It's raining frozen broccoli!

Not much motivation to write...things at the BFC go on as usual. It is slow around here, with very few new volunteers. Still no buffalo out of the park, so we are still spending most of our time around the cabin. The winter is becoming less severe. We all hope for more snow, but we haven't gotten much in the past few weeks. A lot of sunny days though, which has been nice. I spent a couple of afternoons digging out a nice sized snow cave, although it has been gradually sinking (as snow will do) and without any new snow on top I haven't yet opened it up again. I'm hoping for a big snow soon so I can actually use it. This may sound strange, but I have an elk head waiting for me to cut the ears off to make pouches (the rest of the elk is in the freezer, it will feed many volunteers, thank you mama elk). It will be interesting.

As it is right now, there are a great deal more men here at the campaign than women (not counting our several female neighbors, who aren't directly involved with the BFC). So far this season, I've been dealing with it fairly well. However, my BFC gal pal (one of the 3 female volunteers here) recently took an unexpected trip back home for possibly a month. Just today I have started to really feel the need for more female energy. It really does make a difference. I enjoy hanging out with the guys here, in fact a few of them are becoming more dear to me, but it's just not the same. Sigh (oh so dramatic, ha). I hope she comes back soon.

This is quite strange...there is a plan in the works to make a reality tv show featuring the BFC. The man interested in producing it has already proposed the idea to a major network (I don't know which one) and they liked it, so they're sending him out to do interviews. It supposedly would bring in a good deal of money for the campaign, which is great, but I personally think it is a bad idea. We'll see what comes of it...

A Beautiful Winter

I have never known winter to be so beautiful! I have fallen in love with Montana all over again. Although now it is because of the pure, white snow blanketing the ground and the trees, the amazingly clear night skies (the coldest nights) which provide a wonderful view of the Milky Way and the deep, deep quiet of the forest in winter. I was worried before I arrived for the season that I might not be able to handle Montana winters, but so far I am doing quite well and am adjusting much more easily than I thought I would. I am enjoying this winter more than any I have experienced in Missouri. I am happy here, even when my fingers are cold ;-)

Things are still relatively quiet around here at the BFC. No bison out of the park still, which is highly unusual for this time of year. So we are still trying to keep ourselves busy with what needs doing around the property. I have been cooking for about six weeks now, and while I have enjoyed cooking for community again, I am more than ready for a break. It is hard work. While another person here might wake up and feel like they just want to take the day off and hide away, I can't do that. Everyone would wonder why I hadn't made them breakfast, lunch or dinner, ha. I have learned more about cooking and that is a very good thing. I have cooked plenty of meat (all wild game, provided by several of the volunteers who hunt) and have only experienced success. While it is a little odd to cook meat for a crowd of omnivores, myself being a veggie, it is good to know I have greatly expanded my cooking repertoire. I have received many kind compliments (hopefully sincere ;-) on my cooking, and that feels good. For now, I have two more days to finish off cooking for the month, then I will only be filling in here and there to provide days off for whomever else is cooking. As of right now I'll be cooking for another month in the spring, assuming my plans don't change.

Yampah and I are spending more and more time together and I am very pleased that we are growing so close. He is a wonderful man and I am incredibly happy to know him. For the first time in a long time I actually have the desire to establish and maintain a real romantic relationship. I no longer ignore that sometimes frightening F word: future. It feels a little odd, since I have been so determindly single since my last serious relationship (the quite disastrous affair with Owl). It feels good though, and I look forward to what the future has to offer us. He has been gone for the last week, visiting family back east for the holidays. I have missed him! He will be returning today and I am very excited to see him :-D

So, all in all, things are good here, despite some ongoing frustrations with community (or rather those few individuals who make living in community difficult). I am happy and I forsee staying in Montana for a long time.

The season begins...

Sometimes I am amazed that I am here. How the hell did I get out here to the wilds of the big sky country to live and work with buffalo activists? Well, that's an easy enough question, but still...it's funny to think how my life has changed in the past several months. From simply existing in a college town where few knew me or even cared, working just to live, to belonging in an open community of activists trying to actually do something good for the voiceless buffalo. Strange but awesome. I am quite happy to be where I am. It feels good to be doing something I believe in. Despite being financially poor, not having health insurance or really anything I can call "security", I am much happier being a buffalo hippie than I was when I was just another drone. Sometimes I remember the quote my last roommate had posted on her door, "activism is my rent for living on this planet."

So, things are well here. The season has officially started, though we are still only sending out one patrol a day, as the buffalo aren't moving out of the park yet, at least not where we are. Although unfortunately a bull has already been taken in the state hunt north of the park near our other winter outpost. The cabin is still relatively quiet as we are slowing starting to get back into the swing of things. I began my stint as the official cook a couple of days ago and I'd say while the food I've made so far hasn't been amazingly delicious it has overall been pretty decent. I've found that I still have troubles keeping to a schedule when it comes to cooking. I don't know what it is, as I am punctual in almost every other situation, but I find it hard to get food on the table at a predetermined time. It seems to stress me out more than anything else. Something I will have to work on this season...

It is beautiful here. Chilly to cold, although we've had a few pleasantly warm days that were good for hooping. The sun doesn't hide too often. We are still waiting for that big snowfall that will cover the ground until spring, although the mountains are already covered. The nights are so very still and quiet. I am still used to the noise of cities, so the calm always makes me stop for a moment when I go outside at night. For some reason it makes me feel full, maybe even expectant, but of what I don't know. There has been a mountain lion prowling about again, which is always exciting. Another volunteer who has been spending time hunting in the "backyard" (the property butts up to a big national forest) has reported seeing wolf tracks, a group of at least five. They must be hunting as well. It's wonderful to live in a place with so much wildlife, even though some of those critters are more than capable of killing or maiming people. Kinda exciting really...

In Montana for the Winter

Well, I am FINALLY back in Montana, huzzah! I arrived on Saturday, after a ridiculously long bus trip (an extra 24 hours long thanks to a storm in the dakotas) and was greeted by my good friend Yampah (yay! I had missed him!) As soon as I got off the bus the smell of sweet pine trees and cold mountain air washed over me. In that moment I was immensely happy I was back. I am still very happy to be back! It is good to see everyone again. It didn't take me long at all to fall back into things. I feel quite at home again. The season hasn't officially started yet, so we don't have a schedule, aren't going on patrols or having meetings, which is leaving some of us wondering what to do with ourselves. I've already been cleaning quite a lot, ha. There is only one other person here who is as crazy about cleaning as I am, so there is typically plenty of cleaning to do. I'm sure I will be able to keep myself occupied until the season starts up.

Yesterday I helped Yampah carry necessaries up to his new house in the woods, a fancy 10x12ft wall tent. We covered the floor (really just the ground) with tarps and carpets, put in the bed and the stove and covered the top with tarps. There are a few more things to get ready and to put in, but it's already looking quite cozy. Actually, I'm just a wee bit jealous of his awesome little home ;-) It's in a beautiful spot and since it's away from the cabin, it is very quiet and private. Ahh...maybe I will be lucky enough this winter to enjoy its luxuries every now and then.

I'm planning on being here all season, at least until April or May. Right now it's a little cold, and cloudy, so not too bad (actually I've been enjoying it). I've picked out some good gear, boots and thermals and such, so I've been warm. It will only get colder though, so we'll see how that goes ;-)

Montana-bound

Finally! I'm leaving for beautiful (and cold!) Montana this evening. I'm not exactly looking forward to the bus ride (the whole trip should take around 33 hours) but I am SOO excited to be there again! WOOOT! I am hoping I will update at least occasionally when I'm out there, but I won't make any promises. I don't think I posted at all the whole time I was there this summer ;-) Au revoir!

Election thingie

I took a long walk yesterday to vote, then I came home, and practically forgot about the election until past ten o'clock. I thought, "oh yeah, there's a presidential election happening today!" so I got online and saw that Obama had won. WOOOT!! I almost didn't think it was possible that he would get elected. I think I've been becoming a little too cynical, and I've never been a big fan of the government. I'm actually quite glad I forgot it was going on, otherwise I would have been obsessively watching the results and preparing for bad news. I think it was better to just wait and find out when it was all done.

I found some of these exit polls interesting....

So, anyways, WOOT, HUZZAH! Maybe there is a little hope left...

The Wild Trees

Last night I finished reading The Wild Trees. I loved it! The writing did leave a little to be desired, but the information about the redwoods, sequoias and other giant trees, was fascinating! (and the story wasn't too bad ;-) I had no idea there was such a huge diversity of life in the redwood canopies. I found it amazing that up until the 1960s to 1980s most botanists and scientists didn't even know what was up there and didn't think the canopies were worth exploring. The just assumed it was all branches and limbs. Then people started actually climbing up the redwoods and finding all sorts of life up there that no one knew about. All of it was like uncharted territory. And there is so much more still to learn! Wow, just...wow. The capacity of the redwood canopies to draw in and store huge amounts of water and soil to support so much life is just amazing. Lichens and mosses galore, ferns, berries, shrubs, even other trees! Salamanders, voles, owls, worms, even tiny aquatic creatures called copepods that usually live in the sea and that no one knows how they got there. There are literally gardens growing in the canopies hundreds of feet in the air. How cool is that!? The fact that these trees are so old and so amazingly huge just makes it that much cooler. It makes me want to climb trees :-D