Marty’s photo of the day #4087: Aw! It’s a baby yellow-bellied racer. I shot this photo two weeks ago, while on vacation in the American Prairie Reserve. Deb (wife), Nellie (dog), and I were near the end of a long hike—just at the point where we were hot, tired, and thirsty—when I spotted this snake […]
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Category: Stories
Rolling in cow shit
Marty’s photo of the day #4086: Remember the children’s stories about leprechauns and how they’d disappear if you blinked? Nellie has the same power when it comes to cow poop. Of all the dogs I’ve had over the years, Nellie rolls in shit less than any of them, so when she does it, she makes […]
Walking on water
Marty’s photo of the day #4083: Nellie thinks I can walk on water, and I think she can walk on water too. And when you both believe—anything can happen! My wife, Deb, shot this photo of Nellie and me a little over a week ago, at the American Prairie Reserve in central Montana. We were […]
Burrowing Owl
Marty’s photo of the day #4082: Our vacation is over . . . sigh. First, Deb (wife), Nellie (dog), and I spent six days in the American Prairie Reserve of central Montana. There we stayed in a remote yurt, with no running water, no phone, no internet, and limited solar power. It was awesome! Then […]
The bluff on the prairie
Marty’s photo of the day #4081: Deb, Nellie, and I just spent six days in the American Prairie of central Montana. On Sunday, we enjoyed a spectacular high prairie hike that climbed to an outcrop, which overlooked an entire valley. Nellie raced to the edge of the bluff and started barking and growling at something […]
Adventures in the American Prairie Reserve
Marty’s photo of the day #4080: Deb, Nellie, and I have returned home from the first six days of our nine-day vacation. We spent the previous days at the American Prairie Reserve (now officially known as just American Prairie) in central Montana. This was our second consecutive year renting a yurt there. The yurt sits […]
My forgotten first major adventure
Marty’s photo of the day #4075: I write both fiction and nonfiction. If you’ve read any of my nonfiction books, you know I’ve experienced some great adventures, from searching for venomous snakes in the Amazon Rainforest to hiking on all seven continents to surviving a hippo attack with my wife, Deb, in Zimbabwe to overcoming […]
Just how big is a hippo’s mouth?
Marty’s photo of the day #4068: Can an entire canoe fit sideways into a hippo’s mouth? I took this photo in Zimbabwe shortly after my wife, Deb, and I proved—yes, it most definitely can! For those who don’t already know the story, here’s an excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the […]
Thank you Senator Tester and President Biden!
Marty’s photo of the day #4065: In celebration of President Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act today, I dug up this photo of Deb and me at a Jon Tester campaign rally in 2018. Deb and I have known Senator Tester for years, and he campaigned with Deb when she ran for the Montana State […]
Holding up the world
Marty’s photo of the day #4063: I’ve been posting a lot of photos from Montana lately, so I think it’s time to go back and post some photos from around the world for a while. Here’s one from Antarctica. The following excerpt, from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explains […]
Hanging out on the middle day
Marty’s photo of the day #4061: The best part of three-day backpacking trips to U.S. Forest Service cabins is the middle day. It’s work to backpack in and work to backpack out, but that middle day is always heaven. Generally Deb (wife), Nellie (dog), and I go on a few short hikes on that middle […]
Waterhole side-eye
Marty’s photo of the day #4059: Of all the dogs I’ve had in my life, Nellie is the best at giving side-eye. And I swear half the time she does it just to be funny. DNA tests have confirmed Nellie to be one-half golden retriever and one-half Australian cattle dog (which also makes her one-fourth […]
Beavers vs. Fire
Marty’s photo of the day #4056: Last week Deb (wife), Nellie (dog), and I went on a three-day backpacking trip to May Creek Cabin, which is a U.S. Forest Service rental cabin in the Anaconda Mountain Range of southwestern Montana. If you look closely at this photo, you will see May Creek Cabin in a […]
“I’d really rather chase mice.”
“Mom and Dad are laughing and drinking on the footbridge again. They made me stop chasing mice to pose for this picture. I’d really rather chase mice.”—Nellie Marty’s photo of the day #4053: Deb, Nellie, and I have returned from our three-day backpacking trip. When Deb and I moved to Montana, in 1996, we started […]
Animal friends
Driving a cherry picker
Review bombing
The deer and the slow dog
Yummy stuffed bones for your dog
Three months of April
Marty’s photo of the day #4009: My wife, Deb, and I live in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, where, other than the far-right politics, there may not be a better place to live in the contiguous 48 states. Still, it seems that wherever a person lives, some bad always comes with the good. We’ve lived […]



















