Don't take your guns to town, son. Leave your guns at home, Bill. Don't take your guns to town.

Today was a series of outdoor adventures...

First, after my morning java, I went for a run. I was running through the meadow, near the pond where the owl was. I hadn't seen the owl for a few days, and just when I was thinking I would make it through that area without seeing wildlife, I heard this syncopated shrieking, and I looked up.

A freakin' hawk was dive-bombing me!

It was circling overhead, and then diving down to within about 5 feet of my head. It felt like she was inches away, and I was running with my arms over my head. That would have made a great picture, but unfortunately, it is hard to run with a camera.

After I got clear of her, I saw a white pelican come in for a landing on the pond. Pelicans are cool, sort of prehistoric-looking birds.

After I got back from the run, I grabbed India, and we walked over to see if the mad dive-bomber was still around. Sure enough, she was...





The pelican wasn't around, though.

Here is India in the meadow:


After that, we got on our bikes and rode over to the Co-op for lunch. I had fantastic jambalaya and a salad. We returned to meet "The Blinds Guy" to pick out window treatments for our house and the rental house. That took a couple hours. I had no idea there were so many choices for window treatments, nor that one could buy a modest motor vehicle for the same price as a housefull of window treatments. We did OK, though.

Once that was through, we took a hike up Sype Canyon with the dogs. It was beautiful.






After the hike, we went to Montana Ale Works for dinner. I had jalapeno cheddar ale soup and a pulled pork sandwich. It was really good. India and I discussed the fact that neither one of us has had a bad meal in Bozeman. After dinner, we went to the Leaf and Bean on Main for a coffee and listened to a guy play guitar and sing. He was playing original tunes, and I actually enjoyed it, which is saying something, because I can be a pretty harsh critic.

In other news, Nessie, the guy I had lunch with yesterday, and Bells, my childhood friend who now lives in the Bozeman area, actually know each other. They and their wives were in the same 6 week Lamaze class. Nessie & Mrs. Nessie had a baby girl December 14th, and Bells & Mrs. Bells had a baby boy December 31st. What a coincidence...

It was a great day. My legs are a little sore from running,, walking, biking and hiking, but it is a good feeling.

We are toying with the idea of renting a camper and heading up to Glacier. The camper would make it possible for us to bring all our critters along for the ride... I hope we are able to do it.
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The other day it rained, and then the sun came out.

Here are the obligatory rainbow pictures. Ho-hum, another gorgeous Montana scene. I couldn't get it all in one picture...

Do what I please, gonna spread the disease, because I wanna. Gonna call all the shots for the "No"s and the "Not"s, because I wanna.

That is a 646 pound catfish that was caught on the Mekong River in Thailand. That is also my wife's worst nightmare. Swimming in the ocean...no problem. Snorkeling with dolphins? No biggie. Giant rays? Fantastic. Nurse sharks? A-OK. None of that bothers her.

But ask her to dip a single toe in a murky river or lake, and she says, "Hell, no." She went to college on the banks of the Mississippi River (I go through the children's chant every time I have to spell that word...M-I-SS-I-SS-I-PP-I), and we often spent time on the Mississippi. We took a couple canoe trips, and contemplated renting a houseboat and kicking back... but she drew a very bright line... She Would Not Be Swimming In The River.

Why?

"Because there are probably huge, mutant, really creepy catfish down there. Nobody really knows what the hell lives there."

I guess she was right...

And now, I'm a little freaked out, just like when I lived in LA and used to surf, boogie board, body surf and swim in the ocean with utter impunity and very little thought of what I was swimming with... even though I frequently saw dolphins and an occasional whale in the water. But then I saw an aerial photograph of the beach in LA, with the little surfers bobbing in the water, and all around them, and underneath them, were hundreds and hundreds of Very Large Fish, Some Of Which Were Sharks. When you're alone, bobbing on your board between sets, you start to think of what is under you.

Whew. Guess we got out of the Midwest, and away from the dangerous murky rivers and giant, mutant freak catfish.

All we have to worry about now is the Supervolcano that is Yellowstone, pesky little grizzlies, wolves, mountain lions and the little known Killer Trout.

And, of course, rabbits.

Laugh, if you will, but those rodents have a vicious streak a mile wide.



Look at the bones! How do you think they got there?