As I gazed at the ice, I could hear the creek gurgling under the snowy pillows covering the ice. I never knew that I'd love living next to a creek so much!
As I gazed at the ice, I could hear the creek gurgling under the snowy pillows covering the ice. I never knew that I'd love living next to a creek so much!
This is a capture that blew my mind. I'd always read that weasels were amazing predators. This clip shows that so clearly, as a weasel takes down a rabbit
I never had seen this fascinating and cute behavior before my trail cam captured it. Happy Thanksgiving!
I explored a lot during the summer, and I found new trail camera sites. This one was at a small pond that stayed full of water all the way until the end of the fall. When the bears were fat and just biding their time until they went into dens, two male bears hung out by the pond together. On more than one occasion, they wrestled! They appear to be good buddies. Here's a link just in case embedding it below doesn't work.
Happy Thanksgiving.
It is a warm and windy day but the creek is still glorious. The reflection of the sunlit wall of the gulch can take many different colors. It doesn't seem predictable. I was stunned by the otherworldly color that I saw a few days ago.
The creek is freezing over fast. It is one of my favorite sights. I have to be there at the right time of day to see the reflected sun on the ice and water. Even with my fingers and toes freezing, it makes me happy.
For those who are curious, Shyla is almost 13 years old, and she's doing well. She still loves to run. Hachi is such a joy for me and the Runner. His affection is overwhelming. He doesn't like strangers but we are fine with that. We are letting Hachi be Hachi.
Cottonwoods in brilliant colors in a desert canyon.
I have come to realize that the overarching theme in almost all of my nature photos is that there is brilliant light in the most inhospitable places. That is a metaphor for there being a glimmer of hope even in the darkest times of life.
This is one of my favorites from the year.
A mountain lion killed a deer in a gully near our house. Our ever faithful sniffer, Shyla, found it the next morning. Most of the meat had been consumed overnight.
During the next day, a Golden Eagle claimed the carcass, much to the dismay of the Magpies who had been feasting on it. The Magpies don't give up easily, and they tugged on the tail feathers of the Golden Eagle to try to make him leave. It didn't work.
Then, the big excitement happened. A second Golden Eagle showed up. The two eagles had a kerfuffle over the carcass. One claimed it, and the other one was relegated to pecking on a leg about 10 yards away.
Please be aware that there are views of a deer carcass in this video.
Enjoy!
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Yesterday was a rough day. We have a closed gate on our driveway with "no trespassing" and "beware of dogs" signs on it. We have a very reactive dog (Hachi) , and we don't want a stranger to meet him. For the second time this week, a person opened the gate and drove down our half mile driveway that is posted with those same signs repeatedly. The guy yesterday then walked around our house looking in the windows (I was home but didn't see him).
This is home. The house will be a natural wood color by next fall but that doesn't matter so much. The land is what is really home.
I've been posting on IG (https://www.instagram.com/kb_rockies/) and FB (https://www.facebook.com/KB.Rockies/) regularly over the past year. I am going to share the photos from those posts here because some people don't do those sites.
I feel as if I am slowly coming out of the self-imposed shell. Some peace is returning.
A juxtaposition of brilliant aspens and a hovering black cloud. I soon was pelted with hail. Life is a study in contrast between the beauty and the pain.
It's been a few months since I last posted. I've been busy with lots of things, including trying to save a wetland that I think of as "Tiny's Water Hole". I found out about construction plans to bulldoze it to oblivion, and I decided that it was my calling to make a difference. Saving it is still a work in progress but I'm optimistic that it will still exist when the construction is over. I will write more about it in the future.
I've also been "working on myself". After the years of my dad's illness and several other major stressors, I found that I had a problem with anxiety. I've been working with a counselor on the anxiety, and I've also taken up meditation. I am on the road to a less anxious life but I still struggle at times.
And, alas, the construction on the house has continued. We are almost finished for this year with one more big renovation season planned for next summer. Our new house is getting closer to our vision for it. While the land has always felt like home, the house is gradually feeling more and more like home.
In addition to all of those things, I've taken the time of not blogging to work carefully on my photography. I am taking far more landscape photos now than ever before, trying to show how nature provides glimpses of brilliance even when life is hard. Here is one from about 9 days ago on a soggy, foggy, and cold day. It wasn't what I would call a "beautiful day" but the nascent autumn colors made me love it. I feel so lucky that this spot is a 1 minute walk from my door.