Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Why Buying Groceries Took Four Extra Hours

August 19, 2018

I needed to get groceries so I could cook ahead for my Yellowstone visit starting July 23.  It is my least favorite job and I also spent several days building my list after deciding on menus. I finally got off, for the second time after leaving my coffee, around 8:20.  I had to make a quick stop at the Lower Lake Gauge to take a picture for my boss.   And to take several picture of the pronghorns. Then it was on to Albertsons in Dillon.

But soon I was slowing and stopping as I realized the quality of the light was still really soft, and the landscape was really different with very diffuse or absent mountains. Smoke from several fires, some as far away a British Columbia and one just west of Dillon were contributing to an almost white out of distant landmarks. And the quality of the light made everything prettier.  Once I started taking pictures, I found more and more in dire need of capturing. So the smoke had a bit of a positive side.

The rest of my delays were because I ate a long, slow lunch while reading a really good book. The trip was made even better because I was listening to a book Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal which was totally fasciinating, especially in the design of the experiments to test animal's intelligence and how they run their cultures, including how they cooperate and trick each other.

So this day turned out to be my favorite day of the week, even if I didn't get home in time to wash and detail my car.


A small part of the pronghorn herd

Ducks are gathering in lower lake

My favorite picture of one of the escaped cows

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The white horses made a nice counterpoint to the colorful foreground and the dark blue grey background

I finally stopped for a picture of this barn - been meaning to for four summers

I spotted this rock, calmly overlooking its valley

The light brought out the textures beautifully

This barn looks like it is starting to kneel.  

Another old barn.  Usually it has mountains showing behind it

I often mistake rocks for animals.  These looked like a herd coming through the draw

Up into the void

Another lonely homesteader house

Usually this is a great view of Lima Reservoir. 

Another old house

The light made this more beautiful

Haying is going on big time. 

A colorful ranch 

View from the highway

Another big rock formation 

I took this on the way home from the South Valley Road

The smoke continues to get worse - Monday we have a combination of smoke and clouds and I have lost
 my front door view of the mountains. 


For comparison, her is one of my earlier pictures from the front door, when only the clouds were filling up the valley. I could barely see the close mountain in the right of this picture this morning.




When this publishes, I'll be madly finishing up my packing for a really early departure for Yellowstone National Park. Hopefully, I'll stop by the library in Bozeman and give you an update, before picking up friend, Julie at the airport.



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