Beavers!!!

Okay, so I don't have the best zoom lens, but if you look carefully you can see to the right and left of the tree, two pair of beavers. Try clicking on the photos as sometimes that will bring up a bigger version on your screen.

This is the beaver family that lives on the Palouse River in Palouse, WA. I've been "stalking" this family for the past year since I first saw one of the adults last February in the ice congested river. All spring and summer (until I broke my foot) I made regular walks all along the river hoping for a siting of the entire family but to no avail. Apparently, patience and persistence have their rewards.


What looks like a log in the middle of the river is actually one of the young beavers floating away after a family squabble.




Both pair of adult and young were engaging in mutual grooming.




If I get home from work in time to make it down to the river before dark I head down there with Miles to watch the beavers. I could watch them for a long time.



There can sometimes be disgruntled property owners living near beaver habitat. People see fruit trees and beavers see building material! In these cases education is the key. Beavers actually create wetlands that in turn provide new habitat for wildlife. When the clash between beavers and property owners becomes unmanageable communities are turning to The Beaver Deceiver.

In addition, there are many on line sites that offer tips on how to protect property.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Winter Wonderland!

For the past week or so I've been collecting pictures from around the Palouse. If you have any good snow pictures please feel free to send them to me at rilette@wsu.edu and I might post them on my blog. This picture is of the southwest end of Kamiak Butte, 13 miles north of Pullman and three miles south of Palouse.

Directions to Kamiak Butte County Park:

From Pullman: Take State Highway 27 North 11 miles. Turn left on Clear Creek Road for .5 mile. Turn left on Fugate Road (Road No. 5100). Travel .5 mile to Kamiak Butte County Park Road (Rd. No. 6710) to the park entrance on the left.

From Colfax:Take State Highway 272 (Palouse Highway) East for 5 miles . Turn right onto Clear Creak Road for 7 miles. Take a sharp right onto Fugate Road (Road No. 5100). Travel .5 mile to Kamiak Butte County Park Road (Road No. 6710) to the park entrance on the left.

I drove home one night to find my neighbour digging through the large berm in our alley and also creating space for my car. Isn't that cool? Another neighbor at the end of the block came over one Saturday with a handy device and scraped snow from the roof of my laundry room. On afternoon, while digging through the three foot plus snow berm kicked up the plows, some friends from my church drove by on their way into town to get supplies. They stopped and helped dig me out. What would have taken me about forty minutes took Kent about eight! That's what I call manpower! I have nice neighbours.


Here's a view from my front porch. Those lumps in the snow are the boxwood hedges that line the sidewalk to my porch.


I like the swoop of this drift.


Any excuse to show a picture of Miles! Here he is doing one of his favourite things....rolling in the snow!


Seriously....who is cuter than my pink-nosed beast?


You can't even see the road in this picture!



Speaking of roads....it's time for a shout out to all of the people manning the various snow plows and snow moving machines across the region. You rock! Here is one of those hard working individuals in downtown Palouse taking another load of snow down to the park.





Janet Barstow from Palouse sent me this photo of SR 272. The road has been closed for days at a time this winter and you can see why!


Here's another photo from Janet on one of the back roads into town. She said that the sides of her pickup were scraping against the snow banks. I think it's very intrepid of her to drive through that and to get out and take the picture.



I like these two pictures that I took of the Palouse River. In the second picture you can see some of the beaver tracks in the snow. I've been trying to get a picture of the beaver for some time but when I manage to see him or her I've also managed to be without my camera.





How are you dealing with the snow? Send me your pictures at rilette@wsu.edu. Bruce Bradberry (our All Things Considered host until Sueann's return) or, as our Morning Edition host Gillian Coldsnow calls him, Brucie, are you paying attention? Bruce has some great pictures of his snowbound house in Idaho. Bruce!!!! Send me those photos!!!

Finally Bruce Bradberry sent me some pictures of his place. Thanks Bruce! The one from inside the house is wild!






Here are a few pictures taken by and of Maya Lessov, the Associate Producer and Director of KWSU/KTNW Public Television. Maya left Friday at 10:30am from Pullman for the Spokane airport. She finally arrived at 4:30pm! Highway 195 from Rosalia to Spangle was closed so she followed a series of cars onto the old 195 that you see in the picture below.



Unfortunately, a semi-truck in front of her became stuck in the snow and they had to wait for rescue. I suppose that gave her time to take this pretty picture.



Here is Maya after safely arriving at the Spokane International Airport.



Tom Hungate, one of our Account Executives, took these pictures on the Washington State University Pullman campus on January 30th, the day of the big snow! This is the back of the Edward R. Murrow Center. Northwest Public Radio is on the third floor of this building.





A couple of shots of W.S.U.'s Clock Tower.





An intrepid student.



Here's a picture of one of Northwest Public Radio's satellite dishes covered with ice.



Nice photos Tom.

Thanks to Joan Harris from Pullman, Washington for these two photos of the snow.
Joan, your sunset snow picture is gorgeous!

Young and Talented!

Left to right: Isaac Pastor-Chermak, Nic Wallin, Rian DeFaccio, Grayson Gold, Elizabeth Wollstein, Rebecca Elshaw.

Saturday evening I had the pleasure of attending the Washington-Idaho Symphony's "Young Artists" concert. It is always inspiring to experience a live performance and add to that the excitement of hearing such talented young musicians and you have a stellar evening!

Isaac Pastor-Chermak is a senior at Moscow High School and studies cello under Linda and Bill Wharton. Isaak performs with the Walla Walla Symphony, the Rendezvous Chamber Players and the University of Idaho Symphony and Chamber Orchestras among others. I found his interpretation of the "Adagio-Moderato" and "Lento-Allegro molto" movements of Sir Edward Elgar's "Cello Concerto in E minor" mature beyond his years.

I was particularly struck by seeing exactly how much of the cello's fret board Elgar uses in this work. He uses it all! It's really an amazing piece to listen to and was even more amazing when seeing Isaacs fingers fly over the entire length of his cello's fret board!


Conductor Nic Wallin certainly fits into the young and talented department as well. While he holds a Master's degree from Northwestern University in tuba performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting and has extensive professional experience he still looks awfully young! This is his third season conducting the Washington Idaho Symphony. This season he is also conducting some of the Spokane Symphony's educational concerts around the region. Nic hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan and we are fortunate that he now resides in Moscow, Idaho. In July of 2006 he went to St. Petersburg to study and conduct as a participant in the International Academy of Advanced Conducting.


Rian DeFaccio hails from Seattle, Washington and is now a sophomore at Washington State University in Pullman. Rian is studying with Dr. Jeff Savage and the holder of awards including Best Rhythm Section at the 2004 Viking Jazz Festival. Rian brought out both the otherworldly feel to the "Adagio assai" movement of Maurice Ravel's "Piano Concerto in G" and the wonderfully humorous edge to the "Presto" which Rian aptly described as "goofy." It was a pleasure to hear and watch him play.


Soprano Grayson Gold graduated from Washington State University last December with a degree in music. She delighted us with a rendition of "Una donna a quincidi anni" from Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte."
Playing the role of a 15 year old coquette, Grayson displayed a lovely vocal quality along with a flirtatiousness that, according to the lyrics, caused her to "Speak through her eyes..."


Flutist Elizabeth Wollstein introduced me to the "Flute Concerto in D, Op. 283" of the Danish composer Carl Reinecke. She has a delightful, silvery quality to her tone and, like the other young performers, was not easy on herself. Reinecke gives the flutist plenty of opportunity to "show off" during the "Finale" of his concerto. Elizabeth did the piece justice and her beautiful tone came shining through.
She is a junior at Washington State University studying with Anne Yasinitsky. Elizabeth performs with the WSU Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony among others.


Rebecca Elshaw sang "Marquerite's Aria" also known as the "Jewel Song" from Charles Gounod's "Faust." I like to think of this aria as the female fantasy song. Why? Because it's all about jewelry ladies! Rebecca sang about opening a casket of jewels, delighting in what she sees and delighting even more in what she sees in her mirror as she tries on the various glittering baubles.

Again, not an easy piece to sing and I was very impressed by her rendition. I would rather stand up in front of 5,000 people and speak than sing in front of five! Rebecca is a soprano from Olympia, Washington now studying with Dr. Julie Anne Wieck at Washington State University. Rebecca performs with the Concert Choir, Madrigal Singers, VoJazz and Opera Workshop.

Ladies.....may I say that you all looked fabulous! Not to take away anything from the men but your dresses were fantastic!

The "Young Artists Concert" showcased not just the talents of these young performers but the legacy being passed onto them by their teachers and mentors, many of whom were performing with the Washington Idaho Symphony that evening.

In a very touching moment, Isaac Pastor-Chermak handed the bouquet of flowers presented to him to his teacher first cellist Linda Wharton and then shook the hand of his other teacher, Bill Wharton.