You are browsing archives for
Marty’s photo of the day #3877: I am a fan of winter, but only if winter has the decency to drop below freezing and stay there. This winter (in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana) is my least favorite winter in twenty-five years. We get snow—Yay, skiing!—and then it gets warm enough to start melting the […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3862: After Deb and I adopted Nellie from an animal shelter, we had her DNA tested. She is one-half golden retriever and one-half Australian cattle dog (which also makes her one-quarter dingo). Those bloodlines have given her the most unique personality of any dog we’ve ever owned. Being that half […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3839: I’ve always had dogs in my life, but none have enjoyed the snow as much as Nellie does. Whenever we have new snow, she’ll run through the forest surrounding our house, exclaiming in her own language: “Look at all this white stuff! It’s everywhere! Oh, this white stuff is […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3830: Every morning at 8:30 Nellie comes into my writing room and stares at me until I take her outside to play Frisbee. Although she does catch the disc, doing so isn’t a high priority for her. She would rather retrieve the Frisbee and then pull it away a split-second […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3826: I’m not allergic to anything, and I have never had a reaction to any shot—except the Moderna shot. Deb and I got our boosters on Wednesday, and we both had a reaction. For me, it was as if I had gone several rounds with a heavyweight boxer. I ached […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3811: Nellie helps me look for snakes in the tall grass, at the American Prairie Reserve, earlier this summer.
Marty’s photo of the day #3809: My dog, Nellie, gets credit for this shot. Yesterday I took her outside for a pee break and she immediately sniffed the air and charged into the woods. I assumed it was just her five-times-daily inventory of trees containing squirrels, but then she barked and froze. Just ahead of […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3797: Nellie thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes yesterday—except the skunk! Yes, last night I took Nellie outside for her final pee break before bedtime. She’s really good about staying in sight at night, but last night I stepped into the garage just long enough to toss a bottle […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3796: Happy Birthday to Nellie! She is two-years-old today. Well, since she was a stray, adopted from an animal shelter, I’m not sure of the exact date. But based on the age estimate from the animal shelter and the fifteen months she’s lived with us, I am likely within a […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3780: We adopted Nellie from an animal shelter a little over a year ago. At the time she was about nine months old. Since Deb and I live in the mountains of the Bitterroot Valley, there aren’t any lakes nearby. So last month when Nellie joined us on the trip […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3779: This is Lake Bowdoin in northeastern Montana, near the town of Malta. When Deb and I traveled to the American Prairie Reserve, we took the long way and drove north out of the Bitterroot Valley, stopped in Kalispell, where I performed a show at Flathead Valley Community College, and […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3768: When Deb and I traveled the world for my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, I loved all of our adventures. Even so, our least exotic trip, to the top of Canada, always gives me the warmest feelings when I think back about it. That’s […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3765-3767: Plant life close-ups on the American Prairie Reserve (Montana). The most nerve-racking aspect of visiting the American Prairie Reserve was all the prickly pear cactus. When hiking, Deb and I had to be careful that our dog, Nellie, didn’t step on any of it. Months before our trip, we […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3764: When Deb and I adopted Nellie from the animal shelter, a little over a year ago, we assumed she was a black Lab mix. A DNA test showed otherwise. She’s actually one-half golden retriever and one-half Australian cattle dog. We don’t dispute the DNA test, as we can see […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3763: In Montana, when people need a bridge, they often go to the railroad yard and buy a used flatbed car. In fact, on the dirt road leading to Deb’s and my house, we cross both a river and a stream on bridges made with railroad cars. When we first […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3761: Whenever I’m out photographing nature, sooner or later I will end up on my hands and knees capturing an image of something small. In this instance, Deb, Nellie, and I were hiking the American Prairie Reserve, in a dry area that overlooked the Judith River. The ground beneath my […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3760: Stalking elk on the open prairie isn’t easy—especially when accompanied by a very active, medium-sized dog. The elk were at the beginning of their rut, when Deb, Nellie, and I visited the American Prairie Reserve earlier this month. A few times we even heard them bugling. These two bulls […]
Marty’s photos of the day #3744-3747: My favorite of the three places Deb, Nellie, and I stayed at in the American Prairie Reserve was a yurt on the western side. The yurt didn’t have running water, but it still felt luxurious compared to our previous two stays. Our yurt had three sections: one section had […]
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 […]
Marty’s photo of the day #3722: I expected to see pronghorn everywhere in the American Prairie Reserve, but instead they were a rare sighting. I attribute that more to bad luck than to the lack of animals. Pronghorn can run a little over 50 mph, making them the fastest land animal in the Western Hemisphere. […]
