Springtime Sunset

We went directly from winter to spring in a few days. Look at the green grass!

We were all out for a sunset hike yesterday evening. It was cold (it snowed here on Thursday) but the sun sets so late. It's a wonderful time of year.

A huge variety of flowers have burst into bloom since it suddenly became springtime. This is a Plantain Leaf Buttercup (Ranunculus alismifolius) blooming in the moisture of an aspen grove.

These flowers are blooming despite cold temperatures at night (almost freezing) and cold winds, like last evening. Shyla smelled something in the wind.

I asked her to look at me, which she did (barely) while continuing to sniff. R was acting mature, for once in his life!

Shyla continued her multi-tasking, peeking at me out of the corner of her eye while scenting in the wind.

Then, just as the sun set, she turned reddish in its glow. It's not the same red as in the desert but I still love it.

It's springtime, but not quite summertime here yet. We love the long days, and we can't wait for the warmer weather!

Since it's become springtime, our agility course has finally emerged from under the snow. I've started teaching Shyla how to negotiate the obstacles, and I'll share some things about that soon. The short story is that she's learning very fast - she's even doing a modified version of the teeter-totter already!

Also, Shyla's socialization training is continuing to move in the right direction, one small step at a time. It's been a long road, and it's not over yet. But, I've learned so very much about how to look at the world from her point of view.