A real mixture from 2009 - maybe. This has been updated.

Due to my recovery issues I've really not had a chance to take many photos.  I have decided to go back and choose photos from years ago.  Today my choice was a folder from September 2009.  I'm pretty certain that several of the photos  were not taken in September, but I'm just going to throw them on the blog anyway.

The first few were of one of our hiking jaunts to Mt. Pend Oreille with our friends, Ann and Neil.  I am also guessing that we were actually spending a few days and nights at Lunch Peak Lookout, because we did that several times over the years.

This photo of Jon was taken to display one of his favorite rocks, a glacial erratic.  The important thing about this rock is that is located a 5100' which means that the glacier was well above that.

The photos below were taken on the Bear Tooth Highway between Red Lodge, Montana and Yellowstone Park.

The Code Man

These were taken in August, but there was still a lot of snow.   The cousins from Iowa loved it.  We were at the end of one of our family reunions which was held in Red Lodge.  Several of the families had decided to travel together on our return trip and make a few more tourist stops on the way.

Grandkids, Collin and Rylee in Bozeman at the Museum of the Rockies.  

JP and David chatting at one of the rest areas on the way to Red Lodge.  

This is a really old photo from 1976.   Both of my brothers are in the photo.  We are all standing in front of the entrance to the Auxor Mine.  The entrance to the mine is now closed and torn down.

From left to right: JP, David(in my arms-kind of), yours truly, my Mom, brother Roy, Jon, and my brother Don.

This would be grandson Dylan with his baby brother, Ben, who was born the end of August.  

This was a traditional fall activity.   Successful elk hunters processing the meat.  These were taken in October.

A Cougar Creek Band rehearsal at Ellie and Bob's house.

Neil playing one of his lovely recorder solos with Ann accompanying.

Kristine looking for her favorite song to play or sing.

This photo is our "Dumpster Gig" photo.  The Cougar Creek Band loved playing interesting venues.

Another September or October activity.  My brother, Roy, and my mom, posing with his new grill.  Both of them were fans of Griz and Nebraska football.

Now we are back at our return trip from the reunion in Red Lodge.  After we left Yellowstone Park, we stopped at Hebgen Lake and the memorial there.   In August of 1959 Jon's Aunt and Uncle and his cousins were camping in tents there.  When the earthquake happen the only survivors from our family were his Aunt Irene and his cousin Phil.   His Uncle and three of his cousins died.  

The quake happened around midnight and Jon's family lived in Hamilton, Montana then.  The quake was so strong that they felt it there and evacuated their house.   The rest of the family did not know until the next day that Aunt Irene and family were camping there that night on their way to Yellowstone Park.

This commenorative plaque lists the names of those who perished in the earthquake.  Jon's Uncle Pud, and his cousins, Tom, Carol and Susan.

My sis, Kathy, taking a break.  In the background you can still see the rock slide down the mountain.

Our final tourist stop on the return trip was in Virginia City.  It was such a fun place to visit.  One of my treasured photos is the one of Collin and Rylee below.

This was a collage I created for a calendar that year.


We are finally watching the Seahawks games on TV!   It seems that they have settled the dispute between FOX and Directv. 

Oops!  I almost forgot to add these two photos.  

We have only seen a grizzly bear here one other time and that was back in about 1994.   

There was a lot of excitement, yelling and screaming when this guy showed up the first time on Thursday. 

The next day he showed up again.  It was quite the comedy to watch in our house.   My hip replacement was three weeks ago and I can actually get around pretty good with a cane, but speed is not one of my attributes at the moment.

When the bear showed up, Retired Mountain Man yells at me (I am in the bedroom),  "Connie, the bear is back!  Get the dog!"  

Picture me racing with a cane as fast as I can to the front door to save the dog from a grizzly bear attack.  Maggie is not afraid of the bear and wants to bark and chase it.  

As I am moving as fast as possible to the front door, Retired Mountain Man yells, "Get your camera! Get your camera!"

Well, my camera is back in the bedroom - the location that I just came from.

I am now racing with a cane to get my camera to take these photos.  You should know that the bear was actually up at the top of yard by the barn.  By the time I had my camera and got to the front window, he had moved to the field.  

So, these are the two photos that I was able to snap before all of Jon's yelling and screaming finally convinced the bear to retreat to the woods behind him.

It's just another day on the mountain.

Happy Sunday!

The integrity of my vote.

It has been my unwritten policy to not post my political views on my blog, but today I am going to make the one exception.  

I have always been an American citizen who voted.  I have voted in every school election, primary and general election for more than forty years.  I am a moderate, and for many people these days, I have become the enemy, because I refuse to support a party line.  One that is either Republican or Democrat.  

During those forty years I have been both a registered Republican and a registered Democrat.  For a short period of time a Democratic Precinct Captain.  Over the years I have voted for many Republicans and Democrats. 

To gain my vote a candidate must prove to me that he or she will truly represent all of the citizens of my state or county.  They must be willing to cross the aisle sometimes for the benefit of the people they represent.  They have to show that to me and there were many who did.  Idaho Gov. Phil Batt, Congressmen Larry Craig and Frank Church, and State Senator Shawn Keough, to name a few.

In 2016 I did not vote for Trump.  He did not come even close to passing my test. The reasons:

He publicly bullied and demeaned the mentally and physically disabled.

His Trump University defrauded and took money from their students.  Yes, he settled it by paying off some of those he cheated.

He publicly demeaned and denigrated women.  Remember Megan Kelly?  Who can ever forget his "grab them by the ****? 

He invited Russia to interfere with our election - and they did.

He repeatedly bullied both his Republican and Democrat opponents with 8th grade level name-calling and he still does so today to anyone who crosses him.  

Shortly after he was elected we learn that he not only lied to his pregnant wife, but also the American people about affairs and/or sex with porn stars.  Plus, he tried to pay them off for their silence possibly using campaign money to do so.

People made excuses for his behavior.  It was "locker room talk, it was his private life (porn stars and sex), it was Trump being Trump, and of course, he was only joking".   

He has sided with Russia and Putin in public, instead of our own intelligence agencies.  When I was growing up, we had drills in our schools in case of a nuclear attack by Russia.  Putin is a dictator and he is not a friend of America and he is winning by dividing this country.

He has become very friendly with the Saudi's.  Remember that those who attacked the Twin Towers were Saudi's???  He says that even though our intelligence agencies told us that they are responsible for the murder of James Khasshoggi, he believes they didn't do it.  He has kept his telephone conversations with them on a highly classified secret server in the white house.   Why?

Now Trump is using our State Department and the DOJ for his political purposes.  He has shamefully ensnared the fledgling Democracy of Ukraine and extorted them to get dirt on his political opponents.  Putting the squeeze on them and at the same time promoting the wishes of Putin.  He has also enlisted the help of the VP Pence in his efforts, who may have been an honorable man, but has now become compromised.

Our national security is at risk.  Why?  

He has invited China to investigate his political opponents.  China is not an ally.  We are currently in a very serious trade war with China.  It has forced many hardships on our farmers and forced Americans to pick up the tab by paying for subsidies to keep our farmers afloat.  China now sees that possibly they can get what they want, if they give Trump what he wants, dirt on the Bidens. 

Our Attorney General Barr is traveling around the globe meeting with many of our allies to tell them that they must help Trump investigate our own intelligence agencies.  This would appear to mean that if they do not, they will be held accountable. This also affects our national security.  Will we have any allies when this is finally over?

I am outraged!  I have had it!  I am going to speak out! 

Yes, I'm no one special.  Just your average American who has always paid my taxes  - and anyone can look at them anytime they want.  My career consisted of being an elementary school secretary and then a bookkeeper at a middle school, one who always loved my country.  I believe in freedom and the constitution and democracy.  

There are also some very personal reasons for not supporting Trump.
Donald Trump has a very filthy mouth and he uses it publicly.  He is a cruel man who approves of children - from babies to teens -being separated from their parents at the border.  Some may never see their parents again.  He is mean and has no compassion for others.  

Therefore, to those that read my blog or who are friends on Facebook who do not support what I said here, feel free to not read my blog or unfriend me on FB.  After all, it's a free country, for now.

Finally, I refuse to allow any party or any one person to take away the integrity of my vote.

A special birthday and the fountain.

I have a lot of time on my hands these days while I am recuperating from my hip replacement surgery.  It's a good thing, because I have been able to go back and browse through my thousands of photos that I've taken over the years.  These photos are from the summer of 1999.

Back in those days, many years ago, Retired Mountain Man decided that he would like to have a fountain.  We have always admired our friend, Mark Heisel's, rock artistry so we asked him if he would create a fountain for us.

Happily for us, Mark agreed.  He had to find just the right blocks of rock for the project.  My digital camera quality back in those days was nothing like it is now, but the photos are not bad and I'm so glad that I took them.   This would become the bottom basin and it's a rock that has a lot of personality.

 

The bottom basin holds water.

Installation day.

Eric and Mark making sure that each component fits perfectly.

 The water runs through the fountain for the first time.

What can I say?  The fountain is magical. The sound of the water moving from the top spout and over the edges to the bottom is like music wafting over the air as we sit out on our deck.

It became an instant attraction for every youngster that came to visit.  It was so much fun to play in.  This is our grandson, Collin, taking a taste or two of the water in 1999.

All of the little cousins having some fun at a family reunion.

The biggest story about the fountain was during David and Julie's wedding, when the beautiful angelic flower girls poured sand down into the the top spout of the fountain.    Sand and water do not work well with the small pump in the fountain.   

Doesn't she look like an angel?

 Fortunately, everything turned out fine and the fountain was not damaged.

Our nephew, Chase, was just learning to get around when he had his first chance at the fountain.  Yes, there are some rough edges, so we were always watching over the kids very carefully.  As much as I worry about that, there has never been a fall or accident.

We even have lights to illuminate it at night.  There's no end to how long the kids can play in it.

It's also a favorite place to get a drink for both Maggie and Thompson.  Somewhere I have a photo of both Maggie and Ben taking a sip from the fountain.  Do you think I could find it?  I have too many photos!!!

Retired Mountain Man has taken out the pump system and put it away for the year.  No more music from the fountain until next spring.  We will look forward to that day in 2020.

Plus, a big Happy Birthday to grand daughter, Rylee who is on a field trip to Salt Lake City for a few days.  She is a junior in high school now, but I love this photo of her.