Into the Inversion

So we've managed to get an impressive amount of snow out here in the Great Basin Desert.

Even the old-timers are saying things like, "I haven't seen this much snow since my aunt wrecked the car by driving into a snow drift and then had to walk five miles home in a blinding blizzard (uphill), but instead she got lost and went in circles (uphill) for three hours, and then it was really like ten miles she walked (uphill), and she only survived because the Christmas star came out and guided her the rest of the way (uphill)."

Okay, nobody said that.

But I have heard a couple comparisons (or hoping that we aren't going to be compared) to the winter of '48-'49, which was a really bad one. So much snow fell and blew--and blew--that most of the roads in the area were closed and lots of livestock were stranded out in the range. Ranchers couldn't get out to check on them, because each time they started off from home in their Caterpillar dozers, the snow blew back over their tracks and they risked getting stranded themselves.

Sheepherders in lonely sheep camps couldn't even go far from their tiny abodes because of the deep snow. They despaired as they saw more sheep dying each day and they were helpless to do anything about it. They relied on the radio to get news of what was going on in the outside world. And fortunately they got news of something to help them out: Operation Haylift. The U.S. Air Force came out to help, dropping hundreds of tons of hay in western Utah and eastern Nevada. This real-life event took place using C82 "flying boxcars." You can read a pretty good account in this Time article. Hollywood also made a movie called Operation Haylift, using some real footage, and you can find it on Netflix.

Somehow I've managed to digress, because the real topic of today's post is the inversion we've had the past few days. I guess being in all the frigid weather with deep snow has put me in a wee bit of a gloomy mood with regards to weather.

Up high on the mountain, the weather has been great. It's snowy there, too, of course, but the sun is out and trees are emerging from their wintery weight.

Down in the valley, it's been a different story. Instead of the warmer weather being at the lower elevations, like it usually is, the temperatures have inverted, with a cap of air keeping the cold air down in the valley. Those cold air molecules have sunk, and they're trapped until we have wind to blow them out.

Entering an inversion is kind of an interesting process. You start out in the nice sunlight and see the cloud layer below. On the other side of the valley you can see the mountains poking out above the clouds, looking like islands in the mist.

The cloud layer made me think of the time when vast Pleistocene lakes, some as big as today's Lake Michigan, filled the valleys in the Basin and Range country. That was back in the days of the wooly mammoths, dire wolves, camelids, two different horse species, and an array of other animals that made their home here. Paleoindians roamed the area, hunting these animals. It was cooler and wetter than recent millenia.

We've gotten so much snow that the bushes are entirely covered, appearing as white hummocks from a fast moving vehicle. Or from a slow crawl. Or anything in between. This is the kind of weather you expect in Montana, not in Nevada.

The road straightened and the layer of clouds started looking more ominous. I could still see the mountains on the other side...

...but not for long.

It sort of felt like a bad horror movie. You know what's going to happen, but you just can't avoid watching it happen.

And then, there it was: the road disappearing into the clouds. And I was hurtling myself into it.

Help! Stuck in the inversion!

Fortunately this inversion cleared out in a few days. We don't have pollution stuck under the cloud layer with us (like Los Angeles frequently does), so although the colder temperatures (about 15 degrees colder that day in the clouds from up in the sun) and gloomier light might make everyone feel a bit grumpy, it could be worse.

When Desert Boy got up Christmas morning and asked why our stockings hung by the fireplace with care weren't filled with goodies (he had heard from a neighbor that they would be, and then I had promptly forgot), I considered telling him Santa Claus couldn't come in for a landing in the inversion. But I didn't. I chose distraction instead. Hopefully that was the right thing to do.

Nativity Play Dress Rehearsal

Warning--this contains spoilers! Yes, you already know the story of the Nativity, but if you didn't know which kid had which part this year and don't want to know ahead of time, come back to this blog in a couple days.

Last Christmas Desert Boy had the chance to be a sheep in the Nativity Play. He played his role so well (Baaaa) that this year he is going to be a wise man. He even had to memorize a line, which was easier for him than for me. Ah, the flexibility of young brains!

We went to the dress rehearsal today, which is a much easier place to take photos than during the actual play. We could wander around and no one cared. We also had fun watching funnier moments of the practice, like the overly dramatic Joseph dreaming about the angel Gabriel informing him that his fiancee was with child, a child of God.

The very pregnant Mary was obviously uncomfortable, continually adjusting her giant bulge.

The angels always steal the show. They are so darn cute, and they have the funniest expressions.

For instance, get a look at the two angels' faces while the other one is saying her line.

Mary and Joseph were looking a little bored by the whole thing. I imagine that during performance night their adrenaline with a huge (by our standards) audience looking on will keep them looking peppier.

Here Desert Boy makes his visit to King Herod, perched high up on his throne, with the other wise men. He is carrying gold and is appropriately dressed in the same color. He looks so cute. Just wait, you'll see. My camera wasn't doing so great in the low light conditions, but they ran through the play twice, so I had two opportunities to photograph.

The shepherds, sans sheep today, look on as the action takes place.

They sang lots of songs, and it put everyone in the Christmas spirit!

Emma really liked bobbing to the music.

She managed to pay attention for short stretches, then got wiggly, especially when I wanted to take photos of Desert Boy.

Her expressive eyebrows show a little worry. I'm not sure why.

Desert Boy continued his trek.

Desert Girl filled in for the sheep for a little while. She's not too good at sitting still, so she made the shepherds do some work.

Meanwhile the wise men are saying their lines, and Desert Boy, once encouraged to speak loudly enough, nailed his line.

Proud mama beams.

The final number is Joy to the World. It sure was a joy to watch them!

Good job, Sharon, for pulling it all together! And being so patient with the kids--not many people could do that.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Unidentified Walking Object

We live out in the desert, with clear night skies that show off the remotest corners of the universe. We live near restricted military areas where secret things are done. So strange lights in the night, a.k.a. unidentified flying objects, might raise a few eyebrows and start some rumors, but they're not all that unusual.

However, sometimes we see something else out of the ordinary. We live on a cattle ranch, a cow/calf operation. The boys sold off the last of the sheep when their dad went on vacation (when they were teenagers), so the only animals on the ranch are cows and horses and cats and dogs and some 4-H animals.

So when I was driving down the main ranch road the other day, I saw a sight that made me pull out my camera. It was an unidentified walking object.

There was something unusual. (No, it wasn't my extremely dirty windshield. That unfortunately is common.) What I saw was something small and white and following one of the cows. The cow didn't seem to mind at all.

I pulled to a stop, rolled down the window, and waited.

And I got a good view of a sheep. The sheep that has decided it wants to be a cow.

Coyote Calling

Pardon my rant. But rant I must.

I recently found out about a contest to hunt coyotes that will take place not too far from where I live (keeping in mind that distances are on a different dimension out here, anything within 100 miles 'isn't too far'). The goal of the contest is during one day kill as many coyotes as you can.

The supposed reason for the contest?
"Contest Purpose – to reduce the Coyote population in prime wild life habitats and to raise money for future projects sponsored by the Mule Deer Foundation Bristlecone Chapter"

Whoa, there. Did I miss something, or aren't coyotes also considered wildlife?

And is the Mule Deer Foundation really sponsoring this? I would have thought that a big, national organization would show a little more compassion.

I figured maybe I was just getting worked up because I usually try to protect all native species, and maybe I needed to get a different perspective. So I asked my husband what he thought about the contest.

He said, "I hope they don't hunt around here. We need those coyotes to eat the gophers that are out in the fields."

There you go. An ecologist's view and a rancher's view. We find that we agree most of the time, although our reasoning may be different.

I know that many in the sheep industry approve and support predator control. There is still a predator control guy who spends months in our valley trapping and poisoning coyotes before the sheep come in the winter. And there are low-flying planes that shoot coyotes.

But none of it makes much of a difference. Every year there are about as many coyotes as the year before. According to the website Predator Defense, the alpha coyote male and female are the only ones to breed, but if they are killed, then lots more coyotes breed. Apparently deer are only susceptible to being killed by coyotes for a few weeks in the spring, when the fawns are very small, but the rest of the time coyotes don't eat deer. Plus the deer populations are really high anyway (take a look at our feed yard to see that!).

So I don't like this coyote contest. It's going to go on regardless of how I feel about it, but I just need to write about it because it bothers me.

Okay, I feel better now. A little.

A Day at the Fair

On Saturday we went to the local county fair to watch the nieces and nephews show their animals, enjoy the exhibits and booths, and eat some yummy, unhealthy, hey-I-only-eat-it-once-a-year fair food (like fry bread).

We got there in time to see the large class of steers. Before entering the arena, the steers (and in some cases, the kids) were given a last brush. Note that Caleb has his number on in the above photo.

The steers were led into the grassy show arena.

Clay, Alyshia, and Caleb were all in this class, and had really big steers! Alyshia's had been behaving on the ranch, but in the show arena he kept wanting to make a getaway, making Alyshia run after him.

They walked them around so that the judge could get a view of all sides.

Note Caleb's shirt now. There are safety pins, but no number. Where did it go?

Apparently his steer thought it would taste yummy and ate his number off of him. Completely.

Clay smiled as he listened to his mom.

The judge ended up awarding Clay, Caleb, and Alyshia blue ribbons. He commented that their steers looked like they were from a commercial cattle ranch. He was right about that!

Next we walked around the booths. Desert Boy had fun collecting free stuff like yoyos and balloons and crayons. He also really liked this game where he threw ping pong balls into a house that had areas open to show where fires could burn.

Then it was back to the arena to watch the Showmanship round. Megan did a good job with her sheep. We were informed that Desert Boy will be able to take a sheep to the fair the summer after next. Yikes, that seems soon! And I know about nothing about sheep!

Alyshia's misbehaving steer kept up the act the second time around, while her dad and uncle looked on from the fence.

Caleb (with a new number attached) did a good job and won a Grand Champion for the junior showmanship class. That meant he got to compete in the round robin and also show a sheep and a pig; the latter was a new experience for him.

Caleb's steer.

After visiting more animals like ducks and rabbits and chickens, we went through the exhibit hall and wandered around again. We were lucky to catch a competition about to start.

It was the watermelon eating contest, and Desert Boy was willing to compete in the 0-3 year old division.

On your marks, get set...notice the boy on the left and the girl on the far right didn't really think it necessary to wait for the "go."

They had one minute to eat as much as they could. The girl next to Desert Boy needed a little coaching.

She's taken a couple bites, while Desert Boy keeps chomping down. Usually he hates the seeds, but he didn't complain at all about them.

It seemed like a long minute, but finally the time was up. The kids had to stop eating and the judges tried to figure out who had eaten the most.

And the winner was Desert Boy! He got a nice first place medal. He also achieved a very slimy shirt, hands, and face.

He was happy to keep eating the watermelon. And Desert Girl was happy to assist. She'll be ready for this age group next year!

Mountain Home Range-Part One

So the day after Fourth of July we decided to go on a big adventure up into the mountains. Instead of going to one of the more popular alpine areas, we decided to go exploring in a mountain range that's basically in the middle of nowhere. That would be more adventurous, right?
Our first stop was this big water tank. Water is obviously important in the desert, so we often stop to take a peek at water! Even if it involves climbing up a ladder.
Here's the view at the top. My brother Ed took this photo (and all the other photos that don't have the Desert Survivor watermark), which makes it look like a wonderful swimming pool. It's quite deep, and it's algae giving such a green color to the water. It was chilly, fed by a spring further up a canyon.

We could see corrals off in the distance, so off we went for our first hike.

They were sheep corrals, and the kids soon got into the swing of things, pretending to be sheep. Baaa. I like how Megan convinced Caleb to give her a ride.

Then it was time to go up to higher country. The map showed a couple routes up there, and we decided to take the road less traveled, the one that was more direct. The road got rougher and rougher...the canyon got narrower and narrower....

...and finally we reached a spot that was too rough for the second of our caravan of vehicles to make it.
The old Suburban I was driving made it! Ha, ha. Actually the joke was on us, because the air conditioning wasn't working and it was a rather warm day. (Ed actually took a few of these photos with my camera. I haven't figured out how to drive and photograph myself doing that at the same time!)

This neat little arch was hiding up in the rocks. We went back down the canyon and found a much better road to go up higher.

All the older kids wanted to have air conditioning, so the younger kids were with Ed and me. Or maybe they just liked our fun-loving attitude? Actually, I think Desert Boy and Desert Girl were the main attraction. They both love to have their cousins' attention.

To keep the ride interesting as we went through miles and miles of rolling road surrounded by rather monotonous pinyon and juniper, we played that we were on a roller coaster. Desert Boy quickly caught on to the game and decided that he was going to be the loudest screamer. You can see (and hear) for yourself:


To be continued...