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WE ANTICIPATE 50's

Slept In To Digest

no best buy in town

WALLPAPER:  NEWS OF THE DAY

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.. Our local news cycle is not in sync with the rest of the world. The village "newspaper" happens weekly and extols the virtues of the high school kids and provides us with some wire service pap and a bit of city council shenanigans.
.. TV is a rehash of sensationalism delivered by talking heads. Nothing new there.

SNOW EATING DRIZZLE

.. The most current information about local events and the doings going on around town is posted on the bulletin boards at the Post Office and the grocery stores.
.. Sometimes the most up to date news is available on the posters in the shop windows. Keeping the eyes open provides excellent observational news, (i.e. the snowmobile crates arrived.) We can even see that the weather is warm and the drizzle is eating the little snow that we have.
.. Depending on the web weather sites we visit, we are headed for a week of warmer and wetter  -- so be it.
.. On the other hand, our village is small enough that even silent farts are reported in the clusters of the neighbors at the hardware store, grocery store, Post Office, and coffee shops.
.. In this, (our very own,) dark corner of town we have a bit of lateness built into our news gathering habits. The interwebs are full of delayed broadcast news -- we check it anyway. Our radio reception is poor for the Bozeman and Idaho Falls stations  -- we listen, sort of. Our shortwave set delivers "think pieces" and more rehash --  once in a while it is pertinent.

LUCKY CHAP

.. The Sunday New York Times arrives on Monday or Tuesday and we see it on Thursday or Friday as a gift from a neighborhood subscriber.
.. The Bozeman paper arrives a day late and must survive the elements coming up the canyon before it's delivered to the distribution points in convenience stores and such.
.. So, in the evening we pour over the available print media and in the morning we turn on the shortwave while we surf the net. It's an adequate  enterprise but seldom as fulfilling as we would like.
.. On this beautiful 'Black Friday' we've decided to #OptOutside.  Today is to be most gentle and damp. The snow is running down the drains, (that haven't frozen up yet,) and fish were encountered yesterday. Perhaps again today.
.. Seldom do we encounter moving prose or spectacular photography on the news sites that we click up on the computer screen. However, it happened this morning.
.. Should you have a spare minute; click on over to the BBC for a bit of both.

ORIGINAL WOOLLY WORM

.. Locally, hunting is replacing fishing for most of the neighbors. The gentle weather has demanded that the highest country is the destination at the moment. Snow cover for tracking elk is sparse and intermittent.
..  Unbeknownst to many fair weather fishers is the apparent fact that bugs live in the water all year.  The seemingly most active bugs, right now, are the yellow stoneflies and the caddis flies. Remember: fish have to eat -- so do the bugs. Fishing is a productive alternate pastime to slow hunting.
.. Mayhaps the fish will cooperate again.

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WALLPAPER:    OLD YELLER

Drip, Drip

TOO WARM ?

The Slush Forms

the fishes frolic

WALLPAPER:  DA HAM

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.. We have seen it this warm this late. Not often. A bit of drizzle and some light overcast is the order of the day. The recent snow has turned to the consistency of a melting snow cone.

THE LITTLE CARROT SHOULD DO

.. Our trusty horse still has some mud from the last foray into the wilds. We'll wash it when we get back - the car washes close on the first.
.. Dinner is ready and the neighbors are bringing the kids. Should be delightful. Maybe even some football?
.. The false dawn is about done and the coffee needs finishing. We are headed to the small tributary of Notellum Creek before it freezes.

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WALLPAPER:  AU GRATIN POTATOES

WALLPAPER:  DA PIE

Detour

OUR STRANGENESS

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OOPS !!

KEYSTONE PIPELINE

just click on it

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Wrap It Up

THE LATE SEASON

Runner Region

some keep score

WALLPAPER:  ACCESS FOR CATCHING

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.. During the terminal weeks of fishing and catching in Yellowstone National Park one bit of the Madison River is very busy.
.. Runner fever infects even the most surly of fishers from near and far. Body temperatures rise. Blood runs rapidly. Dances on tiptoes break out frequently. Wild gesticulations of arms, legs, heads, and bodies abound.
.. One of our neighbors, (poor fellow,) is afflicted each year. He even keeps score and has a detailed log of his catches. We have convinced him to allow us to post his follies for this last year.
.. We promised to do it after the park closed to fishing and to visitors.

ACCESS POINTS

.. Here it is with his stipulations, (map above.) Only general areas are shown for the numbers of runners taken, (white numbers.)
.. No specific river locations are shown in detail. Access points that he uses are shown with a cartoon "A."

BAKER'S HOLE BUGGER

.. This note is not meant to show the density of the runners. It is not meant to show the most productive areas for catching. It is just a visual chronicle of a single neighbor and his catches of runners this last year.

SKINNYTUKA

.. He, (like us,) avoids elbows on the water.
.. He is plugged into both the establishment fisher network and the neighborhood jungle drums, (unlike us.)
.. He fishes nearly every day, (before, during, and after work.) Shame on him.

WOOLLY BUGGER

.. Young and strong as he is, he avoids the most difficult of access points to the water.
.. Even as a youngster he has discovered that that not all the latest and greatest flies are winners.
.. His most successful flies are the Woolly Bugger, the Skinnytuka, Baker's Hole Bugger, and King Prince Nymph.

KING PRINCE

.. We know that more than 75 fish of heroic size in three or four weeks does stretch credulity. We believe it.

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.. So, it's late and today we may be able to skulk along the shore of the South Fork of the Madison River.
.. There are both big, sex crazed fish from Hebgen Reservoir and, some nice spunky residents to be visited.
.. The willows are thick, the snow is coming down, the visitors are few and, neighborhood elbows nearly missing.

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WALLPAPER:  STRAWBERRIES SWIM IN SYRUP

REMEMBER

The Other Season

NO LONGER TRUE

'Round The Calendar

apace with growth

WALLPAPER:  UP ON THE ROOF

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..Not too long ago we would say there were just two seasons in town: "winter and construction."
.. Over the last ten or twelve years the pace of construction has accelerated to a frenzy trying to keep up with demand of visitation.
.. Old buildings are being renovated into rental and motel properties. New buildings are popping up on the previously scenic vacant lots = the trees in town are vanishing.
.. Now we have a labor shortage for the service sector. Partly aggravated by the poor wage scale and lack of adequate housing.
.. Of course the plutocrats and oligarchs could care less as long as the visitors spend money, accept shoddy service, and need only be served once.

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.. Reminds us of a song:

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When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the roof, it's peaceful as can be
And there the world below can't bother me
Let me tell you now

When I come home feelin' tired and beat
I go up where the air is fresh and sweet (up on the roof)
I get away from the hustling crowd
And all that rat-race noise down in the street (up on the roof)
On the roof, the only place I know
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let's go up on the roof (up on the roof)

At night the stars put on a show for free
And, darling, you can share it all with me

I keep a-tellin' you

Right smack dab in the middle of town
I've found a paradise that's trouble proof (up on the roof)
And if this world starts getting you down
There's room enough for two
Up on the roof (up on the roof)
Up on the roo-oo-oof (up on the roof)
Oh, come on, baby (up on the roof)
Oh, come on, honey (up on the roof)

Everything is all right (up on the roof)

Songwriters: Carole King / Gerry Goffin

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.. Can we really be that old? Do you really need to be from New York, NY to understand it all?
.. We'll roll over and remonstrate with the universe. We'll also recuperate from a touch of pneumonia and the flu.

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WALLPAPER:  SUGAR CRUSTED RHUBARB CUSTARD PIE

Fruit In Bread

PERUVIAN VARIETY

Not A Fruit Cake

an italian gift

WALLPAPER:  PANETON  -  NOT PANETTONE

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.. Straight from Peru. This is Paneton. The Italian version is Panettone. Mention of the Italian bread stems from 1470 and it's history as a special bread can be traced to Roman times.
.. It has way too many eggs and way too much butter and way too much liquore.
.. Although recipes vary both locally and internationally the breads are similar enough to be recognizable when presented and eaten. The spelling is interesting in the Peruvian variety.
.. A small international uproar has been brewing lately between the bakers in Peru and those in Italy. The Italian bakers claim that the Peruvian version is bogus and needs to conform to Italian baking standards. The folks in Peru note that the bread was initially imported and locally made by Italian immigrants and is just as authentic as any from Italy.
.. We like them both and usually make a modified Italian version in tall coffee cans or short porcelain casserole dishes. They all are delicious and are best served with soft butter spread thickly on both sides of each wedge shaped slice.

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.. Yellowstone National Park has closed the west entrance road due to our 18" of snow. Officially the entrance will close tomorrow.
.. There is still good to excellent catching on the Madison River and Madison Arm Estuary. Snowmobiles are recommended.

CARRY IT

.. The South Fork of the Madison River is showing pods of very large fish in the estuary. Some of the giant fish have made it up to the old power line road.
.. This group of runners is on time and perhaps a week early. The roads are still open but snowmobiles are highly recommended.
.. Bear spray is required as elk guts are being happily consumed by the local bruin population.
.. Sledheads who fish are using long stout leaders and short casts from the shore.

STANDARD FARE

.. Let a lightly greased dark streamer slowly sink in the gentle current. Mend the line and leader a couple of time and then pull the fly under water. Slow jerky retrieve at the end of the drift near the shore.
.. We've said it before and say it again now: this is the most productive runner fishing in the neighborhood. Visitors don't appreciate snow and, local guides and counter help are busy telling stories and keeping warm near the fire in the pub.
.. Many large rambunctious fish + low traffic + light pressure = many dances per hour.

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.. It's bright overcast. It's late morning. We used our extra hour for some shut-eye. Breakfast was large and filling. The good neighbor sled vendor has a snow machine waiting. Off we go.

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WALLPAPER:   FOR THE NEIGHBOR'S KIDS

Augmented Fruit

WALLPAPER: AVOCADO TOAST