A Visiting Bear

     We drove into town yesterday to plant some carrots in the Community Garden.  When we came home we drove down our driveway and were surprised to see a black bear there, looking up at us and just as surprised as we were.  It then scrambled over to the side of the yard and climbed a few feet up the trunk of a cottonwood tree and stopped there, watching us, as it decided what to do.

    I took a photo with my iPhone, then got out of the car, shouted and waved my hands at the bear, but it just continued to cling to the tree.  I then walked to the house to get my camcorder so I could take some better photos of the bear, but of course, by the time I had my camera and was back outside, the bear had disappeared into the bush.

    While we had been in town, the black bear had dragged the container of tin cans that we had saved for recycling out from the carport and onto the edge of the driveway, where he dumped it over.  Even though we had washed all the cans, I guess some of them still had the scent of food on them.

    The bear had also turned over our barbecue grill and left it sprawled on our back deck.

    This morning, as I walked by the tree the bear had been on, I spotted a tin can in the woods.  It was dented and had a hole in its side, where the bear had bitten into it.  Bears have pretty strong jaws.

    While a lot of people are terrified of bears, the ones we have around our house are not at all threatening.  They just want to quietly find some food, and not encounter any humans.  I worry at lot about the survival of wildlife in this deteriorating world, so I was happy to see that this bear, who seemed very healthy, had made it through the winter.

    

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Wild Boys at the Jam

     I don’t have a recent photo of our jam in the Train Station Lobby, so you will have to live with this older one that I have shown you before.  When this story I am about to tell you took place, we were in the same place, but there were about an audience of 10 sitting at the far end, and not all of our normal players were present.

    This happened two weeks ago:   Our jam was playing as normal, with about a half an hour left to play when two young guys, probably under twenty years old, came in to watch and listen.  They were not our usual type of clientele, but they were very enthusiastic and sat down on the floor.   Monika our fiddler, usually brings along some small percussion instruments, and in between the songs, she handed a couple rhythm instruments to the two guys.

    During the next songs, the two “wild boys” really got into the music, and were really putting their whole hearts into playing along.  Their enthusiasm and energy was infectious and it soon spread to all of us players, driving us, and causing us to put much more vigor into our playing and singing.

    We always just go around to circle and let everyone choose a song.  The choice soon came to one of the wild boys and I was really surprised at what song he choose.  Being so young, I figured he would choose some rock-oriented song, but he chose Woody Guthrie’s “Hobo’s Lullaby.”  I was amazed that it was a song he even knew.  It is a slow song about a hobo riding a boxcar thinking about whether there would be any policemen in heaven.

    After the jam, Ace, one of the boys came up to me, all happy about discovering our jam playing.  I asked him where he was from and he said they had just come in on a boxcar (the Train Station is right beside the railroad tracks of course.)  I wasn’t totally sure that was the truth, but he sure looked and acted like it might be.

    Anyway, everyone at the jam was sure effected by the enthusiasm those two wild boys brought to the evening, and everyone left, still buzzing with the infectious energy they had transmitted.  It was a very fun and memorable jam.

    Last week at our jam, two of McBride’s uniformed ambulance responders who were on standby, came in to listen.  They sat in chairs just inside the door.  As we were playing, I noticed two guys look through the window in the door, but they didn’t come in.  I wondered if they were the wild boys again.  I also wondered if, when they saw the two uniformed first aid attendants, they thought they might be police, and so they didn’t want to come inside.  I don’t know if that was the case or not, but if it was the two wild boys, I was sorry they didn’t come in to share their infectious enthusiasm and energy again.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Sacrificing Principles for Protection

     Ever since we were evacuated because of a forest fire a couple of years ago, I have spent hours cutting down and pruning back bushes in my yard to help lessen fire danger to our house.  Most people, liking bare, mono-cultured lawns, would have never allowed those native bushes to grow in their yards in the first place, but I have always felt strongly about preserving natural habitat for our wildlife, so I was very tolerant about preserving them when I could.  

    This was especially true of Red Osier Dogwoods, a bush that produced white berries.  I had several of those that grew close to our house.  I was always happy to watch the birds and even bears eating those berries in the Fall.

    But having all those bushes close to the house and shop created possible fuel for falling ash, if a wildfire came, so with much sadness, I have cut them down and tried to clear them away from my buildings.   Of course, bushes want to live, so in the spring, the bushes I have cut down, send out new shoots, and even though I feel torn about doing it, I have to cut them off.  The photo above shows the new shoots one bush sent out this year.

    I also have been having mixed feelings about mowing.  In Canada there is a movement called “No Mow May”.  that encourages people not to mow their lawns in May, especially if you have things like dandelions and other small flowering plants among the grass, because many insects and bees depend upon those flowers in the early spring.  At the same time, letting the “grass” grow tall can create fast fuel for fires if it is very dry.  So what to do, what to do?

    Fortunately for me, our property includes fields and forests that also provide habitat for wildlife and birds, so I guess, what I do in my yard won’t effect them too much.

    Yesterday I also put up five water sprayers on the roof of my house and shop to help prevent forest fires from destroying them.  I used to look forward to the arrival of summer, but now its arrival also triggers fear of forest fires.

    The old photo below shows a black bear on the edge of our yard, checking things out in our yard.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Magic Hour in the Robson Valley

     In photography, the golden hour is the period of daytime shortly after sunrise or before sunset, during which daylight is redder and softer than when the sun is higher in the sky. The golden hour is also sometimes called the magic hour, especially by cinematographers and photographers.

    While this photo doesn’t feature the redness of the sky mentioned in the definition, the sun is low on the horizon, backlighting the tops of the newly-leaved trees, giving them a magical glow.  

    During Robson Valley winter, the sun is very far to left of this photo and sets at the east end of our Valley.  Only briefly in the Spring and Fall, does it set directly behind these mountains.  Already it is setting and in the far to the right of this photo, and as summer approaches, it will be setting at the far  west end of the Valley, and not behind the Cariboo Mountain Range.

    While we miss the brilliant colors of the sunsets from our house this time of year, during the summer, I do enjoy experiencing the backlit trees when the sun is low on the horizon.  

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Logging Slash Burnpile, A Painting

         For Earth Day our local museum had a show of art relevant to that theme.  I contributed an older painting I had done entitled “Slash Burnpile”.   Below is what I wrote about the painting:

    I worked for the BC Forest Service for 23 years.  I was always appalled by the incredible amount of waste generated by industrial logging.  This is an image of the burning inferno of one of the “slash” piles of wood that was left behind after logging. 

    The slash is burned just to get rid of it.  We heat our house with a wood stove, and every time I see all of the smoke from a  “slash burn” or a burn pile, I can't help but shake my head in dismay at the waste of wood that could otherwise be used for something of benefit.

    All of the burning of unused trees is not only prevents the organic nutrients in the trees from returning to the forest soil, but it also puts the large amount of carbon which was locked inside the trees, up into the atmosphere.  It is that ever-increasing carbon in the atmosphere, that is changing our climate and causing the destructive droughts, ever-increasing heat, and massive floods that we now see almost daily on the news.

View my other paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Welcome Back, Hummingbirds

     In the Spring, residents in the Robson Valley always look forward to the return of the hummingbirds.  We have two species that nest here:  The rust-colored Rufus (shown in the photos) and the smaller, green, Calliope Hummingbird.  I had put up my hummingbird feeder a few days ago, and was happy to see a few hummers come for a sugary drink.  

    Because hummingbirds are so unusual and distinct looking, they are quite noticeable, and we would certainly be aware if they didn’t return, but a study released on May 1st by Cornel University, has shown that there are three billion birds of various North American species that have disappeared since 1970’s.  There are a few species that I used to notice around here, that I haven’t seen for years.   Their disappearance is largely due to the loss of their habitat.  

    I was happy to see the hummers are back from wintering in the US South and Southwest.  It is truly remarkable that these tiny and fragile-looking creatures can make such a long trips back and forth every year, and hopefully they will have a successful breeding and nesting season this summer in the Robson Valley.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca

Suddenly There Are Leaves

     I was surprised when I walked around the pond this morning.  When I was at the far end and looked back toward the house, I could see huge swatches of green.  It seemed like overnight, the trees grew leaves.  It happened so quickly.

    There is an old farmer’s saying that when the Aspen leaves are as big as a mouses ear, it is time to plant your garden.  Most of the green you see in the photo are leaves of Aspen trees, so I guess it’s time for gardening.  The saying inspired the cartoon below.

View my paintings:  davidmarchant2.ca