January 19, 2015: MYSTERY REVEALED!

You can only imagine my surprise upon encountering a PIANO in the woods on a cold January morning. What a delightful, whimsical, and totally improbable sight! Naturally I just had to follow the tracks of the truck that brought it in and begin my search for the story behind the piano – and believe me, it’s a great story!

How did this piano get here? Who brought it? What were they thinking? We need a story. Please give us YOUR story by leaving a comment to this post. Win a Dunrovin Ranch sweatshirt by telling us a story that comes anywhere near the REAL story!

January 12, 2015: THE MYSTERY BEGINS

Every morning my canine crew insists that I take them on a long walk along the Bitterroot River. Jewel is relentless in her demands for me to throw the ball, Kola is ever alert for any creature stirring that he might be able to chase, and I try to do my physical therapy for my shoulder while I am walking. It is a special time for us and it has made me keenly aware of even the slightest changes in the weather or environment. Well, this past week I came upon a man made object along the river that was completely and utterly out of place – and I am not telling right away. It was so mysterious that I just had to take the time to research its story.

Below are the photos that I took in all four directions while I was standing next to the object. Can you guess what it might be? The first person to leave a comment to this post with the right guess wins a Dunrovin Ranch sweatshirt! BUT, I am confident that you will NEVER guess.

The beauty of these three snow laden trees brought me out with my camera. These are special trees for our family. Our good friends, Larry, Colleen, and Kiana came to visit us from Alaska shortly after we moved back to my home state and purchased Dunrovin.

We were very busy planting tress to create an orchard, battling the “old growth nap weed” forest that dominated our fields and turn them into lush green horse pastures, building fences and sheds and barns, and basically settling in to a new way of life centered around horses and dogs and river and fields. We naturally engaged them in our endeavors – and one day they showed up with three small spruce trees to plant. We have thought of them over and over again as we have watched these trees grow and thrive.

Our friends have since moved to Missoula. They are been there for us through my recent years of illness and our trials with Missoula County. She owns a horse of her own and is rapidly becoming an accomplished horsewoman; he has helped us on many occasions with many projects leaving quality, artistic work wherever he goes; and Kiana is a lovely young woman about to graduate from high school with a stellar academic record. These are friends that have long ago melded into family and we are thankful for them every day.  We rejoice in these trees.

Once outside, I couldn’t help myself from wondering around. Somehow just holding a camera brings details of the world into focus. I kept seeing reminders of summer that were piled high with snow – the  picnic tables, the sitting benches, the fit pit with it up turned chairs, the barrels empty of flowers, the garden wagons and wheel barrel. They all sat there so quietly and contentedly in their winter white while they waited for the visitors of summer to return.

 

 

 

Dunrovin Ranch’s world is exactly as it should be to start 2015. Snow covered pastures and mountains, crystal clear blue skies, animals with woolly fur coats to keep them warm, and the Bitterroot River gaining more and more ice with each cold day all signal a real Montana winter. It is truly winter wonderland for the first day of a new year. We Montanans love these winters with cold temperature and heavy snows accumulates in the mountains that will keep our streams full and our forests green and fresh come summer.

There is something very mysterious about watching a river freeze – chunks of ice float by, little ice shelves form along the shore, and the sun raises little whiffs of steam off the water’s surface.

There is magic in watching a river freeze.

Instead of venturing out with Kola and Jewel and our usual morning walk after feeding the barn yard crew, I waited for the warmth of the midday sun. Kola has recently been refusing to come along as his feet would get cold in the sub zero temperatures of the last week. Try as he might, he simply can’t manage to walk without putting at least three feet down in the snow! I am glad that I waited. Kola happily went along and explored; I took my camera to capture some of the beauty of the river freezing; and Jewel was her usual impatient self whenever I would stray from my assignment of chucking the ball for her. It was a glorious way to start the new year. It seems that I will never tire of my little corner of this beautiful planet.

Kola was very interested in the ice as it floated by. He just know that he should be catching it – but THAT would mean getting his feet wet and he avoids that even in summer. He did find a couple of field mice to chase under the snow.

The cattail marsh is a favorite stopping place for all three of us regardless of the season. Winter’s solid ice invited us to explore deeper into its world of water and reeds and bushes and bogs. We found no open water for the ducks that are usually present – but the main river still provided plenty of ice free stretches.

Jewel’s disgust is ever apparent when I stop for photos. “What are you doing? Get that ball in the air!” I live with such a canine task mistress.