Marty’s photo of the day #4610: Seven-and-a-half weeks have passed since Nellie got her new bionic left-rear leg (TPLO surgery to remove a ligament, reshape/refit the bone, and install a metal plate with 6 screws). Nellie’s recovery is coming along on schedule. She doesn’t limp anymore when outside, but still limps sometimes inside—especially after a […]
Once Christians can set aside Jesus’s disdain for money . . .
Marty’s photo of the day #4609: Once Christians can set aside Jesus’s disdain for money as depicted in the Bible, the rest is easy to accept: The enormously wealthy Catholic Church declaring individual bankruptcies to avoid paying court-ordered penalties for child sexual abuse, mega churches and televangelists shoveling in the money while virtually ignoring the […]
One million children sexually abused
Marty’s photo of the day #4608: A few years ago I publicly asserted that over 1 million children have been sexually molested in Christian churches. While I doubt I’m the first to make that claim, two things have surprised me: The first is that I haven’t seen the media ever make such a claim. The […]
How many bankruptcies would this cover?
Marty’s photo of the day #4607: At this time of year, I often think about my born-again Christian father and the arguments we used to have. He was the kind of Christian that believed the Bible was the literal word of his god. That, of course, meant that the Bible had to be either written […]
What would “putting God into our schools” look like?
Marty’s photo of the day #4606: ’Tis the week before Christmas, and as has become my tradition, I’m going to dig out some of my photos from all over the world, showing the wealth and power of Christian churches, along with the hypocrisy they bring. But please, don’t blame me. I’m only stating inconvenient facts. […]
Looking for . . .
Marty’s photo of the day #4605: Six-and-a-half weeks have passed since Nellie got her new bionic left-rear leg (CCL removed, knee refitted, and a metal plate with six screws installed). Deb and I have one more week of sleeping with her on the pullout couch mattress placed on the great room floor before moving up […]
Within Temptation 2024
Marty’s photo of the day #4604: It’s hard to believe that five years have gone by since Deb and I saw Within Temptation in Italy. Their latest album is awesome, and they remain one of the best live bands in the world. And (hint, hint) if my wife would like to go to the Netherlands […]
Jago River
Marty’s photo of the day #4603: This is the Jago River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It took Deb and me five days to canoe down it and about 30 minutes to fly back over it. For more on this, see my second book, book, Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa […]
Yellow-crowned night heron
#1 priority fire in America (2000)
Marty’s photo of the day #4601: Here’s an old photo I would never post in the summer, because too many of my Bitterroot Valley Montana friends would freak out, thinking the fires were here again. This is the fire of 2000, which at the time was the #1 priority fire in America. Deb’s and my […]
Waves crashing in
Marty’s photo of the day #4600: Here’s an old photo, taken with a cheap film camera, of my wife, Deb, standing alone on a beach in Kauai, with huge waves crashing in. I was able to clean the shot up a bit in my photo program, including removing an object that made her look like […]
Costa Rican bridge
Marty’s photo of the day #4599: A rotting bridge in the Costa Rican rainforest, no longer useful for travel, but quite nice for photography.
Long-eared owl
Marty’s photo of the day #4598: Most people love owls without really thinking about why they do so. One of the reasons for that is because owls have faces that express emotions much like human faces do. I photographed this long-eared owl many years ago, while spending a day in northern Montana catching and banding […]
Paddling in the rainy season
Marty’s photo of the day #4597: During the rainy season, in the Amazon Rainforest, much—but not all—of the land floods. In this photo, my wife, Deb, is paddling her dugout through a portion of the forest where we had walked when we were there during the dry season. And the water varied between three and […]
Surfer photography
Marty’s photo of the day #4596: Deb and I traveled to Vancouver Island this past September only because extreme forest fires blocked our original trip to the very top of Canada. Partway through our Vancouver Island trip, I was still saying, “Since this will be the only time we’ll be here,” but by the time […]
Virtual arguments with my dead father
Marty’s photo of the day #4595: My dad, Paul W. Essen, died twelve years ago this week. As anyone who has read my book Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer knows, my father was a born again Christian to the extreme. In fact, he even believed his god wanted him […]
Steve Bannon’s spirit animal
Marty’s photo of the day #4594: Steve Bannon’s spirit animal. Molting female elephant seal, photographed on a tiny island near Antarctica.
Outside my writing room window
Marty’s photo of the day #4593: Yesterday, I posted an in-flight shot of a great gray owl. Today, I’m posting that same owl, perched outside my writing room window. (Photographed in the Bitterroot Valley, Montana.)
Great gray owl in flight
Marty’s photo of the day #4592: Great gray owl, photographed on the Essen Wildlife Refuge, Bitterroot Valley, Montana.
The baby Maverick
Marty’s photo of the day #4591: Three months ago, when Deb and I traveled to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, we drove all the way to the town of Port Hardy, on the northern tip of the island. We stayed there for three days and ate at the Sporty Bar & Grill twice. The first time […]