Monday, August 20, 2007

Don's Eye Surgery Went Well

For a description of the original injury, go here.

Don had three procedures today - removal of the cataract that had grown since the injury (it's normal; caused by trauma), a lens implant, and a "capular tension ring" implant. The capular tension ring was needed to hold the lens in place because the injury had torn the tiny filament/ligaments that hold the lens in place. The surgery was a bit more complicated than a cataract removal, so he was in there for over an hour. He has to wear a patch over the eye for a week, so that means no driving. But he should be able to see out of that eye very nicely - we'll know in an hour or so because he has to take the patch off long enough to put in some eye drops. I'm really glad this is over - he's worried about it for 6 months, and being the pessimist he is, he's been convinced he would be blind in that eye. I'm glad he's wrong.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Morning Visitor


Don stepped out this morning to get the paper, and this guy was coming down the street. I grabbed the camera and shot this pic as he left Tom's house next door and was heading for ours. He wandered around our back yard, and when he figured out that he couldn't get out that way, he came back around by the front door and went down our stairs and under the deck. From here he went up to the next street. I guess the drought is going to bring more bears down in search of food. This definitely got our hearts pumping this morning!

Thursday, August 02, 2007

The Perfect Fish Marinade

About 10 years ago, Don brought home some bonita, a member of the tuna family, after a deep-sea fishing trip. A friend suggested this marinade, and it was fabulous on the bonita. I decided to try it on some regular white ocean fish, and we've decided this is IT. It's not a sweet marinade, which is what I thought I liked, but a savory one. It's soooo good, and so simple. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

The Perfect Fish Marinade
Makes enough to marinate up to 6 fillets


2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup lime juice

Marinate fillets 30 minutes to 1 hour. Grill, using a fish grill basket.

Henry's Lake State Park, Idaho

Henry's Lake State Park is where we spent the last two weeks of our vacation. We had a site with a great view of the lake, and it was close enough (25 yards) for Don to walk down with his float tube every morning and evening.

This is our view north from our campsite, with the only thing other than the lake being the two rental cabins.












To the east of our campsite lay Howard Creek Slough, home to hundreds (maybe thousands) of birds and two moose. The moose, both bulls, came out to graze every evening, and slowly made their way to the lake and back into the bush over a 2-3 hour period. People came from thousands of miles to Yellowstone and didn't see a moose, and we had our own moose here at Henry's Lake. (It's only 13 miles from Henry's Lake to West Yellowstone.)




The last photo I took on this trip was fittingly a very colorful sunset over Henry's Lake.

Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

From our campsite on Henry's Lake in the corner of Idaho near Yellowstone, we could look westward up a low pass to some nice-looking mountains in the distance. After looking at the map, we could see a road going up and over that pass to some lakes and a national wildlife refuge. We packed a cooler and picnic basket, Don bought a 1-day Montana fishing license (the other one had expired several weeks ago), and we made it an all-day excursion.

We were surprised when we reached the pass - it really didn't seem like a Continental Divide Pass. But here's the proof!











This is the southwest corner of Upper Red Rock Lake, and you can see that it's way too shallow and marshy to fish. Besides, after we found a pamphlet about the refuge, we learned that there's no fishing in the larger lakes. Using the map in the pamphlet, we drove off in search of some fishing ponds and streams that were supposed to produce trout and grayling.







Some old buildings still exist from the first settlers who came to the valley. The mountains in the background are the Centennial Range, and the reason it's hazy is because of the the fires burning in Montana and Idaho. About an hour after the photo was taken, the smoke was so bad you couldn't see the mountains at all.







Willett Pond was the first one we came to, and Don was disappointed to learn that there were no fish coming to the surface to feed on the many bugs that were all over it. That showed him that they most likely wouldn't be interested in his flies, either. So we gave up on the ponds and headed back towards Red Rock Creek. We drove right past a "Dead End" sign, because I insisted that the map, printed in 2005, showed that the side road went all the way back to the main road. 5 miles later we came to a washed-out bridge, and had to backtrack almost 10 miles.



But that backtracking took us to beautiful Red Rock Creek. Another fisherman, who was leaving as we drove up, told Don that this creek has grayling in it. Don's never caught grayling, so he had to give it a try. No luck on this day. But the next day, he went back, and caught several.