Every kid loves a snow day. It gets them out of school work. I go to work to get a snow day!
Even Nellie likes a snow day.
What Golden doesn’t love the snow.
Be careful were you stand.
Definitely a snow day for the loggers.
Out here a snow day doesn’t get you out of work.
New snowfall on a Douglas-fir sapling.
There will be no cattle to load today.
Snow in the pines.
The big wind turbines don’t care if the snow is falling.
SNOW DAY!
Black birds feast.
The black birds hop from log to log. All the while, tilting their heads to and fro. Then after a brief pause they reach into the bark, and with surgical precision, pluck out a squirming grub. Then with heads thrown back they swallow the grub with the ease of an Olympic gymnast dismounting from a balance beam.
Hunting grubs on the burned logs.
This goes on all day in our log yard. As the logs from the fire salvage operations pour into the yard, so do the black birds. The swarm the logs for this feast of opportunity. Sometimes they engage in black bird battles for dominion over some particularly grub infested log. I think these birds get fatter every day. Soon they may not be able to fly.
Burned logs delivered to the log yard.
Salvage logging continues at break neck speed. The beetles invading the logs are an indicator of the oncoming decay. Next will be stain, splitting and then rot. Time and decay are our enemies. The black birds are a constant reminder of the ticking clock.
Ponderosa burn fire salvage. Where have all the squirrels gone?
A really big yard ornament.
So many of the loggers I know have big personalities. It only makes sense that they might have a little something that makes a big statement, or in this case a BIG something that makes a BIG statement. Why not have a vintage skid cat complete with logs and a chainsaw carved equipment operator of redwood.
Some days I need to experience the beauty in my world. Today was one of those days. Today was exceptional. Here are some pictures I would like to share with you. Today the sun shone warm. Tomorrow a storm is coming.
This black oak tree was transformed by the fire into an incinerated silvan sculpture.
In the aftermath of a wildfire we are confronted with profound destruction that it leaves in it’s wake. Occasionally, afterwards there are strange and interesting forms that appear. This black oak tree was changed into an a new form. Once is was a beautiful green tree, now it stands like a statue in it’s monochrome setting.
The rock formation below was there all along, but the brush obscured the view and prevented access to it. The wildfire revealed it as if someone pulled a cover off of a sculpture.
Rock sculpture revealed by the wildfire.
Burned timber being skidded into the landing.
The race is on. Salvage operations on the Ponderosa Burn are now underway. They race to harvest the fire killed timber and deliver it to the mills before it breaks down, and loses it’s value. The small landowners managed their timberlands to provide additional income, maintain healthy timber stands, and create an attractive forest. This fire has changed their management plans. If they don’t recover the value of the timber they will have no money for reforestation. The large timber companies will replant their lands as a part of normal operations. Replanting fire damaged timberlands in California is not required by law due to the massive cost it represents. The timber companies replant after these fires because it is good stewardship and good business.
The landscape on the big canvas is being repainted as this latest transformation begins. Fire was the first paint brush to change the canvas. Men and their machines are the next one.
A load of fire salvage poles arrives at the mill.
Red trees and green sign, ironic isn’t it.
Sometimes change is thrust upon us. Change can be good, bad, or neither. How one deals with that change reveals much about a person’s true character.
A soft seat after a busy day feels so good.
Blitz had a busy day at work today. Her day went like this. Arrived at the office and visited the other dogs. Made them bark….a lot! Load up, head out to the plant and then the gas pumps. Sniff around the pumps and check the pee-mail. Finally, head to the woods. Drive for an hour and a half. Arrive at the property. Meet the nice land owner. Ride in his ATV. Fetch stick forty times and chew it up. Hike around the woods. Visit the landowners house and meet his nice wife. Get to go inside the house for water and a cookie. This never happens, but it did today. Ride the ATV back to the truck. Load up and start back home. Stop at the river along the way for a swim and eat some blackberries. I didn’t know Blitz liked blackberries. Load up head back to the office. Go down to the river for another swim. Fetch the stick forty more times. Load up wait in the truck in the shade for a little while. Them head for home. Life is good.
Opportunities for a picture like this don’t happen when you work in an office. I love my job.
Blaze impatiently waits for her driver.
Blaze rode with me for years. She loved to go to work and hated to be left at home. When I would go into my office in the morning she would find the highest point on the truck and intently watch the backdoor impatiently. She would wait for me to come out so I could take her to the woods. If she could have driven the truck herself she would have, and I would have been left behind.
She was a tremendous AKC Hunt Test competitor and loved to work. I painted this of her when she was actively running events. She would sit in the yard and stare at me refusing to come in until I would come out and train her. In this watercolor I was trying to capture her intensity and joy of the hunt.
A happy girl.
We logged a lot of miles together a chased a lot of squirrels. Well, she chased the squirrels. She was amazing companion and I miss her dearly.
THE FORESTER ARTIST 