Enid Petherick
Artist and Observer
of the Wilds
September 20, 2002
Driving down the road we saw a grouse sitting on the gravel shoulder ahead. Passing slowly we counted five little birds, feathers fluffed in the sun, posing in a row. They hadn't moved as I watched them disappear in the rear view mirror.
Returning home that evening, we saw a large deer standing in the middle of the road, silhouetted against the sky. It remained in the road as we approached, mesmerised by the lights. Its eyes glowed like beacons. A rare chance for a camera—but what if we had been hunters?
October
19, 2002
Beautiful October day. Walking along the river, we did not see Kokanee as the river bed at this point was rocky rather than the gravel that they like. But on the shore—imprinted in the silt—I was totally impressed by huge bear tracks—the largest I have come across. What a thrill it would be to see the owner—but not close or unexpectedly!
November 4, 2002
The computer monitor glows from the darkness. I look at Ralph as he turns from it and we simultaneously burst out laughing. Eyeing each other we see a single one-eyed beam shining from the forehead of a dark murky shape. We are experiencing a period of short dark days and to save the limited solar energy for computer time, at night we have been strapping on our LED headlights rather than switching on the solar-powered lights.
The room assumes another worldly quality with two one-eyed Martians floating about in the beam of the computer monitor—space-age technology!!?
17 November 2002
The owner of the super tracks in the silt by the river has now been identified. A large sow grizzly and her cub were seen by a neighbor and are causing a stir in the area.
The Kokanee are still spawning—more, and a longer period of time than usual. The number of Bald eagles patrolling the river has increased and one evening we watched a couple of eagles fly from the river to roost in a tall Cottonwood on the ridge behind the cabin.
Your Land"
(detail)
