See Beautiful: Dogs, Sunsets, Flowers, and Bears

As many of you know, I find incredible beauty in my dogs and in nature. For "See Beautiful", I'll share a few of the beautiful things that I've witnessed recently, from my Duo at sunset, to wildflowers, to natural bear behavior. I know that many people are afraid of bears - but I find them to be the most beautiful souls among our wildlife.

The two pups and I enjoyed a sunset hike recently, bathing in the soft sunlight at the end of the day. They both looked equally enthralled with a scent near the start of the hike.

Then, Shyla told R a secret. I'm not sure what it was but R had a mischievous look in his eyes.

We made it to our sunset lookout point in time to see the sun barely dip below the Divide.

And, then, the sun slipped lower, and the light faded as the Rocky Mountains blocked it.

On top of the smoke in the air from the horrific fire south of us, our pine trees have decided to release their pollen, right now! When I look into the distance, I can literally see waves of green pollen blowing off the trees. If I touch a tree, I get fine green particles all over me. It affects me mildly, giving me a sore throat and some asthma. R is our worst allergy sufferer. He gets itchy all over and can get secondary infections from skin, ear, and eye irritation. He's on his allergy meds now, and they seem to be working so far, even though I can see a layer of pollen stuck to his outer fur.

Tis the season! I won't complain. We have glorious flowers and wonderful cooler weather. Here's a close-up of an Iris petal - like a landing strip for pollinating insects!

And, my favorite animals, the black bears, are delighting me with their antics. They are marking trees, and the mother and her single cub are playing in front of my cameras. It will be interesting to see what happens with that mother because, sometimes, nursing one cub is not enough to prevent a bear sow from going into estrus. Then, odd scenarios occur - some sad and some interesting. In the best case scenario, the mother will mate but also stay with her cub from this year. So far, although the mother has been on the "mating route" where the marking trees are, she hasn't expressed interest in them.

Here's a video that includes both tree-marking and the mother-cub pair playing in a ditch filled with water. I'm discovering that this ditch is very popular, and I repositioned the camera so that future videos will be looking down at the water from a high view.

You can watch the video here or at Youtube.

On the bear front, one thing is worrying me. Our main male, Milton, has had a serious limp for almost 2 months. I haven't captured a trail camera photo of him in about two weeks, which is unprecedented during bear mating season. I am concerned that he might have been supplanted by the big male who you saw in the video. To be honest, I'm a little concerned about whether Milton is still alive. I'll be watching my cameras for a glimpse of him.

Bear foods are progressing too. These are chokecherry blossoms, which will turn into berries after they are pollinated. They are a favorite food of bears!

I hope that you've seen the summertime beauty in this post that I feel. I am awed by the gorgeous world around me.

This is part of the See Beautiful Blog Hop, sponsored by our friend Sugar.