Goldeneyes, on the other hand, make me frigid. On Sunday afternoon, we all walked along the Clark Fork River in the middle of town. Great floats of ice drifted west with the current and a strong wind blew out of Hellgate canyon, sweeping down the riverfront. As I looked at the river, I noticed dabbling peaceably mid-river were a brace of goldeneyes. Unlike mallards, these ducks dive entirely under the water, making small fishlike flops as they arc under the current. Bundled in my boots, coat, hat, gloves and scarf, I felt a little awed by the goldeneyes and their adaptation to such a living. I should think there were easier ways to go about the business of survival - flying south for instance - but evidently it must work for them, and the competition for this coldwater niche didn't seem so tight. Let's hear it for feathers and a nice layer of fat.
We have only had a slight dusting of snow since our last big drop a few weeks ago. I'm hopeful for another round so we can again hit the local ski trails. Until that happens, we will continue to content ourselves with walks. Than and I took advantage of some sunshine the other day to walk the boys up Waterworks Hill. Though it was sunny on the northside of the hill, the Missoula valley was still socked in with an Inversion (capitalized because it is certainly a presence, if not a proper proper noun). If you don't know what that is, count yourself fortunate. Let's just say when an inversion is caught in the valley we can be socked in for days. When this happens I find myself thinking, "I seem to remember there was a mountain around here somewhere. Now where did it go?" When the inversion thinned enough above our neighborhood for us to remember where the mountains stand, Than and I ran the boys up top. Actually, Corin ran himself and remarkably speedily too. Seth had to be carried as he accidently left the house in one of his shoes and one of Corin's (if you would like to know how that happened, you may direct your inquiries to his Uncle Than) . The following pictures are from our delightful walk.
Looking into the Inversion
The view the other way
A Frosted Mount Jumbo
1 comment:
that rugged uncle than!
i suppose to be "fatted and feathered"
might be a blessing where as
tarred and feathered
most certainly is not (I saw it done for the first time on the John Adams series. Not a pretty sight). Here it seems to be too nippy for the birds that usually cheer me at this time of year. And although you people have an inversion, you also have bakeries and places to go for coffee. We have endless grey and special outings to the grocery store (a friend of mine talks about "holidays at Giant Eagle--" Martin said he would like the store even better if it were Giant Beagle. But spring comes earlier here, so our snap peas come faster. I have to say of all the things we loved about Missoula, the Inversion was not a thing I miss.
Lovely bird descriptions, by the way. I love birds.
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