Here, he's leaving Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (1.1 million acres), located north of Lewistown, as evening approaches and the moon rises. The landscape looks much as it did in the early 1800s, when Lewis and Clark stood in this spot, contemplating what they'd have for dinner, and who would cook it.
Steve spotted this pronghorn near Melville (it's munching a bit of grass). The pronghorn is the swiftest of North America's land mammals (it runs at about 55 mph, for several minutes at a time), and is among the fastest in the world.
A bull elk and his sugarbabe. Or one of many sugarbabes, I should say.
In the end, I made it not quite six weeks without blogging (see the Ron Carlson Kool-Aid Caper, below), and might have lasted longer, but I wanted so much to post these photos of Steve's. I regret not having gone with him -- I had the chance, but I passed, wanting to wrestle with the new novel, which is kinda driving me nuts. I'm taking a break from it, working on a short story, which features an elk as a character, though not as "fancy" as the grand old bull, below. Anyway, glad to be back -- and just in time, too. The mountain bluebirds are in, and I saw a flicker on Friday. Got a lot to talk about!
4 comments:
Love these photos! I once entered an oil painting of an elk in a swamp (I believe I creatively titled it "Elk in Swamp") in the Orange County Fair and won Honorable Mention.
Then, maxing out my creative visual ability, I turned to the written word.
Welcome back. :)
Hi Michelle -- it's good to be back; thanks for the shout-out.
The thing about creativity is it arrives in so many surprising forms (in my case, the mediocre ability to paint in watercolors and play the guitar, and a slightly above average to plunk the keys of the piano). My fantasy is playing a truly fabulous fiddle, ala Alison Krauss. Not sure there are enough years left for that one.
Congrats on the honorable mention! Fun!
wow, stunning photos!
creativity is that well, isn't it, that can be dipped into with any sort of container. I'm so tempted to pick up the flute again, but I have so little time now; I fear it would only add to my frustration.
Then again, it's not like I'd play for anyone else but myself. Shoot, I wouldn't even have to practice...much.
;-}
Michelle..do you still have that oil painting?
I have total respect for people with musical ability. I have none.
I believe my parents have the elk painting in some storage facility somewhere.
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