Friday, May 29, 2009

Petey the Appy Rascal - Renee's new filly (Appaloosa)

B&W image of nursing foal
I visited my sister a few days ago in Ronan. Her neighbor and our friend has a new foal (baby horse). This little Appaloosa filly was born May 26th (I think) and was only a day old when the photos were taken. What a sweet little foal! She was learning to stand and eat and just the cutest little hairy being you ever saw!



To see the album at SmugMug click Renee's Appaloosa Foal.

Monday, May 18, 2009

May Wildflower Favorites

Fairyslipper These photos were taken yesterday in the Bitterroot Mountains. They are some of my May wildflower favorites. My SmugMug site will have folders featuring each particular flower shown here and more.
See the slideshow below. To see all the wildflower photos, click Merle's SmugMug Wildflowers. I will be posting more later today.



Tuesday, May 12, 2009

April Showers Bring May Wildflowers

A bog near a stream In May we are seeing more and more spring flowers come into bloom. The slideshow from my SmugMug site has arnica, arrowleaf balsamroot, shooting stars, serviceberry, indian paintbrush, oregon grape, and more.

It has been a cool spring with only a little moisture until recently. The aspen and cottonwood and shrubs are finally getting their leaves and it is looking green again!




To see the slideshow with captions in a new window click May Wildflowers

Monday, May 11, 2009

Anna Lacroix is IN DC. Read on...

Anna in DC. Photo by Flickr member childrensdefensefund Click link below for:
More photos on Flickr uploaded by Childrens Defense Fund

CDF President Marian Wright Edelman (center) and Keri Russell (right) talk with Anna (in red chair) in DC. Marian Wright Edelman said that CDF and it's coalition share a history for standing up for the voiceless. They "are the voice" for children's health in American and will be heard loud and clear in 2009.

Anna had been deaf from birth. She and her family are learning sign language. They NEED the CDF voice, they need health care, they need us to care, to follow these issues and speak to our congressional representatives in support of their needs.

"On Mother’s Day, a group of prominent Hollywood women––including Jessica Alba, Regina King, Keri Russell, Jurnee Smollett, Ali Wentworth and others―joined Children’s Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman and Michelle Fenty, attorney and Washington, DC, First Lady, on a children’s health reform Child Watch day in Washington, DC.

They were joined by families from Texas, Virginia and Montana who spoke about the struggles they’ve faced trying to get their children the health coverage they need.

The group conducted a CDF Child Watch visit to the Unity Health Care Upper Cardozo Clinic in Columbia Heights, where they met children at the clinic and held a roundtable discussion with health care providers and working families from across the country about the difficulties in accessing quality affordable health care for their children. The women shared these experiences when they met administration officials and Congressional leaders later in the day to ask for guaranteed quality affordable health care for all children as part of the health reform legislation being drafted this month." Quoted from May 2009 Mother's Day Child Watch, one photo set including pictures of Anna.

Below is my slideshow with four photos including Anna. I saved them from the CDF Flickr site. Amy Sage is on the far left, Anna is in the red chair, Marian Wright Edleman is right of Anna, then Keri Russell in yellow and Jessica Alba on the far right.



Here is another Flickr photo set with Anna - Jess Alba / Keri Russell
Jessica Alba / Keri Russell Health Center For a slideshow visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/wumpiewoo/sets/72157617757917749/show/

Text from Flickr:
A group of female Hollywood celebrities and other prominent women came to Unity Health Care in Columbia Heights to speak with mothers of pediatric patients who have faced serious difficulties receiving health care. After an open discussion with three mothers from Texas, Montana, and Virginia, these celebrities travelled to Capitol Hill to advocate on behalf of expanding healthcare benefits for children including the Children's Health Insurance Program.

The following women that attended are members of the Children's Defense Fund...Jessica Alba, Keri Russell, Regina King, Marian Wright-Edelman (Founder of Children's Defense Fund), Jurnee Smollett, Malaak Compton-Rock (Chris Rock's wife), Ali Wentworth (Actress, Wife of George Stephanolpoulos), Michelle Fenty.

I thank all of these remarkable women and I thank you for your support, too.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Anna is going to Washington, DC

Anna LaCroix
Anna holding one of her chicks The real title of this post should be "The Faces of Children Affected by Unjust Budget and Policy Choices."

Anna is the daughter of our neighbors Amy Sage and Bill LaCroix. Anna was born deaf and has gone through two surgeries for cochlear implants. She is what we call a Bright Light. To see the first blog talking about Anna and her cochlear implant click
Anna LaCroix and her chicks, hearing is believing.
To see more blogs about Anna and her community click Anna LaCroix and more.

This week Anna, Amy and Bill are in Washington, DC on a trip to a DC health clinic, in meetings with administration officials and congressional leaders and will join others in talking about the struggles they face in accessing quality affordable health care.

Amy was invited to go to Washington,. D.C. by the Children's Defense Fund to tell their story of Anna's health care needs and the difficulty they face with insurance and limited income. She will make brief presentations to the group of celebrities listed below and then the three groups of senators on Thursday.
See the agenda and information below. Do you care? I hope so, I sure do. Anna is a face to put on the problem.

Jessica Alba, Regina King, Keri Russell, Jurnee Smollett, Ali Wentworth
and Other Prominent Hollywood Women Visit Washington May 7th
to Promote Quality Affordable Health Care for All Children
Group to Join Children’s Defense Fund on Trip to DC Health Clinic, Meetings with Administration Officials and Congressional Leaders


WASHINGTON, DC— On Thursday, May 7, as our nation prepares to celebrate Mother’s Day, a group of prominent Hollywood women––including Jessica Alba, Regina King, Keri Russell, Jurnee Smollett, Ali Wentworth and others―will join Children’s Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman and attorney and Washington, DC, First Lady Michelle Fenty on a children’s health reform Child Watch day in Washington, DC.

The group will conduct a CDF Child Watch visit to the Unity Health Care Upper Cardozo Clinic in Columbia Heights, where they will meet children at the clinic and hold a roundtable discussion with health care providers and working families from across the country about the struggles they face in accessing quality affordable health care for their children. The women will share these experiences when they meet with administration officials and Congressional leaders later that day to ask that they ensure all children quality affordable health care as part of the health reform legislation being drafted this month.

WHAT: Mother’s Day Visit to Washington to Promote Children’s Health Reform

WHO:
Jessica Alba, actress
Malaak Compton-Rock, founder and director, The Angelrock Project
Marian Wright Edelman, president, The Children’s Defense Fund
Michelle Fenty, attorney and First Lady of Washington, DC
Ruth-Ann Huvane, child advocate
Regina King, actress
Michelle Kydd Lee, executive director, Creative Artists Agency Foundation
Katie McGrath, child advocate
Shannon Rotenberg, executive director, just keep livin foundation
Keri Russell, actress
Krista Smith, senior West Coast editor, Vanity Fair
Jurnee Smollett, actress
Laura Wasserman, film music supervisor
Ali Wentworth, actress and comedienne

EVENTS: Roundtable Discussion at Unity Health Care Upper Cardozo Clinic
3020 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC
12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
This event will be open to the media but please RSVP to Ed Shelleby at 202-701-7806 or Eshelleby@childrensdefense.org

Meetings with Congressional Leaders
2:00 p.m. ET: Women Senators hosted by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
3:00 p.m. ET: Senate Finance Committee hosted by Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT)
3:30 p.m. ET: Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee hosted by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT)
For Congressional meeting photo-ops, contact Ed Shelleby at 202-701-7806 or Eshelleby@childrensdefense.org


About the Children’s Defense Fund

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a non-profit child advocacy organization that has worked relentlessly for 35 years to ensure a level playing field for all children. We champion policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education, and a moral and spiritual foundation. Supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations, CDF advocates nationwide on behalf of children to ensure children are always a priority.

The CDF Leave No Child Behind's mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

About the CDF Child Watch Program

The CDF Child Watch program seeks to educate the heart and the mind; tie the faces of children to unjust budget and policy choices; help influential decision makers see child needs in their own communities; show them positive alternatives; engage them in seeking solutions; and build bridges across race, faith and income. CDF’s goal is to get the movers and shakers to move and shake our policy, media and political leaders to action for children and create a new powerful cadre of leaders for children. The Child Watch program’s roots can be traced back to 1967 when a young civil rights lawyer named Marian Wright took Senator Robert F. Kennedy away from the marble corridors of Washington to the clapboard shacks of the Mississippi Delta to see what was happening to America’s children.

About Unity Health Care

Unity Health Care, Inc. (Unity), Washington, DC’s largest nonprofit health and social services organization, serves individuals and families in all eight wards of the District of Columbia through its network of 14 Community Health Centers, nine sites serving homeless individuals and a mobile medical outreach unit. In 2008, Unity served more than 81,000 of the most vulnerable residents of the District including the uninsured, working poor, homeless and the formerly incarcerated. For more information about Unity Health Care, Inc., visit our website at http://www.unityhealthcare.org/.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Mountain Lions - A Montana View

Stock Mountain Lion photo from the internetFor those who might not have guessed, I am an outdoor enthusiast, a hunter, wildlife advocate, naturalist and environmentalist. To the left is a stock photo I found on the internet of a mountain lion. I don't have any photos of a live mountain lion. The photos in the slideshow below are of a dead one.

Jack and I hike the Bitterroots, mostly Bear Creek, Gash, and Sweathouse ridges and draws. I have been seeing mountain lion tracks frequently for about 6 months and have never seen a lion (except when I worked for the Forest Service at Seeley Lake, MT) or a lion kill. On May 2, Jack and I went up one of our usual haunts, but instead of directly climbing a ridge, we decided to take the farm road to see the level of Sweathouse Creek. We found the dead mountain lion on the road a few feet from the creek.

We couldn't see any blood or trauma. Was it poisoned? Was it a natural death? She looked very fit and healthy (besides being dead). We called Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MT FWP)Warden, Joe Jaquith. He picked her up Sunday and was going to take her to a vet for an autopsy. Joe emailed us today. His conclusion is that she took a blow from another lion, probably a male.

Joes words: I have come to the conclusion that this lion was killed by another lion. It has injuries that are consistant with the bite of a large tom. There was no trace of lead in the skull.
He mentioned that a male lion will sometimes kill an unreceptive female. This female was about 65 pounds and maybe two years old. She was a beauty.

Keep checking this blog, I may get photos of a mountain lion yet!

As a naturalist, I love to hunt and I love to shoot...legally. Our Fish, Wildlife and Parks department is full of professionals and they do a great job of providing recreation regulations. I also have great respect for natural ecosystems, flora and fauna. Some might disagree with me, but I hope you will still visit my blog. I love bears, lions, wolves, coyotes, deer, elk, eagles, osprey, snakes and my list goes on and on. All of these creatures were here before I was, before you were. We are in their territory. They have a right to live and thrive. That is "my Montana view."

Below are links to the MT FWP site and the slideshow of my photos.





Click here for Mountain Lion Hunting Guide at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks website.

Hunting News
Check FWP news for important updates throughout the hunting season.
Montana Animal Field Guide my personal favorite (ml)
How much can a mountain lion weigh? The animal field guide contains interesting information about Montana's species.

2009 Season Dates
Fall Mountain Lion Season (without hounds)
October 25–November 29, 2009
Winter Mountain Lion Season (with hounds)
December 1, 2009–April 14, 2010
Caution: Season dates vary by district, so please check the regulations. ~

Joseph A. Jaquith or for a warden in your area see Staff Directory
FWP Warden Sergeant
MT FWP Region 2
363-7110
E-Mail

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Swisher The Goose Returns?

Geese - Swisher maybe
Last year we raised an orphaned gosling from May until he flew away in August. This goose landed on a snag right behind the chicken coop in our yard one morning. I took photos for about an hour and talked with it while it looked at me. The mate (it seemed) flew around us, landed in about 3 different snags and finally convinced this goose to fly up the creek. I wonder, is this Swisher? It brought tears to my eyes.
See more photos below in my SmugMug slideshow.




To see the post about the gosling when it lived with us, see My Goose Friend Swisher.

Click on any photo

for a larger view in a new window. Please don't use any content from this blog with out asking for permission.