnel after 10 am.
Got off the second trail to Iceberg Lake at 7:30 pm.
For once, I saw lots of icebergs in the lake.
Saw a humongous moose.
Finished supper at 8:15 pm.
Drove over Logan Pass after 9 pm.
Saw the "day after" full moon rise over the mountains at 11 pm.
Got home after 11 pm.
It is about midnight now and I am ready for bed.

I hiked about 16.5 miles.
I climbed about 3100 ft in elevation.

I took over 200 photos.

I went butt skiing. On purpose. In fact I went really fast butt skiing down the side of a mountain. And survived.

I met a woman who hikes with a group that does "off trail" hikes. Interesting off trail hikes. I plan to hike with them on Wednesday. To the top of some mountain or another. And Brian... last year this group hiked down into the valley above Bird Woman Falls. Wrap your mind around that one!

I had a great time.

Now to get the time to writeup the hike. I have three hikes in front of this one to write up. Where does the time go?

Spray, gophers, bird, garden, flat tire

Thursday I sprayed the weeds in the NE pasture. Not that they were bad in the NE pasture as I sprayed and sprayed that pasture last year. This time it took me only three tanks of herbicide to spray the entire pasture. It may sound like a lot but it is much less than last year. Still it took me almost 4 hours of walking and spraying to complete the job.

Even though I have plenty of pasture and weeds left to spray, it feels good to have another section done.

Near the end of my spraying, at the west fence line, I found four new gopher holes. *argh!* I've never had gophers in this area. I got a conibear and a leg hold trap and set them in two holes and covered the other two holes. I'm gonna nip this in the bud before they excavate an entire complex.

I also found a gopher complex I had cleared in the north pasture had half its holes reopened after a week or two of it being cleared of gophers. Man, it never ends.

It has been annoying gopher day. No pocket gophers caught, but half of them had dirt in the traps. In another regular gopher leg hold trap I had caught a bird. It appeared to be a flicker. Why the bird went in the trap I have no clue. The trap was set near a tree trunk in the entrance to a gopher hole. Why a bird stepped there is a mystery.

It was tricky, but I was able to release the bird without getting pecked. Still, it is not good as I believe its leg is damaged. It didn't fly off. Instead it flopped along the ground and away from me. I moved away from the bird to not further agitate it. I could hear another bird in a tree call to this one.

Then I found another one of my leg hold traps missing. The post that held the trap was laying on the ground a yard or two from the hole. *sigh* Since the hawks haven't been around to feast on the gophers, I have a feeling this gopher was one of the larger ones and with its free three legs was able to pull the trap hard enough to topple the post. I have a feeling I hadn't pushed the post into the ground deep enough as the ground was hard and the mosquitoes were eating me alive when I set the trap.

My only hope is that trap is still large enough that the gopher couldn't get back down a hole. I looked around but could not see anything in the grass and weeds. I will be spraying this area sooner than later and hopefully will come across the trap. Dang. I just found this trap after who knows how long, and a week later I lose it again.

I also weeded 80% of my garden before the mosquitoes forced me to quit. My garden is in sad shape. This is the worse garden I ever had. It seems as if only 10% of what I planted has come up.

Continuing my day's downward spiral I went for a short bicycle ride and got a flat tire. It was a mile walk home. At least the mosquitoes left me alone during my walk.

Picnic music: Can't Hardly Playboys

More blues style music was at Wednesday's Picnic in the Park concert series. The band was the Can't Hardly Playboys. The musicians seemed also to be members of other local bands. Their style was Delta Blues with some Americana tossed in. They played everything from Robert Johnson to Willie Dixon to Hank Williams to Bob Dylan to John Sebastien to Poco. Poco? The 70s soft rock band? Whatever. It was a nice change of pace.


The crowd was lighter than usual. Gary was there and we chatted for a while. He bought some raffle tickets. Since the crowd was light, the ticket seller was giving double tickets. I listened for the winning numbers while Gary ran an errand during intermission when the prizes were announced. He didn't win.

I chatted with a woman around my age, and her mother. They lived in the mountains near Kila. At 4300 ft elevation, and no neighbors for 12 miles. You could say... remote. They came in for the concert to get out and see people. The mother said she is a sculptor. I didn't get a chance to ask what she sculpts.

I asked if they had a ranch and she said she was done raising animals. She plans to grow and sell mushrooms. She has some good logs to use and said once she gets them established she can harvest the mushrooms off the logs for seven years. She already has some restaurants lined up as buyers.

Pella Windows, a sponsor of the concert, gave away bright yellow cloth bags. The bag came in handy for me as I was on my bicycle and had some stuff to carry.

Picnic music: Big Daddy and the Blue Notes

Tuesday night the Picnic in the Park concert had as the band, Big Daddy and the Blue Notes. This was a three person band with Big Daddy on lead electric guitar, a bass electric guitarist, and a drummer.

My legs were a little tired from the day's long (17 mile) hike off Blacktail Mountain. While the crowd was a good size, fortunately it wasn't too long before someone left and I was able to sit down on a bench.

The band was loud and it was the older people who were leaving early.

Next to me on the bench, at the left end, was a little old lady. She looked to be in her 70s. Kids attend these concerts and do a lot of running around. It wasn't long after I sat down that several little girls about 4 or 5 years old or so ran by. The little old lady put her leg out and tripped the first girl surprising her - and me. The little girl had a surprised look when she got up, then she ran off. The little old lady then told me that was the tenth time they ran past and she was tired of it.

Okay... I guess "little old nice lady" is not how one would describe her.

Later she remarked to me how loud the band was, and how it was driving the old people away. She said the band's style had changed. She remembered them playing more of a honky tonk style of blues in the past. Their sound now was more of a power blues, a mixture of Chicago blues and other styles.

The first half of the concert was decent, but unremarkable. But after the intermission they came out and played their "A" game. They were very good and were really rocking the blues.

Later in the concert the little old lady said that Smokey Robinson was playing in Sandpoint, Idaho soon and the tickets were $59, which she thought was too expensive. I said it may be because he was playing at a festival and that was the festival price. But she said no, that price was just for his concert at the festival.

She then asked if I was going to attend the annual blues concert/fund raiser this Saturday in Somers, MT. She mentioned she had seen the main act several times in the past and liked her the first time, and was unimpressed the second time. She had hopes for her performance at this concert. She also talked about how she liked Zydeco music.

Shouldn't she be listening to Laurence Welk or something? And... is grandma hitting on me for a date?! Yikes!

No, I have hiking plans and hadn't planned on attending the concert.

Later the fellow at the other end of the bench left and I moved to that end. Not to get away from grandma, but because the person running the soundboard spent much of the time standing up and this blocked my view of half the band. Of course he didn't eat during intermission,but after the intermission was over. To eat he had to move over a bit to reach his food on the table, and again he blocked my view. *grrrr*

The strange guy I seen dance at the previous concerts was here again this night. He wore a lavender shirt and had his leather motorcycle chaps on. No bandannas on his head but he had a red one tucked in my back pants pocket and had a blue one around his neck. He asked several women to dance but couldn't quite get a decent routine going with any of the women.

Usually the kids monopolize the dance floor but not this night. A half dozen women danced off to the left side front. They wanted to shake their 'groove thing'. A guy danced awkwardly a few times with them but he seemed kind of creepy to me. And maybe to the women also as several times another woman cut in on him when he started to concentrate on a single woman. He had 'desperation' written all over him.

For one dance there were a number of couples dancing. Thankfully the men didn't dance long as they couldn't dance and embarrassed all men everywhere. One guy with camera tried taking a picture of his partner while dancing. He was such a bad dancer to begin with, his picture taking didn't hurt his dancing style.

Later a woman with green hair showed up. She and her friend were odd. So the men weren't the only odd people dancing at the concert.

I didn't see anyone I knew though the next day Gary said he was there, but sitting in a different location due to all the people there preventing him from getting his usual location. And I am terrible in picking people out of the crowd.

Alaskan cruise and passport

My hiking friend Gary planned on going on an Alaskan cruise with friends of his when one guy dropped out. In the past I had mentioned an interest in going on a cruise so he asked if I wanted to come along. This way he would have someone to share the room and wouldn't have to pay a surcharge for having the room to himself.

Initially the cruise was in August so I said no as I would still have cattle then.

Then their cruise was changed to early September at the women's requests. I checked with Dan and he plans to take his cattle out and sell them by then. So I told Gary, yes.

Gary booked the cruise for us. The travel agent then mentioned passports were required as we had two stops in Canada. Gary thought I had a passport because of my previous travels. But my passport had expired since moving to Montana. Since passports were required, and I heard it took a long time to get one's passport, I told him to cancel me, or find another person to share the room, as I didn't want to chance not getting my passport in time.

Then Gary learned one of the women didn't have a passport either, was getting one, and would get it in time for the cruise. So I changed my mind again and said I would get a passport and go.

All I had to do was renew my passport. But then I learned there was 15 year window in passport renewals. 15 years from when one first got the passport, or 15 years from when it expired? It was 15 years and two weeks since I first got my passport. 2 weeks!

So I told Gary I would check with the passport people. I didn't want to try to renew my passport only to have it rejected, then have no time to get another passport.

I contacted the passport people via their 1-800 number and learned the 15 year window was from when the passport was issued. I was 2 weeks too late to renew my passport.

That meant I had to go to the post office and fill out an application. My old passport was good for proof of citizenship.

Today I rode my bicycle to the post office after the Picnic in the Park concert was over. I needed two passport photos. My old passport photos were of me from long ago, and I didn't recognize that person with long hair and a beard: a young person with hair. The post office took passport photos for $15. I rode over to Walgreen's where they took the photos for $7.99.

I filled out my passport application, wrote a check for $75 to the State Department, and another check for $25 to the Post office. When one renews a passport it only costs the $75 to the State Department and one sends their old passport directly to them. A new passport requires someone to look over your filled in application for $25 more dollars. Okay....

They promised I would get my passport in no more than four weeks. Plenty of time for my cruise.

Now let's see what else will be a hassle...

Also, because of mom's health, I am considering getting travel insurance for an extra $60. Supposedly it costs $50,000 to helicopter someone off a cruise ship.

Hay

Last Saturday Wyatt baled my hay. While Wyatt had thought he may bale it Friday night, Thursday night's windstorm delayed him by a day.

Saturday I went hiking all day. When I got home my hay was all baled. I seen Dan had picked up a number of bales already as the bales around several sides of the hayfield were gone. I was starving so I made and ate supper first before getting my hay bales. I kept 70 bales, or a touch over 2 ton of hay, for using in feeding cattle I plan to buy next Spring. My hay is very good this year.

After supper I got my two-wheeled hand cart out out to bring my hay bales to the barn. Here is a view of the loaded cart. I could carry two bales at a time.

I had one broken bale which I gathered up in my wheelbarrow and put into a water trough. In the second photo the bales that are stacked high are the new 70 bales, and the bales on the right that are not so high are the old bales. In front is the hand cart without any bales on it.

I had asked Dan to leave the bales on the north end of the pasture for me as those bales were closest to the barn. Two by two I gathered bales. It took me a few hours and it was dusk by the time I finished. Naturally the mosquitoes were out and attacking.

Dan came the next morning to get the rest of the bales. By the time I woke up he had almost all the bales loaded as he bucked the bales while his wife drove the pickup.

Just before I came outside the house a pickup drove up my driveway and stopped near the house. A couple walked out to the field where Dan was loading the last of the bales. I didn't recognize the couple but I found out they were the eldest son and his wife of one of my neighbors immediately north.

She was watching five horses for a friend who had to go to another city because their parent got ill. They were gone longer than expected and the horses ran out of hay and needed a bale or two. The couple offered to buy a couple bales and Dan gave them two bales free.

He tossed two bales from his trailer to the ground. She went and got their pickup and then loaded the bales in the pickup. Since her husband wasn't going for the hay bales Dan offered to put the bales in their pickup. Instead her husband said that she likes to buck bales as she is a horsewoman. I know, women are equal and can do anything a man can do, but still... it didn't seem right for her husband - and us - to stand around while she tossed the bales into their pickup. Call me sexist.

I also found why the couple were now living with his parents. They lost their house in the contractor scam last winter. A contractor wasn't bonded and quite a number of people in the Valley had liens placed on their house by subcontractors and suppliers because the contractor did not pay them. Many people has tens of thousands of extra dollars they had to pay, and those who couldn't lost their house. Apparently the contractor now lives in Mexico.

To lose one's house like that... man, that's rough.

Any way, I am happy my hay is cut and baled and done as that is one less thing I have to do this Summer. And the cut field makes it easier for the owls to find the rodents. At night I hear the owls are back. The cut field also makes it easier for me to find the pocket gopher mounds. I had to start my line of traps back at the northern fence as I found quite a number of dirt mounds I had missed in the tall grass.

I also found new regular gopher holes near where I had finally trapped the gophers from the NW hayfield. *sigh* The new gophers didn't re-open the closed holes and instead dug new ones. Well, after a day the gopher was dead. The moral: don't mess with me.

Fallen tree

I had a causality from last Thursday's wind storm. A large tree in my south pasture blew over. *sigh* Every year it seems as if another tree is blown over.

I have enough split wood to heat my house at least one winter. I have enough logs stacked in the back yard ready to be split to heat my house at least one winter. I have enough fallen trees in the pasture - and sitting on supporting branches so the tree trunk is off the ground - to heat my house at least one winter. The last thing I need is another tree to limb and dry. But that's what I got.

At least when it blew over it did not fall on any cattle.

Here is a photo of a long time fallen tree. Since it is supported by another tree and off the ground I have left it for now until I have time to cut it up and have a place to store the wood.

Busy

No time to write much. I am going to have to write myself notes so I can later blog on what I did.

Got the hay baled and my share in the barn. Hiked most of Saturday with a new group. I am going on another hike tomorrow. Because of the distance 13 miles(?), and because we are not sure how much of a trail is going to exist where we plan on hiking, I suggested an early start time. The other two hikers are early risers and before I knew it I talked myself into meeting the first hiker at 6:30 am.

Geez! That's early!

On top of it I plan on going on a cruise to Alaska in September. The catch... my passport has expired. I think I can get a new one, but, of course, there is more to this story.

No rain please on a day of work

Since I had comments on Wednesday about me not working I thought on Thursday I should be more diligent about working.

I:

• sprayed a tank of herbicide on the weeds in the front yard, the ditch north of my driveway, and most of the fruit tree and garden area,


• unloaded my pickup of odds and ends of lumber, and eight or so old thin railroad ties tossed out in a nearby building supply store's free pile,


• rolled a large roll of fence from my yard to be next to my hay shed,


• hauled off the rest of a pile of tree branches I had trimmed last month, and some other stuff,


• checked my gopher traps,


• moved the 20+ old hay bales from one part of the barn to another part to make room for my new hay bales,


• swept the entire barn floor to get rid of loose hay,
  


• removed the rotted boards from inside the barn. 90% of the barn floor is concrete with the remaining 10% being wood boards. Why? I don't know. I don't know how old the barn is, but possibly over 60 years old. Part of the boards where stuff sat for years were rotting.
  
  The wood floor was two layers of old planks. On half of the wood floor I removed the bottom layer completely. Of the top layer I removed 2/3 of the half section.
  
  Underneath the floor was dirt. I have a pail of small rocks I have picked up around the yard and pasture as I have walked. I plan to use those rocks on top of the dirt and under the new wood floor.


• By now I could see clouds slowly approaching from the north. A large weather system with rain was moving along the U.S./Canadian border with most all the rain predicted to stay in Canada. But now it looked like the rain was trying to get into the Valley.
  
  Man! My hay was still laying out in the field.
  
  The wind all day had been from the south, and I hoped the warm dry air in the Valley would keep the clouds and rain at bay. Over time the edge of clouds came closer to being overhead. It was getting bluer on the Whitefish Range that was the northern boundary of the Valley. I could see smaller white wind clouds against the blue and near the mountains. The Whitefish Range was getting harder to see. There felt to be more moisture in the air.
  
  Man, oh, man! No rain! Please!
  
  To occupy my time and mind I decided to split logs. As I split and watched the northern sky the wind switched to come from the north. The temperature started to rapidly drop and the wind picked up. It got cold!
  
  It didn't look good for my hay. Why couldn't Wyatt have baled the hay earlier this afternoon? If I had my equipment I would have baled it this afternoon. The guy across the road was now out picking up most of his hay bales.
  
  I kept splitting wood until dark. It never rained though at times I was sure I - and my hay - would get wet. The wind did blow and I had to pick up tree branches from the ground. I learned later that Whitefish and other areas on the north end of the Valley lost power due to fallen trees on power lines.

So I think I had a productive day. At least I felt like I did stuff.

Friday I took it easy as I thought Wyatt was going to bale my hay. I wanted to be rested for hauling my hay bales into the barn late that afternoon and evening. However when I came home from running an errand uptown on my bicycle, Wyatt was in my field raking the rows of hay. Thursday's wind had blown some rows around, and Wyatt also wanted to turn the heavy rows to ensure they were dry. He planned to bale the hay Saturday. So much for taking it easier today.

After checking my gopher traps, I sprayed another tank of herbicide. I completed the fruit tree and garden area, completed the yard, and did the entire corral.

As for gophers, I found new mounds of dirt from a pocket gopher along the fence line between the fruit tree and garden area and the ditch to the road. I had trapped a pocket gopher there last year and now a new one had moved in. Another hard one to trap. Several times during the day I checked the trap only to find it covered in dirt. *sigh*

In the pasture I found one of my leg hold traps caught a mouse. A mouse! I thought these gopher traps were too big to catch mice.

At the end of the day I worked on my fence gate and got the hinge attached to the post and to one pole I am using for the gate. Now to building the rest of the gate.

Other than patching a pair of my cutoff jeans, I think I may have done a few more things, but don't remember them now.

Snow on high

Lots of snow high in the mountains. Normally at this time of the year one can hike the higher trails. Not this year! Saturday's hike was changed as the lake we planned to hike to was still snowed in and frozen. So much for this idea of global warming!

Here is a newspaper article about all the snow in the mountains and its affect on hiking.

Newspaper article on snow and hiking

Picnic music: Full Moon Prophets

Wednesday was a busy day. Just as I was about to leave the house to go attend Wednesday's 11:30 am Picnic in the Park concert, Tammy called to wish me Happy Birthday. We chatted until about 11:50 pm.

As I was about to enter the road from my driveway, the guy who cut the field across the road drove by on his tractor which was pulling his baler. I followed on my bicycle. Just before he turned off into the field his cap blew off his head. I picked it up and gave it to him once he stopped.

This was the first time I've ever chatted with him. I learned he lived 4 miles down the road. He mentioned that my neighbor down the road, Dick, had stopped and talked with him about the field he was cutting and the leafy splurge in it. I also found that when he cut the field last year another neighbor, Street, got on his case about cutting the field with the weeds in it. This guy found both Street and Dick obnoxious in telling him what to do. This is not the first time I have heard this.

This guy's wife was the former weed control official in two of the neighboring counties before she married this fellow. She now has her own weed spraying business and is even certified to apply herbicides near water. This year he left the leafy splurge patches uncut and his wife has already sprayed them once with Tordon.

I had a good chat with him and it was 12:28 when I finished. The music concert ended at 1:30 pm so it would be over half over by the time I got there. A good breeze made a stiff headwind. I decided to go anyway.

I got to the concert around 12:50 pm. The crowd was on the smaller side. I locked my bicycle to a light pole and put my shirt on. I found my favorite tree to lean against and watch the band.

The band was the Full Moon Prophets. They appeared to be a cover band that played rock music. They were good but they seemed more of a bar band and nothing very special. They seemed to be a little too loud for a lunch time concert as most acts have been acoustic or folk music. I didn't see many old people, but that may be because it was later when I finally arrived.

I didn't see Gary and after about 10 minutes I spotted Colleen with a Humane Society volunteer ("Kitty") and a couple of large dogs from the Humane Society. The dogs were wearing "Adopt me" vests. The dogs were real nice, calm, and well behaved. I petted the black one ("Harley") and he was shedding fur. Colleen's pants were covered in hair and soon Harley's fur was all over my shorts and legs.

Colleen had seen me ride up and then put my shirt on. We had a laugh about last year when some unknown woman left a note on Colleen's pickup about me not wearing a shirt during one of the Picnic in the Park concerts.

When it was time for Colleen and Kitty to return to the Humane Society office Colleen commented she had to go back to work unlike other people, (*cough* *cough*) who don't work. I protested, "Hey! I work!" and she then agreed that I did work.

It must have been another 10 minutes after Colleen left that I noticed Gary. He wasn't sitting in his usual spot. By the time I saw him the band was playing their last song. Gary and I chatted for a while after the concert was over.

Later in the afternoon I stopped and visited with Bob and Jan. My mother also called me later in the afternnoon to wish me a Happy Birthday.

The Express Employment Professionals company sent me a birthday card but no check for my work as an election judge. That took another day to arrive. Judging from the date the check was written, they had been holding the check for almost 3 weeks.

I had not checked my gopher traps for two days and the dead gopher I found stunk. I had to wash one trap off in the river as the dead gopher wrapped himself around the trap before dieing. Why aren't the hawks 'cleaning' the gophers up? There are still a few around as I seen a good sized red tailed hawk flying over the hayfield and being harassed by a small bird the other morning.

Now that the hay field has been cut I have seen and heard several bared owls each night calling out.

I found yet another leg hold gopher trap. I only knew of one missing trap and I had found that trap several days ago. I have no clue when I lost this trap. I wonder if it was one of my missing traps when the hawks took off with a gopher and trap last year? Anyway, it was a nice birthday present to get another gopher trap. That makes 17 gopher traps to my 7 for the pocket gophers.

After I checked my traps I spoke with Jim and his wife. They got two miniature horses and had bought a half dozen small green metal corral panels to fence them in along with a small loafing shed for them to have shelter in. Jim said he and his brother-in-law shot four gophers on his property over the weekend. There are still gophers left as we could see one chirping. I warned Jim the gophers will go underground by the end of July so get his shooting in earlier than later.

Jim made a comment about how it must be nice not having to work while I am so young. That's twice in one day where someone made a comment about my not working! *sheesh*

The mosquitoes are horrible. The newspaper says it is the worse in five years due to the high water being late. Because of the dry previous years those year's larvae are also hatching this year. Great...

My garden doesn't look so good. Only some stuff is coming up. I had planted seeds in small trenches for easier watering later. It looks like the inch and a half of rain washed dirt into the trenches partially filling them. It may be the seeds are now buried too deep.

Picnic music: Bad Larrys

Tuesday night I attended another of the Picnic in the Park concerts. This time I was very late to the concert. I had a movie checked out from the library; it was due back Tuesday; and I needed to watch it.

The movie was a French film, "The Double Life of Veronique". I don't know... this is supposed to be a good movie, and it was supposed to be dreamy, but I found it dull. The film style was realistic but the story and people in it were not. I fell asleep part way into it. Being cryptic also didn't help matters any as I wasn't in the mood to see a cryptic film.

And my VCR's remote control quit working which slowed things down for me.

The concert started at 7 pm and it was 7:10 pm when I finished watching the movie. I did get the movie returned to the library before 8 pm, which is when the library closes. Therefore I didn't get to the concert until almost 8 pm, just in time for two songs before intermission.

Performing at the concert were "The Bad Larrys", a county and folk group. I've seen them listed as everything from a duo to a trio. Tonight they were a quartet as one member's son played a drum or occasionally a wash board.


They were really good. A very tight playing group. The first full song I heard from them was Credence Clearwater Revival's "Susie Q". Only The Bad Larrys performed it acoustically on guitar, bass fiddle, and mandolin. Unique, and an excellent interpretation of a favorite song of mine.

Here is a youtube video of the duo version of the group singing the Simon and Garfunkel song, "The Boxer": click here.

The group played Johnny Cash's song, "Ring of Fire". Here is a youtube video of the duo singing the song another time: click here.

During intermission I wandered around. I didn't see Gary in his usual spot so I figured he was on his planned cruise. My typical tree to lean against was 'taken' so I found another tree with a good view of the gazebo and the band.

Because last week's rain storm interrupted that concert and their raffle prizes weren't given away, they gave them away tonight. I noticed the prize of 6 lbs of dog food is back again.

Sometime after intermission was over, and the band started again, a bench opened up and I moved over to sit on it. Just before I got to the bench the two young women moved from the right side to the left side so I had to sit on the right side. After I sat down I realized why the women moved: the soundman was standing and blocking the view of one of the players.

There was room on the bench between me and the two women and a short time later a woman riding a bicycle came and asked if she could sit between us. Sure. She was petite and thin. She was about my age and attractive enough, but with her short hair, not as attractive to me. (Besides I think I spotted a ring on her left hand). Just like only a few women can pull off wearing a mini-skirt and looking sexy, so too can only a few women get away with short hair and still look sexy. Short hair is practical, and practical is not often sexy.

Upon sitting down she immediately started to bounce her legs to the music's rhythm. Initially this was annoying as she was bouncing the bench, but she had good rhythm, and as I am rhythmically challenged, I began to notice the rhythm in the music I heretofore missed.

Speaking of women with rhythm, later a woman got up to dance with her teenage daughter. Usually the only dancers are pre-teen kids with a few exceptions for adults practicing a few steps off to the side. Initially I thought the mom drug the kid up to dance with her as the mom had fantastic natural rhythm and the daughter looked awkward. But in later songs I seen it was the daughter dragging her mom up to dance.

Even though they were mother and daughter, apparently rhythm is not in the genes as it didn't appear to be passed on in this case. If the daughter had half the talent her mother had she would have danced better than she did. I give her credit for trying. Perhaps she was inspired by her mother's ability and wants to learn, practice, and improve.

The mother looked to be perfect and I was entranced by her. I wasn't that close to them but she appeared to be around 40. She had long blond hair that went down a third of her back. She wore a slightly faded light blue jean shirt and light blue jean pants. Her clothes were loose - not tight - but still showed off that she had a good figure: not thin, not heavy. Ideal. She wore a woman's straw hat that curved just right in front and back. The hat was perfect for her look. Her clothes for the most part were common, but on her they looked to be her own style. She was barefoot in the green grass.

And her rhythm! She didn't have to move much but everything was connected and flowed from her shoulders to her feet. She seemed to move effortlessly. She didn't just dance to the music, it appeared the music flowed through her.

Some males are just males, and some males are men. The same is with females. Only a few are women. Like Colleen, this person is a woman. This woman had it all together: the look, the moves, everything. And surprisingly I didn't see any rings on her left hand. What's up with that?

No, I didn't go over and talk with her. She probably just wanted a relaxing evening out with her daughter.

Another adult dancing with a few women was a tall, lean, older looking guy. He had medium short gray hair with a red bandanna tied around his head. He wore a print shirt and had leather motorcycle chaps over his pants. What's up with that kind of look? He kind of looked odd.

I first noticed him dancing with a young blond girl young enough to be his daughter. They danced slower and tentative at first but by the end of the song were moving and spinning quite well. Then I saw him dance the next song with a woman his age. He appeared to be trying to teach her the dance's steps and it wasn't going well. I don't think they lasted the song. Then a song or two later he was again dancing with a late teen/early 20s woman. She was dancing better than the older woman, but not as good as the first woman. If a man can dance, one can get the women. The problem is I, and most men, can't dance. How can one dance if they don't notice the rhythm?

Also at the concert I saw Colleen's friend, Pam. You know the one I offended last Summer when I asked for her opinion on how the rich people moving to the Valley are changing it. After I sat on the bench, and later after some people left, she moved to sit in the row in front of me. She didn't notice me.

It wasn't until the concert was over and people were leaving that she noticed me. I had just unlocked my bicycle when she walked by carrying her lawn chair. She did that double look when you see someone you recognize and hadn't seen in a while. As I was looking at her she quickly looked away and kept walking. She didn't have to worry, I wasn't going to ask her opinion on anything. After the nerve I inadvertently struck last time, I know better than to do that with her.

To the south pasture

No more jail breaks last night or this morning so I moved the cattle to the south pasture today. First I added six steel posts to reinforce the old wood wobbly posts. I could add another three steel posts if I wished. Another day. Since a few of the cattle have shown double jointed ability I also added some wire between the barb wire strands to further reduce their ability to slip through the fence.

All while I worked on the fence I left the gate open between the south and middle pastures so the cattle could come over. All the time I was working on the fence the cattle were down closer to the river. When I was done I found the cattle taking their siesta under the large pine towards the northern side of the middle pasture. One was rolling in the dirt where I had dug around a tree stump last Fall.

I already had moved the salt blocks to the new pasture. I called the cattle but all they did was stand and look at me. I pushed my wheelbarrow of tools closer and called. More stood and looked at me but did not budge. I got relatively close and the same. When I turned around and walked back to the gate they followed me.

I kept one eye out as it can be a little unnerving when the herd runs up behind me. When I got closer to the open gate the leaders spotted it and galloped past me. The whole herd thundered by and rushed into the south pasture's tall grass. They immediately started exploring and eating. So much for their siesta.

The south pasture should keep them occupied and out of trouble for a while. *crossing my fingers*

Dan and Wyatt spoke today and came to an agreement on the price of Wyatt's share of the hay from my field. I will sell some of my share to Dan for that price too. I am going to keep a couple ton of hay for the cattle I plan to purchase next Spring. A number of people are already trying to get $150 a ton for their hay, which is too greedy. It seems like the typical price ranges from $90/ton to $110/ton. Our price is in that range. Because of Dan's shoulder Wyatt agreed to make the bales 60 lbs instead of his typical 70 lb bales.

I also called the Express Employment Professional company. They still have not sent me my check for my work as election judge and it has been over a month since the election. They quickly found it sitting on their desk and promised to mail it to me right away.

No fence will stop me from fresh cut hay

Wyatt cut my hayfield tonight. It took him around three hours.

The forecast doesn't have any chance of rain until later in the week. While I feel the chance my hay will be baled before it rains, I remember the year I had my hay cut late - in August - and the only day in the month that it rained was during the few days my hay was cut and drying.

This afternoon the field across the road from mine was cut. It appears to be by the same people as last year as they cut Jamie's field with a small old Ford tractor with a sickle.

When Wyatt had my field half cut I looked out and saw one of the cattle in the NW corner of the hayfield. What?!

#3 was checking out a row of cut hay. Fortunately #3 is one of the calmer cattle and I was able to open the nearby gate to the north pasture and it quickly walked into it. The north/middle pasture gate is nearby. This gate was a problem as half the herd was near and wanted to go through it while #3 debated whether to return to the middle pasture. Then the rest of the herd noticed what was going on and rushed over. I had the whole herd at the gate. The gate is just wire and boards and collapses when not fastened. I had my hands full shushing the herd away from the gate while not scaring #3. The herd kept returning and I had to stop a few charges. Finally #3 came through.

The fence was not broken but it appeared the middle two wires of the four strand barb wire fence were stretched and loose. I fiddled with the wire to "smooth" it out. I was in the middle of watching the season finale of "The Bachelorette" and wanted to know if my prediction of the guy she chose was correct. It was but I missed the actual proposal. Darn.

The herd remained in the NE corner of the hayfield. This is where #3 had slipped through the fence. A few of the cattle laid down. No one seemed interested in eating.

I looked out the window during commercial breaks and a half hour later #3 (her again!) was in the hayfield again. This time closer to the house. Cattle are like elephants: they don't forget.

This time #3 was harder to herd. I have not finished my gate and #3 seemed interested in going through there. Then it wanted into the corral and the barn. Finally I got #3 to the NW corner and the gate. It was harder to get #3 into the north pasture, but finally I did.

I had just as much of a hard time getting #3 back into the middle pasture as the herd was worked up. While I had been herding #3 in the hayfield they all stood along the fence and moo'ed. Whether the mooing was:

• wanting to join #3
• wanting #3 to come back to the herd, or
• "You go, girl!" as I tried to herd #3,
  

I don't know. I do know that their mooing didn't help.

This time I took extra barb wire and wired up the strands between four or five posts where the wire looked loose and saggy. Hopefully this will put an end to this problem. And, yes, I missed even more of "The Bachelorette".

The cattle either stood and watched me closely as I worked on the wire, or stood at the fence and looked longingly at the fresh cut hay. They were obsessed with getting through the fence and to the hay. They remained in the corner again, but thankfully as it was getting dark, it wasn't too long before they appeared to be heading to the river.

While there is still plenty of grass in the middle pasture, tomorrow my plan is to let them into the south pasture to have them work on that grass for a while. It won't be too soon for me that's for sure.

Double jointed in the muck and the mud

This weekend while checking gopher traps I decided to check and count the cattle in the middle pasture. I found one heifer on the other side of the fence and in the south pasture.

*sigh*

The jail breaker was heifer #23 who was so well behaved before. Five other cattle were nearby on higher ground watching. They weren't smart enough to figure out how to cross the fence, else were better behaved.

#23 had crossed the fence in the low area near the river, an area that had water in lower spots, this being one of them. The fence was a three-strand barb wire and I found she is double jointed as she stepped through it without breaking it.

The grass is near belly high in the middle pasture, but in this low area by the river in the south pasture the grass is taller than her head. The grass is literally "taller" on the other side of the fence. *sheesh*

I crossed to the south pasture and found to reach the heifer I had to remove my shoes and socks because of the water and mud. Stepping gingerly I slowly made my way to #23. She was blissfully unaware and busy munching on the tall grass. Because of the tall grass she did not notice me until I was mere feet from her. Thankfully she is a mellow heifer and did not panic.

I moved slightly and told her to move and she then turned to move. If all the females in my life would listen and do what I ask. A little moving here and there and I directed her along the fence to the river. So far I hadn't seen where she had crossed - I was expecting a broken fence. After a few steps she turned and slipped through the fence. Her left leg caught the middle wire and pulled it off a fence post but she did not break the wire. She then went and joined the others on higher ground.

You'd think with the water, muck, and mud the cattle would not spent any time there. But they are like little boys and sometimes have to play in the water and mud.

I went and got supplies to fix the fence. Then, walking through the muck I reattached the wire to the post. I also added some new wire joining the strands to eliminate - or at least reduce - a repeat of her Houdini double jointed act.

It was hot and muddy and the sweat rolled. At least the sun kept the mosquitoes away.

I then went to count the cattle. In the sun and heat some were grazing and some were hiding in the shade. I literally mean hiding as they were in several areas with smaller pine trees that hid them. Eventually I found them all.

Falling off the face of the earth

Another Neil Young song from "Prairie Wind" ("Heart of Gold" DVD) that I really like. The lyrics make sense when you realize he wrote this song after being diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and before he had surgery to correct it.

Here is a good youtube video of that song.

"Falling Off The Face Of The Earth"

I just want to thank you
For all of the things you've done
I'm thinking about you
I just want to send my love
I send my best to you
That's my message of love
For all the things you did
I can never thank you enough

Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
Falling off the face of the earth
(Falling)
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
Falling off the face of the earth

Oh...

I just want to tell you
You sure mean a lot to me
It may sound simple
But you are the world to me
It's such a precious thing
That time we shared together
I must apologize
For the troubled times

Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
(Falling)
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
Falling off the face of the earth

Oh...

Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
Falling off the face of the earth
(Falling)
Falling off the face of the earth

(Falling)
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
(Falling)
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the earth
(Falling)

The Painter

Here are the lyrics from one of the Neil Young songs I heard on his "Heart of Gold" DVD recently. I like the refrain about the long road and if one follows every dream they may get lost.


Here is a youtube video if you want to hear what it sounds like.

"The Painter"

The painter stood
Before her work
She looked around every where
She saw the pictures and she painted them
She picked the colors from the air

Green to green
Red to red
Yellow to yellow
In the light
Black to black
When the evening comes
Blue to blue
In the night

It's a long road
Behind me
It's a long road
Ahead

If you follow every dream
You might get lost
If you follow every dream
You might
Get
Lost.

She towed the line
She held her end up
She did the work of too many
But in the end
She fell down
Before she got up again

I keep my friends eternally
We leave our tracks in the sound
Some of them are with me now
Some of them can't be found

It's a long road behind me
And I miss you now

If you follow every dream
You might get lost
If you follow every dream
You might
Get
Lost.

Mosquitoes and fence

The mosquitoes are out in force. Wednesday afternoon around 4 pm I decided to add some barb wire to my south pasture fence, and to my south fence on the hayfield. Initially the mosquitoes weren't too bad but as I got closer to the river the worse they got. A large cloud covered the sun and it got even worse. I would brush a line of them off my arm, then the other arm, and then the first arm was covered again.

The mosquitoes are bad all over the Valley as I heard on the news today the mosquito control person for the County said that if you can count a hundred mosquitoes in a small area, that is an infestation. Oh yeah! I counted more than 100 mosquitoes. How about several hundred buzzing around my body.

Repellent is not a solution as they will fly into my inner ear or my eyelids.

They got my cut finger again. Earlier in the day I was carrying a shovel and a gopher trap when the mosquitoes were pestering me. I reached with the hand holding the shovel to brush them from my arm and part of the shovel hooked my cut and re-opened it. *augh!*

I did quick work on the south hayfield fence as I couldn't take it anymore. The wire gate needed work as the neighbors or their horses (before they got rid of them) abused my gate. I also found a spot in the fence where the neighbors wrapped one wire above another to create an opening to get through the fence. *Grrr!!!*

Persistence pays off as I finally got another gopher from the NW corner of the hayfield. These are the difficult-to-catch gophers as they are so wary. I had two traps. At one trap the gopher plugged the opening with dirt to avoid the trap. The other trap, which has sat there a week now, got the gopher.

I spent spent some time today talking with my neighbor Jim. He has the two cattle he is raising for beef. They had eaten his grass down so well he got a large bale of hay to supplement their feed. Fortunately the inch and a half rain we got Tuesday and Wednesday has gone a long way to perking up the grass. It was starting to crunch and lay when I walked in the hayfield.

Jim and his brother-in-law are seriously getting into the scrap iron business. Good, as they will give competition to the only other scrap iron business in town. They have been keeping very busy starting this past Spring after they were laid off from hauling logs.

As we spoke a good sized eagle flew near us. A hawk followed the eagle as it flew over my NE pasture then stayed behind as the eagle glided over my north pasture and to the river. It was graceful and beautiful. I didn't have my camera with me.

I have noticed a lack of hawks this year. Many of my trapped dead gophers are left to rot. Other years they disappeared within hours. Of course after telling Jim this I found only a leg of a gopher in one of my traps.

Did I mentioned before, that last week I found the dead body of a pheasant in my north pasture? No idea how it died. It looked like it just keeled over.

I had another flat tire on my bicycle last night and fixed it this morning. Too much crap on the road.

I went uptown Thursday to get groceries and run other errands. Man, it was crazy. The roads were clogged with vehicles. Several grocery stores had full parking lots. I never saw that many cars in the parking lot except when the store had a one-day sale with insanely great deals on food items. With all the cars came lots of accidents. I was delayed briefly by one accident aftermath north of town. The news tonight made mention of all the accidents in the area today.

I still haven't built my gate for my fence rebuild. I spent time today looking at Lowes and Home Depot for hinge ideas. I have some lag bolts, but they had nothing that would work with them as what they has was for chain link fences. I have a few other ideas and may have some extra hinges at home.

Instead I fixed thegate and inner fence by the water trough. The time heifer #20 got into the hayfield and the herd stampeded in the corral to follow near her, they tore out some boards by the inner gate. When I fixed that, I also added a few boards to the inner fence over the water trough to prevent future heifers from crawling in the water trough.

When I got done I realized the fence work looked crappy. It looked patched and did not fit in with my new nice pole coral fence. When I have time (ha!) I plan to tear it down and rebuild it to match better.

Great ending...

There was another Picnic in the Park concert Tuesday night. I debated whether to go. The forecast was for rain after noon until midnight. I had the idea the front passed and along with it, the rain. The clouds didn't look threatening. I decided to ride my bicycle to the concert. As an ex-girlfriend later told me, it didn't surprise her I would ride my bicycle with the chance of getting wet.

On the way to the concert I saw Jan outside. Bob learned today that he has diabetes. He was not happy. I wasn't the only one who thought the day so far sucked.

I arrived at the concert a few minutes before it started. That's not typical. The audience was larger than typical. The concert was by "Out of the Blue Grass". Don't let the name fool you, this is the Mission Mountain Wood Band reformed. They are reunited for a mini-tour this summer and this night's concert was "incognito" so they could practice before a live audience to get the kinks out of their performance.

*wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* Not the best kept secret, so that may explain the larger audience. And more enthusiastic audience. Each song got more applause that usual at these concerts.

This concert was sponsored by the 1st National Bank of Montana. Nearby where I locked my bicycle to a light pole 1st National Bank was giving out free bottles of water and ice cream sandwiches. I got one of each and wandered to find a place to sit or stand. Because of the threat of rain there was a small canopy over the soundboard. This mean the spot I typically lean against a large tree had a blocked view. I saw Gary there with his chair in his typical spot, but as I had nothing to sit on, I decide to not go there and planned to later visit with him during intermission.

Eventually I ended up in another typical location: in the back leaning against the old depot building. It was good that I did since - who did appear - but Colleen. Last year I almost didn't go to a concert, but did - and met Colleen. The same this year. And trailing behind Colleen was her pug dog, Zukie. (pronounced Zoo' - key)

Colleen had been at a restaurant with a friend of hers, and now that the meal was over she decided to see if I was at the concert. She also had three glasses of wine by her admission, and was more buzzed than I have ever seen her. She was feeling good.

And of course she looked great. She was wearing a white tank top with a Humane Society logo, and jeans and sandals. Her toenails were painted an interesting and pretty color that I can best describe - in my limited male perspective - as a coppery bronzy color. I never got around to asking her the color as I noticed it when she was chatting either with the odd little fellow that had attended her Humane Society volunteer presentation last Saturday, or Jerry, some guy she knew and the subject was wood flooring. Of course with my tinnitus I initially thought his name was Terry.

I wasn't just looking at Colleen's toenails and wondering about their color as she chatted with the other guys. I also kept an eye on Zukie as she wandered about exploring.

Colleen had her hair pinned up in the back to get it off her neck. The ends beyond where she had pinned it up were colored different than I remembered: she had more brown and reds in her blond hair. Looked nice.

I mentioned before that Colleen looks "smokin' hot". She has curves in all the right places and has a very feminine vibe in how she looks and moves and talks. One that naturally attracts the male eye. Scientifically speaking... Colleen = woman. With her tight white top and jeans and Zukie running around, it was hard to say who got more looks, but eventually I think Zukie won as she is so sweet and adorable.

It was warm so I suggested we get a bottle of water for Zukie. Why shouldn't I have been surprised that Colleen knew one of the ladies handing out the water bottles? After a quick hug between them Colleen got a bottle of water.

Colleen knelt and poured water into the bottle cap as Zukie lapped it up. Then Zukie looped around checking things and people out but not wandering too far from Colleen even as we moved back to be against the building. A few other people walked by with their dogs and Zukie and one other dog were quite interested in each other spending some time smelling each other's private areas.

As we moved back to the building Colleen tugged on the bottom of my very patched up cut-off jeans and told me she remembered them. Yes, I was wearing one of my very patched up - and original and unique and apparently unforgettable! - jeans. This pair is so patched up only one pocket still works. I think only a quarter of the jeans is original material.

I did tell Colleen that I have bought some new jeans and I have a quite a number now without patches. And at least I was wearing a t-shirt so we wouldn't get a note from an indignant lady like we did last year.

Other than being interrupted by a few people Colleen knows we chatted a bit catching up more on what she has been doing since we broke up last Summer.

I lost track of the band and their music as that faded into background noise. Who knows how long it was before I saw out of the corner of my eye people folding up their chairs and leaving. A breeze seemed to be picking up, then it began to rain lightly. Colleen and I were against the building and protected even though there was no overhang above us.

Bit by bit I felt a few more drops as it began to rain harder and the music stopped and people ran off with their chairs. It didn't matter to us. Usually the concert people give raffle prizes away during intermission, but that hadn't happened yet. As people ran in the rain Scott was trying to announce the winning ticket numbers. I don't know if anyone cared. I could barely hear Scott through the sound of the downpour.

Colleen moved a few feet over to the entrance to a door which provided a tad bit more protection from the rain. I joined her in the doorway. We continued talking with each of us slowly getting wet. It was alright as it was warm out and the rain felt good. Who'd want to be anywhere else?

Zukie had wandered around the sidewalk and the grass in the rain and didn't mind initially, but later she took refuge between my legs and under me where it was drier. She sat there and looked out at the fewer and fewer people until all there were left was the band packing up in the gazebo and some people trying to stay dry against the building and under the overhang.

Colleen was chatting away and enjoying the moment, and so was I. Colleen's hair was getting a little wet and so was her white top, and she was happy about it and looked so adorable. I would say this was just like in the movies where in the romantic comedy the couple "meets cute". The problem is that Colleen and I knew each other and had broken up. So would this count as "re-meeting cute"?

Colleen looked so good - even wet, especially wet! - and was so bubbly and in a good mood from the wine I wanted to kiss her. But our relationship has transitioned to being "just friends", and one doesn't passionately kiss someone who is just a friend. Damn! Because she is a great kisser. So I tried to think of something else.

We were getting wetter and wetter. When hardly anyone was left Colleen asked if I wanted a ride home. Ya! I looked to the western horizon and it didn't look like it would stop raining any time soon. So off we went out in the rain. I had to stop and unlock my bicycle from the light pole. Why did I lock it in the first place?

We were quickly getting soaked. Colleen ran across the street to her pickup. Zukie was with me. Water was standing in puddles and she was careful in crossing them with her short stubby legs.

A SUV stopped on the road to let me cross and I stood with my bicycle and waited for Zukie to catch up with me, then walked along side of her so no vehicles would run her over as she crossed. She is short and black and gray and very hard to see in the downpour. Colleen was waiting at her pickup and once Zukie reached it, she grabbed Zukie and put her inside while I put my bicycle in her pickup bed.

Inside the pickup we were soaked head to toe. We looked at one another and laughed. The inside of the pickup windows quickly fogged up from our wet bodies. The defroster was taking too long to clear the windows so we rubbed a blanket on the windshield to clear the fog off and raised and lowered the side windows to clear them also.

Zukie sat in her perch between the seats. She shook herself off getting us wetter in the process. Colleen rubbed her briefly with the towel, and then we were off.

It was raining so hard that some of the road was underwater. Large sections of the right lane of Hwy 2 in Evergreen was deep with water. Even driving in the left lane and in a pickup we were throwing water as Colleen drove.

We were laughing and enjoying it all as it was an adventure. And I didn't have to ride the 6.5 miles home in the downpour.

So Colleen delivered me home safe and somewhat dry. I'd say she was my knight in shining armor, but that doesn't sound right. But you get the idea.

So was that the end of my evening? No... as when I got inside my house I found I had a phone message from Tammy, another former girlfriend. She had called to chat. I called her back and we ended talking for about two hours as I dried off and listened to the rain falling outside my open doors and windows. Tammy didn't have to work until next Monday, but due to the distance from there to here it was just not feasible for her to finally come and see Montana and the mountains. But we had a very nice talk. It was great talking with her. Another beautiful woman.

Man! What a great end of a day! So, for a day that started out badly and was lousy much of the time, it sure ended well. The evening and the women more than made up for the bad start.

And we needed the rain.

Bad beginning...

My day on Tuesday ended better than it began. Much better.

But first...

It rained early morning - sort of. We had enough rain for water to run off the roof, but only enough to merely settle the dust. More! More! I want more rain as it is so dry outside. It rained before I woke up, though I had awoken briefly just enough to hear water run off my roof. Then it rained mid morning again similarly. So much for our much needed moisture. At least my hay was not cut and laying in the field.

I decided to go uptown to get groceries and stuff. While I was uptown Dan finally showed up to pay for pasture. He had said he would be by last Thursday. Not only did I miss him, but he paid the wrong amount.

Then I had a phone message from Easter Seals in North Dakota through whom mom hires a bath aide. I was to call them about mom. Uh, oh.. that doesn't sound good. Mom is fine; what they called about was the insurance to pay for the bath aide. According to mom's AARP health supplement policy (policy I), mom pays Easter Seals, and then AARP reimburses mom.

I had talked to AARP before mom hired the bath aide and got a list of documentation they would need. They were now asking for something more. So much for getting the list prior to hiring the aide.

Easter Seals said they could not talk with AARP. AARP said they could not talk with Easter Seals. Each side claimed it was due to medical privacy laws. But AARP wanted info concerning mom's care that they would reimburse. So how does medical privacy prevent AARP from talking to Easter Seals directly? If AARP can talk with other health care providers, why not Easter Seals?

I had my brother scan and email the AARP letter. It is confusing and I will have to call them Wednesday. Oh, joy.

With the morning rain the afternoon was now humid and lousy. If I liked this type of weather I would move back to Minnesota. Our overnight low was 64 F!! That is 18 degrees above our average overnight low of 46 F.

Even though it was hot and humid, whenever I was in shade the mosquitoes would attack. They are desperate for my blood.

I have 7 pocket gopher traps and this afternoon I could only find 6. I knew I had a cluster of 4 near the road and now could only find 3. I walked around and around in the tall grass looking and looking for the 7th white milk jug that was a marker for the trap. No success. I climbed partway up one of the power line towers on my land and looked from a birds-eye view. Still could not see it. I did see plenty of white western salsify weeds that were now white seed puffballs.

Back on the ground I did a final search. I'll be blunt - I was in a pissed off mood. I started to think that someone came from the road and stole one of my markers and traps. Though, why they would bother with the marker - in my state of mind - who knew. If my mood could make grass grow - or wither - then that would have happened. I was not happy.

But then I found the milk jug marker. The pole had tipped over and it was laying in the tall grass.

Ok, so maybe someone didn't steal the marker and trap. But I spent a LONG time looking for it. So long that a trap that I moved and reset due to catching a pocket gopher, now had another newly killed pocket gopher in it.

Of course the more time I spent looking in the hayfield the more western salsify weeds I found. No matter that I had walked the field each of the past few days, there were plenty of seed pods ready to open to spread their seed. I filled my back pants pockets full of these seed pods so I could later toss them in the garbage. I should have worn a belt on my pants. The recent exercise I've been getting made me lose a little weight and soon my pants were dropping down.

*sigh*

So here I am walking in circles in tall grass. The grass pollen had been released making me sneeze. The air was hot and humid (for out here). I kept seeing weed pods when I wanted to see a white milk jug. The salsify has been called (incorrectly) milkweeds due to its white sap. I had pockets of sticky seeds pods. Putting the pods in my pants rubbed and aggravated my cut finger. And my pants were falling down.

Any wonder why my mood was not the best?

Cut finger photo

Here is how my cut finger looks like July 1. It looks better now.