The past few days have been a definite roller coaster for me. I think I have felt every emotion known to humankind in the last 96 hours. I've laughed. I've cried. I've had moments of melancholy, joy, outrage, and elation.

On Monday, the house that I grew up in on Tomlinson Road in Philadelphia was sold. (The photo at left is our family home)

The couple who bought the house are nice enough, and are excited about the house. I don't think they have any young children and that makes me a little sad. When we put Mom's house on the market, I really hoped that a family with children would move in and make the kind of memories my brothers and I made. But then again, it's a different world now. I don't believe that many kids of today will ever have the free-spirited, innocent, childhood that kids of our generation did. The world has changed a lot in the last four decades.

Tomlinson Road is a very busy street now. Back in the "old days", 15 or 20 of us would gather in the middle of the street to play "Wireball" or "Yogurt" or "Kick the Can". You can't play in the street now without risking your life. And all those wonderful friends I had when I was a kid have long moved away. Mom was one of only a handful of the original residents who remained on Tomlinson Rd after we all grew up and moved out. Some families moved away when we were young teens.

When we moved into this house, it was truly the suburbs. We had acres and acres of woods around us where we could build forts, go hiking, and hunt for tadpoles. But soon the developers came along and tore down the woods to build a new neighborhood called Camelot. We were all very sad to lose our woods, but at least we still had the old jelly factory and the warehouse to hang out at. And a place we kids called the "Poop Factory" was another favorite place to play. We gave it that name because it was the remains of a water filtration plant, and there were deep cement waste water ponds that always smelled horribly. Even after all these years, I bet that every single kid I grew up with on Tomlinson Rd would know exactly what I was talking about if I said the words "Poop Factory"!

We'd put pennies on the railroad tracks and then punch holes through them and put them on a chain to wear around our neck. The boys would hop the freight trains when they came by. I did it once, and that was scary enough for me! We'd build forts and spend hours sitting high in the trees talking about all the important things in an 11-year-old's life. On Tomlinson Rd, I made some fantastic friends. My friend Michele (who is coming to visit in June), lived across the street from us. I fell in love for the first time with a boy named Billy who was a year younger than me and a head shorter. We sold lemonade in the summer, and went sledding at Cemetery Hill in the winter. There's nothing like dodging headstones when you're on an out of control sled! Such great memories were made while living in that house and in that neighborhood.

I'm glad the house belongs to a new family - truly I am. It's been sitting vacant for a year. I am happy that life is being lived there again, but I also feel like I lost another little piece of myself.

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We've been having snow on and off since last weekend. I took these photos on Monday. The flakes were big and fat and fell slowly. We've gotten about an inch or 1.5" since it started coming down. There's plenty more where that came from! I do like the way the landscape looks. And there is ice in the river now too. I'm happy to see it, but that's normal for early in the season. Check back with me in December!

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What has enraged me over the last couple of days is the eye-witness accounts of the hunting of coastal brown bears in Katmai National Park and Preserve. This is where Steve and I have gone, with Chris and Ken Day from Emerald Air, to view these magnificent creatures and walk amongst them. I won't post the video directly in my journal, but you can view it if you want on YouTube. ( CLICK HERE ) I want to warn you that it's a disturbing video shot by a reporter who does NOT support hunting the bears in Katmai. A few days later, on THIS SITE, I found a written account by Chris Day about the event. I copied and pasted it here. It generated quite a few responses.

What Happened to The Hunter's Commitment to Fair Chase?
By Chris Day - Guide and Naturalist, Emerald Air Service

On September 30th, we dropped off two news crews to film the brown bear hunt in the Katmai Preserve.
Overflying the area before landing we observed nine hunting camps. Every camp without exception had bears within 200 yards of their tents – bears were strolling up and down the shores of the lake dredging fish, eating berries, completely unaware of their fates.

More than likely, these bears thought -- if bears think -- that these camps and men were no different than the thousands of sports fishermen and bear viewers they have been co-existing with along the salmon stream all summer long.

While we unloaded the crews' gear from the plane, a beautiful big female with a fat cub walked curiously up to within 50 feet of the plane. Curious, but unconcerned. Three more young females without cubs were dredging fish within a few hundred yards before we taxied out. Sports fishermen were casting flies into the waters of the creek. The scene was one of nature's splendor at its height, the tundra alive with fall color, fat bears taking their last meals before climbing into winter dens.

At four o’clock the next afternoon, October 1 -- the first day of hunting season in the preserve, less than 24 hours after we had dropped the crew off -- the scene had changed.

Overflying the area prior to landing, the shores were strewn with bear carcasses, the dead bruins lying on their backs with legs sprawled out as they had been left after their hides had been stripped and carcasses decapitated.

As we taxied up to shore a young, blond female, a bear that had been there the evening before, walked out of the bushes on the hillside a few hundred feet above the plane. As she casually looked at us, out of the alders between us and the bear two hunters stepped out. The bear did not run, she looked at the hunters and was shot. This was not a big male. It was a young, most probably 4- or 5-year-old, female. This bear was no more than 50 feet from the hunters and only a few hundred feet from their camp.

Bears wandering within 300 yards from the kill didn’t even interrupt their feeding. I seriously question the fairness of the chase involved in killing these bears. The hunt will go on for three more weeks, the carcasses will become bait, and these hunters will be able to shoot bears the following morning without leaving their sleeping bags if they so choose. The hunters did nothing illegal.

In the time since witnessing this kill my emotions have moved from initial disbelief --shock and anger at the moment of the kill, then a deep sorrow and grief into the night after the hunt -- to waking with a burning, white-hot rage in the pit of my stomach that has now tempered and hardened my resolve and determination to end this slaughter.

Hunting pressure has been increasing in this area for a number of years now; we have seen a marked decrease in the number of bears we watch in this area and a change in the makeup of the population.

Biology aside (there are many bears in this area), economics aside (value of hunting versus non-consumptive use of wildlife), this is simply ethically and morally wrong. Hunters as a group adhere to the concept of FAIR CHASE

What we witnessed certainly was not FAIR CHASE.

Chris followed up on October 6th with this:

Thanks to all for your passionate comments-Ken and I along with many others have fought this for years through the agency channels to no avail - hopefully this public outcry will make a difference. PLEASE though lets redirect our ire from the hunters, of whom there are many good, ethical men and women who are as shocked and abhorred as we are that this is happening; we need to direct all of this energy to the agencies who can make a difference. The ADFG has it's hands tied-there are lots of bears in the GMU that this area is part of-it isn't a matter of bears being threatened as a species-it is this small population of very important, habituated bears where the problem lies. This has to go to the Federal level-this is a National Preserve-contact Marcia_Blaszak@nps.gov she is the Superintendent of Alaska National Parks, contact your congresspeople-let them know that you are not happy about the way this area is being managed-they may write back that this is a state issue-not true-while the state and the parks co-manage this area the parks has the final authority. It will be through these agencies that we effect a change-not by bashing hunters.

I hope that our voices will be heard and they will stop this practice of hunting the bears in Katmai. I look at the photos on my living room walls and hope that one of the bears I have photographed isn't one that has been killed. Such a sad thing...

Edited to add: I am not anti-hunting/hunter. But almost all of the hunters I know, hunt for the meat as well as the hide, antlers, feathers, etc. Hunting an animal to eat or to clothe yourself is one thing - and is called subsistence - but these bears are hunted only for the *pretty* rug they will make or the trophy that will hang on a wall. If this hunt was a matter of subsistence, this video/issue wouldn't have had such a public outcry. How can shooting a bear that is used to humans and has no fear, be fair? This is just my opinion, and I know some of you reading me feel differently. It's a touchy subject, certainly, but I wanted to write about how I feel in my journal.

Steve was off on Tuesday, and he decided to drive down to Delta Junction for some fishing. He was going to go alone at first, because he planned to get on the road at 6am and that was just too early for me! Then he asked our friend Gip if he wanted to go, but he couldn't because he had things to take care of at home. So, at the last minute, I decided to go along for the ride. I'm really glad I did!

We pushed our departure back to 7am, which was much more agreeable to me. It was cold (15F) when we left the house, but when we reached Salcha it had dipped to 2F. We were both glad we had our long underwear and layers on. There was a steady wind too, which didn't help us keep warm.

We stopped to have breakfast at Midway Lodge on the Richardson Highway. The Midway Lodge is known by just about every soldier stationed at Fort Wainwright, as it's a regular stop for the buses taking troops to and from Donnelly Training Area near Fort Greeley. Owner Barbara Dennis has been rustling up meals for hundreds of soldiers for years, and the military wall in the restaurant shows just how much she is appreciated. The wall is covered in plaques and certificates, presented by various battalions and companies, as well as high ranking commanders, thanking her for all she does. This was not our first time stopping there for a bite to eat.

As we continued down the Richardson towards Delta Junction, the sun was coming up over the horizon. The orange and yellow glow of sunshine painted the Alaska Range, and bounced off the frosted trees lining the road. It was quite beautiful, and Steve stopped the truck a few times so I could take some photos. There was fog lifting off Birch Lake, which lent a mystical aura to the landscape. Seeing a bald eagle fishing on the lake was another highlight, but I didn't have time to get a photograph. When we stopped at a few overlooks on the Tanana River for photographs, the wind was really strong and despite my long underwear, fleece vest, and heavier fleece coat, I was chilled. I realized that I probably should have worn my parka.

Our wildlife sightings for the day were few. Besides the eagle, we saw one young moose cow, a hawk, an owl, and a gaggle of geese heading for warmer climates. But the scenery made up for it. Also, Steve caught two salmon, which he tossed back and an arctic grayling that was too big to keep. While he fished, I walked through the campground at Clearwater State Park looking for photos. It was a wonderful day.

Tanana River and Range
Birch Lake	Birch Lake
	Alaska Range	Alaska Range Pano (900 pixels)
	Delta River Bridge		Farmhouse Delta Junction
Clearwater Park			Snow Sparkles
			Rose hips
	Steve fishing
Frozen Poppies
	Richardson Hwy		Birch Lake Afternoon
	Salcha River

It seems the woodpecker has decided to be a regular visitor to my suet cage. I found her again today hanging on the cage as it swung back and forth from the weight of her. It's nice to see something other than chickadees and squirrels. I'm not entirely sure of woodpecker behavior so I don't know if she'll still be around once the really cold weather hits. I plan to keep feeding my feathered friends all winter - as long as I see them showing up to eat.

It is now truly officially winter at our house. My studded tires have been mounted.