The classic pose. Red squirrel sitting on a limb eating a pine seed. I have no illusion about any affection from him. I’m just another potential threat but he does like the peanuts I set out.
There have been no grand events in my existence since last blog. I’ve been trying to complete the restoration of two small boats and I’ve been feeling poorly so I’ve stuck close to home. In a few more days I’ll be on the road after a half-year here at Koocanusa Lake. There are all sorts of Covid 49 paranoias so my travel plans are on hold and it’s best to get home to Vancouver Island before we are all back under house arrest.
Bull pine seeds. A free tree in every one.Along the way. The center of Jaffray, a village on the way to town. The general store is also the post office. Bets on the age of this sign?No Bull! Drive carefully. There’s nothing like sliding around a corner on wet pavement and seeing such a beast standing on the center line with his head down. There are herds of cattle, and deer and elk. The newcomers are easy to recognize by how fast they drive. Say moo!Squirelly! Whazzup? Deer and other wildlife use the squirrel as an early alert system.Home from the range. This steer showed up to sample the sweet grass just behind my camper. Squirelly didn’t get upset about him and the other cattle.Hoof it! The brand reads B bar C. as in “property of.”
My high life lately has been worrying about and photographing my little pal Squirelly. He continues to survive the Cat Team, two feral cats that have learned to hunt as a pair and are apparently quite accomplished. Squirelly sits high up on a limb, munching on pine cone seeds and broadcasting the screaming meemies to all whenever the deadly duo come anywhere near. I find myself worrying about the little guy (I’ve decided it’s a he) but he seems to be a survivor. He’ll soon have to fend for himself all on his own, as if he hadn’t before he moved into the hood. Here are some recent photos of Squirelly and his buddies.
Squirelly can sit on a limb with his mouth full of pine cone and cuss the whole world for hours.Since I’ve parked my bike against the tree Squirelly has decided the seat is a great lookout spot before the final dash to his den entrance.Run over by a squirrel.“Made it!”“Is it safe? Damned cats!”“No, I won’t come sit on your knee but I’m getting a taste for these big seed things you keep putting out.”“Just one more.”The moral of the story: “Somedays it’s best to just grab the nut and run.”
“Animals don’t hate, and we’re supposed to be better than them.” ― Elvis Presley
I’ve spent the summer working in the breathtaking, beautiful East Kootenays. Despite the grandeur all around it has been an unhappy summer for several reasons and it has been hard not to trip over my bottom lip. There are days when on this road of life I want to flop down in the ditch and declare myself done with the whole senseless gambit. Yet I often sustain my spirit by going around just one more bend in the road. There is seldom much point but there can be something wonderful that makes the entire journey worthwhile. That faint hope is sustaining. You find that new wonder just beyond where you were going to turn around.
Recently I was in Cranbrook on my weekly jaunt for errands and groceries. I’d taken a new-to-me back road through the forest. It was a rugged first gear bush trail and I loved it. The bumpy old trek whetted my appetite for more exploring but I knew I’d have to content myself with life as it was for the time being. Eventually I arrived in Cranbrook and soon crossed off the items on my list. It was a perfect weather day with a clear Kootenay blue sky, the temperature was perfect. It was early afternoon, I had nothing to do and nowhere to go except home. And, I was alone, as usual. That realization washed over me like a bucket of black paint. So I just drove. I passed the mouth of a driveway where an old motorcycle sat in the bushes and marked that particular home. I drove on but turned back to take a photo and so met the property owner who proved to be an interesting kindred spirit. If I had not been in that place at that time, that moment would not have occurred. And so for a while, life seems to make sense. Encouraged, one travels on, just to see what’s around the next bend.
The marker that caught my eye.Original paint! A 1952 Buick Eight. The inline eight cylinder engine whispers like a dream. This car is so ugly it’s beautiful! It is the same age as me and I fear may be in better shape.Original interior too! No padding, no seat belts, no airbags. The joke was that if you had a head-on collision in a car like this, you just hosed off the dashboard and sold the car. Incredibly, despite all that heavy metal rolling on bias-ply tires and the crude long-stroke engines of the day, these beasts got essentially the same gas mileage as today’s wonder cars. Struth!Wonder of wonders! a few feet into the bushes from the motorcycle lay this old life boat. Now there’s an interesting story I’m sure.Ship’s carving on the little boat. I could not completely interpret them.
I have a new friend. I call him Squirrely. He or she is a very gregarious red squirrel. On the coast they have been driven out by invasive, and much larger, black and grey squirrels which were imported from Europe. Here in the East Kootenays the native red squirrel is still master of its universe. Their nature seems to demand being loudly territorial. They can sit on a limb above you and scold for hours, a loud squeaky chirp that announces your presence to anything within a half-mile. As a hunter I’ve cursed them many times.
This character will sit in a tree above my little deck and curse me for an hour on end. Sometimes it descends the tree, still scolding, and will approach to within six feet. I bought a sack of peanuts in the shell but so far all the squirrel has done is scatter them about. It does not recognize a new food source. Eventually Squirelly decided to like them and packs them off as fast as I put them out. It has to be furtive and fully aware. Two feral cats team up to hunt and he is their prime quarry. They sit like stones for hours staring at his little tunnel and I fear I may be hastening his demise with my treats. There are no stupid old squirrels.
My new neighbour.
The little guy has dug a burrow under the shed and it sits in the entrance watching me in my burrow. Some times I swear it heaves pine cones down at me. It is the time of the year when the cones are releasing the seeds within and so it must be a propitious time to lay in winter stores. I make certain to keep the door closed when I’m not home.
Squirelly reluctantly agreed for a few quick poses just as it was getting dark. Now don’t go getting attached. There are two cats which hunt him incessantly. Who would have thought I’d ever become a squirrel-hugger?
On a previous vehicle I installed an Asian-built low priced rear view camera. It was powered from the vehicle’s back-up light wiring. All worked very well, until something went weird in it’s little cyber brain and the whole wiring circuit failed permanently. Now I’m about to install my camper on my truck and will also be towing my little trailer. I need a rear-view camera. Previous experience had taught me to buy an American-made product and after some research I chose an item made in Kansas. It is, apparently, a clever little device, mounted on the top of the camper’s rear and takes its power from the clearance light wiring. It has a wifi transmitter, which, through an app, sends an image to my mobile phone. Brilliant folks those Amuricans!
My Hopkins vueSMART RV camera has proven to be a total disappointment. After several attempts of keying in codes and passwords it came to life with a brilliant led array. Finally, after more fiddling, my mobile phone (Itself another huge frustration) produced an image of what lay behind the camper. I was thrilled, until I realized that everything was reversed from left to right and vice versa. Try backing up a trailer with that arrangement! After more poking and cursing I phoned the good folks in Kansas for help. I explained that a blinding back-up light came on each time I switched on the clearance lights, whether or not I wanted to use the camera. “Yep, they all do that, perfectly normal.” I then explained about the reverse image and was again told “That’s how they all work. Lot’s of folks complained about that, but that’s the way they work. You can try selling the camera if you’re not happy.” Really! I’ve ordered another camera…made in Taiwan. Wanna buy a back-up camera?
On certain brisk, calm winter days tiny flecks of frost flit and drift aimlessly in the air. Outside my RV windows there is a similar phenomenon. But the tiny flecks of bright-coloured fluff are microscopic flies. I’m new in these parts and don’t know what they are called but they seem innocuous. They don’t bite and make no sound although they have reason to exist even if I don’t understand. They drift and dream; quite like a lot of people. The “Wifi” beetle I described in my last blog is properly named a Ceranbycid. This one is of an Asian variety and is a nasty wood-boring, tree-killing critter. Thanks Wayne for the help.
Fluffy flies on a burlap coffee sack. They’re impossible to photograph in flight.Our lives…like tracks in the dust
Well time drifts relentlessly on. I have been rebuilding two small boats and can now see the completion of both projects. After that I have idea of what’s next but it’s coming…. around the next bend.
“The future depends on what you do today.” … Mahatma Gandhi
The poser. A very healthy fawn.Using the same pose she has taught to her fawn. Deer have the uncanny ability to appear calm and yet are eternally poised for flight.Home stretch
Our gravel lane which angles down from the paved main road is called Abbey Road. There is a grass knoll above it which I have named Abbey Knoll. It is a spot which has beckoned to me all the time I’ve been here and finally I’ve gone for a wander over the knoll. There are many things in life we don’t get around to. Places nearby, things to see and do or taste or hear and we never just go do it. I marvel at both visitors and staff who come to this magnificent wild area and see none of it. They roar around in their flashy boats, ATV’s and off-road vehicles with stereos throbbing and see nor sense any of the magic they are helping to destroy. Many of the employees here are unaware of the incredible forest and lakes all around us. They have no interest in the wildlife and don’t even seem to see the mountains.
I arrived at my jobsite here in the Southeast Kootenays in early April. Now we are already in the declining days of summer. Time flies whether you’re having fun or not. I notice a few limbs of tamarack turning gold already and one morning in the next few weeks there will be frost. The evenings darken ever earlier and there is a chill in the air. Soon I’ll be gone from here.
Wild deer fascinate me. They are always a joy to simply watch. This old hunter may not come home with venison anymore but I savour some of my photos with deep satisfaction. My only weapon now is my camera. The remainder of thisblog is images.
Abbey KnollNot the best time to be heading into the woods for a walk but…it’s when the critters come out.Looking south a long way into Montana. The open grassy areas are entirely natural. Oh for a horse!Just the way the gods left itAha!Dance. On a recent visit to Fort Steele I looked across the Kootenay River and saw three whitetail deer frolicking in the meadow beside the pond. One deer can be seen beside the small spruce tree.Happy trailsfind the deer. There are six in this photo. After a lifetime in the woods I’ll wager that for every deer we see, there are ten we don’t.During an all-day downpour this young buck showed up behind my camper to savour some fresh, wet greens.Deer, like many creatures, seem able to know when you mean them no harm.Across the province several man-made nesting sites for Peregrine falcons have proven quite successful. Three adjacent nests all had maturing chicks. One annoyed parent chased my truck along the road with load screeches and several low passes.Dad takes off to chase the big red truck.Down from Abbey Knoll. I thought I knew where he’d be hiding… right where mom told him to.Can you see him?How about now?Domestic beasts. They’re a formidable pair, weighing not more than ten pounds between the two of them. I must be getting old, I now like little dogs too.This barn looks like I feel all too often lately. I drive the back roads as much as I can and find sights like this.Whatever their official name, I call these guys Wifi bugs.On closer inspection, they are beautifully marked. Free Range day for the cows at the water park. They were promptly moved along by ladies in housecoats.“Well me son, de arse is outta ‘er.”The horse agreed.
“It’s a strange and insufferable uncertainty to know that monumental beauty always supposes servitude. Perhaps it’s for this that I put the beauty of a landscape above all else- it’s not paid for by any injustice and my heart is free there.” …Albert Camus
