Wow...it's short.

I got a haircut on Friday. It's short. Have a look.

Whaddya think? Be honest. I can take it. I think I'm okay with it. It may take some getting used to but my hair's been pissing me off lately and it was time for something different. I'm sure it will morph a little but I think I'm set on keeping it short. Besides, when you have thinning hair (and I've done my research on that) a short style is better. It masks it a little more.

So my computer's been running slow lately. I was going through some of my computer files over the weekend, doing a little weeding, when I came across something I'd forgotten about. It was a goodbye project from Brandon, my old technical director in Bozeman. I teased him a lot. He teased me a lot. We mercilessly mocked each other. But deep down, I know he believed in my talent and I believed in his. Although we never told each other, I think we had a lot of respect for each other. As I was getting ready to leave Bozeman, I had an idea he was working on something for me. But before long, I was gone, and I'd forgotten about it. In reality, he just didn't finish it in time. A few weeks later, I got a package in the mail with the following gem of a video. He doesn't hold back. Some might consider it mildly inappropriate but I've decided to post it anyway. There's many inside jokes but still...it's funny. The concept? Someone's watching satellite TV and they do a programming search under my name. I guess this is what they'd find. Thanks Brandon. This definitely made me laugh.

That is all. I apologize for this completely narcissistic post.

Winding Down

Ever since I worked in Glacier National Park, I see the coming of fall and winter as a form of closure. I'm pretty sure it was a late September evening in 2003 when I traveled up to Logan Pass with a few friends. Glacier had just received it's first snowfall of the season. It comes early up there. It didn't snow a lot, but the newly charred forest was noticeably dusted.

The most vivid thing I remember about that night is how quiet it was. Going-to-the-Road is a hotbed of activity in the park. There's always an endless stream of cars coming up and down the road. But on that night we seemed liked the only ones around. We sat on the edge of a rock wall and looked out over the valley. I turned to Hardy and said, "I think the mountains are letting out a huge sigh of relief." While summer belongs to the tourists, winter belongs to the park. The hotels are closed. The roads aren't plowed. The people stay away. If the mountains were people I imagined them saying to themselves, "Finally. It's over. Now it's time to rest." A time of closure, albeit temporary, for the park itself. A time to recuperate, reflect, and recharge.

I've been thinking about this as summer comes to an end. Although life doesn't stop in the next few months, I still see fall and winter as the time to wind down, settle in, and rest up. On some levels it is sad. No matter how much I might crave the snow I never like to see warm weather disappear. While the colorful leaves are nice to look at, I hate to see the tree branches turn stark and bare. A winter sunrise may seem icy, refreshing, and exhilarating but it's no fun when the sun sets in the late afternoon hours.

Good and bad. Either way, I'm ready. I distinctly remember last summer lackadaisically meandering by. I wanted it that way. I knew it was my last summer in Montana and I savored every minute of it. This summer simply flew by. I don't think there was any other way for it to go. It was a time of adjustment, growth, bewilderment, and simple observance. I had to get used to things. Each new day was a baptism by fire of sorts. Such an indoctrination is bound to happen at breakneck speed.

Now I'm settling in. I'm reflecting on what I've learned so far to make the next summertime go-around more memorable and productive. Instead of the mountains breathing a sigh of relief, it's me. The whirlwind is over. Now it's time to breathe.

Fire, the Sawtooths, & Bunny Feet

Finally...FINALLY!...I got into the Idaho backcountry this past weekend. The Sawtooth Mountains are breathtaking. I went with my co-anchor Michelle and two of her friends from San Francisco. We hiked up to Sawtooth Lake. Gorgeous...as you can see. Although I'm excited for snowboarding, this hike made me a little weepy. Summer is coming to an end quickly. I don't necessarily like that. Hopefully, I can get one more Sawtooth hike in this Fall before the snow starts to fly.
Staying in the mountains of Idaho...I've been doing a lot of zip lining lately. A while back I did a story on a new zip line tour company that opened just outside of Boise. I've become pretty good friends with the owner and thus, have been able to take a few trips. Zip Idaho has the longest zip line in Idaho...at 1800 feet. Here's a shaky video I took going down.


Work's been pretty good lately. I wrote in the previous post how I felt a little inadequate delivering some breaking news. I finally went back and watched my 9 minutes of rambling. I figured I'd give myself a few days to let it all sink in...so I wouldn't be so hard on myself. I don't think it was that bad. It definitely could have been better...but I may have over-reacted. The story I was talking about in that breaking news has dominated local headlines here for over a week now. A fire broke out at the bottom of a hillside on the southeast side of town. High winds pushed it out of control and it ended up destroying 10 homes and damaging 9 others. I went to the scene for the first time today for a story on two cops that evacuated residents. I was stunned. Here are some pictures.
And here's the story I did on it today.

There's no easy transition from devastating fire to dead bunnies...so let's just get right to it. The property around the station is infested with rabbits. I pull into the parking lot early in the morning and they scatter. No one really minds them. We even like them. But I wasn't prepared for what happened one morning last week. I was walking out to my car to go home and saw this on the ground below the driver's door.

Two little bunny feet. No body. No blood. Just feet. It was creepy and I can't explain it. Maybe a coyote got a hold of it and decided he didn't like the feet. I don't know. But there you have it. I don't know what else to say.