Spring Bear, 2009

Today I went out to a popular hiking destination with our Youth Pastor, Jeremy. I had hoped to see a black bear, but wasn't really counting on it. We hiked up Fuller Lakes trail and planned on fishing for Arctic Grayling. Upon our arrival, we spoke with some Jr. High boys who had camped and they told us of a bear they had seen the night before and that morning across the lake. We fished for Grayling as we kept our eyes on the mountain side, hoping the bear would appear while feeding on the fresh spring grasses. After 20 minutes of slow fishing, we decided to head up the trail and expand our bear viewing. When we reached the other end of the lake, I saw a black dot way up on the hillside. I put my binoculars on the black dot and identified it as a black bear, so we continued on the trail, knowing the trail would bring us closer to the bear.

We got as close as we could using the main trail, and I used a laser range finder to determine that the bear was just over 400 yards away. The wind was in our favor and the bear had not detected our presence, so I headed down into the marsh towards it to close the distance. I got as close as I was comfortable and ranged him at 302 yards. Using a small spruce to steady my aim, I put the 300 yard mark on the bear's shoulder and touched the trigger. My 7MM Magnum barked but the bear didn't respond to the shot. He stood motionless looking in my direction, apparently uninjured. I jacked another shell into the chamber and again did my best to steady the crosshairs on his shoulder. This time, the rifle's report was followed by a satisfying thud. My handloaded Barnes Triple-shock bullet found it's mark and down he went, tumbling down the hillside.

We bushwacked through the alders to get up to the area in which the bear had stopped rolling. I knew right away that this was a large bear. I was relieved to find him there, dead. After taking photographs, we began the arduous task of skinning and de-boning the bear. We packed him down, 2 miles to the car.
In Alaska, you have to have the bear registered by a taxidermist, so we stopped by our guy and had him tagged. A bear's skull is measured by adding its length and width. For a comparison, the bears we've taken in the past, the skulls measure 14". This bear's skull measured 18 13/16". The hide measured 6' square, the average of lenth and width. An interesting note about this bear, he has a beautiful white "V" on his chest. We estimated the live weight to be 300 lbs. Keep in mind, the bear had just come out of the den and his fat reserves were depleted.

Oh, and Jeremy packed out the 75lbs of meat that this bruin provided!

WARNING! Following photograph not intended for young viewers. Proceed at own risk.

Monday Maintenance

OK, this actually happened yesterday, but it's close enough.

Yes, that is me down on the dolly. I told my husband that I would like to learn how to change the oil in our car. He's been working pretty solid the last few weeks, so I haven't had to give in to that request. I say these things, and I'm not altogether sure that I mean them. He finally finished this hitch of work this weekend, and we stopped by NAPA on the way home from church! Oh joy. I must admit, that as unsure as I was about this project, God had really blessed me this particular Sunday and I felt more confident and adventurous as ever! Today was the day. We made it home and promptly took a 45 minute nap that somehow lasted 2 hours. I normally do not function well after a nap that long. Again, God was blessing me yesterday and after a few groggy minutes of walking the dogs, I was awake and ready to tackle the oil change.

My fabulous husband got me set up with the car up on jacks and showed me where to unplug the oil pan. I took the socket wrench and rolled up under and proceeded to turn the plug. Nothing really happened. It turned, mind you, but never loosened. I alerted my love of the situation and he took a turn on the wrench as well. Same result. We then discovered that there was a nut in a bolt type thing that was the plug. The plug was eventually removed and the draining commenced. It commenced for a long time and looked a bit odd. After a large amount of fluid and time passed, it finally stopped and my stud-man took a look at it. He also noticed the odd coloring. Once he examined the fluid closer, he realized that it was indeed transmission fluid. We had successfully drained all the transmission fluid from the car. Oh dear. Perhaps that 2 hour nap did more damage than we thought.

When I realized that my honey thought it was a bit funny, I relaxed and we enjoyed the laugh! We refilled the transmission fluid through his ingenious funnel Macguyvering and proceeded to find the correct plug for the oil and, yes, I changed the oil in the car! It was not difficult, though I appreciated the loosening of the plugs and filter beforehand. What should have been a 45 minute to an hour job took several hours and we got very dirty. I was glad I put on a pair of my husbands Carharts. I felt pretty proud of myself by the end of it all. It was a fine end to a fabulous day.

I am so thankful for a husband who is willing to show me how to do things, and then have the humility to laugh when he's made a mistake! I enjoyed the opportunity to share with him more of the life lessons he has taught me and how his examples have helped me to mature and grow in the Lord. I am so blessed. I am a huge receiver of God's grace. I certainly don't deserve any bit of it.

GREENS!

I didn't want anyone to falsely believe that our home is lifeless or bland. We are greening up nicely, though large scale pictures don't reveal it. I thought I'd share some of the greens that are showing up all over!

Unfortunately, the above photo is our "lawn." Fortunately, it's only the front! It's a bit mossy which is a common theme around our yard this time of year especially.