The Solstice is Coming!

It's amazing how motivated I am to be outside for sunrise at this time of year. It's a bright shining part of a winter day. The extra pain from the injection the other day is dissipating so I was feeling almost chipper this morning! I still can't tell if the steroids did any good...

I think Shyla feels chipper every single day. She's in that amazing prime of life when her energy and enthusiasm seem endless. When I call her to come to me, she leaps small buildings and gallops like a maniac to get to me as fast as possible!

Sunrise is our special time together, and she seems to enjoy it as much as I do. We've had a lot of wind lately (gusts up to 75 mph) so we like to hide in the forest near sunrise some days to avoid the incredible force of the wind which can literally knock me over. As you can see from the look in Shyla's eyes, she doesn't like it when the wind grabs her ears and flaps them around.

While we've taken refuge in the forest, I've discovered that taking photos pointed toward the rising sun, filtered by the forest, can make some surprising images! The spots of light behind Shyla in the next photo are the rays of the rising sun shining through the trees.

Our wildlife activity has changed over to winter mode completely. I see coyotes frequently (they are not as active in the area close to our house in the summer as in the winter). I have to be very careful with the dogs around sunrise and sunset so that they don't tangle with any coyotes. When I'm on my bike, Shyla stays in a heel in the morning until the sun is well above the horizon. This beautiful coyote visited our clearing next to our house.

I've been fascinated to see how driven Shyla is to "mark" in areas where the coyotes mark. In fact, Shyla is my first female Lab who has ever lifted her leg to urinate in the forest, and she seems to do it only in areas where coyotes mark. Isn't it odd - Shyla is my least confident Lab yet, but she is the first female leg lifter?

Bobcats are another animal who are active near our house and trails in the winter. They love to walk in my snowbike trails so I see their tracks all the time. They also come very close to our house in the winter. One bobcat has an obsession with a rabbit who lives under the wooden walkway that leads to our front door, and I'll share some fun video of his stalking of the rabbit in the future. Here is a photo of a bobcat that I captured before the snow was here to stay.

Last but not least, with the arrival of the elk herd for the winter, more mountain lions have been patrolling our area. I'll save my trail camera photos of them for a future post.

Although I enjoy some aspects of winter, I am excited that the solstice is only a few days away. I always want to have a huge celebration on that day because I know the days will start to get longer. Somehow, knowing that the light is glimmering at the end of the winter tunnel cheers me immensely!

Just a few more days until the days start getting longer here in the Northern Hemisphere!

Black and White Sunday

Oh no, not the camera!!!

The Labraduo

A rough day today... I had a steroid injection yesterday that has, for some reason, left me in even more intense pain. I'm trying to keep the faith that something will help and that the spike in pain from the injection is temporary.

This morning, I ignored the pain so that Shyla and I could enjoy the sunrise. After K died, I really couldn't imagine that another dog would touch my heart like Shyla has. She has such a sweet soul. While we're out in the forest together, I barely notice the pain because I am so happy.

Shyla seems to glow with love and joy as she prances through the forest. She sprinted through the forest with such exuberance this morning that I was laughing out loud with happiness.

After an afternoon next to the fire, the Duo and I headed out for a sunset hike. I love the golden glow of sunset on R's black fur. R is such a character who never ever turns off his intensity when he's outside. In this photo, you can see that his laser focus was on something in the forest and not on me!

It was a good day with the Labraduo. They are such good motivators to go outside and have fun!

I choose to "See Beautiful"

As I see it, I can choose how to live my life. I can dwell on the bad and on the pain. Or, I can focus on what I love and the joys hiding in shadows of each day. As K taught me so intensely near the end of her life, every day of life is precious and worth celebrating. Every day has a ray of beauty.

A warm sunrise...

Or a crazy happy moment.

I have the choice, and I choose to focus on the beauty peeking from behind the clouds.

Fate

Shyla and I have been enjoying our early morning snowbike rides on the trails despite the incredibly harsh winter weather. We burst out the door every morning to pedal up to our sunrise lookout point. I feel gratitude for every single day that we can do that together.

Alas, I am afraid that I might be forced to take a break from the mountain life that we love so much. I've mentioned here a few times that I've had very intense neck and shoulder pain since last summer. I had an hour's worth of MRI's the other day, and the results were not good. I have big problems with one neck disc and with my shoulder joint. In all likelihood, the severe problem in my neck has caused the shoulder degeneration - by making the muscles surrounding my shoulder spasm all the time.

I don't yet know what the plan is for trying to fix this situation. I have some guesses because I have so much experience with spine problems. I probably need a cervical spinal fusion, adjacent to the fusion that I had in 2010, to fix the one horrific neck disc. I also might need some work done on my shoulder - but I'm unsure about how a doctor fixes the kind of problem I have in my shoulder. Obviously, I'll be talking to a lot of doctors in the coming weeks.

Since receiving this news, I've been trying very hard to mimic Shyla's wide-eyed enthusiasm for life. I'm trying to "be like a dog" and not focus on the future too much. After all, I have today with my wonderful Duo and the Runner.

But, I must admit that I am feeling upset and angry at fate right now. I know that we are all faced with immense hurdles in our lives - and it could be much worse. But, I'm still upset.

I'll find my way. I know I will.

Wordless Wednesday: Raucous Romping

Yes, we are lucky...

Like many places in our country, winter has arrived here with a roar. The past week has been cold, snowy, and windy. Both Shyla and I are adapting to the cold. It's always hardest during the first very cold days.

When the air temperature is below zero, we try not to stay still for too long. If we do, my fingers and her paws get cold.

So, we run and pedal, keeping the blood flowing to our extremities.

This is how Shyla tells me that her paws are getting cold. She holds one up off the snowy ground. When she does that, I know that it's time to get moving again.

There is something that I love about the harshness of our mountains in the winter. Although it's a silly thing in the larger scheme of the world, I love the challenge of being out in the elements and thriving. After all, the coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, and even hibernating bears never can escape into heated houses like we can.

Ah, the warmth of a sun puddle after a run in the freezing cold. We know how lucky we are.

Desert winter, Mountain winter

I told you about our unexpected 2 day stay in town while our LabMobile was being repaired. When it was fixed, we were thrilled to be out of the "city" and back in the desert. However, the weather really wasn't desert-like.

We awakened to this sight one morning.

We had two full days left for camping after the LabMobile repair but the desert world was socked in by freezing fog and even snow for the entire two days. We didn't sit in those chairs again after returning to camp. It was too cold and damp.

It was bizarre to see the desert coated in rime ice. I know that the high desert has a real winter every year but I've never seen it before.

We didn't see the sun or stars at all in those last two days. This was the brightest picture of Shyla that I captured!

At night, the world was so dark that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. And, the world was completely silent. The low clouds and fog muffled every sound. Living in our campsite at night was like being in a sensory deprivation chamber.

I have to say that I still felt that the trip was fun and relaxing. By the time we drove up to our house after the trip, I felt like we'd been away for a very long time. That's a sign that it was a good vacation in my estimation. We thanked our lucky stars that we had the LabMobile which has a propane heater in it. Without that, we would have been very cold at K's Rock on those last two days.

We came home to one of the longest snaps of incredibly cold weather that I've experienced here. In the past, we've had a couple of days here or there of temperatures below 0°F. However, over the past week, it has been below zero almost all the time.

Fortunately, Shyla is enthusiastic about getting out into the world regardless of the temperature. She and I just need to keep moving to stave off the cold. I believe it was -15°F when I took the photo below.

 It's undeniably winter here. It's a tough season, very tough, but it's also beautiful.

Now, in my mind, I just need to make to the Winter Solstice - after that, the world will get brighter and brighter!

Coyote Visage and Howl

This coyote visited our clearing yesterday, quietly trotting through and pausing under the birdfeeder. Needless to say, all the birds and squirrels instantly vanished when this canine appeared. I used my friend's incredible telephoto lens to capture his handsome visage. I feel like I can see his amazing intelligence in his eyes.

You may also enjoy hearing/seeing a coyote video that I captured last May. I posted it back then but it's become a favorite video. I hear the sound of coyotes howling so frequently but I almost never see them as they howl. A trailcam made that possible!

You can watch/listen here or at Youtube.

I love our coyotes and having them trotting through our clearing regularly. We mainly see them in the winter - so that's an upside to the consistently below zero temperatures recently!

The Unexpected

We awakened on our third day in the desert to fog everywhere. Fog in the desert? Very odd.

It would creep up the canyons toward us and then retreat.

By that point in our trip, we'd decided to stay at K's Rock for the duration of our time in Utah. We reasoned that it would be more relaxing if we didn't move around. We also were leery of how much snow and mud we'd seen in other areas.

However, we didn't have enough water and food to last an entire week without resupplying. So, we decided to spend the daylight hours in camp and then to drive the 30+ miles to Moab for a resupply run.

The sun didn't fully shine all day but I took some photos of the Duo. R looked so handsome against the red rock.

He and his sister focused on sometime behind me. I don't know what.

Then, Shyla turned toward me, just before the Duo bolted away and started playing wildly.

Dusk fell shortly after that, and we hopped in the Labmobile to drive to Moab. We left a tent, a couple of chairs, a camp stove and a few other small items to "claim" the campsite.

We drove along the Colorado River, enjoying the foggy dusk light on the cliffs and water. Then, I smelled something funny. Just as I mentioned it, the LabMobile lost power. The Runner managed to coast until he could pull into one of the extremely rare pull-outs along that tortuous road.

The engine had conked out and refused to restart. The Runner tried to figure out what was wrong, and a nice couple stopped to try to help us. However, it seemed to be something very major - not within the realm of a roadside repair.

That canyon has almost no cell reception so we assumed that we couldn't call anyone and would have to spend the night in that pull-out. Then, just in case, we decided to walk around outside the LabMobile to see if we could get even a single bar of cell reception, and we did!!! We called 911, who sent a "wrecker" to transport the LabMobile and us to Moab.

Let me tell you - that was a very scary ride. The van was anchored down atop a platform behind a strong truck. We rode in the van. At first, I closed my eyes because the sight of the big Colorado River down below us as we wound along this crazy road from such a high perch was terrifying. Then, I realized I was going to get carsick if I kept my eyes closed so I spent the rest of the time rambling on and on about how much experience I was "certain" that the driver had. Indeed, he drove very safely, and we made it to Moab fine.

He towed us to his repair shop, and he rented us a Honda Civic so we could get around. However, it was late at night so we just went to sleep in the repair shop parking lot (inside the LabMobile). That was not a great night, let me tell you!

The next day was Thanksgiving so the mechanic wasn't working. We found a dog-friendly hotel, and we checked in. That was challenging for Shyla because everything about staying in a hotel was new. And, it wasn't a quiet hotel. The sounds of loud kids' voices in the hallways seemed to spook her. But, she gradually settled in, realizing that we'd keep her safe. We even managed to go a short distance outside of Moab (in the rented Civic) for a short bike ride/run in the foggy winter air, and that was fun.

Amazingly, the repair guy diagnosed the problem as a blown alternator by 9AM on Black Friday. And, he found the necessary part in Moab that morning. We had our LabMobile back by that afternoon!!! We were so impressed with the mechanic. He was honest, polite, and very good at his job.

As we drove out of Moab (Yay!), we started wondering if our "stuff" would still be at K's Rock when we returned. Much to our delight, no one had touched our camp (in fact, I don't think anyone had even been near it). It felt so good to be "home", even if our resupply trip to town had taken 2 days longer than expected and winter had arrived at K's Rock while we were gone!

The Last Idyllic Desert Day

Although we were in the desert for a week, it turned out that we had only two sunny days - the first two days.

At that time, we didn't know that multiple events, including the weather, were about to turn against us.

Shyla high-fived at sunset on our second day. We all thought that we'd hit the weather window absolutely perfectly.

And, she gazed to the horizon. I think that the colors of the red rock desert complement a chocolate Lab's fur and golden eyes beautifully. In fact, the painting of Angel K, shown in the upper right sidebar, was created by Kathleen Coy based on a desert sunset photo of her.

At the west end of K's Rock, the sky turned sublime colors after the sun had gone to bed.

And the dried wildflowers, which we saw in bloom when we camped there back in May, looked pretty against the backdrop of the orange sky.

After dark, the sky was still clear, and I took multiple photos, over about 30 minutes, to create "star trails" around the North Star. I combined all the short exposures to make the photo below. The meteor that I showed you in a previous post streaked through the sky while I took these many exposures.

I never cease to be astounded by the beauty of our Earth. Can you believe that our sky puts on a show like that one every clear night? I wish that I could be in the desert for even more incredible starry nights!

The next day was when things changed - our weather luck and our LabMobile luck. We made the best of it, but there were no more warm, relaxing, and idyllic days. More about that in a future post.

Idyllic Desert Days

Because it's -10°F here right now with fresh snow on the ground, I'm going to reminisce about our desert trip to help me stay warm. The first few days at K's Rock were beautiful - sunshine, clear skies, and relaxation. It was cold at night but the warm sun on our faces during the daytime more than made up for it.

R relaxed in the sun at the base of K's Rock, in a spot where K herself basked.

The hardest part of each day was dragging ourselves out of the warm cocoons of our sleeping bags, where we slept cuddled with the dogs. And, yes, the dogs had sleeping bags too!

Then, we'd enjoy a quick breakfast before the boys would go for a trail run and we girls would go for a mountain bike ride. Later, we'd all relax in camp, during the all-too-short daylight hours. The long dark hours are one drawback of "winter" camping - but it does allow for lots of star photos.

One of my favorite parts of the sunny days was sunset or the "magic hour" when the sunlight is so warm and glowing.

As sunset approached, I'd take Shyla to the base of K's Rock for photos. Shyla has come to love her role as my photography model. R is not as crazy about having a camera pointed at him, which is part of why he isn't in as many photos as Shyla. R tends to start barking crazily at the camera!

Yes, I still miss K, and I always will. But, this girl, Shyla, has won my heart.

I love seeing her at home on K's Rock.

Her favorite "trick" for the camera is to rest her chin between her paws. She does this on her own with no cue from me.

Her fur turns redder and redder as the sun sinks to the horizon.

K's Rock itself also becomes a glorious honey and red color as the last rays of sunshine touch it. I wonder how long this rock has stood tall and how many sunsets it has seen. The desert landscape makes me think about the history of the Earth because its layers are exposed for me to see.

K's Rock sits on a high spot in the desert landscape. We could see the sunset line creeping to the east from the back of K's Rock. Look at that river canyon in the distance, with glowing red cliffs. The sunset line had almost reached it.

The desert is so different from the alpine world where I usually live. After a week there, I feel as if I've been gone from the mountains for a very long time. I think that's part of why I love the desert - it's so alien. I adore its landscape for the stark glowing beauty that flows from it.