Silhouettes on Sunday

Windy days frequently produce incredible sunset skies. That happened recently, and I took a series of photos of Shyla against the sky.

Graceful Curve

It was the day of R's minor surgery - this one looked almost prayerful to me.

Shyla smelled something - maybe a coyote. I call this "Coyote Rock" because I've seen coyotes surveying the meadow from it.

Wide View. What a beautiful world!

A Crystalline Arctic Day

Shyla and I were up and ready early enough to snowshoe to a viewpoint in time for sunrise. The problem was that the thermometer read -10°F, and our nearby neighbors' thermometers were reading -17°F. I decided to do some rehab work with R before heading out, hoping that the world would warm.

It had warmed by a few degrees by the time we headed out. Only the tips of our pine trees were in the sunlight yet.

Almost immediately, we saw our "friends", the mama moose and her calf, who were breakfasting on a leafless bush. It's astounding that they can survive the winters here.

I took a few photos and turned around to take a different route, further from the moose pair. At that instant, mama moose made a beeline to a point ahead of us. Her calf followed, and the pair disappeared into an area of endless aspen groves. Shyla and I could go on our way.

Because it was so cold, Shyla needed her red boots again, and she had "snow face" within minutes of our start.

It stayed very cold for most of our hike. Shyla's snowface persisted but, as long as she is wearing boots and they don't build up ice inside them, she doesn't mind the cold.

I am endlessly astounded by her strength, speed, and exuberance!

As much as I'm enjoying the beauty of this extreme winter snap, I'm ready for some warmer air. I'm hoping that it's warm enough for Shyla and I to be out for sunrise in the morning. I want to see that amazing sunrise light!

Winter Crushes our World

We had a true winter day yesterday. We woke up to at least a couple of feet of new snow and a temperature of -8°F. This was the view out our bedroom window.

Those are R's chairs for his "speed crawling" exercise that we did until his most recent surgery. I'm guessing that they'll now be in the snow until April.

When I saw the temperature so far below zero, I went back to sleep. I really hoped that the air would warm up fast. It didn't. After much procrastination, it had reached a balmy -5°F later in the morning. That's when Shyla and I headed out for some snowshoeing.

Look at how she even has snowy eye lashes!

Shyla wore her boots and stayed comfortable for almost all of our walk. Of course, she rarely walked - top speed porpoising through the snow was her favorite mode of movement.

Absolutely no one else had been out on most of the trails we traveled. That meant that the powder was completely uncompressed and bottomless from the point of view of Shyla.

At one point, she stopped in her tracks looking ahead over a rise that I couldn't yet see over. However, I recognized the "serious look" that Shyla had which means that there's someone or something ahead that she thinks is scary. I called her back, and guess what I saw when I topped the small hill she'd been on?

I was glad that I had a sensible dog who didn't go zooming over to these giants but stopped to warn me of danger ahead. I was also glad that I had a long lens so I could take photos of them.

They mostly ignored me after Shyla did a sit-stay behind me. Of course, I like the photos from when they were looking at me best so those are what I have here.

You can see that it was snowing hard so I didn't hang around for long. One more photo, and we turned around to avoid going near this mother moose and her calf.

I thought that I'd hit the jackpot for the day but then I saw a pair of elk too! I love how the wild animals get "snow face" just like Shyla does.

Fortunately, we weren't far from home after seeing the wildlife. Shyla seemed to get chilled while I snapped photos.

Can you blame her? She was covered in snow.

It was amazing how quiet it was today. I didn't see another human or even another human track during our entire outing. Then, I did a short bike ride on the road (for the first time since our last huge snow storm six months ago) because the trails were utterly impassable. I didn't see any vehicles. Almost everything was shut down today due to the snow so I guess that everyone stayed home.

One thing that I adore about winter is how the crowds of visitors from down lower in the biggish cities don't visit anywhere up here in the mountains but a few popular spots like the ski resort. We locals get to enjoy our little trail networks in complete solitude.

Happy Winter!

Favorite photos of 2016 - Winter and spring

I have found some favorite photos as I finally made my 2017 calendars. Yes, I know that I'm late. Believe it or not, I discovered a place that gives late-calendar-makers a 50% discount! Maybe I'll be late again next year.

Last winter and spring were very snowy. R managed to get out and play in some of that super deep powder before his surgery in April. I love a snow-covered black dog!

Shyla was like a powerboat motoring through the deep snow.

We are in the midst of a big snow storm so the Duo may be romping in powder tomorrow!

In the late spring, we had the honor of watching the bear cubs play outside their den. They are not in the same den this year. Let's hope that we catch a glimpse of them next spring before they set out on their own.

Also, in the late spring, the flowers went wild, fueled by those huge snows earlier in the springtime. I adore this photo.

R was busy recovering from his elbow surgery at that point. He couldn't even do rehab exercises yet. He spent a lot of time snoozing. This photo when he awakened after I entered the room melts my heart. His eyes hold such love and hope.

I'll continue "my favorite photos of 2016" in the next post. Thanks for reading!

Wordless Wednesday - Favorites

I am going through my year in photos, and I stumbled upon two favorites from previous years.

R was cleared by the vet to run and play in our incoming big snow storm!!!!

The Darkness Descends

Yesterday was not my best day. It started out well, with a sunrise fat bike ride with Shyla. I love exploring the edges of the sunrise rays in the forest, with Shyla by my side.

She and I have such fun with photography. As I was taking photos of her, she decided to "take a bow" all on her own. I think it was a wonderful expression of gratitude for the beauty around us.

Then, we started riding, and I felt a dark cloud descending on me. My mood became terrible. I've learned that this dramatic mood change almost always precedes an aura and a migraine. Sure enough, before too long, the shimmering lights of an aura started dancing through my vision. I sat on the forest floor and gulped down my migraine medicine. The medicine makers really need to make the package easier to open for people who have glittering lights obscuring their visual field.

The medicine just tempers the migraine but doesn't make me feel normal. I spent the rest of the day in a fog, feeling sick and also angry at this demon that won't leave me alone.

Let's hope that it's a one-day event, and life will look cheery again very soon.

Hello 2017!

We were out for sunrise on the first day of 2017. I love my first photo of the year - my Shyla shining in the red sunrise while looking at me intently.

I think back to a year ago, and I had no idea how much I was going to love learning about training Shyla for nosework and other activities. We are still having tons of fun with nosework, and I'll share some footage of her finding hidden scents sometime soon.

I wonder what 2017 will bring? I know that I want to continue to hone my skills as a dog trainer. Right now, I'm working hard at teaching Shyla to walk on the rungs of a ladder that's lying slightly elevated above the ground. She's getting very close to doing it. At the start of this year, I had little idea how to train such precise behaviors using just a clicker and treats.

All that learning has been tons of fun too! It has undoubtedly strengthened our bond.

For the short term, R sees his surgeon tomorrow and will probably get his stitches out. That means that he'll be returning to normal life, including running and his physical therapy ("circus dog") routine with me. I'm looking forward to that!

That'll be a great start to 2017!

Happy New Year

Happy 2017!

I hope that 2017 is happy and peaceful for each of you.

Our Black Dog's New Year's Song

Our Black Dog vocalizes more than any dog I've known before. This last surgery seems to have put him over the edge, and I can't blame him. After elbow surgery in April that put him out of commission for a very long time, he was finally back to an almost normal life.

He and the Runner were exploring our trails during long runs again.

And he and his sister were racing around like siblings again.

We humans both felt that R was in less pain from his elbow than he'd been for many years. He was born with elbow dysplasia, and it relentlessly progressed over the years. The CUE surgery seemed to take him back many years to the days when his elbow was nothing more than a small bother.

Then, we found a couple of growths on his good front leg, and our vet was concerned that they might be cancer. Thank goodness that they weren't cancer!!! However, poor R is now at the end of another 2 week recovery period. It's almost nothing compared to what he went through with his elbow surgery but I get his attitude.

When I have to take Shyla for her normal outings without him, he howls mournfully as we leave. He's done more sad howling in the past two weeks than in the rest of his life combined.

We captured some howling on video for you. In this case, it wasn't sad. We had construction going on in another part of the house, and he began harmonizing with a Sawzall just like he harmonizes with our local coyotes.

I hope that you enjoy hearing his wonderful voice in this video!

The Last Bear of 2016!

Our last bear wandered the paths in our forest in early December. Now, he's gone to bed just like all his brethren.

I have footage of his last days of wandering. It's remarkable how slowly he was moving as his metabolism wound slowly down toward hibernation.

Early on 12/3, he started walking on bear trails, albeit very slowly. I first picked up his image at a bear-marking tree. He sniffed it...

... and sniffed it some more.

Before leaving, he showed us the snow matted in his rump. I think he'd been sitting someplace for a while before he walked to this tree.

Just a little later, I found his tracks. On this remote road, he loped along the left edge, I rode my snow bike in the middle, and a rabbit hopped along the right of the road. We all left our tracks.

I captured video footage of this bear at several sites over the next 36 hours. He visited several bear-marking trees and then came to my house! That made me laugh after I'd had fun tracking him the previous day.

We have a bear-proof bird feeder that the local bears all know is truly bear-proof and rarely visit. I don't think that this bear was a local bear so he spent a long time on his hind paws staring up at the food over his head. His slow pre-hibernation behavior was markedly different from the behavior of the only other bear who visited back in May.

I hope that you enjoy the video!

Smiles for a Gray Winter Day

The reality of winter set in yesterday, with a gray day with light snow falling all day. Oh, and I almost forgot - the wind was whipping fine ice pellets into my face as I rode my fat bike. The trails had pure ice under the thin layer of new snow. This was one of the first days that I wished for studs on my fat bike tires while riding in Colorado.

So, to counteract my gloomy mood, I decided to highlight some fun photos that make me smile. I hope that they make you smile too!

For a Labrador, there is nothing as worthy of a huge effort as a treat.

She pulled it in...

Didn't quite snag this one....  but look at her eyes!

Her eyes only got wider on the next one.

That was worthy of a smile, I think!

Every day is a handful of seconds longer now. Knowing that is another reason to smile!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Here is Shyla, standing on the rock where K loved to perch at sunrise. Shyla seems to love how she can see so far from this spot.

However, she loves being in the forest more. Here is Shyla lying on her favorite rock for sunrise viewing. I love how she's looking to me with such intensity. The look in her eye tells me the story of our 4.5 years together that have helped us to build an incredible bond.

Happy Almost Wordless Wednesday!

Sick but Lucky

We are dragging here in Colorado. We both got an awful cold just before Christmas. It was so intensely bad that we didn't think that anyone should be near us (especially not senior citizen relatives) so we spent the holiday weekend on our own - sleeping, snoozing, sneezing, coughing, and watching silly movies.

As some of you know, I adore the morning light around the Winter Solstice in our neck of the woods. Prior to getting sick, I'd had days and days of gray mornings, with no sunrise light although I was out there every morning looking for it. Then, after the sneezes and coughs hit, the clouds cleared out. So, I didn't accomplish much this weekend except for getting out to see the sunrise with Shyla.

I love seeing her chocolate fur turn red in the rosy first sun rays of the morning.

She seems to remember our winter solstice routine from one year to the next. This girl is such a wonderful friend! I cannot believe how close our bond has become.

I took the next one just as the whole sun cleared the eastern hills. The light is almost blindingly red.

Literally, just minutes after sunrise, the sun ray color starts to return to normal.

It's not something that I am willing to miss, no matter what. It lasts only for a few minutes each morning and for a few weeks out of each year. So, sick or not, I was going to be out there with Shyla.

Now, we're both tired of being sick. We're hoping to be well enough to reschedule our Christmas plans for next weekend. We feel lucky to have each other, our wonderful (and mostly healthy!) Labraduo, and our warm house in the mountains. Even if we're sick for Christmas, we're lucky, and we know it.