Maybe I should wash my windows..., this shot of the Heron on the drainfield might have come out better. I was afraid to try to get outside for a better shot..., camera shot. I was a bit concerned about why he hadn't headed south for the winter..., but Google says:
Yes, most herons, particularly,
Great Blue Herons, migrate south for winter, moving from northern breeding grounds to warmer areas like Mexico, the Caribbean, or Central America for food. However, some populations, especially along the Pacific Coast and in warmer southern regions, are non-migratory, and individuals in milder northern areas can also stay put if they find open water for fishing, adapting to catch small animals if necessary.
So..., I guess he was just flying point for Santa Claus..., to make sure I got my new suit of rain gear for Christmas. Yeah..., it was a Merry one for me and Logan and Che and Bindy and Charley Horse. Hope you all enjoyed a Merry Christmas too. The dogs and I shared a Rib Steak for dinner..., I turned down an Prime Rib dinner invitation from old friends who never failed to invited Julie and I to their get to gathers..., be it Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, Fourth of July..., or just an evening of Pinochle. It just wouldn't have been the same without Julie..., and I had spent last year's Christmas dinner with Julie in the hospital..., and didn't get to enjoy a New Year's dinner with her before she took her final flight south.
Google also says:
When a heron crosses your path, it's a powerful spiritual sign of patience, self-reliance, and inner calm, urging you to find stillness, trust your intuition, and act with quiet confidence, often signaling a time for deep reflection, transformation, and finding balance in your life. It's a messenger of adaptability, wisdom, and the need to wait for the right moment, representing the balance between action and rest, and reminding you to find stability and pursue your unique path with grace.
So..., I hope that a heron crosses your paths and helps guide you through the New Year too..., and here's your "Free Bird" Friday Nite Music Video...,
Another wet week..., but it wasn't a white wet like you might expect in late December..., and I was never all that fond of white Christmas's anyway. We did suffered a couple of power outages that lasted close to 12 hours..., due to the problem being a Bonneville Power issue and the crews that service that line are based down in Olympia, so it is several hours before they can even get out here to start looking for the problem, let alone get it repaired. The first one started late in the evening about bedtime so me and the dogs got to sleep through that one and the power came back on in the morning. The second one started just before noon and lasted well into the night..., that one made for a candle light dinner..., and since I have a propane cook stove it was a hot meal. I luckily had the Kindle with a back lite screen all charged up so I didn't have to read by candle light to pass the time. I did miss Monday Night Football though..., and it had cooled off enough that I had to dig out an extra blanket for bedtime. I guess things could have been worse..., and they were for folks not far from us with the flooding and wind storms.
I got my new rain gear..., but have been able to dodge the rain squalls and get the horse manure and dog shit cleaned up without it..., most of the time. I did cheat a couple of days and neglected the North East and West 40's..., to make sure I didn't get caught way out there in one of those nasty squalls. That made for a three wheelbarrow day when we got an extended break between squalls the other day. Charlie Horse thought that was pretty funny and ran circles around me..., making divots for me to replace..., that would rival anything that Tiger Woods could make on a soggy golf course. He got a little too catty while trying to put the run on the turkey and ended up flat on the ground. Me and Logan got a good laugh out of that..., Charlie..., not so much 😀
Well..., I hope that you all have your Christmas shopping done so you can relax until the big day..., and since that day will happen before your next FNCI..., I better post my usual Christmas Eve video song tonight..., here's Dan Fogelberg...,
It was one Wet Week here on The Ranch..., 2.5 inches of rain on Monday..., 1.5 on Tuesday..., 2.0 on Wednesday..., before it tampered off on Thursday to just .2 inches. But I had already ordered up a new set of rain gear after the Monday deluge. We didn't set any records or experience any flooding in our immediate area..., the area East of us and north of Seattle got hit a little harder..., and while the flood waters were receding today..., my Google News Feed was still using headlines from a couple days ago to capture your interest. The picture of The Ranch driveway was actually from November of 2022 and we didn't experience that much water this year..., or maybe I had a little better drainage plan executed after that 😀
In the other good news category I got a nice surprise from my Deferred Compensation Plan in the form of my minimum distribution check..., it will easily cover the increase in my "health insurance coverage" premiums. By themselves the increases in premiums and deductibles would be bad news. I could scare you with percentages like the headlines regarding the Unaffordable Care Act news that I wrote about in a FNCI post on 11/7/25. Yeah..., my supplemental plan premium increased 79%..., though the actual dollar amount isn't that scary..., just $97.10 per month increase..., because the cost itself is..., or was..., reasonable. Medicare itself has raised its Part B premiums and deductibles 10%. The Part A Hospital deductibles and co-pays were raised 3.6%.
My Medicare Part B monthly premium raised 6% last year..., 10% this year and now costs me $202.90 a month.
The cost of my supplemental plan was $122.42 because I am a Public Employee Retired..., it has now raised to $219.43..., a 79% increase. I would venture a guess that percentage is close to what nearly all plans..., including the Unaffordable Care Act plans premiums are increasing this year. Most of the media reports try to "imply" that the huge increases in cost are the result of the expiring enhanced subsidies. To put it mildly..., that is pure Bullshit.
We need Medicare for all and reasonable supplemental plans for all. With the increases in my premiums I will pay $422.33 a month next year for health insurance..., compare that to the $2000.00 Unaffordable Care Act premiums without the increase that is yet to be announced for next year..., it's enough to make you sick (pun intended). As it is now..., the insurance companies..., and the politicians..., are raking in the big dough. It is time that it STOPS !!!
That's my old running partner..., John "Savage" Thompson in his raft on the North Fork of the Clearwater River with another old friend..., Dave McIntosh. They are both gone now..., and I am too damn old to be doing any river running now days. But I can still have the fantasies of me and The Savage running the Grand Canyon in his raft. He had already soloed the Middle Fork of The Salmon..., Idaho's famous River of No Return..., without me. I was cutting timber in Alaska at the time and couldn't make that run. That was another fantasy of mine..., but the Grand Canyon fantasy came back big and strong the other day.
Most of the writers that I follow are now on Substack..., and I had resisted signing on to that website..., thinking that it was just an avenue for them to suck a few bucks out of you by becoming a "Paid Subscriber". Since I could read them for free and most of them sent out emails where I read their stuff there without going to the Substack site I didn't see the need to go to the Substack website. But I finally got hooked up there and it turned me on to a new writer..., Brooks Wheelan. The first piece I read was his pick of the top ten national parks with tips on getting the most out of the experience. I liked his style and had been to most of them..., and live right next to one of them..., Olympic. When I got out of the Army I hit Zion, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite on my way home.. Later in life I hit Glacier..., and I still regret not getting to the Tetons when I lived in Idaho. After checking out the piece on the parks I found the piece he wrote that inspired this FNCI..., How to Run the Grand Canyon Without a Guide. It filled in a lot holes in my fantasy..., and I am now one of his "subscribers"..., though still a "free one" at this time 😀
Since we are discussing American Rivers..., your Friday Nite Music Video is none other than Tom Russell's "American Rivers"...,
