Polar Bear in the Cotton

I am ashamed of myself for not posting this photo earlier. It is one of my favorites. I took this back in 2004 I think, in September. One of our functions as security is to monitor bear activity and report to the feds. We are also all trained and certified by the Department of Wildlife to haze both brown and polar bears on the Prudhoe Bay oil field. By hazing I don’t mean getting them drunk and making them pick up marshmallows with their butt cheeks. By hazing I mean making them change direction by honking a horn, a short blast on the siren and at times cracker shells. These are launched in the direction of the bears from a shotgun and a small explosion occurs letting them know they need to go the other way. This is a last resort especially with the polar bear. As a rule they will visit the field and just rest in a location for a day or two then move on usually back to thee ocean. For all of us that have been assigned to sit and keep an eye on polar bears, I can tell you it is a privilege to see these beautiful creatures up close, (but not too close) in their natural surroundings. The oil companies go to great lengths to avoid disturbing them. An example would be the ice roads that are built every winter cannot be within a one mile distance of a den containing a female bear and her cubs. The pregnant female dens in the winter on shore to give birth.
The bear is the photo was a female approximately three years old. Most likely just kicked out on her own by her mother. I was observing this bear and while doing so, I was listening to Bruce Hornsby’s CD, Halacon Days,” which had just been released. The music was great and I sent a note with the photo to his web site and explained the circumstances. I never thought I would hear back from him but I received a note via e-mail, “I didn’t know I was writing polar bear sound track music, but I love it!” The photo and our exchanged was on the front page of his web site for a year. A short time after this happened I saw Bruce in concert in Baltimore, while taking a vacation on the east coast.

"I Grow Old" For Mothers Day

Click photo to read.

One of the prominent memories I have of my mother goes back to 1962. It was the Cuban missile crises, which although was taking place thousands of miles away from our Montana home, was still of concern. I only had a slight idea of what was going on, but then again I was only 6. I do remember my mother being very worried and listening to Walter Cronkite, as he spoke of what could happen should mistakes be made. The part of this that is burned into my memory, is me standing in our front yard just behind my mother. A breeze moving through the trees, just enough to make me notice fallen autumn leaves slowly pass over the shadow of my mom . She turned and looked at me as the city did a test of the sirens which would warn of an impending nuclear attack. The fear that it placed in me will not soon be forgotten. As the sirens ripped through the cool fall air I stepped close to my mom and my little shadow was soon consumed by moms. She put her arm around my shoulder and soon much of my fear was brought under control by her touch. It was not until many years later that I started to think about my parents mortality. I distinctly remember that I thought long and hard about it and came to the conclusion that they could not die before me. I simply could not handle the idea. They did pass however and it was painful. My father, in 1998, from a relentless cancer and my mother,in 2003, of the combined effects of diabetes and Alzheimer’s. In both cases they suffered enough, and as painful as it was, it was a relief that they moved on to the next step.
Over the past few years I have reflected a lot on that October day in our front yard. I give thanks to this woman, Celina M. Cole, for casting a tall straight and comforting shadow that will remain with us kids, until it is our time to move on as well.



Randy J. Cole

Crisp Montana Air

During the winter of 2007,my wife Chaniya and I went to Turner Mountain ski area near Libby Montana. I had planned on a few shots of the ski lift from the parking lot. I had no interest at all in going up the hill on the lift because I am a chicken. I really am not impressed with heights. My wife put me on the spot when we were approached by the lift operator who invited us to take a ride to the top. I politely told him that my wife would not like it much but as these words left my mouth, Chaniya said, "Honey, I think we should do it. I was stunned and now trapped. We had to go up the hill, my little wife from Thailand said we should. To back out now would expose me as a coward. We went and it was a treat for sure. The beauty could not be measured. Chaniya held on with both hands to the center pole and kept her eyes shut most of the way up. I was very proud of her for making me go. The photos that I shot on the trip up and while on top were some of the best I have taken to date. Thank you dear for being so brave.

Randy

The Other Side

This is just an odd ball one I created sometime ago. My laptop is down for the count so I have been limited on my time spent on the blog. Happy Easter!

No Thanks

One can never be surprised by what you will see on the North Slope. These photos were taken on Sept. 27th 2007. The Ranger is equipped with a water tank and a very long boom with a nozzle attached. It is controlled by a door operator. It is used to clean power line insulators to help prevent shorts in the lines. If it looks like a dangerous job I can tell you that it is. This very Helicopter crashed on the oil field about two weeks after I took these photos. The pilot was seriously injured and the doorman suffered some injuries as well. This particular process was developed for use on the slope but can now be seen being used all over the world.

Columbia Gorge

Beautiful drive home from Libby, MT to Vancouver today. If you ever have a chance to drive the Columbia Gorge, take the north side on Highway 14. It is spectacular. Actually the Oregon side is pretty beautiful as well.

RJ

Hidden Things

Just a little fun with a mirror image. A tree farm along highway 84 in Oregon near Pendelton. Enlarge it and see what you can find.