Occupation of Independence

 Now the hounds -- several of them -- were baying their heads off.  The man in the pickup truck came by.  He explained that the hounds had probably treed something.  His Garmin radio collar system told him that the hounds were only a couple hundred yards away. He suggested that I turn my little dog loose to join in the fun.  I was not tempted.  Then the man moved forward aways, parked, grabbed a walking stick, and slid down the steep slope to the tree where the hounds were howling.  I decided to stay on the road where vegetation wouldn't block my vision. He had five hounds at it.  Three of them had run away to chase something else.  "We oughtta' be able to see it," he said. I have a long way to go before the BBC or National Geographic hires me as photographer for one of their wildlife shows.  But I think this one is better: The bear drooled almost continually and pooped occasionally when he was up the tree.  I guess this black bear ...

It is worthwhile  to write about the interesting things that can be heard in the outdoor world.  But we tend not to.  We tend to give too much attention to things that are visually and trivially pretty. This morning it was easy to escape that syndrome.  As is often true, the birds were chirping at dawn.  But a mile away or so, a pack of hounds were baying their heads off.  What an interesting sound at the 'bird hour.'  I have seen somebody moving a pack of hounds in his pickup truck, in this area.  What are they hunting for, or are they being trained to hunt? As a result of this, I will have to add hounds to my Sounds-Greatest-Hits album, along with a train rumbling about three miles away. Another thing that deserves more praise is interesting, but non-pretty, sights.  The morning sun highlighted the 'extreme woodpecker events' on this tree.  I have hardly even never noticed woodpeckers holes in my life: Everyday there are other examples...

Western Idaho.  It has  been a couple years since I rode at this marvelous place.  I laugh when thinking of a tourist book entitled, "America's Top Ten Ditch Hikes/Rides."  But there should be. By 'ditch' I mean a water diversion canal that moves water from one creek to another, usually for agricultural purposes.  There aren't as many of these diversion canals as you would think in the dry states of the West.  I wish there was an efficient method of finding more of them. What fun it would be to see one of these diversion ditches dug.  The mountainside was steep on the downhill side.  I guess they just push the rocks to the downhill side to form the levee, and count on the sharp-cornered rocks to have a high angle of repose. Earlier I wrote my annual paean to Santa Sombra. (shade in Spanish)  If She is not wonderful enough, she has associates just as divine.  Santa Aqua for instance.  My little honey enjoyed a delicious drink of wat...

 Nothing quite stimulates the imagination like desperation.  Trump 2.0 is committing political suicide right in front of our eyes.  The Epstein files are the straw that broke the camel's back.  Rather than think about his demise I am hoping with all my heart that MAGA is looking past Trump, and is giving serious thought to finding a new leader.   And a real leader, not a showman.  Not a bombastic, flip-flopping buffoon.  They need to rally behind an intelligent and experienced leader who knows a lot about the world, and who is primarily loyal to the Americans who elect them, rather than to Israel, the Pentagon, or the CIA. MAGA needs a leader who says, 'No more wars,' gets inaugurated, and then ends the damn wars.