Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Brrrrr

IT'S CHILLY TODAY
Feels Just Like Christmas
might be colder maƱana

OUR NUMBER
-------
.. Time for a thermometer check in the neighborhood.
.. We have an interesting pastime when the cold dips down low. The question is simple: "What did yours say?"
.. By comparative consensus we arrive at the village temperature. It's usually a range and it's never the same as the "official" temperature but it is reflective of the conditions around the village.
..   Right now consensus is trending in the -8° F to -13° F range. Tomorrow should bring out the truly cold numbers.
.. This poses only a small problem for some of the neighbors. Fishing locally with the new trinkets from under the tree will be exhilarating, to say the least. 
.. More when the computer thaws.
-------
'TIS THE SEASON

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Jingle

MAY THE FIRST BE WITH YOU

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Be Prepared

WELCOME TO WEST YELLOWSTONE

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Road Work

WINTER SEASON OPEN
Elite Visitors Arriving
bunches of $ to visit
WINTER ROAD IMPROVEMENTS
-------
.. Soon, (tomorrow or the next day depending on Federal funding bills,) the West Entrance Station of Yellowstone National Park will accept affluent guests to the winter wonderland for the wealthy.
.. The joys of Yellowstone, (two days: Upper Loop and Lower loop tours,) for an average family of four can cost a couple of week's wages - or more:
>> Travel, to West Yellowstone = variable,
>> Lodging = $300.00 / night x 2,
>> Eating =  $250.00 / day x 2,
>> Entrance Fees = $40.00,
>> Snowmobile Guided Tour = $400.00 day x 2,
>> Snow Bus Guided Tour = $300.00 - $450.00 day x 2,
>> Postcards, trinkets, etc. = $0.00 - thousands,
>> Travel from West Yellowstone - variable,
>> Total = at least $1,740.00 (plus travel.)
.. All visitors are required to take guided tours, (save for a select group of individuals that are drawn by lottery and must have best available technology snowmobiles.)
.. Entrance on skis is available for $40.00. Old Faithful is 30 miles from the West Entrance Station - should you care to try:  + lodging at each end.
.. Y'all come.
-------
WINTER WONDERLAND


Saturday, December 12, 2015

Dump Ahead

Event:Winter Storm Watch
Alert:
...WINTER STORM WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH 
LATE MONDAY NIGHT... 
 
* LOCATIONS...BATTLE RIDGE PASS...BOZEMAN...BOZEMAN PASS... 
TARGHEE PASS...WEST YELLOWSTONE...BIG HOLE PASS...CHIEF JOSEPH 
PASS...DILLON...MONIDA PASS...ENNIS...NORRIS HILL...RAYNOLDS 
PASS...TWIN BRIDGES. 
 
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...6 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW IN THE VALLEYS AND 
IN THE MOUNTAINS 10 TO 19 INCHES. 
 
* TIMING...LIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP SUNDAY MORNING OVER MOUNTAIN 
PASSES OF FAR SOUTHWEST MONTANA...INCLUDING THE WEST YELLOWSTONE 
AREA. SNOW WILL BECOME WIDESPREAD ACROSS SOUTHWEST MONTANA 
SUNDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. 
 
* IMPACTS...PERIODS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL WILL CAUSE 
REDUCED VISIBILITY AND HAZARDOUS TRAVEL WITH SNOW COVERED AND 
ICY ROADS.
Instructions:LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON THIS SITUATION.
Target Area:
Beaverhead
Gallatin
Madison

Thursday, December 10, 2015

To The Lowlands

FOG AND RAIN
Critters And Fish
over the hill jaunt
MAGPIE AND FRIEND
-------
.. There's a big difference between -20° F and +28° F. It's occasionally good to see the elk in the grass.
.. It's also enjoyable to catch fish from the foreign country next door. They look just like ours!
-------
SPICE CAKE - ORANGE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Thursday, December 03, 2015

Sharing

YNP NATIVE FISH CONSERVATION
Park Wide PDF Available
for those that really care
JUST LOOK AT HER
-------
.. Thanks to an alert neighbor we can point you to the "YELLOWSTONE FISHERIES & AQUATIC SCIENCES 2012-2014" PDF.
.. The 56 page document, (YCR-2015-01,) from  the National Park Service, Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming is at THIS LINK.
.. The status report is fairly comprehensive, (finally,) and outlines the program mechanics including: a comprehensive summary of the program, explanation  of the current conservation actions, and a large section on the efforts in Yellowstone Lake. Maps of collection and removal sites are documented as well as the brood stock development in Goose Lake.
.. It will take several readings to digest the report. There's food for thought and fodder for discussion.
-------

Wednesday, December 02, 2015

Erratum

THE POST BELOW
We're # 2, not #6
bad writer . . . bad, bad

Monday, November 30, 2015

COP 21

CONFERENCE OF PARTIES
Brandalism Reacts
posters appear all over
BRANDALISM HITS CONFERENCE SPONSORS
-------
.. So there's 40,000 delegates, (the largest conference that Paris has ever hosted,) and the hot air generated will probably only add to the problem.
.. The eco-activists of BRANDALISM have struck with over 600 posters calling out the major sponsors of the conference.
.. It's bigger news over there than here. Perhaps that's because the U.S.A. is only the sixth largest contributor to greenhouse gasses  --  right above China.
......  OH WELL !
-------


Thursday, November 26, 2015

THANKFUL

NO TURDUCKEN THIS TIME
Arise Early, Set Roasts, Nap, Eat
jovial gentle and stuffed
EVERYBODY GETS ONE
-------

.. What a grand time. We're certainly thankful. We do enjoy the contemporary holiday.
.. It's a celebration of friends, gluttony, football, revisionist history, and the plenty that most of our nation enjoys.
.. It's a time to reflect on the cultural superiority that our nation believes in. We are thankful that the accident of birth places us here.
.. Blessed be our lucky happenstance that we were not born a Yezidi; for then we would be living in a war zone with all those around us fighting each other. Roll the dice and get born somewhere. We had no choice in the matter.
.. We take a day or two to laze around the house. We take naps punctuated by food, drink, jokes, football, and snow fun. How much better could it be?
.. We smile as the neighbors praise the folks of Plymouth Colony and the 'good' Indians that helped them survive. We wonder if the fictive fish that supposedly nourished the corn kernels were little Brook Trout.
.. We are more than slightly amused that an off-hand remark by president Abraham Lincoln should engender so much in the path of revisionism that has led us to today.
.. Make no mistake: there is much to be thankful for at this time. There is Walmart, football, domestic tranquility, (depending on class and color,) and our comfort in the leisure time to enjoy the beginning of the "shopping season." There's money to shop with despite our moans and groans about the economy, government, politics, etc.
.. Through no fault of our own we get to participate in the largess provided by the accident of copulation, gestation, birth and geographic situation We are thankful.
.. The Bradfords and them early folk are pleased to tell us about the first thanksgiving and Plymouth Colony as a milestone in the freedoms derived by the conquering of a new continent with the help of divine intervention. {{ Don't believe it? Check this bit of revisionist history LINK-1.}}
.. What do contemporary  Wampanoag  peoples think about their history and their accident of birth? {{Check these links: LINK-2, LINK-3.}}
.. Is there some divine intervention that is directing the lives and circumstances of Parisians? How about the divine plan for the citizens of Mali or Malawi? What divinity plans the lives of those in Tibet, or Niger, or Turkey, or Syria, or Moscow?
-- Are we really thankful for the proxy war in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq? What divine plan is served in this accidental(?)  circumstance? 
.. Is there a divine plan to be thankful for in Chicago, Montreal, Atlanta, Bismark, or Spokane?
.. We're thankful for the accidents that brought us to backwater Montana. We are thankful to live in one of the most secure and safe places in one of the most secure and safe states in this republic.
.. We wonder at the accidents yet to come and the consequences of a growing world population in the face of changes to our planet. At some point Thomas Robert Malthus will again become pertinent. We won't be around then. But the fish should be. And folks will still be catching them. We're thankful for that thought.
.. Our planet is shrinking by the minute. Elbows are proliferating at an alarming rate. Soon, (not in our lifetime,) the accidents of birth, geographic location, and cultural revisionism will bring us into a truly world neighborhood. At that point we certainly will need some sort of intervention. Who will be the Elon Musk, Albert Einstein, Nicola Tesla, Nicholas Copernicus, of those looming times?
.. What divinity will rule the mythology of a world culture? What will Thanksgiving be celebrating in 200 years?
.. Today, we're going fish through the non-storm, . . . thankfully.

-------
PULLA LOAF

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Winter At Home

HIGH COUNTRY WELCOME
Just Like It Should Be
batten the hatches

-------
Message: NOAA-NWS-ALERTS-MT1253CC9805F8.WinterStormWarning.1253CCB5EBE0MT.TFXWSWTFX.9ff7ed19100b395fcd4c57df70a4ee42 from w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov
Sent:03:06 MST on 11-24-2015
Effective:03:06 MST on 11-24-2015
Expires:23:00 MST on 11-25-2015
*******

Event:Winter Storm Warning
Alert:
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM THIS 
AFTERNOON TO 11 PM MST WEDNESDAY... 
 
* LOCATIONS...BATTLE RIDGE PASS...BOZEMAN...BOZEMAN PASS... 
TARGHEE PASS...WEST YELLOWSTONE...BIG HOLE PASS...CHIEF JOSEPH 
PASS...DILLON...MONIDA PASS...ENNIS...NORRIS HILL...RAYNOLDS 
PASS...TWIN BRIDGES. 
 
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...3 TO 8 INCHES. 
 
* TIMING...SNOW WILL BEGIN ACROSS SOUTHWEST MONTANA THIS 
AFTERNOON. GREATEST IMPACT TO TRAVEL WILL BE TONIGHT. 
 
* IMPACTS...DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS WITH SLIPPERY ROADS AND 
REDUCED VISIBILITY IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ALONG WITH 
WIND CHILL VALUES CAPABLE OF PRODUCING FROSTBITE IN A SHORT 
TIMEFRAME. 
 
* WINDS...NORTHEAST 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH. 
 
* WEB PAGE: TO SEE A GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THIS HAZARD 
PLEASE VISIT OUR WEB PAGE AND CLICK ON THE DETAILED HAZARDS 
TAB.
Instructions:A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW AND WIND ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. FOR SPECIFIC ROAD AND TRAVEL CONDITIONS IN MONTANA...DIAL 5 1 1.
Target Area:
Beaverhead
Gallatin
Madison
-------

Monday, November 23, 2015

Might Make It

NOT THE TIME TO TRAVEL
Even With Good Planning
crowds and delays the norm
Proper British Queue
-------
.. Headed to the house for a TURDUCKEN  --  or some such. Big puddle between here and there. Caught a fish or two !!
-------
BREAD IN A HALOGEN OVEN  --  my my

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Elbows Aplenty

NEW SITE ROLLOUT
Amazing Record Stats
more buses for sure
THAT'S THE WAY OF IT
-------
.. Even from a great distance it is easy to follow the traffic and visitor load in Yellowstone National Park.
.. The modestly revamped Yellowstone National Park Website is fully modern and quite comprehensive. It is designed primarily for visitors and their current or anticipated visit. Navigation is nicely structured by the webmaster to show off the park. There are even seasonally adjusted topical headers and, the site index is nearly complete.
.. The fishing and fisheries science in the park section is reorganized with useful headers and links. The photos are mostly the same but they are larger.
.. Of course scattered around most pages are links to social media and other places to visit on line.
.. Whilst visiting the visitation statistics page we were not shocked to discover that so far this is a record year. Visitation is approaching 4,000,000 visitors.

AND SO IT GOES
.. Last week's news release notes that October was an unanticipated busy month and that a greater number of buses and tours have been using the park.
We're not too surprised.
.. With the change in weather patterns, lower fuel prices, and increased visitation from overseas we anticipate that this is the start of a trend.
.. Even now the neighbors are discussing when to visit and when not to visit Yellowstone National Park.
.. Both the time and date are important, (weather permitting.) For those of us fortunate enough to live nearby it's not a huge factor -- then again!
.. Europe, Great Britain  and other places have been shaken by the recent events and '#Je Suis Chien' and '#Je Suis Diesel' are making inroads across the bleeping social media.(LINK)
.. Even ISIS and ISIL messages are going viral on the east side of the pond. 'Tis a dangerous world that we live in.
.. Wind doth roil the water.
-------
ROMSEY ON TEST

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Monday, November 16, 2015

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

A Positive Response

FROM
SENATOR JOHN TESTER
Sometimes It Works
photo courtesy of Jon Tester
-------
.. We hope all those folks in Montana appreciate this response. This is as strong of a position paper as you will see in this day and age.

*******

Dear _________ ,
Thank you for contacting me about proposals to transfer federal lands to the State of Montana.  I believe that transferring our public lands will be harmful to our state's economy and our outdoor heritage.
Public lands are a cornerstone of Montana's way of life.  Outdoor recreation alone contributes $6 billion to our state's economy, and our ranchers and agriculture producers contribute billions more.  These lands are critical to balancing Montana's budget.
While Montana is strong fiscal shape today, the state can't afford to manage an additional 30 million acres of land indefinitely.  The federal government spends more than $400 million a year managing this land.  In addition these federal lands bring in  $50 million to Montana counties in the form of Payments in Lieu of Taxes and Secure Rural Schools.  And federal wildfire fighting costs routinely top out in the hundreds of millions.  Our state just doesn't have the resources to provide that level of support.
To fund that kind of management, Montana likely would have to sell off some public lands to pay to manage the rest.  And those folks that could afford to buy those lands wouldn't be regular Montanans, they would be wealthy out-of-state interests who would quickly put up "No Trespassing" signs on these lands.
 Federal management of these lands hasn't always been perfect, and there are plenty of areas for improvement.  That's why I worked with Montanans from all walks of life for years to craft my Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.  This bill protects critical wildlife habitat, requires the Forest Service to harvest 100,000 acres of pine-beetle infested timber, and guarantees access to public lands for recreation.  And it is why I supported a new Farm Bill that allows for expedited timber harvest on Forest Service land where there is strong on-the-ground support.
As we look to improve forest management, we need to make sure all Montanans have a seat at the table.  I will keep your views in mind as I continue fighting for public land management that works for Montanans.  Please don't hesitate to contact me again if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Jon Tester
United States Senator
-------
Comfort Food:   Mac 'n' Cheese 'n' Spam