The moose I came upon shortly afterward - something no good happened here

Right after I took the previous picture of the moose who posed for me at the side of the road, I pulled off into the tiny parking lot at the bridge over the Little Su and made the previous post. I was just about to leave when this sight caught my eye, a short distance from the parking lot. I don't know what the story is here, but given that the rib cage is fully intact, which would not be the case if someone had properly butchered a moose, taken legally or poached, and that whoever left this here as litter alongside a public parking lot has such little consideration for not only his or her fellow citizens but the animal itself, it certainly doesn't look good. I am still in the parking lot looking out over the Little Su River. A bald eagle sits on a cottonwood branch on the other side, maybe 150 yards away from me. I would photograph the eagle, but with the iPhone at this distance there is really no point. A magpie has landed on the moose rib cage and is picking at it. I would get back out and try to go photograph the magpie but it would fly away before I could get close enough. I might as well let it eat in peace.

The daily moose – time for a resurrection?

The daily moose – time for a resurrection? Last winter on my blog I ran a series I semi-jokingly called, "the daily moose." Of course, I did not post a moose picture every single day, but once the snow set in and especially as it deepened I sometimes came pretty close. If I didn't post one, odds were I still saw one but just couldn't get a decent photograph, or if I did, I didn't have the time to process and post it the old-fashioned, pre-Instagram, way. I don't know if I will continue the feature this winter. I am now addicted to blogging by iPhone – as troublesome and frustrating as buggy Squarespace is now making it – and it can be pretty difficult to get close enough to a moose with an iPhone to get a decent picture. But, sometimes a moose might just walk up to the side of a road free of traffic for the moment and shout out to me, "Hey Bill! Stop and I will pose for you." In such cases, I will accept the invitation and post the moose. 

Please note: To any reader who may have stopped by during the past hour and 15 minutes only to find a partial text post and no picture, this is, once again, the malfunction the iPhone app of my bloghost, Squarespace. Once again, it has become impossible. I am now in the process of patching up the damage inflicted by Squarespace to this post, which I had followed shortly with another, rather ironic, post of picture I came upon right after I had originally posted the version of this that misfired here.

Well, Margie has come home and Lavina and the boys came along for a visit. Margie just poked her head into my office. "Dinner's ready," she said. I will wait until after to undo the damage Squarespace did to the followup moose post.

From the time of color to the time of gray

As you can see, we have suddenly gone from the bright time of golden leaves to the time of bare gray. Yes, leaves still hang on here and there and a few well protected or rather stubborn trees do still cling to their mantles of gold, but, for the most part, the colors are gone, the dead leaves have fallen. Leaves will not be back probably until mid-May. Then they will be green - fresh green and the world will be a refreshed place, about to burst forth in a wide array of new life and limitless possibility.

How the day begins

So begins another day, in a daze in a haze, coffee pouring, ham sizzling, eggs cooking, pleasant aroma throughout, country music playing at mellow volume. I've never charged even one dollar for any wedding I have ever photographed, because that would make me a wedding photographer and I do not want to be a wedding photographer. I'm glad I shot the wedding for Abby's son and his bride, because this is what Abby does for me in return – she feeds me breakfast. This is much better than being paid to photograph a wedding.

Thwarted by Congress: she serves my coffee but doesn't take her test

Here I am on my late afternoon coffee break, being served by Evalina who has been working at getting her private pilot's license. After much study, preparation and practice she found herself ready to take her written exam, so feeling all excited she went off to take it. When she arrived, she found the FAA closed down as part of the government shutdown. The House of Representatives had prevented her from taking her test.