August 2012

 

Front yard

Our new front yard.
Josiah and I were able to spend a little time exploring our new front yard.
We hiked around a high mountain lake kicking up butterflies from the surrounding fields of wildflowers

Last Tuesday was Josiah’s Birthday, and I gave him one of my old digital cameras and loaned him a lens.

He  has been having a blast with it, capturing some amazing images and I am encouraging him to start his own blog.

I love how a little time in nature always seem to heal a person.  Some say it is the fresh air, but things are still pretty smoky outside right now. And others say it is the exercise, and though I love hiking in the mountains I can get the same peace by sitting by a stream. I believe it is just the time spent with God’s Creations.  A place that reminds us  just how unimportant we really are in the grand scheme of things. A humbling place, a natural place. Full of beauty and mystery. A place to lose your pain and worries.

A place full of newness and wonder.

ancient wisdom.

miracles, and hope for the future.
It is all right there in my very own front yard.

(Favorite smell~ wild roses and creeks fed by high country glaciers)

Lost Focus

The best laid plans~

April 17~2012 a.m. temperature 40 degrees F

Partly cloudy and rained off and on throughout the day~ (we need it)

April 18 -2012 am. temperature 40.3 F

Cloudy and rainy again today~ more of the same ..

I wandered outside this morning,  planning on heading to the river to search for mergansers in flight~ Cloud cover was pretty think and I changed my mind as I figured it would be too dark in the trees along the water to capture the images I was looking for.  I found myself sitting in the sage, surrounded by tiny singing birds,  breath taking scenery and more.

I sat for a while as the storms crawled across the mountain tops and just enjoyed ~

And enjoyed some more.. I am always amazed at how these large game birds can disappear in what seems like blank countryside

(and no Jody at the Hunters Wife ~ Sage Grouse is not a spice.. thought id does sound like a yummy recipe )

And even after my coffee cup was empty and I had been rained on, I stayed a little longer as the sun was finally burning through the clouds to the East and the birds were on the move.

It rained off and on the rest of the day~ I picked Josiah up from school and had dinner with my parents. (Thanks mom and dad) and on my way home~ the sun came out and spread a beautiful blanket of light across the freshly washed landscape and once again I ended the day like I started it~ surrounded by bird song and breath taking scenery.

Perfection

and the clouds returned to my mountain as the light of day faded into a dark and raining night…

Spring buck~ Wyoming style

Alfresco!

Yesterday I took our son “Out to eat”. The weather was fantastic for a February day and no wind = beautiful!.

Our table was made of granite and dressed with lichen. We dined on Wild smoked salmon~ whole grain crackers and a veggie tray.

We had the best view from our table and the meal even came with free entertainment ~Eagles and ravens soared over head ~ Mule deer does, and bucks with antlers of every shape and size (and a couple who had already dropped one side)played in the dry mountain grass in the small valley before us ~others climbed the tree covered ridge off to our right. Chukar serenaded from the brush along hill side. The acoustics were amazing !

I have already made reservations to dine here again ~ I loved frequenting these “off the beaten path” destinations ~ The prices are always more than reasonable, It usually pretty easy to get a seat, and the atmosphere is beyond description. It really doesn’t matter what you order~ it’s all in the presentation anyhow. (But I will have to talk to management about serving coffee next time.)

( Our view as we hiked in for dinner ~ 1500-2000 ft above the vehicle ~ Josiah enjoyed rolling a few rocks off, just to see how far they would go)

We made it back to the bottom just in time to enjoy a stunning sunset and watch the moon rise~
and even though we needed to head back home, and to cell phone service so we could check in, and responsibilities ~ I took a little time to let Josiah play with the moon ~

Speed

In this modern age of fast paced living we often find ourselves absorbed in the never ending movement of the day to day.  Often our heads are spinning with the things that need doing, and trying to keep up with the things we think we should have accomplished.  Somehow we feel the need to speed everything up.  Faster cars, planes, computers, internet, and phones that do everything but give back rubs and foot massage. We are so far removed from the natural world that it becomes easy to forget that speed exists in its natural form all around us. The slice of feathers through air as a falcon dives toward earth at speeds topping one hundred miles an hour. Or maybe the flash of tawny hide as a whitetail deer dashes for cover. It seems that in nature, speed is often a necessity either to ensure survival from a predator or to help secure prey for food. You will never see a deer dashing headlong through deep winter snow simply for the enjoyment of the run.  A Raptor will never suddenly break onto a hundred mile an hour stoop just for the thrill of the wind through its feathers. Energy spent in the pursuit of a simple thrill is reserved for the human race.

The young antelope in this picture is making a break for open ground, fear of we intruding humans sparked the sudden burst of speed and instinct took over. The pronghorn antelope is the fastest land mammal on the North American continent.  Even this young fawn can reach blinding speeds when need be. So next time you push down on that accelerator in your car, or feel the ground shaking horsepower of a jetliner taking to the air, remember the reason for speed in nature and ask yourself,  do i need to be in such a hurry all the time? You may well find that a few moments every day spent at a slower pace can bring you back to a place you want to be. A place where the race is slower, the evening breeze touches your skin instead of rushing by and nature can be heard if you only take the time to listen.     ~ Hawk

 

Time out! 6-22-2011

More photos of a few of the other little treasures we found …outside… the rest of the day~

Wildflowers

Horned toad~ very smart horned toad.. who knew when to play dead

Genetics… I have actually seen this guy in this same area for the last 3 yrs, he’s a very smart boy indeed ..

Mud puppie.. the things little boys find cool~ alright, I thought it was pretty cool too..

Testosterone! WOW! Wild mustangs out on range~

and other little surprises that reveal themselves when you stop for a moment along the way to enjoy the wildflowers~

Pronghorn Babies

My every day is an adventure~ Sorry for my brief absence, but sometimes “life” gets in the way of photography and web sites.. School has been out for nearly a month now, and even though I have been busy, I can assure you that I have not neglected going outside to see what cool things can be found~ The grass is getting deeper and the babies are getting bigger and more mobile~
For those who follow me on Facebook, you know that two days ago I posted that it was time to get back on track ~ and that Josiah and I were setting out in search of fawn antelope~  Well, Tuesday was a very unsuccessful day, as I ended up in town grocery shopping and didn’t even pick up my camera~ but yesterday morning I woke before light (ok.. I lie.. I slept in~ but I had good intentions) Josiah and I got our chores done and made a plan for the day.. we had 2 days to venture out and hopefully capture some fawn antelope photos worth posting~ we have seen a few in our travels this year , but as is usually the case with antelope~ they were too far away, moving quite fast.. or both!

We packed a cooler full of snacks for a long day in the field.. made sure the camera batteries were charged and that we had plenty to drink~ I encouraged Josiah to decide where we might find antelope.. and we set off ~ Not 4 miles from the house, I remembered seeing a doe a few weeks ago with full teats~ and figured it wouldn’t hurt to check out the area~  We found a small herd of females, but they had obviously hidden their babies, and were not sharing..We saw this buck in the distant sage, watching us.Spotted bedded does amongst the scrubby grass~ and then I spotted two does coming over a rise, and with them were two adorable fawns~ they were headed to join the rest of the herd, so I hid Josiah in the grass, thinking that it was probably already too late, as antelope have excellent eye sight at far distances, and I started snapping photosThe does spotted us right away, as did the babies. The does stopped but the little tawny fawn heads came up and in unison~ they started through the sage and wildflowers, headed straight at us on not so wobbly legs. They just kept coming and coming~ curious and unafraid~at about 15 feet, I decided I best speak to them before they ended up in our laps~ Not even 10 a.m. and we still had a full cooler and time to spare~ for us the adventure was not over~ there was plenty more beautiful things to find outside on a sunny Wyoming day~ and even if the photos had not turned out~ even if we hadn’t seen an antelope at all… Our day in search of Antelope Fawns and finding more hidden treasures amongst the sage covered hills was a HUGE success~

 

~Hidden Treasures~

To be continued…

Facts and tips:

Pronghorn are the second fastest animals in the world.. only the cheetah is faster

Both the male and female pronghorn have horns~ which they shed the cap of annually~

When spooked their white hair on their rumps stands on end “warning patch”(as can be seen in the photo of the fawns after I spoke to them..lol) and can be seen for miles, alerting other animals of impending danger

 

Detours

I look out my window and watch my child find a dozen fascinating detours from the school bus to the front door.

~ Robert Brault

Sometimes it amazes me that I can ever get anyplace on time

~ I had a Chiropractor appointment yesterday, but along the way I encountered this group of Pronghorn bucks enjoying the break in the rain, and feeling frisky~

Don’t forget to take a little time this weekend to find your own fascinating detours~