Things That Go Thud, Puff in the Night

A Bear Story From an Autumn Backpacking Trip
in Yellowstone National Park

Over the past decade, Mike and I have done tons of backpacking in Yellowstone National Park, throughout southwest Montana, and beyond, many times in grizzly bear country. While we have a healthy respect for bears when we are in their backyard, we do not fear them. I suspect this is due to a combination of our nature and the fact that we have seen so few of them during our many miles of backcountry travel. 

Here is the story of a spooky bear encounter we had in Yellowstone over the weekend. (As an FYI, we explored the Upper Pebble Creek/Bliss Pass area of the park and stayed in campsite 3P2.)

If you have a bear story to tell, please share it in the comments section of this post.

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Gardening Bliss on a Tenth of an Acre

Recently, Mike and I had houseguests that couldn't stop gushing over our house. I was flattered by this endorsement and it got me thinking of the reasons I love our house. I wanted to share a few photos and a few thoughts but the words that flowed out of my pen were mostly about the yard and garden.

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Walking Ireland's Wicklow Way - A Guide for Independent Travelers

Over the years I have come to revel in walking inn-to-inn. Although the experience isn’t as remote, wild, or free of people as backpacking, arriving at a destination on foot is still very satisfying. I have come to appreciate the convenience of carrying a smaller pack and having lodging and town services waiting for me at the end of the day. 

For our most recent trip abroad, Mike and I spent 14 days in Ireland including six days walking along the Wicklow Way. The outing offered the chance to explore a new country and the slower pace of travel allowed us to become fully immersed in a landscape different from home. In addition to the territory we discovered along the trail, our daily arrival gave us a chance to explore another new place whether it be a town or just a small inn.

Marley Park, Dublin

While many Wicklow Way trekkers go the self-guided route (A guide company books your accommodations, transports your bag, and provides support), Mike and I carried our bags and made reservations on our own. Below is a description of our walk and advice on logistics. While we walked more or less to our destination each day, there were still logistics to workout.

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Sky on Fire - Aurora Borealis May 2024

Montana’s fabulous big sky has rightfully earned its reputation as something spectacular. Stretching from horizon to horizon, even the most jaded long-time residents admire the expansive and seemingly endless overhead canopy, and visitors seeing it for the first time "oooh" and "ahhh." This past weekend, Montana’s always pleasing sky was filled with even more magic as we were treated to a display of northern lights.

If you haven’t seen them before, they are a “So this is Yale" moment that lives up to the hype. 

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Treading Lightly on the Planet

Thoughts on thrift and 14 ways I lessen my impact on the earth

When I was a little girl, I sometimes made cookies with my mother. I can still hear her say, “Your grandmother could make a dozen cookies with the batter left in that bowl” when I put what I thought was an empty bowl into the sink. I don’t know if my mother was able to get 12 cookies out of what remained, but the lesson made an impact on me and was one of many messages on thrift that I heard throughout my childhood.

My parents instilled in me the importance of taking only what you need and not wasting things. These beliefs were passed on to them from their parents who lived through the Great Depression and reinforced to them as children during World War II. I remember waiting in gas lines in the 1970s, and Jimmy Carter’s plea to turn the thermostat down and put a sweater on* was taken seriously by my family. In addition, my hometown, Randolph, New Jersey, started mandatory curbside recycling in the early 1980s and my parents were avid proponents from the start. With these messages during my formative years, it was easy to begin modifying my behavior when the evidence became overwhelming that human activities and consumption were having a major impact on climate change. 

Lately, I have been thinking about what I have been doing to lessen my impact on the planet. Here is my list. Feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section of this post.

2023-2024 Snow Update

Bleak. Meager. Sporty. Lame. All of those words have been used to describe this year's winter. I have long said that a long, snowy, cold winter is just what we need to drive out all of the poseurs but this year is not the one to do it.

Glory days from last winter

The A-List Eats - Rediscovering Storm Castle Café

One of Bozeman’s best and most authentic comfort food restaurants, Storm Castle Café, is tucked in a low-slung strip mall home to a doughnut shop, Mellow Mood tobacco, and a laundromat. Since 2010, the husband-and-wife team of Scott Peterson and Nicole Warner have been dishing up hearty eats from their unassuming Tai Lane location across from the MSU campus.

With excellent food and service, reasonable prices, and a casual setting, it is a welcome change from the Anywhere U.S.A. feel that is starting to predominate many "New Bozeman" establishments. I seldom go out for lunch during the work week, but I did once over the holidays. I had only been to Storm Castle one time about 10+ years ago and couldn’t remember much about the food or the setting. I am glad I checked it out again. Here's what I found.

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The Old Farm - A Memoir

What follows is my mother's recollection of her summer days at The Old Farm, her family's first summer home near Blairstown, New Jersey. Although her family sold the property when she was nine years old, she fondly recalled those days until the end of her life at age 84. 

She presented her story on 31 handwritten pages, which my uncle recently shared with me. I am guessing that she wrote this sometime in the early to mid-1990s, as she mentions it had been 50 years since she summered at the Old Farm. I feel fortunate that she left these memories, and I enjoyed preserving her story. 

I added the headings. They were not part of the original story.

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The Shortcomings of American Know-How

My Swedish friend 

Å

sa says that European companies like to hire people from the United States because they possess "American Know-How."

Citizen Diplomacy in the Bozone

This fall, Mike and I volunteered to be the "Friendship Family" for two members of the T.E.A. (Teaching Excellence and Achievement) group that was recently in Bozeman. Our guests were Mali, a chemistry teacher from Laos and Tatjana, an English teacher from Belarus.

T.E.A. is a Fulbright program bringing teachers from around the world to the United States to learn about different teaching methodologies and about American culture. Our job as their hosts was to give them the chance to experience American culture first-hand through everyday activities. It was a great way for us to find out more about other cultures and get a different perspective on the place we call home.

Bozeman Restaurant & Retail Comings & Goings - Fall 2023

If you’re a local and haven’t made it out in a while, an MSU alumni wondering what happened to your beloved college town, or if you’re reading from afar dreaming of your next trip to (or possibly even moving to) Bozeman, here is the latest.

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