New Year Sunrise

Photo by Ken W. Hall

Photo by Ken W. Hall

Photo by Ken W. Hall

I love the sunrise and sunsets this time of year.  They are spectacular.  Ken captured these this morning.  It was something beautiful to behold.

The wind was blowing so hard Ken had difficulty keeping the camera still.  Our weather is so mild it feels more like spring than winter.  It was forty degrees when we woke and is forty-five degrees now.

Well, back to my studio.  I am having fun staining new pieces today.  This is when they begin to come alive and take on their own personality.

Just Some Local News

Photo by Penny Hall

Ken and I love Mexican food.  We were delighted when the new Taqueria Las Palmitas arrived this winter.  It is authentic Mexican cooking at affordable prices.  We are encouraging all our friends to support them this winter.  We would love to see them thriving this summer.

Speaking of summer there are plenty of residents dreaming of summer.  The ice jams on the Madison River caused police to notify residents near the river to be prepared to evacuate.

Highway 287 south flooded again yesterday as deep as eighteen inches in some places but was clear today.  Heavy winds are bringing warm temperatures and moisture that will begin as snow then turn to rain.  This could cause more flooding.

Returning from the grocery store today I was stopped by the highway patrol at the highway intersection.  They were cautioning people not to travel 287 south of town due to high winds and blowing snow making visibility zero.

Friends of ours live in that area.  They reported being snowed in due to major snow drifts.  A snow plow made way for them to get out and in a short time later the drifts were four feet deep and they were once again unable to leave home.

The high today was twenty-eight.  Tomorrow it is expected to reach as high as thirty-eight.  What strange weather patterns this winter.

Where did the week go?

Photo by Ken W. Hall  Title: Christmas Rush Hour...Downtown Ennis, Montana USA

Photo by Ken W. Hall  Title: Free Lunch

 

 

Wow, time flew past this week.  I just realized I had not posted any new pics so here are some we took this past several days.

Tuesday before Christmas Ken caught a quick shot of the hustle and bustle in Ennis.  The next morning he caught this local deer helping himself to the birdseed.  No wonder we are going through a fifty pound bag so fast.

We took one day to circle the lake just as the sun was setting.  That is my snapshot. 

Then on Thursday we headed to Bozeman to pick up Ken's artwork that was on display at the Co-Op all month.  I got this shot of our valley from Norris Hill.

The weather has been warmer than usual for this time of year.  Today it was forty but is expected to drop down below zero again the early part of next week.

The River is Back

Winter finally released its icy grip on the Madison River this week. Ken and I were out yesterday walking its banks when we came upon a lone fisherman pleased to finally find openings along the banks.

It seems my winter has been focused on the river. I did not realize how much I missed watching it flow and hearing its soothing sounds. It is great to see the ducks and eagles once again feeding off the river’s bounty.

It was sixty-one degrees yesterday. When we returned from our river journey we enjoyed a cup of hot tea outside on the deck and talked with a friend. Today I have a sun and wind burned face. It feels so good.

I noticed some of our trees are budding.

New Snowfall

We woke this morning to a new blanket of beautiful snow.

Ken and I walked to Lions Park to investigate the changes in the river. It was so peaceful.

Along our journey a pair of doves greeted us from high above in an evergreen tree.

Ken was busy taking over one hundred images.

Standing there watching and hearing the river flowing again made me realize just how much I had missed it this winter.

It was 14 degrees when we went to bed last night and this afternoon it was in the forties.

Could spring really be just around the corner?

Breaking Ice

Ken and I rushed out to enjoy the sunshine before the wind became too strong to enjoy it. We decided to go to Ennis Lake to see if it was beginning to melt.

Temperatures have been in the teens to twenties in the mornings and between the mid thirties and high forties in the afternoons. It has been an unusually mild February.

When we arrived at the lake we discovered several ice fishermen. Near the bridge the lake is peeking through the ice and slowly creeping toward the area where the men are ice fishing.

As we rounded the lake and headed back toward town we saw amazing ice formations. Ken spent quite some time walking and shooting. Here is a shot of him and one of my favorite discoveries.

I can’t wait to see what kind of images he captured today.

Soaring At Ten Feet Elevation

Ken just emailed me this photo he got the same day of my last post. Here is what he had to say about the image:

"Soaring at ten feet elevation I was transformed between worlds. Is it this planet, another planet or another universe? With the feeling I have it really does not matter."



Like I said before, the ever changing river in winter is an amazing sight to behold when the river gorges.





Photo by Ken W. Hall, title: Soaring at Ten Feet Elevation

A Change in the Gorging

Temperatures continue to remain above normal for this time of year. The highs are in the mid thirties and the lows are in the teens.

We feel like it is springtime.

I thought you might like to see how the river changes as the gorging begins to change.

If you are a fisherman you may know of Burnt Tree fishing access. I took this photo there this past week.

As you can tell the ice is between three and four feet thick.