Early morning beauty.

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!

 

 

An ermine takes down prey four times its size!

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

Turkey Mothers are Umbrellas for their Chicks - Happy Thanksgiving!

I never had seen this fascinating and cute behavior before my trail cam captured it. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Bear Buddies Play!

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.

Purple glow

 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.

 

More reflections

 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.

 Thanks for the warm welcome the other day. I hope to keep posting occasionally. My life has become much busier since my days of daily blogging but it is nice to post every now and then.

 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. 

Reflections

 Winter is moving in fast.

Brilliance

  

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 pair of Golden Eagles vie for a Deer Carcass

 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!

 

 

For those who enjoy my videos, you can subscribe to my Youtube channel at this link:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC-6mwNAkTRhShCwagAf6SsfUYvki-fJH

An Intruder

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). 

Then, he drove partway back up the driveway, parked, and walked around. At that time, Shyla and I headed up the driveway for a morning outing. We saw the trespasser, and I said "May I help you? You came in via my signed and closed gate.". The guy was belligerent, saying that I had no right to cut off access to my private driveway. He told 2 different lies about why he was there. 

 

After me telling him to leave about 25 times, his anger escalated, and things got really ugly. My neighbor, a tall tough guy, became aware of the altercation, and he came to my rescue. The trespasser finally fled (but I got a photo of his car and plate before he left). I am so grateful to our neighbor. The sheriff is tracking down the trespasser.

 

I am shaken. Although we don't want to, we will now have to lock our gate all the time. Although trespassing has happened many times, this incident has made us feel truly unsafe. We also fear for Hachi and all strangers who might meet him accidentally when they show up unannounced. Our goal is to keep everyone safe, most of all Hachi.

 

 

 

 

Home in Autumn

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.

The beauty and the pain

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.

 

Autumn update

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.

Hachi Update and Thank you!

Thanks to all who offered support for Hachi yesterday. They figured out a super sedation protocol, and Hachi had a full exam from our behavioral vet. He's recovering well although he's still a little subdued and confused. Thanks so much for lifting my spirits yesterday.

Here's a photo of him from our most recent trip to the desert. We are giving him the best life that we know how to give him. For him in particular, every day is a gift that he wouldn't have had in other circumstances. We know that, and we remind ourselves of it when we need a lift.