Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 177
Early this evening the air was pleasant. The air quality index varied between moderate to good - stable enough for Jan to plan ahead, marinate some fresh veggies and chicken chunks for kebabs, throw them on the grill and plan a pleasant outdoor meal. Left in my hands, we'd have eaten cold tuna sandwiches indoors. It's a good thing she's more energetic and playful than I am these days. Smoke gets to me and I become a house-bound creature of dour habits when enough wildfire smoke hangs in the air...
I've been back in the Swan Valley for a little over a week now, having parked the boat in Pasadena, Maryland and prepared it for sale. Naturally, the boat market has completely tanked, with everyone trying to get rid of that impulse-buy boat from the pandemic. We have the preternatural ability to find the bottom of any market when we have something to sell. Our quick response unit in Condon had six medical calls the first four days I was back. The members suggested that I take my black cloud...
Don Larson’s Aug. 15 Pathfinder OpEd concerning Condon jumping ship from Missoula to Lake County being a no-go rings true. A 30-year stint in Seeley Lake left vivid memories of being treated like a red-headed step child by Missoula. Condonites, you have my sympathy. What did not ring true were Larson’s misleading comments concerning CSKT government and tribal membership not paying their fair share into the Lake County tax coffers while enjoying many county services. While up on his soap box, two-county homeowner Larson also took a pot shot at...
These days we're having now, this little tweener season that I call late summer, is one of my favorite times. The heat of summer - and hopefully the fires and their shrouds of smoke - are winding down. Days are getting noticeably shorter and the nights are noticeably cooler. The kids are getting their last lick of vacation in before the start of school. It's 4H animal projects and county fair time, sweet corn fresh from somebody's garden or maybe a roadside stand time, and time to think about...
As the new school year begins, the lack of affordable housing casts a long shadow over Montana’s communities, especially for our teachers and students. The housing crisis is not just an economic issue — it’s a threat to the future of our state and the well-being of our children. The housing crisis hits all of us, but in this back-to-school month, the impact on our teachers and families is in full light. On the trail in western Montana, I met with Seeley Lake’s principal, who told me they had teacher openings with interested candidates, but ther...
At first I hated fishing tricos. They were too much of a mystery - not much was written about them then and all I knew about them were things I didn't like. They were too small. There were no standard patterns - that I knew about, anyway - so I had to start from scratch. The trout kept sipping them off the surface with maddening regularity for hours every morning. And when the tricos were on, it was useless to fish with anything else. If I wanted to catch these fish, I'd have to learn more...
Montana law states that "it is unlawful for any person to permit any noxious weed to propagate or go to seed on the person's land." It further states that "...any person who adheres to the noxious weed management program of the person's weed management district or has entered into and is in compliance with a noxious weed management agreement" is considered to be in compliance. (Montana Code 7-22-2116 (2023)). Legally, a noxious weed is any plant designated by a Federal, State or county...
Does anyone know Where the love of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours Those lyrics from Gordon Lightfoot's famous ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" were passing through my mildly seasick brain as the predicted 3-foot waves were clearly significantly higher. Moving our boat from New York City back to Chesapeake Bay involved 122 miles of open North Atlantic Ocean, and I had waited patiently for a benign weather forecast. On the day of departure my many weather apps predict...
The summer reading program finishes Thursday, Aug. 22. Reading logs can be turned in through the end of the day. The grand-prize drawing will be on Monday, Aug. 26. A special thank you to the Ice Cream Place for donating small cones for each kiddo who completes a reading log. This steadfast support for years from the ICP makes the summer reading program such a treat for the kids. Also, thank you to Linda Orr, who donates a blanket with a hand-crocheted border each year for the summer reading...
You see them everywhere - maybe not in blizzard numbers but usually at least a few - all summer long. They start while salmonflies are on the water in June and they last, most years, well into September, depending on how chilly the nights get. You'll often find more of them clinging to streamside willows and tall grass than you'll see on the water. When they're ready, you'll see the egg-layers flying almost haphazardly over the stream, then dropping to shed their cargo of eggs into rifled...
We learn about people in different ways. Some we read about, some we have met in person, and of course in this digital age we meet people virtually. I was a seasonal worker at the Seeley Lake Ranger District in the 1960s, and one person that I knew only by voice over the Forest Service radio was Dorothy Taylor. It seems strange in this day of fire patrol planes to learn that in 1966 the Seeley Lake District alone had four fire lookouts: Falls Point, East Spread, Morrell (built in 1962) and Double Arrow. Dorothy was our Double Arrow lookout...
Jon is a great kid. When my grandson Silas invited Jon to join us on a fishing and camping trip I couldn't have been more pleased. Silas is a great kid, too. I knew they'd bring a sense of adventure, enthusiasm, laughter and just enough delightful mischief to keep each other busy. I wouldn't have to do much but direct traffic, pass out chores and enjoy my time with them. Jon and Silas are both 13, and have known each other since they were babies. Their moms are best friends and their children, J...
It was an interesting start to the morning. I was sitting in the cockpit (back deck of the boat) in the Liberty Landing Marina, just off the Hudson River, looking directly across at Manhattan. The "Freedom Tower," the replacement for the destroyed Twin Towers, dominates the skyline, a magnificent rebuttal to the cheap shot terror vendors of the world. I glanced at my phone-delivered morning news feed, and the lead article related the plea agreement between the 911 perps and the US government -...
Summertime in Montana is an amazing time of year. Even with storms and fires, it is a time that emphasizes fun outdoors, camps, travel and lots of fun in the water and the sun. Often, this is a time for barbecues, for family dinners, for get-togethers. Unlike the strict schedules of the school year or the cold early evenings of winter, summer seems to invite some rule relaxation. It is a time when we relax some rules around playtime and bedtime and often dessert time. And when we seek the best dessert for summer, we can never turn away from...
As a family medicine doctor at Partnership Health Center, I have helped many people through their pregnancy journeys. While planning for a baby is an exciting time, it can also be challenging and even overwhelming. If you are pregnant or preparing for a pregnancy, meeting with your doctor can help set you up for success. First, starting prenatal vitamins early gives your baby the best chance for healthy growth. These vitamins, especially folic acid, help prevent birth defects and support your baby’s development from day one. Next, your d...
It's a rainy day on the Hudson River, about 35 miles north of New York City. About every 30 minutes our little floating house will be rocked by a wake from the many giant barges that travel the river. Hold on to the coffee maker. The recent discussions regarding the brain function of certain prominent persons has me musing about my own experiences. When I finally finished my surgical training, all of 16 years after high school, I began my adult (getting paid) career in Billings, Montana in...
Anybody reading this column who is old enough to be a Gordon Lightfoot fan might recognize the title of this column from one of his songs. Like many of you, and without going into the reasons why, I could use a summertime dream about now and over the next few days I might get one. I'm taking a grandson and his friend camping and fishing. They're wonderful kids and at that barely-teen age when the world comes alive with things to wonder at while they're still young enough to see it all fresh,...
Tonight I am witness, to my surprise, to a waterski exhibition. We have stopped in Amsterdam, New York, on the Erie Canal, and apparently there is a very active waterski academy here. While entertaining, the jumpers and balletic skiers put up prodigious wakes, which rock us continually. Between that and the trains paralleling the Erie Canal every 30 minutes, it is an active place. We have traversed northeast Canada, crossed Lake Ontario and are now transiting the Erie Canal on our way back to...
Our trout streams in western Montana or the Idaho Panhandle have a lot in common. Whether you fish the St. Joe in Idaho or the Blackfoot, Bitterroot, or Rock Creek in Montana, you'll find the same trout species, the same insect hatches, the same general topography, but with infinite local variations that can differ slightly as you move from one run to another on the same body of water, much less into a different watershed. It's theme and variation. Each stream has its own character, its own...
The Summer Reading Program is in full swing. If you haven’t already signed your kiddos up, there’s still plenty of time to join in the fun. We kicked off this year’s program with the All Under One Roof Road Show on June 20. Many thanks to the Seeley Lake Elementary School’s Outdoor Education program for partnering with the public library to make this event a success. Kids participated in fun events with the spectrum Discovery Area, Families First, MCAT, UM’s Living Lab and additional staff fro...
With cloudy skies threatening rain, the Clearwater Valley Bear Smart event kicked off the Dogtown Bear Fair on Sunday, June 29 hosted at the home of Cheri and Steve Thompson. More than 100 neighbors gathered from the Dogtown community for a delicious picnic and to learn about bear behavior and safety tips from several organizations. Gathering together with friends made for a fun way to learn and explore all things bear. Here are a few highlights from the fair: Are you smarter than the average...
Last week, water temps in the upper Bitterroot crept into the low and mid-60s and the East Fork and West Fork held in that range. Insect hatches are abundant at those temperatures, trout of all species feed actively, the angler can have a great day and all can appear to be well. But that was last week. This week and for the foreseeable future, day temps in the 90s will push water temperatures skyward by mid-day. As I write, hoot-owl restrictions, no fishing from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m., have been...
"I'm not a quitter, grandpa!" Seven-year-old Chance was not about to give up. His older brother had caught a couple of trout on his own and his four-year-old younger brother had caught one too, with some undivided assistance from Grandpa Chuck. Now it was Chance's turn. He was standing on a narrow strip of gravel between a current seam on the West Fork of the Bitterroot and a strip of willows behind him. I had been watching from downstream. As his casts neared the point where some small fish...
There still might be some leftover "super hatches" here and there; I remember one year when there was still major salmonfly activity well into late July on the Blackfoot. And then there was the year that green drakes, which might be done by mid-June most places, persisted until after the Fourth of July on the Bitterroot. And I don't mean occasional sightings. When I fished both of these hatches, years apart, they were the major happening on these rivers. The "super hatches," as they're called, a...
I'm writing to introduce myself as the newest physician at Partnership Health Center's Seeley Swan Medical Center. After practicing rural family medicine for the past seven years in northern Washington, I am excited to return to Montana and continue providing rural healthcare in the Seeley Swan area. I was born and raised in Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin for both undergraduate and medical school. I completed my Family Medicine residency training in Missoula through...
