One early morning, I got up just when the wife got up and filmed her work in the morning mist — beautiful. Spreading wet yak dung was probably the hardest chore for the summer. In the winter, frozen dungs just needed to be picked up to burn, but in the summer, they had to be spread by hand to let dry.

One villager came to talk to me while I sent text messages on the hill in the morning. He told me that 30 something years ago they were given poisons to mixed with barley flour to put by the pike holes. Pikas died and soon they discovered dead vultures too and that scared them too much to continue that task. Pika population soared. They are considered a pest to the grassland by the villagers even though I do not share that opinion. It is the drying of the land that attracted the opportunists instead.

I tried to have him talk on the camera later with no vail. Had I have a crew I could have had the first encounter filmed. Oh well. Can only work with what I got.

The daughter was still sleeping when the wife had finished all the morning chores. It was a struggle getting her and the boy up. The daughter helped with milking and butter and cheese curd making, the boy played around, causing troubles when I filmed.

It was a hot day. I went out to film by a small water hole. Yaks come down to drink and bath. Yak moms cleaned their baby. Hopefully some good yak scenes. Lots of good yak eating sound too, and milking sound at dusk.

Clear nights on the pasture are gorgeous. Stars so bright and low. Scorpio came up every day from the hill top.

I learned a few more words of Tibetan and the family were eager to test me. They laughed whenever I got one right. It was good to be a laughing stalk once in a while.