LOCAL NEWS

Alaska Peak Art, well loved by our community

By Brian Baxter

 

Art Purdy was quite an individual. Back in 1994, I had the privilege of supervising the Kootenai Forest teams performing the Extensive Forest Inventory. I had met Art through different friends in forestry, and knew he had a long history of forest related jobs. At age 65, he came down to the old supervisors office, which is now the Lincoln County Campus of Flathead College. Art was interested in hearing about the forester positions we had open. I  briefly told him that we were a specialized unit based out of  Washington, D.C., via Ogden, Utah. That we were performing a systematic grid of intense five point cluster plots that were to gather A to Z information on everything from soils to silviculture, including wildlife info, and that the average time for two foresters to complete a plot including average travel time was sixteen hours. He looked at me with that contemplative look, and said he’d like to give it a try. I felt I needed to also tell him that we had three classifications of plots, average difficulty, medium difficulty, and very tough longer range plots. He related that he preferred to not go out of town, but otherwise he was in. So was Jim Bush, another forester in his sixties at the time. Along with myself, in my forties at the time, we were the older crew members as most of the guys and gals were in their twenties and thirties.

Art was one of the most respectful, intelligent, and funny men that I got to know better on that project. Now, generally folks that work in the outback and wilderness settings are pretty mellow. I think it is because we naturally blend in with our surroundings. Whether wilderness guard, mountain lands surveyor, fire lookout, fisheries biologist, wildlife researcher, or forester, we allow ourselves to be absorbed into the big picture. And that big picture includes an awareness and focus on life and death, as it is all around us, all the time. So, we try not to sweat the small stuff. But can take care of ourselves when circumstances demand it.

In late summer – early fall, Art Purdy, Jim Bush, and myself discussed doing a plot that fell close to the 7,006 foot Alaska Peak. I explained that there was no easy way up, and that the scenery would be spectacular, with the location falling just inside the wilderness border. Also that the average slope was 66%, elevation was approximately 6,225 feet, and that the plot fell on a small flat with rock and vegetation. Now, very contemplatively, they both looked directly at me. After a few questions, they told me they had confidence in my planning, which I appreciated coming from these two veterans of the forest. Bear spray had just become popular on the market. Lead spray was a backup. We worked our way through high thick brush, steep, rocky cliffs, and wind swept stunted timber, talking loudly, as we were in grizzly country.

I will sum it up to say, that it was quite fatiguing, challenging, and as beautiful as any Rocky Mountain Peak. We took our breaks when necessary, and watched out for each other. We didn’t talk much after the plots were completed. We saved our energy for the way down. Art, Jim, and myself grew closer after this trip. The two gentlemen, and I mean gentlemen, taught me so much about human nature. I was unaware in my forties, how much I needed to learn, and probably still am. I would bump into Art and Dolly all over the areas of Glacier Park, Kalispell, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, and other locations where I had just finished doing outdoor educational programs. I would be having a drink and a bite to eat with the folks from the class, and they would be doing the same. Art always was interested about the particular class I had done, and would ask me about our day. Thank you so much Art. Thanks for showing me how to be a better man, by the example you humbly set. God Bless Art, I think of you every time I look up at Alaska Peak.

Winter Solstice sky gazing; Christmas star returns after hundreds of years

Continued from Page 1

Friends do meditative yoga, with Alaska Peak in the Background. Photo by Brian Baxter,
The Montanian

 

Interestingly, in AD 525, a Roman scholar and monk, Dionysius Exiguus, fixed the AD (Anno Domini-in the year of our Lord) origin of our present calendar to fit within one year and eight days after the birth of Jesus. Although the exact date and season are still debated.

Astronomical and historical evidence suggests that, the Star of Bethlehem was a comet which was visible in five BC (Before Christ) and was described in ancient Chinese records. A comet uniquely fits the description in St. Matthew’s writings, of a star which newly appeared, traveled slowly through the sky against the star background and stood over Bethlehem.

It is proposed also that a remarkable sequence of three astronomical events stimulated the journey of the Magi: the triple conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in seven B.C.; the massing of the three planets Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in six B.C.; and finally the appearance in five B.C. of the Star of Bethlehem, a comet initially in Capricornus.

It’s shown that each of these three events would have been quite rich in significance to the Magi (Prophetic Kings that sought the birthplace of Jesus), and the combination would have provided a very clear sign that a mighty new king was about to be born in Israel.

Evidence does point to a spring birth, which is consistent with St. Luke’s account that there were shepherds living in the fields watching over sheep, and also consistent with the census of Caesar Augustus. The study at Cambridge, England, attempts to pin down the date of the Nativity utilizing astronomical events recorded near those locations and at those times, while still taking into account the calendar of Dionysius. (Reference: Colin J. Humphreys; Star of Bethlehem – a Comet in 5 BC – and Date of Birth of Christ. Dept. of Science, Univ. at Cambridge, England.)

By Brian Baxter, The Montanian

 

Winter Solstice sky gazing; Christmas star returns after hundreds of years

Continued from Page 1

 

Interestingly, in AD 525, a Roman scholar and monk, Dionysius Exiguus, fixed the AD (Anno Domini-in the year of our Lord) origin of our present calendar to fit within one year and eight days after the birth of Jesus. Although the exact date and season are still debated.

Astronomical and historical evidence suggests that, the Star of Bethlehem was a comet which was visible in five BC (Before Christ) and was described in ancient Chinese records. A comet uniquely fits the description in St. Matthew’s writings, of a star which newly appeared, traveled slowly through the sky against the star background and stood over Bethlehem.

It is proposed also that a remarkable sequence of three astronomical events stimulated the journey of the Magi: the triple conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in seven B.C.; the massing of the three planets Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in six B.C.; and finally the appearance in five B.C. of the Star of Bethlehem, a comet initially in Capricornus.

It’s shown that each of these three events would have been quite rich in significance to the Magi (Prophetic Kings that sought the birthplace of Jesus), and the combination would have provided a very clear sign that a mighty new king was about to be born in Israel.

Evidence does point to a spring birth, which is consistent with St. Luke’s account that there were shepherds living in the fields watching over sheep, and also consistent with the census of Caesar Augustus. The study at Cambridge, England, attempts to pin down the date of the Nativity utilizing astronomical events recorded near those locations and at those times, while still taking into account the calendar of Dionysius. (Reference: Colin J. Humphreys; Star of Bethlehem – a Comet in 5 BC – and Date of Birth of Christ. Dept. of Science, Univ. at Cambridge, England.)

By Brian Baxter, The Montanian