Hunkering Down

While these frozen rounds of river foam look like floating rice cakes, I assure you, the foam tastes much, much better. No, I didn't try one, but I have eaten rice cakes, and I stand by my guarantee.

Stomach issues sidelined me today as Monique and some friends saw Johnny Depp's "Sweeney Todd" in Kaslipell. I stayed home, played a lot of Yahtzee (my family knows exactly what I mean), and watched snow fall. Lots of it.

Yesterday at lunch Monique and I went down to the Swan River National Wildlife Refuge and trekked around in our snowshoes. First off, how completely cool that I can visit a National Wildlife Refuge on my lunch hour! And second, once we got a couple hundred yards in, ours were the only tracks around. Walking back I felt tired, and since then I've been wiped out. I've been taking vitamin C, drinking tea, and only went outside to knock a few icicles off the house.

It's very quiet around here. I don't really pay attention to traffic noise, unless it's unusually heavy or light. Just a bit ago a logging truck passed, and I realized that was the first big truck I've heard all day. Woo Hoo!! Come summer, maybe I'll try the trick I heard from one of my aunts... steal a "Road Closed" sign and stick it on the highway.

Just kidding, any authorities monitoring blogs for suspicious or potentially suspicious activity!! ^HA_HA Wouldn't dream of interrupting commerce on Montana's rural highway system to reduce noise and traffic and pollution! No way, José!

The Christmas tree is down and chopped up, the decorations are boxed up, but until the snow leaves, some of the outdoor lights are staying up. They look so good!

Here's a shot looking down the river. Where the current slows, and especially in the shallows where the bottom is uniform, there's quite a bit of ice. If the high over the next two days only hits 10 as forecasted, with lows around -10, the ice should expand nicely.