High above the valley…

…a rock catches the rain, and a saskatoon bush lives off of it.

Not Much Cover Way Up Here

Even the deer have to really work to find a trail going anywhere. Meanwhile, the coyotes slip every whichaway.

It’s a lovely rock, though, a bit of an old ocean floor …

That looks a lot like a troll’s pet dog. Or maybe the troll.

Troll’s Dog

With a big grin. Or maybe the troll.

And the weather has had its way with it, for sure, breaking it up like ice snapping at the shore in springtime.

I tell ya, it’s dark in there. Dark-de-dark-de-dark.

The previous rock like this (no saskatoon) was three hundred metres away, and it was not so dark. In fact, it had a very lived in feel.

Some plants are beautiful and weird. Well, that’s the kind of planet it is. So, I shouldn’t have been surprised when I went around the rock and …

… I heard a rustling and rattling and then nothing at all, so I peered, you know, into the dark.

Surprise!

In porcupine social etiquette, giving you the butt is considered the best way to meet new people.

So, the deal is, if anyone tells you a porcupine is a forest dweller, well, just laugh at them. Cuz they don’t know, right? Not their fault. The last time I saw this guy was also in the sagebrush. That encounter was three kilometres away and several hundred metres downhill. It looked like this:

Porcupine at Sea in the Sagebrush

Oh, and the ocean? Tsk tsk.

Ocean Falling Apart