Marty’s photos of the day #3730-3736: Deb, Nellie, and I stayed in three places while visiting Montana’s American Prairie Reserve. Our middle stay—two nights in a cabin at Antelope Creek Campground—was our least favorite. There the days were so windy that we renamed the location “Wind Camp.” Even so, we still enjoyed our visit. Photo […]
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One-room schoolhouses
Marty’s photos of the day #3725-3729: While visiting Montana’s American Prairie Reserve earlier this month, my wife, Deb, and I found two inactive one-room schoolhouses. One was restored, with an unlocked door that allowed us inside, and the other we could only view from the outside. Deb grew up on a farm, on the outskirts […]
Racer in the American Prairie Reserve
Marty’s photo of the day #3720: Isn’t she a beauty! This is either a North American racer, or a close subspecies, called a western yellow-bellied racer. If I had to choose, I would say the latter. I spotted the snake while driving between our camps in the American Prairie Reserve. After the snake posed nicely […]
Prairie vs. ranchland
Marty’s photo of the day #3719: This is our tent site, from earlier this month, at Buffalo Camp on the American Prairie Reserve. It’s not an exciting photo, but I wanted to point out how green the landscape was. As we drove south out of Malta, Montana, we followed fifty miles of gravel roads until […]
The Bison Roll
Marty’s photos of the day #3718: I shot this series of bison photos during our first day in Montana’s American Prairie Reserve. Our tent, at Buffalo Camp, was a two minute walk away. I thought about attaching speech bubbles to the photos, but ultimately decided they would detract too much from the scene. Instead I […]
Swallows on the American Prairie Reserve
Marty’s photo of the day #3717: As a wildlife photographer, I’m naturally drawn to animals of the more exotic variety. But sometimes common animals, like this barn swallow and chick, are just waiting to show that they can be interesting subjects too. While visiting Montana’s American Prairie Reserve earlier this month, Deb, Nellie, and I […]
A shocking prairie dog photoshoot
Marty’s photo of the day #3716: As mentioned yesterday, Deb, Nellie, and I enjoyed an amazing six days in Montana’s American Prairie Reserve. I might even write a magazine article about our experiences or work them into a future book. Our initial adventure occurred as we entered the reserve, and it caused a freaky injury […]
The American Prairie Reserve! (Post #1)
Marty’s photos of the day #3715: Last night, my wife Deb, our dog Nellie, and I returned from six fabulous days in the American Prairie Reserve. Few people know about this wonderful, remote Montana treasure—and admittedly I’m quite tempted to stay quiet about it. Located along the Missouri River, in north-central Montana, it is one […]
Villefranche de Conflent
Marty’s photo of the day #3710: Let’s take a peek through the wall of an ancient walled city in France. The following excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, further explains what you are seeing: We retrieved our car, drove back into France, and spent the rest of Sunday […]
Crazy-ass Montana
Montana is a great place to live if you enjoy wilderness and wildlife, but it’s a scary place to live if you enjoy science and human rights. This is especially the case now that Republicans dominate the legislature and state-wide offices. Not to be outdone by Florida or Texas for crazy-ass shit, Montana is now […]
Real Time with Bill Maher has become unwatchable
Years ago, my wife, Deb, and I used to arrange our Friday nights around watching “Real Time with Bill Maher,” but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and he performed his show from home, he became (to use his term) “a whiny little bitch.” He was so unwatchable that we made other plans for our Friday […]
Elephant charge!
Marty’s photo of the day #3694: Yesterday I posted a different elephant photo and someone (a bit tongue-in-cheek) wondered if the elephant was charging me. That elephant wasn’t charging, but this one is very much doing so. I was photographing this elephant while standing on the bank of a deep, dry riverbed. I wasn’t using […]
A harbinger of death?
Marty’s photo of the day #3692: This is been the summer of finding unusual owls and moths. So how about an owlet moth? Since my summer office is outside, I see wildlife every day. Consequently, after living in the same forest-surrounded Montana house for 25 years, when I see something for the first time I […]
Herbaceous begonias
Marty’s photo of the day #3685: For wildlife photography, my camera of choice is my Canon DSLR with a 300mm telephoto lens. But it’s not always convenient to carry around that somewhat heavy lens, so I always have a pocket-sized camera nearby too. A few months ago I bought a Panasonic DMC-ZS100, which is part […]
Weber Music Hall
Marty’s photo of the day #3683: You are looking at the Weber Music Hall, in the University of Minnesota Duluth. This excerpt from my latest book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, explains the shot: My two favorite performances—so far—have been homecoming shows. The closest college to me is the […]
More of the world’s most adorable owl
Marty’s photo of the day #3680: Well, of course, I can’t just post one photo of what could be the world’s most adorable owl! In this one, note how you can see the reflection of the trees in her eyes. For those who missed yesterday’s post, for photo #3679, here is a repeat of the […]
Kicking back at the stream
Marty’s photo of the day #3678: Deb and I most definitely have “type A” personalities. We’re both book authors, both educational speakers, and both run separate businesses. Even so, sometimes we just have to kick back and watch the world go by. Two weekends ago we backpacked six miles into a remote mountain cabin, which […]
The long and the short of it
Marty’s photos of the day #3673: On February 12, 2020, I got my hair cut in preparation for a college show in New Jersey. At the time, I had no idea how hard the COVID-19/Trump pandemic would hit, and that following that show, I would be switching to performing at colleges via Zoom. After that […]
Falling from the bridge
Marty’s photos of the day #3667: Here are three more photos from Nellie’s first backpacking trip (this past weekend). 1) Nellie always insisted on leading, as we hiked six-miles-to and six-miles-from the Twogood Cabin in western Montana. She did a great job of setting the pace. Except, of course, when the squirrels and chipmunks invited […]
Nellie’s first backpacking trip
Marty’s photo of the day #3666: I haven’t posted for several days, because Deb and I took Nellie on her first backpacking trip. We hiked six miles to the Twogood Forest Service Cabin in the mountains of western Montana. There we spent two nights and had a wonderful time. This was Deb’s and my second […]


















