Discovery Under God's Scottsman Peak

It is always good to have a friend along when one discovers something about oneself. This was a cool early spring day in March 2007, out taking one of the first hikes on the season near Mineral Point. Sadie and I had lunch at this spot viewing the smooth waters and the views to the east towards Scotsman's Peak from Mineral Point. We were about an hour and a half from the Highlander and in starting up hill for the hike back I could go no faster than half speed. I did not feel bad, nor ill just a bit funny? I could not move any faster than half speed. I sat down to give myself more time and then started up again , at half speed. I thought, am not going to get back to the car sitting so at half speed I walked back to the car taking three hours instead the expected hour and a half. Well to make a long story short the doctor said I have atrial fibrillation which is an irregular heart beat, not a heart attack. And, o by the way you are also a pre- diabetic and let's talk. Now it took me three doctor visits for them to determine the "fib" thing because my heart would not cooperate with the ekg. Only when I felt funny one day and in calling the nurse she told me to get in there pronto so they could hook me up. I did and finally that is what they found.


The consequences of this effort had mixed results which for six months I attempted to reverse. When one is diagnosed with "the fib" and the doctor stated that I am now 9 percent more prone to getting a stroke so he has to put me on blood thinner therapy and keep me there for at least a year until I demonstrate with medicine that I will not "fib" any more. I thought this was OK for awhile until I sustained a nose bleed one wintery December night that would not stop. I ended up in the emergency room during a blizzard under which my wife demonstrated her superior driving skills. Doctor said this would require surgery if I happens again because where the weakness is he cannot cauterize.


What is the take home message here? Just like being careful what one prays for, so should one be careful with how hard one should seek diagnosis. With liability the way it is, doctors will not take chances and if you want them to care for you ,be ready for them to lock you down! Fortunately my doctor had confidence in my telling the truth when I say I "fibed" and he aggreed that I was a good canditate for getting off of the warferin. Having completely tracked my diet for a year, loosing 22 pounds, and excercising regularly helped do that. Today I am warferin free but still taking the heart regulating medicine which if I overdose on or take without food will make me into a zombe.

What do these pictures have to do with my learning path you say? I will tell you. The first picture is my buddy, Sadie, who is sitting on a ledge on Mineral Point from which the next photo was taken of the Cabinet Range to the east containing Scotsman Peak- highest peak in the middlebackground. The next two photos are some proof that I did survive under the medicines prescribed and still was able to beat the brush, measuring trees and helping people tend their "tall gardens". The picture chronology is discovery in April, through summer to October 2007, thense (surveyor talk) November where I added to the crew working in the same area. They all have Scotsman Peak although a bit camoflaged in them, the first in the clouds just to the left of the tallest tree, and the second through the larch tree crown upper left corner.
The big bright picture of Scottsman Mountain is a telephoto shot taken from a subdivision in Algoma just south of Sagle. While taking a walk one wintery day I happened to look east and there it was applified by the snow and alighned in the middle of the slot between Gold Mountain to the north and Grouse Ridge to the south. Hard to see in the summer when the haze is more pronounced.

The picture of my wife and I contains Scottsman Peak located just above her and was taken in March of 2008 during Easter sunrize with two other discoveries of the year namely our new neighbors whom we are most grateful for them being there. Scottsman peak is right below the wingtip of Sandpoint Seaplane and is one of the first rides provided by a brand new company in Sandpoint. The pilot is from Alaska and is looking for renote lakes in the Inland Northwest to take people. The whole family went on this trip and came back throughly charged. I guess a discovery point here is that it is a wonderfull feeling to help other people get settled in this now our God's Country.

The Catch of the Night

I walked out of the house last evening with Sadie to pick up the mail and while trolling back to the house look what I caught or maybe it caught me. This looks like a Blue Winged Red Quill Dun Mayfly. If Someone knows any better please let me know? There is more. This little guy let me photograph him at any angle my hand could contort to and it was quite a trip. According to the book Hatch Guide for Western Streams the fly patterns that may emulate the little critter are the SRI CDC Emerger – Brown, the Parachute Dun, and Comparundum. Guess I will try to ty the latter two. There is more. But not having much experience with drafting these type of documents I need to fill this space with busy words so that I can insert additional pictures gracefully if that is possible. Look at this design. Do I really think this little critter happened by chance? Look at all the parts that could go wrong. It is plainly evident that some intelligence designed this through time changing some things to adapt to different environments but the prototype had to have had all of the parts to start functioning. What do you think?

Lunch in the Woods

I was walking down this truck trail into this clearing looking for a place to have lunch. I had just measured 4 timber plots and was getting hungry. As I was about to sit down on the edge on the tree edge you are viewing, I heard a grunt- growl behind me up slope 200 yards. This caught my attention when I heard another similar noise and it sounded like two animals harmonizing! If you had ever heard coyotes barking and chiming, well this was similar but lower, like about 5 octives looooower!! This carried on for about 15 seconds and then quiet! This really had my attention now as I asked myself, why did I not walk back to the truck (only 300 yards) and get my 45 when my memory kicked in when starting my walk in here earlier this morning?! My initial response to this was "flight" but after looking up, and saying Lord, do I need to beet feet out of here or what?! The answer was, cool it Phil you have been in more tense moments than this in the woods? And besides most critters in the woods still have fear of man, don't they?! So I relaxed along the forest edge, ate my lunch, viewed the scenery listening and listening. Not a sound for 20 minutes. Then back to work and that evening, I came across the landowner driving into camp and told him what I had heard. He said, yep, we have a pack of wolves up above Grouse Creek. You could have heard them because they have a pretty large range. And with that I resolved to carry another 7 pounds in my pack as standard equipment.

Or, did I really miss the point here, by only considering the immediate need for sustenance and preservation? Might not there be larger questions here like how did all this structure surrounding and above me get here? Was it a matter of all these living cells , mouse traps if you will, just falling in to place one day, start working perfectly, or, were they constituted and arranged by some intelligent design? What happens to a mouse trap when one of its working parts is removed? What are the chances of each structure happening? Some scientists think if it is plainly evident then it..........? In what direction should we look for answers? The pictures above depict a direction I have been looking for years but was I really seeing? What do you think?

Cat TV-The Characters

.............................................Neo-tropical?........

...........................................Insatiated......

...........................................Sheltered life.....

....................................Now you see me.....

...............................Now you don't, well?.......

.........................................Ruffled..........
..........................................My name is Douglas...
...............White Tail Deer or Dogs to The Competition..
.................................How do I get from here to there?
......................................Now that I'm there?......

This is a small representation of what could be seen at times with the camera. One would need a trip wire system to see all that might be seen at night. For some reason the Doves have eluded the camera and they make up sometimes fifteen birds all feeding at one time. Always thought they went south for the winter. They must be arctic born which really points out the relativity of things. We have seen moose tracks near the back feeder but no moose. The Competition is probably happy for that. One more Cat TV topic is coming up and we will be done with this subject. Hurray!

Cat TV- The Competition

...........The Competition Caught on forbidden territory..... ..........The Competition in over her head but having fun!....
................The Competition and Referree in discussion .........
.............................Another Competition Subdued................

Cat TV #2 Oliver "The Verminator"

Let us see? I wonder how this place would be to homestead (built in 1892)? Mouse habitat looks pretty good! Wonder how the owner is to live with? Think I will just have to check it out. And so a young cat with a limping hind leg ventured into this new horizon and finds that there is also another cat residing here. A little older and not as aggressive as one would think. No problem, I can still raid the food dish and stay out of the way, he says to himself. Oh oh! Where did that big black (neighbor's cat King) cat come from?! He is scary! Last night it sounded like he munched on someone pretty bad! I will just have to steer clear of him. He must be a neighbor's cat. Hey, the food dish is not on the deck but I smell something on the back porch and the door is open. Let's check it out, quietly, with no one to see me. Just a little closer, a little closer, rats! I am caught and this lady has me in her arms! What is a cat to do? She is closing the door and now she is handing me something that really smells good. This may not be so bad after all. Think I will just cool it for a while.

Well to make a long story short, a new cat has just been recruited by Mom. What do we call this cat, Mom said to herself? The morning news had something about that Iran Contra Trial and who is on trial, Oliver North? So cat, your name is now Oliver and you are about to have a boot camp physical, get your needed vaccinations, get fixed, and we will check out that rear gimpy leg. Any one residing on this turf will have responsibilities and must be fit.

After that informal adoption (it is questionable by whom?), Oliver lived a quiet life (except for King, the neighbor cat) of mousing and eating, and he usually spent most of his time outside. This went on for approximately five years and then Mom became ill and for about six months, Oliver turned into a caregiver. His duties included being close, under foot and out of the way especially when visitors came to visit. For some reason all the furniture was rearranged to make room for a bed in the dining room area. There were times of visitation that were marked with reserved conversation, business like happenings, adjustment to the new arrangement and the need to go on living, laughter, prayer, more visitors, laughter, rest, more prayer, quiet times of reflection, more laughter, routine, getting outside, feeling the warm sun, hot sun, more intense struggle, resignation, tiredness, happy laughter, dimming laughter, quiet rest, bitter sweet joy and relief. Mom went home to be with the Lord 23 minutes into September 11, 2003 and we found grief and joy in that. And Oliver was adopted into another family with a dog this time and another cat! But knowing the resiliency of Oliver we knew that he would do just fine.


And here he branched out in his job description, one being that of office file investigator requiring abilities to jump high levels, squeeze into tight places, can have no claustrophobia, and possesses good powers of observation. This he did with enthusiasm as he did performing other duties as assigned including office clean up requiring abilities to work in higher places, with minimal disturbance to desk arrangement, and abilities to wipe things clean. He also performed in house planter management not pictured here because of my inability to insert pictures without blowing up the whole composition! And when the day is done, there is nothing like easing back into some folded bed spreads and viewing an outdoor TV program with birds singing in it.

So what did I reaffirm or learn from this exercise?

• In blogging, don't take it seriously because it may just undo all the previous stress prevention measures needed when one blows up a composition.
• SAVE AS DRAFT frequently so one has something to go back to when the first take home message occurs.
• Blogging can be a time sink so only participate in it taking a break from some other essential task.
• Love your animals because they are probably increasing your life span. Only take another when you commit to loving it until death do you part.
• Home hospice is a wonderful caring experience. Be willing to participate in it for your loved ones.
• Insignificant features usually make minimal experiences significant.

PS: I forgot to tell how Oliver got the name Verminator. He moved (in his second home) into a target enriched environment with many mice per square acre around the house. He can bag up to 5 or 6 per day and deposit them near the front of the house. Well, along the front of the property runs a two lane county road that commands enough road kill to warrant a clean up crew (like ravens, crows, and turkey vultures). Oliver's prowess or performance has been so good that this road cleanup crew now stops at our house for a quick meal. and usually I do not have to do the dirty cleanup. Actually Oliver does cleanup some of his trophies but I do discourage this practice. Once I put on a boot in the morning and felt something squirm down next to my toes. Alarmed, I hurriedly took my boot off. Out crawled a mushed lizard one of our previous cats had recruited. There is a lessen in this also.

Cat TV

This picture is the first depicted in the enclosed collage (upper left hand corner) as a proxy for an activity that involves the whole family, neighbors, and natural community in contact with our small property. Many members in the natural community have not been seen yet but we know they are there. We have evidence of one moose walking through the property and we see tracks very close in the snow from time to time. This activity requires sensitivity and consideration to the natural community in the areas of what type and how much feed we should be providing. We would not want to be providing elements in a diet that would alter the digestive chemistry or make the participants overly dependent, should our supply be interrupted for some reason. For that reason we have only provided bird and squirrel food at this time. Another consideration I have learned is that if one wishes to keep peace in the family we needed a protocol agreement between family members as to when certain other members should be let out side. One wrong move could result the lessening of the natural population and resulting in family disharmony, something to be avoided when possible.

This particular window (upper left picture) happens to be in the den that is shared from time to time by me and my wife who loves to bird watch, wolf watch (validated by the neighbors) etc., etc. Anytime during the year one's view might be drawn to the window to witness something really interesting. The upper right picture is of our subject looking out the back window with the squirrel feeder on the tree just barely visible through the window blinds. One misstate I made here in placing this box is that it is too low. One night I caught one of the large white tail does with her feet up on the tree and her nose buried in the top of the box with the flap open. So the take home message here is to place the box at least six feet above the ground. I doubt if a moose could get her snout in this box. Maybe someday I might be recommending that one places the box ten feet up the tree. I really wanted to ad two more pictures to this post but the program is just not cooperating and/or I have not figured out how to arrange photos yet. So until this situation changes and I can manage the time to research the problem, this will have to do.