Yes, I'm still here.

Not much to report up here in the sticks. It's cold,duh, -23 f this morning, which although it is cold,we've had colder,like -45f. But that was a long time ago. It's a feeling you don't soon forget, your face hurts,teeth, ice cream headaches, feet, you name it, it hurts. Deeply too.

The cold makes sounds louder, life seems intense,deliberate, meaningful. And it really makes you long for spring.

Storm to the south

A fly.

I originally wrote this during the summer, but then left it behind.  So today I dug it out and did a complete rewrite.

With the way this summer had been going, and now the fall and I can see winter isn't going to be much different, I thought going back and taking another look at things might be helpful. Or not. I had stopped by the Boy Scout Camp as I try to do several times a week. It's usually quiet and from a distance, doesn't look like a real happening place.  But it is. From April to October you can usually find something to hold your interest, and hen again you should be able to do that anywhere.  Just pay attention. Look around.

I say a fly of the same specie flying, hovering near the ground, making short stabbing like flights towards the ground. Looking more carefully you would have seen small holes that these motions were being directed to. Nothing should ever go unnoticed. I thought that the fly was laying eggs in the tunnels  and that those eggs would hatch and then the larva would parasitize the inhabitant of the hole. It happens,parasites are everywhere.

Most people don't pay attention, we're too busy talking to someone else, have too much on our minds, etc. We're never really in the moment. Too bad, you miss a lot.

I went further along,going back towards the jeep, and saw this little, black fly on the ground. I stopped, got down on my knees, and poked him (or her) with my finger. It sidestepped a millimeter or so. Not much. That got my curiosity up. Very nearby, there was a hole, and after running back to get a camera (rule one,never leave your camera) I went back, took a couple of shots and looked at the hole. There in the hole, was a skin like thing just barely poking out. You would never have noticed it,honest. I got my forceps out and very carefully pulled out a husk .  Back at home I would sit down and take a better look .

The fly is one of Antrax species, some of which are  parasites of solitary wasps. Now there are in the area that I found this one, lots of bees,mining bees. But also tiger beetles. And at least on,Anthrax analis, parasitizes tiger beetles.  The husk that I found shows, (now this is cool,) a fly front and the rear end of a tiger beetle larva. I would post a photo,but it doesn't show.  I'm not sure if this fly is A. aralis,  but it made my walk much more interesting.

And yes, I still have the skin.

Freeze up

But it might change.  It was 4 above this morning, by Sunday night,rain.

Getting closer to freeze up.

Kennebago River, Cloutman Ridge in the background.

Pileated woodpecker holes,unlucky ants.

Getting colder, the river edges are beginning to freeze.

It always happens this way. A steady pull, back and forth between warm and cold. The past few days have been cold and snowy. By midweek, we are expecting rain. Back and forth.  Some of the smaller ponds are ice covered, the big lakes are still open, but that will be changing too. The cold will win out, it just takes time.

A couple of weeks a ago..

The day was dead calm & warm.

Mooselookmeguntic Lake

Rangeley Lake looking towards Rangeley

From left to right: Mooseloolmeguntic, Bald Mt and Rangeley Lake

Deer Mt

And now,it's getting colder and we have snow.

Sunset, November 24,2010

Thanksgiving Eve.

It's getting cold, and it was snowing all day yesterday. Late afternoon, the clouds parted and the sun closed the day.

If you look carefully, you can see a sun pillar. Light reflects off of ice crystals that are falling. You usually see these around sunrise and sunset.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!