Museum of Clean Gallery

The Museum of Clean is a quirky, fun, family oriented museum in Pocatello, Idaho.  They have such diverse displays as antique pre-electric vacuum cleaners, the world's first motorized vacuum cleaner (which was horse-drawn), a chimney sweep exhibit, and a replica of Noah’s Ark in a state-of-the-art 74,000 square foot building.  They also have an art gallery which includes a rotating display by local artists.

Don Aslett is the founder of the museum.  He has written 40 books and completed over 6000 seminars, workshops, and TV filmings all about “clean.”  I spoke to him when I visited the museum a few months ago, and he said he would like to have Linda and me exhibit there.  I had forgotten all about it, when one day I got a phone call inviting us to hang our photos in November 2017.

So, Linda and I hung 24 photos in the art gallery at the museum for the month of November.  A few are shown here.  I would like to thank Don Aslett for the opportunity, and Museum director Brad Kisling for all his help getting us set up.  He could not have been friendlier or more helpful.  Just about everyone should enjoy a visit to this very unusual museum.
www.museumofclean.com

As usual, our photos are copyrighted and cannot be used without our permission.

Greater Sage-Grouse

Jim Parker has been responsible for some of my best adventures in the Bear Lake Valley, Idaho area, and this one is near the top of my list.  Every spring the greater sage-grouse gather together and put on a courtship display in areas called leks.  These are relatively clear areas in the sagebrush where groups of males can do their best to attract the females.  The lek locations are not publicized to avoid conflicts with people.

Jim is really good at tracking down interesting things to photograph.  He picked me up at 6:15 AM and we drove to an area where he had seen grouse the previous day.  It was well before sunrise when we got there, and there were no grouse.  An hour or so later, the sun came up and we saw a few in the distance.  They were easy to see because of their bright white collars.  Jim put his truck in 4wd to drive across country where we found a lek with dozens of male sage-grouse.

The males put on a wonderful display, fanning their tails, strutting, and inflating air sacs in their chests.  Sometimes their heads almost disappeared into their feathers because the air sacs were so big.  They deflate these sacs with an audible POP, which I suppose is meant to be irresistible to the hens.

We were very close to the action, but most of the males didn’t seem to care and continued with their displays, but the females kept their distance.  After a half hour of watching and taking pictures we left, and we hope that the cautious hens came to the lek in response to these remarkable displays.  Just one or two dominant males will mate with all the females, so presenting an impressive display is really important.

The greater sage-grouse was considered for placement on the endangered species list, but that would have had a big impact on ranching, oil and gas exploration, etc.  An effort to improve sagebrush habitat had a positive impact on sage-grouse survival and avoided placement on the list, at least for now.

Please note that my photos are copyrighted and must not be used without my permission.