Sow and Cub Play

My favorite trail camera company (trailcampro.com) is sponsoring a video contest so I decided to enter. It was suddenly announced during our floods so I didn't have time to ask you all for help in choosing a video. I chose my favorite mom-cub play video from the spring where I've had a camera all season.

You can view my video from the contest page (it's #6) or below. The company will choose the winners so there's no need to vote. However, there are lots of great videos from all over the world if you want to check them out.

Here's my video:

I hope it made you laugh! I love seeing the bears play. I especially love how obvious it is that the mother bear is pushing softly to avoid hurting her cub.

Have a great weekend.

Always in my heart

I made a meaningful mistake the other day. I wrote that "K and I went through the forest together this morning". In real life, of course, K doesn't run along next to my bike these days. But, in my heart, she's still next to me.

At first, I was mad at myself for not catching my typo (writing "K" instead of "Shyla") because it revealed a piece of me that I usually keep hidden these days. However, your thoughtful and sweet comments made me realize that it was okay to say how I feel.

Indeed, K is still with me all the time. She is on my mind countless times every single day. I see her in the late-blooming flowers.

I see her in the rose hips - which are plump this year - and I think about how much she would love to munch on them. I see her in the feathers that birds drop on the forest floor. I see her in the occasional hummingbird who passes overhead flying south. I see her in the fall-colored leaves - because her birthday is in autumn.

I see her in the mushrooms, because as many of you may remember, she used to eat them and scare me to death.

I see her in the first snow on the mountains because we used to race the autumn snow to sneak in one last alpine hike as her birthday celebration. I saw the first snow on the peaks today, and I instantly thought of K. If you look hard, you can see that last night's snow is on the peak that's enveloped in clouds.

K will never leave me, and I am thankful for that. I don't want her to leave.

At first, I felt like I was shortchanging Shyla because K still holds part of my heart. Now I know differently. I've fallen for Shyla with all my heart, even the part that K is in, if that makes any sense. The typo from the other day also reveals how I've come to love Shyla with a depth that I never thought possible again.

Shyla is so loving and sweet. She's a gift from the heavens who brightens my days, and I know that K would love to hear me laugh and see me smile with Shyla. So, I don't feel any guilt as I revel in each day with Shyla. Shyla has helped me to "See Beautiful" again, after a long time in the fog of sadness.

It's a topsy-turvy world. I think that I've relived some of my grief for K over the past week. The devastation of these floods has pierced my heart more than I first realized. I've been depressed, and that's caused me to let down my guard.

So, I didn't notice the "telling typo" of saying that K and I were together. She is always by my side but no one but me can see her.

For new readers, here is what K looked like. She's also in the banner at the top of the page. She died in July 2012, at age 8, of osteosarcoma. She lived an amazing 8 years as my heart dog.

Thank you for your sensitive and heart-warming comments. And, thank for your support through everything.

Wordless Wednesday: Still Trying to See Beautiful

Seeking Tranquility

Helicopters are still hard at work here, constantly reminding me of the disaster in our area. As K and I went through the forest this morning, a few choppers seemed to almost skim the tops of the pine trees as they raced toward the hardest hit parts of our area. Most of the helicopters that I saw today had Red Cross symbols on them.

Our situation hasn't changed. However, after Shyla found the remains of a deer that had been killed by a mountain lion today, I spent some time researching which emergency vets would be closest given our new geographic situation, with our usual vets not easily accessible.

Actually, I was proud of Shyla when she found the deer body parts because she came to me, despite the most incredible "treasure" she'd found. She even gave me the bloody bone that she was carrying. She's a good dog who has learned her "lessons" well.

But, as I am well aware, we were very lucky that the mountain lion(s) appeared to have finished eating the deer and were not in the area.

After that exciting start to our ride, we headed up high, to a sight that I'll never tire of. Today, a train of helicopters whizzed across the view frequently but it was still gorgeous. I took the photo when the view was free of helicopters.

It's clear now, to me and others, that there's a tradeoff to living in such a wild place. We can be cut off from the rest of the world by wild weather. Or, as we've seen, mountain folks can lose everything due to the ferocity of mountain weather. However, despite knowing that, I wouldn't trade places with anyone. This is the place and life that I love.

It's a place where life moves at a pace that I can notice the new mushrooms popping up all around us. This is our most poisonous one, Amanitas. Usually, they are most abundant in mid-August but there's been a resurgence of these bright red mushrooms since the floods.

Although I still feel very unsettled since the floods and anxious about our lack of access to the resources of civilization (especially medical and veterinary), I am trying very hard to find tranquility. After all, I am "stuck" in a place that I love. It could be far worse.

To make things even better, the Runner went to get food today! I was secretly on a self-imposed diet to avoid running out of supplies. Tonight I can go off the diet - yipee!

Sunshine, finally!

Somehow, this natural disaster has completely consumed us. I don't know where the days go, aside from plotting how to get to town and how to deal with the things that normally require town visits. The prognosis for our main route to town got even worse today, as a state engineer deemed it too dangerous even for emergency traffic. That engineer also rescinded all guesses about how long it would take to rebuild the road.

This morning started the same as every day in recent memory. As Shyla and I headed out on our morning ride, we were in the midst of clouds so thick that they left water all over the plants, me, and Shyla.

At the start of our ride, we couldn't see more than 10 yards away through the clouds. I was feeling sorry for people who needed to be rescued via helicopter because the choppers were all grounded. The emergency agency had put out this notice to mountain residents:

"A major air rescue for the foothills devastated by 100-year floodwaters is planned for Monday, with residents asked to use white sheets, reflective mirrors, flares and signal fires to alert helicopter pilots to their locations." 

Knowing that stranded people were hoping to be rescued today, the clouds were making me sad. But, very gradually, the clouds started to burn off the mountains, and a tiny bit of sun shined through.

It took hours for the fog and clouds to clear from the plains, where the helicopters land and takeoff, but eventually the air was clear. I could hear the now familiar thwacking of helicopters flying this afternoon.

During our ride, Shyla's amazing nose found a very old vertebra, from an elk or a cow, and she was proud of it! I've trained her to bring me things like this in exchange for a jackpot of treats. That way, I can prevent her from gnawing on it and possibly hurting herself. When I first met her, she used to play "keep away" with yucky treasures.

And, during our ride I spotted mushroom species that I have *never* seen before in our neck of the woods. This species must wait underground for the once in a hundred years when it's wet enough for it to survive above ground.

After a wet ride, I left Shyla home to snooze with her brother while I went out to tour the flood damage in our area. Yes, the new Duo is sleeping on the bed that many of you gave K as a gift when she was going through chemotherapy. These two adore it, and it warms my heart to see them on it.

Today was the first day that I dared venture far from home during my solo ride. Because we don't live in a narrow or steep canyon, I didn't see anything too dramatic, although many trails and forest roads are now rivers of water flowing downhill. There's been an incredible amount of erosion but it looks like we can cope with it with a bit of work.

I loved seeing the autumn flowers that are going crazy with all the moisture!

By the end of my ride, the sun was out, and the flowers and I were turning our faces to feel its warm rays!

Perhaps things will start to dry out now. I hope so, and I hope that the stranded people were rescued today. These floods have certainly reminded me that life can change completely in a single day.

Black and White Sunday: A Lion Pounce

At about 8 PM during one night of the deluge, a mountain lion walked past my trail camera.

A half hour later, a mountain lion walked past the same camera in the opposite direction. I don't know if it was the same lion as at 8 PM. The lion didn't appear to have any clue that s/he was about to be ambushed.

 Then, kaboom, another lion burst out of the forest and pounced on the walking lion.

The two of them moved so quickly that they were gone from my camera's view instantly.

When I was checking the trail camera, I didn't know that this had happened so I didn't investigate the scene to see if there were any clues about what happened next. It's rained at least 6" since I was there so the clues might be washed away by now. One guess is that this pair is the mother-kitten pair who we've seen a few times this summer. Perhaps the kitten was "playing" with his mom by surprising her with a pounce. An alternative explanation is that these are two adults who are having a territorial dispute. Adults will fight if they cross paths.

In the meantime, it rained very hard today, leaving me glum. The roads between here and town are still closed and will likely remain impassable for at least a month. There is a hugely circuitous route for getting to town that would be 120 miles round trip. On the good news side of the ledger, I think that Shyla's ear looks a little better.

I hope that this scene outside my window stops soon!

See Beautiful - A Day Late

Due to the floods, I completely forgot that yesterday was See Beautiful Friday. It's one of my favorite blog hops so I was sad to have missed it.

I make a conscious decision to try to see the beauty around me, in all sorts of situations, even when floods are inundating our world. You can see the See Beautiful tag that Shyla is wearing below sent to us by our friend Goose.

Despite our stranded state in the midst of floods, Shyla and I have still been out romping in the forest every day. From Hug Hill, the Continental Divide looked awesome this morning.

I was on Hug Hill for quite a while this morning, talking with our vet (it's one of the only places that I get good cell service and our landline is out). Shyla has a relatively minor ear issue that looks like the a small infection to me. However, we can't drive to our vet now due to closed roads. Our vet called around, trying to find some meds up here in the mountains for Shyla. Alas, the mountain vets are sold out of almost everything because so many people and their pets are stranded. So, we are using a "home remedy", hoping that her ear gets better without prescription meds.

As I stood on Hug Hill talking with the vet, I could see and hear a train of helicopters shuttling people out of the high mountains and down to the plains. Some mountain towns are in really bad shape, with no water, power, phone service, food, or access in or out. The residents in the worst shape were flown out today.

After our protracted time on the gorgeous vista of Hug Hill, Shyla and I pedaled through the forest. Aside from nightly fussing over her ear, she seems fine.

After a journey through a very wet pine forest, we came out into a meadow area. The meadow trails had become streams. I've never seen anything like it. One trail had about 10" of water on it, flowing downhill toward the big canyon that had flash floods and is still blocked.

This trail's stream was pretty shallow but I thought that the water that Shyla was kicking up looked beautiful.

On our way back home, it was still sunny, and this flash of beauty caught my eye. The sun made aspen leaves glow!

After we made it home, I wanted to ride some more to see how the torrential rains have affected our world. But, almost immediately, a thunder storm moved over me from the west. It didn't seem too close so I kept riding. Then, it started to rain - again. I wish the rain would stop due to the flooding but the raindrops were beautiful on the wild geraniums.

I was finally chased home by by an intense, almost torrential, rain squall. I walked into the house, drenched for the umpteenth time in the past few days. I found R sleeping warm and dry, looking like an angel. He's much smarter than I am!

Even in the midst of a crisis like these floods, beauty can be found.

Incomprehensible

Life is not normal right now. I'm sure that some of you have seen footage of the huge floods that ripped through our neck of the woods.

Because we live up high, the floods themselves didn't threaten our home.  However, the photos and videos of the devastation below us are almost incomprehensible. I cannot imagine what the world will feel like when we finally can go down the mountain to look around.

We are cut off from most of the world because the roads between our mountain and the plains have been badly damaged. So, we are "stuck" at home, with no landline and no cell phone reception. However, we are among the lucky ones who have electricity and internet (although we expect that those could fail at any moment).

We had a rain-free period today, and Shyla and I took full advantage of it!

We actually have managed to get out for some exercise every day, despite the weather. Neither my spine nor Shyla's spirit are capable of being sedentary.

This morning, after we rode to the top of Hug Hill, the clouds began to part, and we could see some small hills nearby.

We then rode through a pine forest over to another vista point, and the sun started to shine!

After days of rain (12" so far), the sun was like a gift from the universe.

Now, more rain seems to be in the forecast. I hope the forecast is wrong! There's so much that needs to happen, like search and rescue and rebuilding roads to connect the mountains and the plains.

Don't worry, we have enough dog food to last for a while in isolation. I think we'll run out of human food first!

The Power of Water

Meteorologists are calling the "deluge" that I mentioned yesterday a "100 year storm" - meaning that storms of this size happen only once every hundred years. At least 7 inches of rain have fallen near our home since the storm started.

Fortunately, we are dry and fine.

 But, it's still raining, and there's no end in the near future.

We live up high, not down in the canyons that the floods are sweeping through. We are "sheltering in place" since the roads down to town are closed and/or dangerous.

 We hope with all our hearts that the floods don't take any more lives or homes tonight.

Thanks to all of you who have inquired about our safety today. We are safe although we are sad to see what's happening in our world.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Up until a few days ago, we had sunny summer...

Then the clouds rolled in...

And the deluge began...