Morning in Paradise...

Morning in Paradise...  Miki, Race, and I took our usual morning walk, getting back before sunrise again.  The air was back to its normal clarity, which sure was nice to see.  I posed the dogs a few times near the recently-harvested barley field; they weren't all that thrilled to have to stop hunting voles :)  We saw dozens of hawks this morning, including a half-dozen or so that were standing guard on recent kills.  We also saw a hawk take vengeance on a crow that was harassing him, right over our heads.  The crow made a tactical error in diving right after a close fly-by of the hawk – and the hawk instantly took advantage, diving on the crow and breaking his left wing.  The crow started squawking, and fell in a spiral to the ground about 25' off to my left.  The hawk was on him within seconds, and immediately started chowing down on the still-squawking crow.  The crow was dead within a minute or so, but the hawk still looked very satisfied a few minutes later when we walked toward home.

If you're gonna mess with a hawk, just be prepared for the consequences of an error...

Yesterday we received a shipment that Debbie has been especially anticipating: a bronze sculpture of a mountain lion.  It's now displayed in our cat room (aka “living room”), where it's one of a dozen or so pieces of feline-themed art.  It's positioned so that you see it as you walk through our front door, which is kind of cool...

Big acquisition in Cache County...

Big acquisition in Cache County...  The LeGrand Johnson company is a big employer in Cache County, and a major construction firm.  They work on everything from homes to roads.  They did the excavation work for our shed, and paved our driveway.  Our friend and neighbor, Tim D., worked there for many years before he retired as their paving supervisor.  It was a family-owned business, well-known and respected by locals.

Now comes the news that LeGrand Johnson has been acquired by Summit Materials, a much larger conglomerate that went public earlier this year.  The Summit management says that not much will change, but ... that's what the acquiring company's management always says in such a situation :)  Locals are watching with concern, as the LeGrand Johnson company is such a large and important part of the business community here...