98.25

TWO USA KIDS WIN

Kim For Gold

&

Gold For Bronze

youth dominates

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.. Not that it was a foregone conclusion but, Chloe Kim took Gold at the Winter Olympics.
.. She had the medal won by her second run and then, on her third, (victory lap,) run topped herself with a score of 98.25.

AMERICAN KIDS ENJOYING LIFE

.. Coming from behind, Arielle Gold, (age 21,) took the Bronze medal.
.. Two kids from America on the podium. Good Show!
.. We know next to nothing about the sport of snowboarding.
.. We do remember when there was a furor and uproar at Big Sky about the crazy kids on the slopes. We remember some stodgy old grumps wanting to kick them off the hill.
.. We also remember the first snowmobile aerial flip. It was done by one of our neighborhood kids. We took it as dangerously silly. That kid went on to make lots of money and traveled to see the world.
.. We can say simply that; the times, they are a changin'. From the looks of it the change is for the better.
.. These kids talk about having fun. They talk about being happy. They talk about a future with hopes and dreams beyond their sport, (LINK-1.)

TOO MUCH FUN AND A NEED FOR ICE CREAM

.. The neighbor kids cornered us a couple of weeks ago.
.. We were trapped in the Post Office vestibule and they strongly suggested that we deliver a post about Chloe Kim. We did, (LINK-2.)
.. It was a courtesy post for those kids. They assured us that Chloe would win the gold at the Winter Olympics - we smiled and extricated ourselves from their enthusiasm.

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.. The contemporary information explosion showed those neighbor kids that the possibility for gold existed: from right here in beautiful West Yellowstone.
.. So much "STUFF" jangling our gray matter. Faster, more in depth, more precise, more spurious, more fake, and certainly more overwhelming than the information networks that we grew up with.
.. Newspapers, radio shows, library books, etc. seem today,  pedestrian and futile. But then again the contemporary daily 'news' seems insignificant after a few hours or days.
.. Now we live by the moment and have not the time for understanding the bygone events that we no longer take the time to investigate. Have the lessons of history been relegated to the wastebasket? We wonder.

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THE TALE OF THE TAPE = YOUTH

.. So then, a kid from Southern California, born of immigrant parents, and female to boot, takes gold for the United States Of America in the home country of her parents. AND, the neighbor kids right here predicted it!
.. Not too long ago we would have known about it,  albeit in sketchy fashion, within a day or two. We would have been informed of the historicity of the event when the magazines came out.

COLLEGIAL CELEBRATION

.. Now, we knew it as it happened. We knew the accomplishment in near real time and, the electrons blazed around the world in near real time as well. It is wondrous to our synapses.
.. [[ Should you care to see the blazing abilities of this little kid just copy this URL and plunk it in your browser. >> https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/963240265669664773/vid/1280x720/d8hTP3jh1lCNNyIs.mp4 ]]

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.. It's sneaking up on our bed time. We posted once today so we will delay this just a bit and it will see the light of electrons in about 3 hours.
.. We'll sleep in and have a late breakfast before we enjoy the near record high temperatures forecast for the morrow.

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WALLPAPER:     HAPPY SHROVE TUESDAY

To A Stream Near You

ALL DAUGHTERS

All Sisters

all very invasive

MOTHER AND DAUGHTERS

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.. Parthenogenetic crayfish have hit ebay.
..You can bet that they will soon be in a stream near you.

LOCAL PICKUP ONLY

.. In a nutshell: these arthropods reproduce asexually, they are very successful, widely adapted, loved by aquarists, and found in wild populations around the world.
.. They are currently banned only in Missouri and Tennessee.
.. No wild populations have yet to be found reported in the United States.
.. Wanna' bet on the possibility? Wanna' guess where they are first to be discovered reported?
.. Fish eat crayfish. Large and small mouth bass love them. Big trout of all stripes devour them. These critters are named in the popular vernacular as "Marbled Crayfish."
.. Currently there is a scientific debate about their scientific name and classification.
.. Are they "Marmorkrebs," or "Procambarus fallax [forma] virginalis," or "slough crayfish?"
.. They were apparently discovered in the EVERGLADES in 1995 and taken to a pet fair.
.. They quickly made their way into the aquarist world and were given the name marmorkrebs, (which means marbled,) in Germany. Popular myth has them being discovered in Germany.
 .. These crayfish are apparently a 'natural' mutation, (who knows given the sewer that the Everglades is?) The academic question now arises: are they invasive or, just exotic or, just successful?
.. It's taken 20 years for folks in this part of the planet to become concerned. Now then, what to do?
.. Scientists, medical researchers, and taxonomists are having a field day with the critters and their asexual nature. Fisher folks have seemed rather blasé about it all.

RESOURCES

>> NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
>> Nature Ecology & Evolution
>> Science Friday
>> The Guardian
>> BBC World News
>> Nature (PDF)
>> Wikipedia
>>

..

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.. Another 'warm' day is on tap and the neighbors have already beat down the door for coffee and grits. They are off to visit the clouds of midges Between The Lakes.

SMALL LIGHT SPRUCE MATUKA

.. Morning is strictly a nymph and small streamer game.
.. In the bright sun of the early afternoon the snow flies seek perches in anything above the well trodden snow.
..Fisher Folks' ears are good landing places.
.. We'll see them later on.

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WALLPAPER:  RIB STEAK AND EGGS

Shrink Them Thar Hills

MIXED BLESSINGS

Give A Little

Take A Lot

secretary on a rampage

A VISION FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS?

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..With the shrinking of Bears Ears National Monument the Interior Department has ceded 250,000 acres back to the Agriculture Department.
.. This reversion removes resource  protection and allows mining, oil and gas exploration, timber production and, grazing on that chunk of land.

SMOKE 'EM

.. Last night, (at the Western Hunting & Conservation Expo,) Ryan Zinke signed an order that requires the federal government to closely coordinate its plans with state agencies and private landowners to ensure the vitality of wildlife corridors.
..  We do need the corridors to insure continued genetic health in terra-migrating species like the pronghorn on Yellowstone's northern range and the Northern Rocky Mountain Grizzly Bears.
.. Coordination is good. We'll see how this works out in the face of protestations from environmental groups and the states affected.
.. Zinke's plan would divide the U.S. into 13 geographic regions, (or maybe 11 or 10 ??)
.. This administrative change would reduce staff and is supposed to change the management focus to perceived unique environmental factors in place of the current state-based system. [[We suspect that there is very little in common between Corpus Christi, Texas and Winfield, Kansas.  How about Omaha, Nebraska and Libby, Montana?]]

THE PREVIOUS SUGGESTION

.. The new management zones ignore state boundaries and are supposedly designed to more closely match geographic areas with similar characteristics and management needs. [[MANAGEMENT NEEDS ??]]
..The governors of 19 western states are miffed. The bipartisan Western Governors Association sent a letter to Zinke on Feb. 1 asking for a delay on the plan.

TAILING LOOP PERFECTION

.. In the letter, the governors said that the association asked Zinke, in recent months, to consult them if he planned to reshuffle the regional management structure.
.. The governors said that Zinke had not consulted them on the proposed changes.  [[ Is this the kind of consultation specified in the order? ]]
.. The proposed plan is based on perceived geographic and environmental similarities.
.. Save for the greater Columbia River system and the Mississippi River mainstem there does not seem to be any concerns over riverine ecosystems or piscatorial sensitivity.
.. Most of this is grab bag shuffling and is part of the "Plan For The Next 100 Years" that Zinke is pursuing.
.. Most of this shakeup at Interior is flying under the radar due to the other higher profile shenanigans that are being displayed by both the Legislative and Administrative branches of our elected government. Did we really do this to ourselves?
.. We will have to pay close attention to this stuff. It seems half baked to us.

RESOURCES

>> Courthouse News Service
>> Associated Press
>> Washington Examiner
>> Federal News Radio
>> E & E  News
>> The Hill (1)
>> The Hill (2)
>> The Washington Post
>> Moldy Chum

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BISCUIT BASIN AT DUSK

.. Rode over to Old Faithful yesterday after rush hour. Pleasant journey with some of the neighbors.
.. No crowds. Traffic going the other way. Wildlife smiling for portraits. Clouds colored up for dusk.
.. Free cookies and apple cider at Snow Lodge. Observing the "Do Me" crowd with winter finery and furs. Didn't fish much. Oh well!
.. The warm continues. 'Twas 50°F in Bozeman and 35°F up here.
.. The pavement is creeping up through the snow and sledheads are using the alleys.
.. Skiers have taken to shanks' mare in town and, the sidewalks are nicely shoveled in front of the trinket stores and feather merchants.
..  The first pot of coffee smells inviting as does the air creeping in the open kitchen window. It's not yet Spring but the pretense is truly convincing.

THE FUZZY JOHN

.. We're currently in the midst of our winter gear maintenance rituals but, there is a rod and reel ready to go in our trusty horse.
.. The roads are clear, the clouds are scudding into view, the breeze is light and the fish are calling.
.. We hear them!

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WALLPAPER:   LEFTOVERS

Neighborhood Cruiser

ON OUR ROADS

It's A One Off

we would buy one

..

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.. With the introduction of the new Nissan 370Z roadster comes the one off 370Zki.
.. A great promotional vehicle for those of us that don't retreat to the lowlands for the white season.

TRADITIONAL SOFT HACKLE

.. On a more plebeian subject: it's tie-em-up time.
.. It's no secret that the soft hackle fly pattern is a favorite among our neighbors.
.. It's also no secret that our woods are full of Falcipennis canadensis.
.. This little bird is slow to flush and often will not get out of the way when hikers approach on a trail that they have claimed.
.. On rare occasions, (during nesting time,) we have picked up a wild spruce grouse hen and pointed her back to the woods when she wandered into a road.

BEAD HEAD SOFT HACKLE

.. These pudgy little birds provide us with the absolute best soft hackle feathers in the world  --  or at least in this part of the world.
.. Fool grouse or not we cherish these little ground dwellers.
.. They frustrate the true sporting mind when they jump up and flap twice and land on a branch. Hardly 'high sport' to blast them from a lodgepole pine at the distance of 6 yards.
.. We prize their rump feathers. They are nicely barred and come in all the right sizes. They wiggle enticingly in the water and, tie up easily. A double handful from Alice will last a couple of years.

Falcipennis canadensis:  PURE GOLD TREASURE

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.. Yesterday's light rain made mush of some of our streets and put a glaze on the ice of Hebgen Reservoir.

PICK A MIDGE - POKE A TROUT

..  This year the "mid winter thaw" started early and is unusually persistent. Save for next Tuesday, we will have mid day highs way up in the high twenties and low thirties.
.. With the upcoming ample sun and some sparse spittings of snow the neighbors will be digging the midges out of their ears.
.. Find those dark slow back eddy locations in the river. Sneak a little. Just dap the fly on each nose that you see.
.. Between the lakes on the Madison River and, down to Quake Lake the poor fish have no chance.

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.. The morning light is arriving a skosh earlier these days; no complaint here! We'll forego our mid morning nap and walk off the breakfast calories. It's just too nice out to tie a couple of dozen  --  right now.

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WALLPAPER:  HAMBURGER STEAK AND TATER

Give 'Em Hell Teddy

WORDS TO LIVE BY

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WALLPAPER:  ZANTE CURRANTS

What, Me Worry?

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

1L,  2L,  3L,  4L  5L.

Swamp Creatures

THE BEST WE HAVE

Just Ignore It All

the bard knows

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.. There is an old West Yellowstone adage: "Hire clowns: watch the circus!"
.. It's easy to be jocular as we ridicule Democrats. It's easy to be jocular as we ridicule Republicans. It's too easy to be amused by the tone of our national catharsis in the political arena.

SEMINAR ON SUCKING UP

.. There is enough blame to go around as our elected representatives, (of all stripes,) ignore principle, protocol, process, constitutionality, legality, and civility.
.. We should be outraged. We seem to be amused. There is an underlying seriousness about the circus playing out in Washington, D.C. All of us, (politically inclined or not,) should be paying close attention to the drama.

TAKE A PILL - IT'S OVER - YOU LOST

.. This comedy tragedy is not a footnote in future history books. This is several chapters  about the character of our constitutional republic and the rule of law.
.. This is about ass kissing and placing party above country.
.. This is about malfeasance of the finest kind.
.. This is about the pathology of power and it's ultimate consequences for our nation.

I'LL HAVE YOUR BALLS !!

.. Protestations from all stripes of the political spectrum demand that we examine the course of our nation.
.. Braggadocio and protestations within the current climate of our nation's capitol are too serious to ignore.
.. This, sad but true, is not politics as usual.  President Trump promised to "shake things up." We voted for that. We also voted for the sycophants and combatants that exist in the legislature.
.. This is most probably the result of emotionalism in the electoral politics of our moneyed campaigns.
.. We have gotten what we wished for. We have allowed ourselves to be swayed by money. It's the current American disease: money rules and that is it.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE RULES

.. It's most interesting for us to watch the pathological lairs from both sides of the aisle. They conform to the lair's code and do it so well.
.. Hell's bells, this was a code perfected by fisher folk in this part of the world.
.. Fly fishers themselves believe their own lies. Each and every fly tied by a fisher is the absolute best fly ever. That's why there are so many flies.

.. Each and every rod is the best and so, the reel, line, brand, river, boat, etc. We see it daily. It can almost be forgiven at the merchandising level.
.. It's the American Way = believe the others lies and avoid the thought process of doing it yourself. It's easy to do and, fly fishing has capitalized on it commercially.
.. The American electorate and fly fishers have this in common: they are lazy and subscribe to connoisseurship rather than becoming involved in the rigorous endeavor of intelligent exploration.
.. At it's worst the American electorate knows neither the facts nor the substance of our constitution and the law of the land.
.. At it's best the electorate accepts the word of the media, religion, club, social group or, divinity.
.. There are simple reasons for strident protestations. The bard knew. His play within a play shows it nicely.

.. In Washington, D.C. and, across our nation there are plays within plays that are strutting their stuff and being believed or, being giggled at.
.. Protest loudly enough and the substance of the protest is lost in the strident play of words and deeds. It's a sleight of hand and mouth that is being perfected and practiced before us.
.. We are of the belief, sadly, that both fishers and politicians will continue to behave more and more in the current manner.
.. The Romans did it, The Hittites did it, The Sumerians did it. The Chinese do it. The Russians do it. The Catholics do it. The Protestants do it. The Koreans do it. The French do it. Volkswagen does it. Carrier does it. Americans do it - perhaps best of all.

THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

.. They do it as it satisfies the ego. It is much more fulfilling to believe the good lie about oneself than to explore the world without rose colored glasses. No grains of salt in the American psyche, (or that of fly fishers?)
.. The lost art of truth telling makes for sorry choices. Pick the best lie and go on down the road.
.. Ask Orvis who makes the best fly rods. Ask Hardy. Ask Fisher. Ask your neighbor. It's all the same. Pick a lie and be happy in the self delusion.
.. Or, believe the Democrat on the tube, the Republican on the tube, Rachel Maddow or Sean Hannity  --  pick your lies and giggle as our national principles get washed down the toilet. At least you will know that you are the most correct of all the people in the world.

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.. Geeze it's warm. The ukulele strummers are having a hard time keeping their instruments in tune. The streets are turning into midday slush and the skiers have run out of the correct colors of wax.

PREGNANT SCUD

.. We will be treated to a couple more nights of cool temperatures and then even the night will be welcoming.
.. It's that time of year up here. This is the false Spring that has newcomers believing that our seasons match those of the lowlanders. HAH !!
.. Ice fishers are scoring with worms, maggots, hamburger, and pregnant scuds.
.. Down canyon, (in the regions around Four Corners,) the folks in Bozeman are taking advantage of the gentle weather and thrashing the Gallatin River waters to a froth. Very deep and very slow with a very sparse and very dark streamer will poke the best fish where it counts.

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WALLPAPER:  ALASKAN POLLOCK AND POTATOES