The Road Home Series on Flickr

Now…

Then…

Now photo taken 7/3/2009
Then photo taken 1/22/2009

I’m talking about July. Around my house, July is not a favorite. July starts out with the 4th of July holiday. The Independence day part of that is fine. I love the USA! The fireworks part we do not love so much. I love the pretty stuff. It is the noisy stuff… You can probably imagine how Karl feels about that.

And it gets hot…ok, relatively, but to us it is hot.

I turn into a bit of a curmudgeon from now until early August…our Summer - six whole weeks of it. No real excuse for it, just not my favorite time, but I seem to do better acknowledging it and laughing about it. In years past I did things like put houses up for sale, buy motorhomes - life altering kinds of things. Fortunately, this year the work schedule is very busy so I can stay in my cool little house and work away. Karl comes in about 10 in the morning and does not venture out again until 6 or 7 in the evening - after this first week of noise when we don’t go out until 1 or 2 in the morning…

Bob sprawls on the front porch like he’s melting…I think it was 79 when I took this photo, humidity about 19%…honestly, HOT!

My blog posting gets irregular in July. Photography-wise I don’t like the bright summer light excepting early morning. I’m usually not out (actually, not up) late enough to catch evening light. There are moments, of course, and I love the light in the woods through the trees…we’ll see how it goes this year.

July…wake us up when it’s over.

Calm me Lord
as you calm the sea,
Still me Lord
Keep me from harm

Photo taken 6/30/2009 5:21 a.m. from the edge of my woods
Words from the opening song of today’s Pray as you go .

Photo taken 6/28/2009 6:36 a.m.

South of Bigfork, along the east shore of Flathead Lake are Woods Bay, Yellow Bay and then Blue Bay. Blue Bay is on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The campground and day use area are owned and run by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The entrance and part of the day use area are visible from the 2 lane highway. Every time I’ve passed I’ve said that I should sometime stop and see what all is there.

This morning started at 42F with a forecast for mid-70’s…Karl and my version of “warm enough to spend the afternoon in the cool house”. We headed to Blue Bay early this morning while it was cool.

Beautiful! The camping area is no frills. There are a number of spots to “park” or pitch a tent along the lake. A few places with electric are located on a bluff slightly above. Grass, trees, the lake views and absolute cleanliness of the spots made it appealing despite the fact that the campground was nearly full.

After driving around the camping area, I parked and got Karl out for a bit of exploring of the day use area which includes a beautiful swimming area, boat launch and small marina.

Blue Bay on Flathead Lake.

May we have an “awwww…..”? - AND look at the size of those paws!!

So…Friday: 6:00 p.m.ish and a white van pulls up to my house - up the nearly 200 yard driveway to my house - not typical. A man and a 6-7 year old girl in the van. Karl and I go out…oh, there is a puppy also. Man says that the pup was at the end of my driveway and he was worried it might be hit on the road and was it mine? “No”, but the pup had a tag and phone number and I offered to take the pup and call and the man VERY gratefully agreed.

Earlier in the week a woman had come in the driveway looking for a pup. It had been found, but this pup matched the description… Same pup! Turns out the Mama dog, Daisy, appears to want to lose the pup - takes off with pup following and then goes home without poor Brownie.

As I got the info later, Daisy had left home early this morning and returned home at 2:00 this afternoon. So, Brownie puppy (11 1/2 weeks old) was out and about a very long time!

She was pooped! And glad to see a friendly human person…and a bit intimidated by Karl although he wanted to be her best bud. These photos…I wish they were better but everyone moving and me trying to make sure all were ok with each other…

And then I saw Bob’s face…

I wish it was in sharp focus, because Bob’s face was clearly saying: “Don’t EVEN think about it!!!”

Brownie had a tag with her phone number AND I had the family’s number from earlier - match! They were all out looking for Brownie.

Dad and girls arrived first, Mom just a bit later. Brownie was happy to see all and all glad to see her.

Karl and I had mixed feelings but after they left as I was doing minor chores and happened to glance at the motorhome…the thought of Karl, Bob and a puppy….

An evening with Brownie was full of fun. The joy of Brownie’s reunion with her family, even more so!

When they look like this…

I just can’t help myself.

Not too big, not too small and I will take it out of the box soon and make sure it works.

Karl and I took the scenic route to Home Depot. Actually, the normal route is scenic but I added an extra dose by taking some back roads I like. We stopped at an old church turned into community center where Karl attended puppy Kindergarten. I knew we could walk around and it was just some place a little different than our usual walk spots.

Down the road further, Whitefish River and a few side creeks wind through the farms and ranches on the valley floor.

Creekside.