Snow and Wind

 Photo by photographer Ken. W. Hall 

  Photo by photographer Ken. W. Hall 

 Photo by photographer Ken. W. Hall 

Yesterday was wonderful.  It was the first day without wind and there was plenty of sunshine.  Today is a different story.  The wind is strong and the skies are filled with clouds.  The high was twenty degrees which feels like just below zero.

The Madison river has gorged.  Ken took the above photo at the campground the day before it flooded.  The first photo is Ennis Lake at sunset.

There is more snow in the forecast for the weekend.  Looks like I will be spending lots of time in my studio and office.

 

Thanksgiving in Ennis

This is the coldest Thanksgiving I have ever experienced.  It was just below zero when we got up to put the Turkey on to cook.  The wind was already blowing and blew hard all day.  Factoring in the wind it felt as if it were 34 below.

Our dear friend finally arrived safely after being stranded for two nights due to closed highways.  He traveled  more than a thousand miles to be with his "family" bringing gifts of, love, joy, poetry and creative excitement.

As our extended family began gathering to share a Thanksgiving feast of delicious food and creative  fellowship, I reflected on the never ending list of things for which I am deeply grateful.  

We are blessed to live so closely connected to mother nature's ever changing landscape.  Her bounty of birds and animals drift in and out of our lives providing us with endless joy and entertainment.  Then there are those special moments when like magic Ken captures a blink of God's eye with his camera's lens to preserve and share.

I am deeply grateful for all our friends who lovingly support our creative efforts, admiring, purchasing and collecting our art.  They help us share the healing touch only God's creation can provide.

Ken and I are blessed to enjoy our small community along the Madison River surrounded by a growing family of friends that extends to all parts of the United States and beyond.

I am filled to overflowing with gratitude for life.

Thank you for being a very special part of mine.

Penny's Thanksgiving Gift

As token of my appreciation to all our friends and collectors I am offering a 10% discount on all purchases form now until December 31, 2010.  Use coupon code HOLIDAYS2010 at checkout here.

More Snow

It is just after 4:00 PM and still snowing.  It's been snowing since about 9:00 AM.  Above you are looking out the sliding glass door to our back porch.  The blur on the left of the photo is the ice on the glass.  It is about five degrees below zero.  Our high was three above when we got up this morning.

As you can tell by the photo that drift is rather deep.  It reaches the top of the porch and those trash can lids.  It is supposed to get much colder tonight.  I can feel it getting colder outside.  The windows are getting ice on them.

Our friend from New Mexico was due to arrive today for Thanksgiving.  He is enjoying an unscheduled stop in Pocatello, Idaho.  He stayed there last night and will stay again tonight since the roads have been closed all day and will continue until sometime tomorrow when the blizzard stops long enough for plows to go through.

This is quite a storm.

Another Winter Storm

Another winter storm is just now arriving after a day free of wind and snow.  It was three degrees when we woke this morning.  At 2:00 PM it was nine degrees. 

Right now it is just past 4:30, snowing and the wind is blowing.  Predictions are that our high on Thanksgiving will be below zero.

Thank goodness it is warm and cozy inside.  Time for another cup of hot tea.

Yesterday and Today

 Yesterday

Today

Yesterday we were busy preparing for the predicted storm.  Temperatures stayed in the low thirties most of the day.  The absence of wind was welcome as we rushed to complete our errands before the arrival of the arctic air.

Snow fell all day yesterday and continued into the night.  We woke this morning to ten degree temperatures and about four inches of snow.  

It continues to snow now.  They are predicting as much as twelve inches in town and two feet in the passes.  Temperatures are expected to drop to below zero with highs in the single digits the day before Thanksgiving.

The birds have been feeding all day long.  I filled the feeders twice.  

One of my friends further north reported three feet of snow.  I think winter is here to stay.

Then It Snowed

The snow arrived on Monday and fell off and on all week.  It was not too bad in town but out near the Fish Hatchery they got about four inches.

Temperatures were in the teens at night and the low to mid thirties in the day.  It snowed again today and more is expected for the next few days.

Winter is here.

A Visit To Yellowstone National Park

Photo by Ken W. Hal, title "Hebgen Jewels"

Photo by Ken W. Hall

Photo by Ken W. Hall

Photo by Ken W. Hall

Saturday we headed into Yellowstone National Park before it closed for the season on Monday.  It was amazing.  We were the only car at the entrance.  The few visitors we saw were out enjoying the park on foot.

There was a guy parked by the Madison Ricer sitting in his lawn chair reading a book.  There were kids playing with their dogs.  Fishermen were everywhere taking advantage of the sixty degree weather and soft gentle breezes.

The crows were missing the plentiful treats provided by the summer visitors.  The guy in the photo above was moving from widow to window looking for something to eat.  Still seeking attention and food when we returned to our car we shared a few seeds from our trail mix.

We were blessed to be one of the first visitors to enjoy the newly completed viewing station for Gibbons Falls.  It is breathtaking.  The sound of rushing water over the rocks is so powerful.

Photo by Ken W. Hall

The Natural World in its balance, form, color and dynamics is ever captivating and sometimes shocking. It is always in our face by some means. This morning, halloween,  I was in the studio when the door opened and Penny entered. "There is a big bird out there, get your camera!"

Having had Penny for spotter, guide and wife for sixteen plus years I know when she follows her intuition. It was happening again. With camera in hand ready for the "safari" to the front of the house I quickly set footsteps one after the other.

Low and behold, once again she connected me with a "natural happening". Perched on a limb in our "forest" in the front yard was a bird I witnessed on more than one occasion…the most recent in a bullet like flight at a speed barely able to capture in the blink of a human eye. The feathered rocket had tracked a bird in flight and was giving terminal chase to what was soon to become a meal.

It was our resident Sharp Shinned hawk, prey in talon sitting on our front grass patiently waiting for the capture to expire which it did in a very short time. By instinct the hawk bolted into a juniper tree to feast.

Some exposures were made through the living room window but with only blurred and non recognizable resolution. Knowing full well this was a rare and sacred moment I gently turned the door knob to the outside and quietly set a initial step onto the deck. Were eye to eye and soul to soul twenty feet apart…the hawk with its natural prey and I with a fistful of technology.

As the bird continued with laser surgical precision to feather by feather and flesh by flesh shred and consume the small bird I could sense its enhanced restlessness, knowing full well flight soon was to explode and the experience would be only a fleeting memory in the ozone. With several bursts of camera clicks and whirs there were images and the explosion of the hawk with tattered remnants of prey speeding in flash into the unknown of the future.

It was finished, over and done except for the graciousness of the Creator and the restless patience of the hawk. I stood there with technology in hand and food for my soul. With these I introduce you to my world of hawks, wisdom and expansion of experience.

- Photo and words by Ken W. Hall