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Wordless Wednesday
Photography
Wild Kingdom
The chickens next door are attracting this guy:
I considered my chicken problem solved when I vanquished the annoying rooster last year, but now I have a coyote problem. I was actually scared to walk home yesterday because this fellow was standing on my sidewalk, not at all concerned about being out in broad daylight. To get home, I would’ve had to walk within 30 feet of him. I called my husband to come pick me up in the car.
He clearly wants to eat one of the chickens next door, who periodically roam freely in our yard. Frankly, I’d love to see it. I keep looking out my window waiting for my Wild Kingdom moment, but it hasn’t happened yet.
If I had small children or pets, I’d probably be Karening this situation by now. I would’ve had the Board of Health over here (again) to complain about the chickens attracting coyotes. But I don’t, so I’m just going to wait and see what happens.
GenX, let me know if you remember watching “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” on Sunday nights with your family. I think it was the first show to introduce us to both the beauty and the brutality of the animal kingdom. Some of those lion takedowns were epic. It showed us that predator-prey relationships are just part of nature.
Stranger Danger
I’m making a sincere attempt to leave my political anger behind for the weekend…there will be no F bombs in this post.
I’m from Massachusetts. We don’t say “y’all,” except when it rhymes. Well, it’s fall y’all and it’s absolutely gorgeous here. If you’ve never been to New England in the fall, you should add it to your bucket list.
After a few days of true sweater weather in the 50s, it’s going to be back in the 70s today.
Speaking of “my” rail trail, there is an empty field that runs alongside it:
Interestingly, this field was used as a shooting location three years ago for “Salem’s Lot,” which is now streaming on Max. The movie is based on a book by Stephen King, the prolific horror writer from Maine.
Back in the fall of 2021 on my daily walk, I watched Hollywood transform this field into a 1970s drive-in, complete with numerous cars from the era.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of gawking by walkers and cyclists along the rail trail. It was still peak COVID, so many people were working remotely and there wasn’t much else going on. This was fascinating! By the time the filming actually started, there were production assistants keeping people off the field. But you could still see a lot of the activity from the rail trail. One day I saw what I thought were zombies crossing the field.
Well, last night we watched Salem’s Lot on Max and I discovered they weren’t zombies—they were vampires! As you might imagine, I paused the TV several times during the drive-in movie scenes to orient myself.
I’m sorry to report that it’s not a very good film, BUT if it’s free to you, it might be fun to watch it on Halloween night while you answer the doorbell for trick or treaters.
If you’re a GenXer like me, it might also bring back some bits of your childhood you’d forgotten. The story is set in 1975 and the kids in the film are about the same age I was then…10.
As a ten-year old, “Stranger Danger” was constantly lurking. Adults were always warning us about the possibility of somebody with a puppy or a candy bar luring us into their car. I never worried one bit about school shootings, but I did worry a lot about getting kidnapped!
When that first little kid gets snatched in the film, I thought to myself “stranger danger.”
The Northern Lights
I think a lot of people in the Northeast (including me!) checked off “See the Northern Lights” from their buckets lists last night. This was especially rewarding for those of us who missed seeing them in May. Who knew our once-in-a-lifetime chance would come twice in one year?
This feels like a lot of things.
Remembrance
The lights and colors in the sky last night reminded me of my close friend from college, Carla, who died in 2022. She had brain cancer. She really wanted to see the Northern Lights before she died, but was too sick to travel, so her friends and family found a way to project them onto the ceiling in her bedroom in Santa Fe. It was beautiful.
A Sign
I know I’m not alone in feeling a lot of anxiety about the state of the country and the way it feels like we’re never going to go back to “normal” — no matter who wins the election. I’ve never in my life been afraid of a US election, but I’m afraid of this one.
Similarly, I never once saw the Northern Lights as a kid growing up in Massachusetts, but this year, many New Englanders saw them twice! A little girl standing near me last night said, “this is God.” Maybe so. Or maybe it’s a sign of transition to a new era—an era where completely new things happen.
Unknown new things are scary and I have a strong urge to “circle the wagons” and try to protect the ones I love. (I think to myself, “please stay in Massachusetts where you’ll maybe be a bit safer from gun violence, flooding, dangerous reproductive care, crappy public schools, etc.)
But I know that’s not really possible.
My new granddaughter will hopefully live into the next century. She will live out most of her life in this new era, whatever it may be. I want her to feel free, adventurous, and safe to explore the world beyond her home state.
Living in the transitional time
An activist friend of mine left for New Zealand yesterday. She’s staying until the end of the month. She said she just needed to get out of the country for these last few weeks before the election. I can relate. In some ways, it’s all just too much.
Maybe seeing the aurora borealis is the reminder some of us needed to center ourselves and live in the moment. Humans have been around a long time and have accomplished many great things and many terrible things. Even though it sometimes feels like end times are upon us, there’s a decent chance that something great is just around the corner too.
Final thought: just breathe
Related post:
Failure moon shots
I continue to try to take photos of the moon with my iPhone 15 and it never works well.
I could clearly see the partial lunar eclipse with my eyes last night, but the photos don’t show it. (Well, maybe a tiny bit in the second one, but you have to zoom in.)
I’m always impressed with the great moon shots that Kevin at The Beginning at Last is able to get with his phone.
Revisiting Daily Prompts
For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been seeing “Answered” under the Daily Prompt. In other words, WordPress asked the exact same question a year ago and I responded. Believe it or not, I just now figured out how to find my original response to the prompt and “reblog” it (OK Boomer!)
I’m re-posting my original answer, mainly so that I can attach the recipes I mentioned. (The Silver Palate’s Chicken Marbella came out much better the second time.)
Attached:
I don’t enjoy cooking much, or even really eating. I’m not a big foodie. I didn’t cook at all until I became a mother, and then it suddenly felt like…
Sweet tooth
Yellowstone wildlife
I’ve already posted too many times about my recent trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. But what the heck…it’s my blog and I can post what I want, right?
As previously mentioned, spotting wildlife is a major activity in Yellowstone National Park. After your first 500 or so bison (aka buffalo), you start coveting sightings of the more rare animals— like wolves and bears.
Here’s everything we saw:
We also saw sandhill cranes and vultures, but I wasn’t able to get photos.
The wolves were the most exciting to spot, partially because everyone else was so excited! There are people that go around spotting wolves all day long in Yellowstone. They know individual members of each pack. They have special spotting scopes and they sit in certain areas watching for wolves. When you see a clump of those people, you pull over to see what’s going on. Their excitement is infectious and they are very generous with their spotting equipment.
Despite all the warnings about bears and the need to carry bear spray on hikes, we never saw one! I’ve still never ever seen a bear in the wild.
I am pleased to report that with this recent trip to Montana and Wyoming, I have now visited more than half of the fifty United States (26 to be exact). I have 24 left to go!
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PS: Is anyone else disappointed that MyGenXerLife’s blog seems to have disappeared? Did he make an announcement while I was away or something? I really loved that blog! Any info appreciated.
Thankful Thursday
Brizzy Mays Books and Bruschetta is a blog I like. She likes to write about fun destinations in Australia and the unsung women of Australian history. She frequently references Aussie expressions and traditions that I’ve never heard of before—like Barbecue BOATS (do those sound fun, or what?)
Anyway, I thought of her when I visited the cabin of Maud Noble in Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming. (We went there after Yellowstone National Park.)
Born in 1879 into a wealthy family from Philadelphia, Maud Noble moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 1915. Noble became a significant landowner and operated a homestead and dude ranch in the area. In 1923, she hosted a meeting at her cabin to discuss preserving the Grand Teton region. This meeting included notable conservationists and local ranchers and is credited with sparking the movement to create the national park.
And oh my…what an amazing national park it is.
Thank you Maud.
YELLOWSTONE – Part 4 (the Lodges)
Having stayed in Thunderbird (one of the in-park historic lodges at The Grand Canyon) last year, I wanted to do the same in Yellowstone. These historic hotels and cabins are all booked through one agency (https://www.xanterra.com) and frequently fill-up a full year in advance.
These iconic hotels have amazing locations (inside America’s most famous national parks), but sometimes lack a few modern features—like air conditioning, WiFi, or even private bathrooms. (And there are definitely no pools or hot tubs at these hotels!) In my opinion, it’s worth it to give up a few modern luxuries to stay in the heart of the parks, surrounded by their wild beauty and animals.
I already mentioned our stay at the Mammoth Hot Springs, where we left our window open at night (there was no a/c, but fans were provided) and were awakened by the rather alarming sound of a male elk “bugling.” (Click here, to hear what that sounded like.)
We also spent one night in the Granddaddy of all the American national park lodges: the Old Faithful Inn. Built in 1904, this historic landmark is known for its rustic, log-cabin architectural style and viewing porch, which faces Yellowstone’s most famous (and reliable) geyser.
As one of the largest log structures in the world, it represents a significant achievement in American craftsmanship and the “parkitecture” style that blends buildings with their natural surroundings. It hosts millions of visitors from around the world each year. The lobby is jaw dropping and hard to capture in iPhone photos, but of course I tried:
They’ve kept the tradition of live musical performance alive at the Inn. I heard two different musicians playing for the guests. Here’s a snippet of a cellist/singer playing a GenX favorite: Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics/Annie Lenox.
There’s a schedule in the lobby that lists when Old Faithful’s next eruption is expected, which is absolutely amazing when you think about it! The geyser erupts about 20 times per day and the schedule is accurate, plus or minus ten minutes. And this has been going on since explorers first discovered Old Faithful in the 1870s (and probably for thousands of years before that). Holy shit. Yellowstone is amazing!!!
Related:
YELLOWSTONE – Part 3
In addition to amazing wildlife and geothermal wonders, Yellowstone also has spectacular waterfalls and a gorgeous canyon—“Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.”
Our selfies are not very good. I just can’t figure out how to position my arm AND take the picture. People say to hold the phone up high, but then you end up staring directly into the sun.
A word about bison.
They are a big part of the Yellowstone experience. You see both herds and loners—sometimes very close up.
They warn you not to get within 25 yards of a bison, if you’re not in a vehicle. They can run fast and have been known to rush (and even gore) people who get too close.
“Time to hop in the vehicle”
Related posts:
Bucket list progress: YELLOWSTONE – Part 1
