Gardners World (Nigel) and some beautiful trail camera photos. (Photo Shaun and Whateley at the cabin)

"I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief." 

Wendell Berry

Helen and I love to watch Monty Don on Gardeners' World. One of the highlights are the segments from his garden Long Meadow, which often feature his dogs Nigel, Nellie, and a new dog Pattie, a Yorkshire terrier. We were quite sad to learn that Nigel had died, a lost made more poignant with the loss of our dog Shaun in February.

"Nigel has died.

He was 12 and had a good life and his end was quick and painless and came after a very happy day when he walked and ate and played - gently - seemingly without a care. But it was a great shock and sadness.

He is now buried in the garden with many of his beloved tennis balls to accompany him on his journey."

https://www.montydon.com/tips-and-advice/may-2020

With all that is going on it seems that we will not be staying at the cabin for an extended period this summer. While this allows us to catch up on work here, we will miss the chance to watch the animals that surround the cabin, so I am providing a link to what I think is some of the best trail camera footage I have ever seen. It is also nice that most of the animals are species found around our cabin.

https://www.cbc.ca/life/hellospring/springscenes/adorable-animals-discover-spy-camera-in-quebec-wilderness-it-s-awesome-1.5566328

A trail camera photo of a moose on the lane to our cabin.

A coyote and a badger use a culvert as a wildlife crossing

"I come home with a chicken or

a rabbit and sit up

singing all night with my friends.

It´s baroque, my life, and

I tell it on the mountain.

I wouldn´t trade it for yours."

from Coyote

                     by William Stafford

Link below: This is the best trail camera image I have ever seen.

2020-02-03, 7:11 PM

Russ McSpadden

@PeccaryNotPig

A coyote and a badger use a culvert as a wildlife crossing to pass under a busy California highway together. Coyotes and badgers are known to hunt together.

Earlier I posted photos of my wife's family farm

in Saskatchewan and also photos of the cabin we

have been building on 80 acres we purchased to use

during our retirement. One thing we had planned to do

was set up trail cameras to observe the wildlife.

Brian my wife's younger brother, (who with her older

brother Ralph did most of the work on the cabin often

under unpleasant conditions, building a tin roof during a heat

wave  while sick comes to mind, Thanks Guys), set up some trail

cameras this year and was kind enough to share the fruits of his

labour. I am not sure which part of the farm the cameras were

stationed on but all the land on the farm including ours is

fairly similar, Aspen Parkland, a northern extension of the

Great Plains prairie ecosystem which forms a large part

of western Canada and the United States. I really recommend

Candace Savage's  Prairie: A Natural History for an

introduction to the topic.

My wife and I met while working in archaeology. One of

the most challenging but also one of the most rewarding

aspects of this was you spent a lot of the summer outside in tents

often in isolated rural areas. The exposure to nature, through

the weather, the plants and the animals reinforced our desire

to be able to spend time outside the city gardening, watching

the seasons, getting to know the birds, the insects and reptiles (me)

watching the stars ( Helen and me ) and generally enjoying the

wildlife. The farm is perfect for this because the types of wildlife

actually appear to be increasing the usual deer, beaver, coyotes,

porcupine,skunks and occasional elk  now share their habitat with

wolves and moose which had not been seen for years. It appears that

mountain lions have also moved into the area in the last few years.

While retirement is some years away we had been consulting with

a financial planner and she mentioned that many people had trouble

with boredom. We looked at her and said we did not think that will

be a problem. And I don't think it will, be but if it is we can always

take a few minutes and talk to the neighbours.

"But the moon carved unknown totems
out of the lakeshore
owls in the beardusky woods derided him
moosehorned cedars circled his swamps and tossed
their antlers up to the stars"

              Bushed

                             Earle Birney

                                          "How long did those

       three deer stand pondering, the dark, bowing to taste

the least brown grasses, the cold-burnt rosehips"

           

                                                                  The Deer

                                                                       David Baker

" Now do U understand what heaven is

it is the surround of the living"

                                             The Changing Light at Sandover

                                                          James Merrill

Thanks Again Brian