Born to Be Wild~

On September 24, 2016September 24, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS225 Comments

“Like a true nature’s child,

we were born,

born to be wild.”

The wild grizzlies in these photos were photographed in The Knight Inlet in British Columbia Canada. The inlet is contained within the largest temperate rain forest on earth and has a thriving grizzly bear population.

The bears live in a remote location reachable only by float plane or small boat. We viewed bears from open air wooden platforms that are approximately 12 feet above the bears. The platforms are similar to bird hides familiar to bird watchers. Access to the platforms is carefully limited and regulated. Platform visitors are accompanied by guides. Purposely approaching wild grizzly bears without such precautions would be extremely dangerous to both humans and bears.

The bears, like this juvenile, are quite focused on consuming salmon and have devised an ingenious fishing method,

they submarine with their eyes open under water, and their ears above water, so they can listen above, as they hunt below.

They take a lot of time out from gorging to bicker and play.
Cheers to you from the stunning wild grizzlies of The Knight Inlet~
Lyrics: Steppenwolf

Wild Thing~

On September 22, 2016September 23, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS278 Comments

You make my heart sing!

Look into the eyes of wild grizzlies,

and you can see their wild souls.

On a typical day we are seeing 25 or so individual bears.

There are a lot of cubs. One mama has four which is quite unusual.

They are here for the salmon,

and need to consume about 20,000 calories a day to prepare for winter.

Arguments do break out,

but don’t last long.

Wildlife in The Knight Inlet in Canada is incredible and I will be posting more photos of bears and many other wild creatures.

Here is one of the venues where the action is taking place.
Cheers to you from the magnificent wild grizzlies who look directly into our human hearts and ask for our protection~

I love Canadian Birdies~

On September 18, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS183 Comments

Snapped this kestrel today on Vancouver Island. Super excited about all the critters I am seeing.
Cheers to you and more amazing Canadian critters soon~

Fall Migration~

On September 15, 2016September 15, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES200 Comments

It is sad when the summer orioles,

fly off to their winter homes.

No more sunny day squabbles,

and birdie bickering.

When the last baby bird has finally fledged,

and flutterbyes have fluttered off,

when grosbeaks are gone,

and only hand-feeding-hummers,

and winter birds stay, it is time for us to fly away too.
We are off to spend time with Canadian grizzlies and send you cheers from your Holler summertime friends~

There Be Dragons~

On September 10, 2016September 11, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES228 Comments

in the hothouse garden,

snapping wizard jaws at you!

Breathing purple fire,

they cast enchanting spells,

like sirens beckoning you close,

and closer still.

Cheers to you from the mystical orchid dragons~

Mountain Mahogany in Bloom~

On September 7, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS214 Comments

Mahogany blooming in the High Sierra,

with sailor seeds,

ready to fly to their new home.

Blooming in high altitude

they blanket hillsides

with seeds like summer snow~

Cheers to you from blooming Mahogany that grows only in the Western US & Mexico~

Sunburst~

On September 1, 2016September 1, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Tech Marvels303 Comments

The sunflowers grew tired of growing in their garden.

So they picked up long legs and walked away.

After traveling awhile, they arrived at The Holler, hot and bothered.

They realized too late, as we often do, how good they had it in their garden.

I put them in water, and took their photos, cheering them up considerably.

I hope their sunburst cheers you too~

Note: the color in these photos is not enhanced. I have been experimenting with food coloring in flower water. Blue makes some incredible effects which I will show you later. If you’re interested check out:
http://www.wikihow.com/Dye-Flowers

Lake Life~

On August 28, 2016August 28, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS269 Comments

Would you like to live an alpine life,

by the lapping shores,

of a languid lake,

high in your mountain hideaway.

You might never feel lonesome,

with wild creatures for comfort,

because there is nothing more lonely,

than a crowd of people.

Cheers to you from some mountain sanctuaries~

Ghost Towns of the Wild West~

On August 22, 2016August 22, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS287 Comments

Bodie is a gold rush era ghost town east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Mono Lake California. In its heyday it was a wild west era boomtown with shoot outs, bar-room brawls, stage-coach robberies, and murders. Dust and mayhem in the old wild west!

It had a jail, saloons, a red light district, and a morgue, everything you needed in the lawless frontier, just like all those western movies we’ve all watched.

Bodie also had a Chinatown with an opium den and Taoist temple. I don’t remember Taoist temples in the old western movies, do you? I guess this doesn’t quite fit with the six-guns and society ethos of those movies.

There was a Catholic and Methodist church, to counteract the lawless ways of the frontier, no doubt.

Bodie was founded in 1859 and at its peak it had a population of almost 10,000 people and around 2000 buildings.

It began to decline as a boomtown in the 1890’s, and became more of a family oriented frontier community.

There was a doctor’s house, a town hall, a couple of hotels, a barber shop and a schoolhouse, and I would imagine much less murder, mayhem, and general excitement.

By 1910 there were 688 people living in Bodie, and by 1915 people started referring to it as a ghost town even though it was inhabited by a few hangers-on until around 1942.

Bodie is now designated as a protected state historical park and is maintained but not improved.

We encountered several wild west ghost towns in the Eastern Sierra, some we found while hiking which were completely unexpected and quite a surprise. Each of them gives you the wonderfully eerie feeling of walking back in dusty time.
Cheers to you from the living ghosts of the old wild west~

The Methuselah Grove~

On August 16, 2016August 16, 2016 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Tech Marvels359 Comments

The Great Basin Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in The White Mountains of California/Nevada have the world’s oldest living non-clonal organisms, ancient bristlecone pine trees. Non-clonal means these trees are not genetic duplicates of a parent organism, but are in fact, original organisms.

The oldest known tree in the basin is 5,065 years old and was germinated in 3051 BC. This tree started growing before the first pyramid was built-in Egypt.

Another, Methuselah, is 4,848 years old.

The White Mountains run parallel to the Sierras in the west and Death Valley in the east.

White Mountain is a sister peak to Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental US. When you hike here you look to your left at almost eye level with Mt. Whitney, and to your right at the lowest non-submerged place in North America, Death Valley.

In the dolomite covered White Mountains these ancient organisms continue to thrive in white powdery soil that was once an ancient sea bed.

When you touch the non-bark covered cambium layer of these ancient ones, it is like touching living stone. Something you have never felt before.

The bristlecones survive possibly because they live in an isolated hostile location, which makes them strong, and creates the almost impervious density of their stone-like structure.

To say that I was blown away by being here is a huge understatement.
I am hoping the lack of protection afforded the ancient ones is purposeful. They are hard to get to, even harder to hike to, and not very many people know about them. Plus, for much of the year, due to winter snow, they are inaccessible.

There is nothing here but these living fossils.

I never knew about these trees, even though I have driven near them all my life to go skiing, and now I can’t even imagine the world without them.
Cheers to you from the ancient ones~

http://www.arizona.edu/keepers-prometheus-worlds-oldest-tree

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_trees

http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=3441

Cindy Knoke

Year: 2016

Born to Be Wild~

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Wild Thing~

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I love Canadian Birdies~

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Fall Migration~

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There Be Dragons~

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Mountain Mahogany in Bloom~

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Sunburst~

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Lake Life~

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Ghost Towns of the Wild West~

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The Methuselah Grove~

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