Wintery Wednesday

No outdoor riding for me today. The skies opened and dumped a deep layer of snow onto our world. Our deck, visible from our bed, looked surreal this morning, with snow reaching the height of our table and deck railings.
The pristine snow looked beautiful. I visualized the Pasqueflowers (wild crocuses) that are stirring under the meadow's rich soil. Very soon, they'll poke their heads out of the dirt in the warm days between snow storms. Amazingly, they'll survive being buried in our next snowstorm to bloom again after the a big melt. Believe it or not, this meadow will be dotted with Pasqueflowers and green grass in the respite between storms very soon.
R and K love romping in this meadow, and it's a favorite site for me to practice recalls. Here, the two of them sprinted like freight trains to me today. First K.
And then R.
As I rewarded them for their recalls, R began meditating. Ohmmmm.
We explored the snowy landscape but saw almost no signs of animal activity. I think that every living being found a protected spot and slept through the storm last night. K checked the boulder outcroppings but no scents or tracks showed up.
We did see birds. Funny, yesterday morning before the storm, we saw our first spring bird, a Cassin's Finch, on our feeder. It's been so long since we've seen a non-winter bird here that I couldn't find the binoculars to look at him! However, I suspect that he fled as the storm moved in.

Today on our hike, a white breasted Nuthatch worked diligently finding food under the bark of a Ponderosa Pine. He talked to me, "Beeeeeep, beeeeeep, beeeeeep, ..." as I photographed him but otherwise seemed completely unperturbed by my close proximity.
Thus passed another wild spring day in the Colorado Front Range. I felt low all day, with more neck/head pain than I've had in a week. But, I know that it's part of the process of rebuilding my body. Without pushing myself close to my limits, I won't get stronger. It's a delicate dance, finding the limits without exceeding them. Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I don't. I suspect that I overdid something early today but I'm not sure what it was. That's usually the case...

In some ways, my determination to get the most out of each day, at the limit of my physical capabilities is a good quality, and, in others, it's not. But, it's me, and I can't change it.

Carpe Diem! That's my theme.

As an aside, I've found a new blog, Running with Kona, that's lots of fun and talks about working with a fearful dog who is bursting with potential. I enjoy reading about their daily runs and the challenges that they tackle. You might enjoy it too!