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Marty’s photo of the day #4824: The prickly pear cactuses were in bloom at the American Prairie earlier this month. Our dog, Nellie, has accompanied my wife and me on all three of our American Prairie visits. The first visit was nerve-racking for me, because I was constantly worried that Nellie would step on a […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4823: Nellie and me, without another dog or person anywhere, for miles and miles. Well, except for my wife, Deb, who was sitting next to us, and Nellie’s cousins, the coyotes, who are out there, somewhere. Photographed in the American Prairie (formerly the American Prairie Reserve), Montana.
Marty’s photo of the day #4822: This rabbit sat in a brush pile outside the yurt my wife and I rented in the American Prairie. That yurt had a window facing the brush pile, which was at our dog, Nellie’s, eye-level. Therefore, Nellie felt it necessary to incessantly warn me, “Dad! Dad! There’s a killer […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4814: My wife, Deb, shot this photo on the third day at the yurt we rented in the American Prairie. I have great bed hair, eh? But on that early July day, it rained past lunchtime. And that was perfectly okay with Deb and me. With no running water, no […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4812: Deb, Nellie, and I have visited the American Prairie (in Montana) three out of the past four years. I captured multiple high-quality prairie dog images during our first two visits, so I really didn’t need to take any more prairie dog photos when I was there last week. . […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4811: I got to make use of my new wide-angle lens for this shot. Unfortunately, even a good lens can’t properly show depth when reproduced on a flat surface. When my wife Deb, dog Nellie, and I were at the American Prairie last week, we tried to hike places and […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4809: The American Prairie (formerly called the American Prairie Reserve) never disappoints. For the third time in the past four years, Deb and I have rented a yurt there. A few days ago, we were discussing how the yurt has become our cabin—but without all the maintenance. We spent our […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4808: Deb and I are back from spending four nights in a yurt on the American Prairie. Formerly called the American Prairie Reserve, it currently contains 475,000 acres of pristine prairie in central Montana, and the nonprofit organization that controls it has a goal of eventually acquiring enough land to […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4797: Two days ago, I took Deb and our dog, Nellie, to the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge (Montana), in search of great horned owls and their babies. Finding wild animals on cue rarely happens, but I was able to find one of the adults, which was more-or-less babysitting a […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4796: My wife, Deb’s, college roommates traveled from Minnesota to Montana to spend time with us early last month, and on one of their mornings here, I got them up early and took them hiking in the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge seldom disappoints, and one of my […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4788: In the summer, I move my office/writing room out to the front porch, which allows me to gaze out at the top level of the Essen Wildlife Refuge. I also have a motion-sensing camera that is roughly 100 yards straight out from the house. It doesn’t surprise me when […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4784: When Deb and I rented a U.S. Forest Service Cabin on the east fork of the Bitterroot River early last week, rain kept us inside much of the time. Since we enjoy hiking up the gulches in the area, when the sun briefly came out, we took advantage of […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4781: The short story of Deb and me moving to Montana is that we had rented a cabin from a friend-of-a-friend on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River at the far southern end of the Bitterroot Valley. It was 1992, and we were driving home to Minneapolis after renting […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4779: At the Essen Wildlife Refuge (i.e. the 25 protected-for-wildlife acres where my wife and I live) we have an upper and lower level. The lower level is lush forest with a seasonal pond. Since we moved to Montana, in 1996, that pond has filled itself every spring and emptied […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4746: And if you sit alongshore at sunset . . . very quietly . . . sometimes . . . when the weather is just right . . . the Nellies come out to play.
Marty’s photo of the day #4744: Our dog, Nellie, gets the credit for this photo. Last night, we were out for a walk in the Essen Wildlife Refuge, when she insisted something to play with was under a log. I thought she’d found a mouse, but it turned out to be a western skink. When […]
During my April college speaking tour, I read “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. It’s a novel about a golden retriever, Enzo, and his race-car-driving human. Enzo reminded me of Max, a golden retriever Deb and I had as our first dog after we got married. Yes, all dog books and […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4735: This photo shows Nellie keeping me company last fall on Vancouver Island. When Nellie joined our family, she was a skinny rescue dog, weighing just 42 pounds. She also had what appeared to be a burn on one of her legs. Yesterday, I wrote about Annie, a rescue dog, […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4702: And suddenly, Nellie’s body stiffened. The crisp morning air carried the distant chirping of birds, and the exhilarating scent of fresh deer poop teased her senses. Yet at that moment, her eyes were fixated on the one creature that possessed the audacity to disrupt her joyful game of ball […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4700: Here at the Essen Wildlife Refuge—the 25 acres at the edge of the mountains in Montana that Deb and I protect from hunters, loggers, and four-wheelers—we have always had a consistent population of moose. Sometimes we only see their scat and tracks; other times we will see them in-person […]
