Northern Apex

I was reading the Anchorage Daily News on-line this morning and this caught my eye - a 600 pound brown bear electrocuted himself after tearing into a utility box by biting on the wires. You can read the full story here. It looks like one of the bears that has been fishing along with the humans at Bird Creek is slated for removal or elimination after flattening a tent with people inside; I wondered when I left Alaska how long the peace would last between the bears and people in that area. In good news, it looks like the salmon run has finally arrived and fish are pouring into all the rivers, unimpeded by the commercial fleet which has finished up a less than stellar season.

I spent a good part of the day yesterday at the New Plymouth Country Fair where Lora was working a food booth to raise funds for musical instrument scholarships. I spent the entire time watching the hog judging, along with most of the folks there, as it was the major draw. I was fascinated as this guy judged ten pigs at a time, awarding blue and red ribbons, and made comments on each pig and why he was ranking them the way he did. Hundreds of pigs, ten at a time according to weight class. There is a whole terminology I didn't know existed! On a good note, I did find out I wasn't fat - I'm overdeveloped! I have to load some software onto Bren's computer so I can get pictures off my cell phone and will post some pictures from the fair shortly.