And Just Like That...

It's winter. 

I'm still in northern BC...  The field season is over.  The technicians have gone home.  The 'bou are with their bull.  Everyone's antlers have been removed (for safety in captivity), feet trimmed, vaccinated and wormed...  And here we sit in a camp trailer, waiting on government officials to get their act together on a permit before I can go home for the winter.  We were supposed to leave today so the delay of an undetermined amount of time (send positive thoughts of 'tomorrow' my way please) is a hard pill to swallow.  Especially now that it seems winter has come to BC.  Not really...this snow will melt and temperatures are still above zero Fahrenheit (though not Celsius) which is all but summer to the folks who endure winter up here (seriously...it's 25 degrees F and folks are wearing short-sleeves...I don't think they consider it cold until it gets to 20 or 30 below F)...but the geese and cranes have flown south and so should I.

I can already tell that I'm in a better 'headspace' this year than last so I hope to come to this space (and yours) often this fall and winter.  Posts with field pictures and stories...posts with crafty endeavors...posts with what I'm practicing...and posts with the day to day...  That's the plan anyway.  

But for now, until I make it home, I leave you with some photos I took yesterday morning...when I finally learned (maybe) how to get the exposure right for pictures in the snow (although there still is that annoying blue tinge that I need to work on getting corrected -- although interestingly, these photos are not that blue when I open them on my computer...importing them into blogger drastically changed some of the color which is odd...).  I'm not infatuated by the snow but I am by these pictures.  The 'bou seem to be at home in the snow so to me, these emit feelings of peace. 

(I owe many of you emails...rest assured that when I get home and get settled, you'll get the attention you deserve!).

Darwin -- one of our yearlings coming to check me out. She's a pretty animal.

Mayah -- a spirited and fun animal who has never grown antlers...but she grows a heck of a beard!

Milo -- our yearling bull who is hopefully going to prove himself as a breeder this year.  He's a pretty bull especially in his coloring...and a goofball.  The expression here is 'why are you between me and my girls?'

Michigan -- aka 'cutie pie'...getting whiter by the day but still by far our darkest kid.  And look at the beard growth on this kid! (and the astute among you will notice, by our numbering system, that this is Milo's half brother!)

Henna -- trying to figure out if it's safe to come to me or if the bull will stop her  I love her snow nose.

Dakota and calf (Dianthus) -- cratering together in the snow.

Another Michigan...because, well...he's a cutie.

Mertensia -- a yearling who can be a bit of a pill.  Don't let her laid-back look here fool you.  Turn your back on her once and you won't do it again.  She'll grow out of it but the yearling stage is a trying one for these animals...

Diego -- remember this kid who at 2 weeks old looked 2 days old?  He finally grew!  He's another little cutie!  And I hate to tell you this but these kids...they are as soft as they look!