Anticipation

UKESTERS ARRIVING

Big Doin's In Town

plastic, wood strums

WALLPAPER:   UKULELE FEST IN WEST YELLOWSTONE

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GREEN PLASTIC

.. We never knew that there were so many ukulele players in our neighborhood. There are plastic, waterproof, wood, coconut, and metal ukuleles. Who knew.
.. Visitors are coming from miles around: even from foreign countries like Idaho and Bozeman.
.. The celebrities are firmly ensconced in luxury accommodations and strolling around  -  with the little guitars  -  or whatevers.

BROWN PLASTIC

.. In two days the strumming and plunking will echo in our village. Maybe the visitors will serenade the dusty aisles of the feather merchants that are still open. Could wake them up.
.. The big event starts on "Groundhog Day Eve," (February 1, 2018) and, concludes on Groundhog Day, (February 2, 2018.)
.. If, and only if, the concertmaster sees his shadow before noon on February 2, 2018 there will be two more months of winter.
.. If, and only if, he does not see his shadow on February 2, 2018, then there will be two more months of winter.  Hey, we're here in West Yellowstone.

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CUTE_n_FUZZY

.. Aha, brief break in the snowfall: warming up, more to come, nice wet and heavy snow, can even make a snowman  -- bring it on.
.. Just enough time to visit the grocery store and the Post Office to catch up on the rumor mill.
.. We'll let you know.

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WALLPAPER:    BREAKFAST SERVICE

In Eleven Days

SHE'S THERE

The AP Found Her

girl on the 1/2 pipe

..

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The neighbor kids reminded us.

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WALLPAPER:   VANILLA ICE CREAM PLUS

Small Update

NEW OWNERS

New Signs

less feather merchants

FEATHER MERCHANTS OF WEST YELLOWSTONE

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NEW SIGN IN TOWN

.. The recent amalgamation of feather merchants in our little village requires a new map.
.. We figure that a town with twice as many pubs as fly shops and, more fly shops than churches deserves it's very own map.
.. Click on the map to see original and then save it to wherever you like.

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.. The snow is coming back this afternoon.  It's going to be warm enough to bring us another dump of the wet stuff rather than the dry stuff.
.. Breakfast was early and there's time for a quick dash to NOTELLUM CREEK ESTUARY. The midges are swarming in the morning sun. Off we go.

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WALLPAPER:  OVEN BBQ RIBS - YUM !

SELL IT !!

LAND FOR FREEWAYS

Our G'munt At Play

rural vs. urban  ??

MONTANA'S  GIFT  TO  AMERICA

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.. The leaked presidential infrastructure plan is available on line. We're hoping it really is  just a draft with talking points only.
.. View the Fact Sheet PDF Here - 1.  View the Funding Principles Here - 2.
.. Below we've highlighted an interesting obnoxious shitty way to fund the bridges, water supplies, roads, airports, electrical distribution, and other bits of our crumbling infrastructure.

AMERICA'S GIFT TO THE WORLD

.. We're quite sure that there will be much pork to be consumed across the nation in celebration of the proposal.
.. We anticipate that the proposed federal contributions to the projects will go up and that the proposed private contributions will go down.
.. We do need help for our dated and obsolete infrastructure: no question about it.
.. We also need the adults in the room to take a stand on the way we go about the help. We question weather a philandering con artist and dime store cowboy have the answers that America needs.

RESOURCES

>> AXIOS
>> CNBC
>> FOX BUSINESS NEWS
>> MOLDY CHUM

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.. We've had some snow in dribs and drabs and the high country is piling up nicely. The temperatures have been moderate and seasonal or, slightly on the less cold side.
.. Even the neighbors with legs that wobble less than ours have been out in the real world of catch - release - and - brag.

RIGHT SIZE SMOKER

.. Winter fishing pressure from visitors has slowed over the last decade or so and now there are two feather merchants completely closed up.
.. Catching success has been mixed. Ice fishers are stocking up on 'smokers,' (Mountain Whitefish,) while stream fishers are still pestering spawners from the rivers.
.. Should you happen to know where Indian Creek joins the Madison River you might easily take a fish every 10 minutes.

A PINK FEATHER DUSTER

.. Both trout and mountain whitefish use the lower reaches of this ephemeral creek and hang out until Spring around it's mouth.
.. Our ice rink is slick and fast, the town roads are in excellent shape, trinket and T-shirt shops are open and, visitors are strolling the walkways. The only hazard in town is the skiers who insist on walking six abreast in the road - such is life.

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.. It's early and we're having a midlife morning so perhaps we'll shovel in the dark, warm our buns by the stove, contemplate the universe and have an early breakfast. Or, try to get a couple of hours of shuteye.

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WALLPAPER:  RIB STEAK AND EGG

Nine More Days

WINTER DIVERSION

First Annual

we'll see the stuff

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Who knows what's up?

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WALLPAPER:   BEST RAMEN

Don't Try This At Home

GO CHLOE GO

Neighbor Kids Stoked

very young superstar

CHLOE:  AN AMERICAN OLYMPIAN

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.. The neighbor kids waylaid us at the Post Office door. "You need to post about Chloe," they said.
.. "Who?" "Huh?" we replied. An education was in the works from our snowmachine dominated youth culture. Even the skiers were stoked. Other folks gathered in the crowd-blocked doorway.
.. They educated all of us old farts in the small crowd that they had created.
.. So we ambled home and looked at the You Tube videos. "SPIFFY STUFF INDEED."
.. A perfect score at age 15!

..

.. Going to the Olympics at age 17!

..

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WALLPAPER:  FRENCH OMELETTE AND HAM

We Gots Guns

T & T & P

DONALD TRUMP JUNIOR

ALEKSANDER TORSHIN

TRUMP AND TORSHIN
AND MARIA BUTINA 

WAYNE La PIERRE

WAYNE AND DON

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So there you have it.

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WALLPAPER:  HAM AND EGGS

"ALL HAT"

AND UNDERNEATH ?

All Rod & Reel

bull riders don't brag

World Champion Charles Sampson At Bonnet Palace Dallas

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.. The poseur is a great mimic. BIG hat or FANCY rod. Snake skin boots or $500 reel. We have a few of each in this little village. We also have the real McCoy.
.. The night clerk at a local convenience store took home the bronc rider buckle at last year's rodeo.

OUR BANK PRESIDENT

.. A couple of trinket store clerks have creased jeans, new boots and dime store chrome belt buckles. They wear big hats and tell the visitors wonderful stories.
.. Our local bronc rider will pump your propane with a smile and show you where the potato chips are. Next customer.
.. The stories floating in the aisles of feather merchants are entertaining: full of hubris and hyperbole. They sell things.
.. Our neighbor at the bank continually takes giant trout on a fly. She doesn't say much about it. But we know and, it surfaces in normal daily conversations.

NEIGHBOR HAS BEEN FISHING !!

.. There are a couple of working ranches in the neighborhood and there's no question about who works them.
.. There are old trucks that have a gun rack, (with rifle and rod,) and, fly gear on the front seat. They go fishing constantly.
.. It's hard for us to get our head around the reasons for the pretense. We see it and wonder. Is there any authenticity about the image? Who knows these deep things?

NICE HAT

.. Self aggrandizement is rampant in our society and we, (in general,) are happy to believe it rather than call it out. Such a state of affairs!
.. Winter time is a good time to cogitate about these mysteries.

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.. Warm today and snow tomorrow. The neighbors went out early. They're back now and at the job. Tonight about dark thirty the fish will be hungry. We'll dance with them if they are willing.

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WALLPAPER:    
Spaghettini, Salchicha ‎Ragú, Parmigiano Reggiano

The Mind Wanders

WINTER SOLSTICE

Oh So Soon

now: the ineffable

WALLPAPER:  NOT FLIES

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.. In just four days the winter solstice will be upon us. How now? Here, in the high country, it does not pass unnoticed.

SOME STICKS

.. Despite our love of this little village and it's setting in winter  we do have a little more time for the things that require less mobility and activity.
.. Our skiing days are fast coming to an end. Ice fishing no longer calls us. Bar hopping sends way too much money to the sewage lagoon. Wood chopping and splitting does take some time though. Moving the white stuff is also required.
.. Reading, right now, is not the luxury that is in the warmer times. It is a habit long nurtured and cherished. While we are reading there are things that come to mind. Between passages, paragraphs, chapters, and books, the ineffable claws to the surface of consciousness.
.. Nameless and ethereal bits poke from the fog of the synaptic jungle between our ears. On occasion thoughts form. Infrequently ideas are pondered. Time disintegrates and is not missed or noticed.

SOME EMBELLISHMENT

.. The mental whirlwind slows to the reality of perception, desire, regret, volition, purpose, needs, or other base bits of our existence.
.. Winter is good for pondering the ineffable. It is that transcendent substrate that psychologists and other behaviorists seek to codify. Codifications end with the "name it and, nail it syndrome."
.. Just as if assigning a name in some way imparts understanding - HAH! Would that it were so. The open ended ambiguity of words plagues the conscious mind and verbal speech. Humpty Dumpty knew this: why don't political pundits and psychologists? The words need definition  --  and then some.

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

.. So: beyond words or, beneath words or, without words there is this mental stuff that, (on occasion,) comes near to being perceived. Winter is a good time for this in our high country.
.. One deep bubble recently burst into reality, (of sorts.) The thought formed with a surprisingly vivid presence. Perhaps there are fish to be caught in other reaches of our globe.

PICK A PLUG

.. Perhaps there are warmer places during the winter time. Perhaps they will take a fly. Perhaps they will take a worm. Perhaps they will come to the surface. They may even  fly through the air and put a trout to shame. Could it be?
.. Then, perhaps there is stuff other than flies and worms that fish will eat. Could it be?
.. The thought moved toward an idea. The idea seemed to embellish itself. The embellishments became images and flickered into a movie.
.. Roads, mountains, prairies, deserts, trees, oceans and rivers. Such was the vision that emerged from the ineffable æther in the gray stuff beneath my balding pate.
.. Perhaps Florida, San Diego, Corpus Christi, Louisiana, Mexico, New Zealand, or other places.  Perhaps!

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WALLPAPER:  DEVIL'S FOOD - CREAM CHEESE - CHERRIES

Give Me Your . . .

WELCOME TO TODAY

The World Watches

we have done it

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS

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 .. Liberty Enlightening The World is the name of the statue. It was given to the United States by the people of France, and was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
 .. Emma Lazarus (July 22, 1849 – November 19, 1887) was an American Poet. Lazarus was born into a large Jewish family, the fourth of seven children of Moses Lazarus and Esther Nathan.
.. Inscribed on a plaque is the final stanza of her sonnet entitled the 'NEW COLOSSUS.'
.. The sonnet was written in 1883 and donated to an auction, conducted by the "Art Loan Fund Exhibition in Aid of the Bartholdi Pedestal Fund for the Statue of Liberty" in order to raise funds to build the pedestal.

NEW COLOSSUS

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

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WALLPAPER:  LEMON CURD TURNOVERS

Stealth War Emerges

IT TAKES TIME

No Superficial Reads

our earth is complex

NOT IN THE HEADLINES

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.. Just as a trophic cascade takes a considerable amount of time in both plant and animal communities; so too does the environmental repercussion of societal and political decisions.
.. Most folks believe that if there is no immediate effect from political behavior there will not be any at all. Our society is rooted in instant gratification and, this mentality permeates a wide spectrum of belief.
.. The introduction of the wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 is still being felt today. Hunters and ranchers bemoaned the immediate result of fewer elk and their predatory behavior on domestic livestock.
.. The cascade effect is ongoing with the resurgence of beavers, willows, and aspen trees. There are both 'immediate' and long term results. This will continue for some time to come.
.. The supporters of our current administration say that the sky has not fallen given the 'immediate' results of political decisions and rule making. Therefore, (they say,) it's not as bad as they were led to believe.
.. Of course not. Those folks have no concept of the intertwined nature of our planet's ecosystems. If it hasn't happened this week  -- THEN it probably won't happen. Yippee Shit: we can ignore the decisions and behaviors of the administration.
.. It does take a certain semblance of intelligence, education, and concern for the future state of our environment to appreciate a trophic cascade or a political cascade.
.. Be you a Fisher or, a Hunter or, a Tree Hugger you are under siege by a stealth war. If you are an industrialist, real estate developer, energy company, or extractive tycoon; you have been given your dream of instant gratification.
.. American business defines long term planning as results for the third quarter. A political cascade takes longer to manifest itself. Woe be us come the third decade. [[ As an aside; there is even some lend/lease debt from WWII still outstanding.]]
.. Fixing, (should we choose to,) will be a monumental task. It will be beyond the resources of any single nation: especially our nation with a giant debt.
.. Commercial fishers have some idea of the impacts of over fishing and the length of time it lasts and the time it takes to partially recover.
.. However sport fishers enjoy the non indigenous species that proliferate all across our nation. "Hey, y'all, lookee here at the big fish!" The impacts of the trophic cascade in this arena are ignored by most sport fishers. Just catch 'em while on vacation.
.. We, here,  are in the minority. We have no advertisers to placate. We have no trinkets to sell. We have no giant ego or cute phraseology to bolster this little newsletter.
.. We only have a vested interest in gentle wanderings in the woods and meadows and an occasional fish to catch. We have, over the past 50+ years seen changes that are the result of decisions long gone and applauded.
.. The changes are interrelated and a combination of the environmental, social, political, cultural, and educational milieu that we partake of. Some we like some we don't. They will continue as our society continues our paradigm of short term gratification;  well into the future.

RESOURCES 

>> Short read with headlines,
>> Detail of ongoing stealth attack, (longer - PDF.)

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.. Getting a good dump of the white stuff. It has fair moisture content and is building up nicely. It's warm enough to fish a little and maybe catch some - if we can avoid the sledheads.
.. Some visitors are firmly ensconced in the few soft chairs in the dusty aisles of a couple of feather merchants. Many neighbors are gathered around barrel stoves telling stories. Time enough to shovel some and take a nap.

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WALLPAPER:   Strawberry Crêpes For Brunch