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The Weather is not Boring

Willow and I spent much of the first half of December walking the hills around the valley on the Methow Wildlife Area. The state closed those lands yesterday for mule deer habitat til next Spring. We never did see a deer all the time we walked out there. We only saw a few birds. We did find some beaver dams and lodges and ponds but didn’t get to see the beavers.

It’s been a mixed bag of weather, that’s for sure. We started out with snow on the ground, thinking we would soon be cross country skiing but no, it rained. It rained inches! There has been flooding in the upper valley and severe flooding in other parts of Washington. We are fortunate here and just had some erosion on our driveway. The rain melted the snow and then we had lots of fog but also a couple sunny days. One day, we got just above the top of the fog. It was beautiful.

Now the hills are closed to us and it’s pouring rain, again. ‘They’ say we will start getting snow again on Thursday. Fingers crossed.

A Dog and Her Stick

Willow likes her sticks. Sometimes she throws them in the air and catches them or just has to chase them down again. Sometimes she likes me to throw them but mostly she entertains herself with them. She does like to make sure I can see her having fun. And she likes to make her sticks smaller as she plays with them.

Marimba Music!

Our local marimba musicians got together at the Grange yesterday to celebrate their music. There are two groups and they mixed and matched and played for two hours. Marimba is joyful music and there were lots of smiles and some singing too.

My, What Big Ears You Have

Mule deer honestly earned their name with ears that rival a mule’s. This small group of four to six does and fawns is often seen on our hill. And they see us. And they are not afraid. They know we, including Willow, will not harm them. In fact, one big doe, in the last photo, has been known to stomp her feet and act threatening to us. We give them a wide berth. This particular day, they were grazing around our parking area and not in any hurry to leave.

November Walks

November has been mostly gray but Willow and I have done a bit of walking in the hills anyway, searching for color and patterns in the landscape. That’s what I’ve been doing. Willow played with sticks.