Do You See What I See?

Hello From the Rockies...

Temperatures are unusually hot today...giving us more worries about fire and fire danger.  It seems that a good deal of Colorado is burning, but thankfully for us, the nearest fire is 90+% contained.  That fire is on the western side of the Park in an area called Big Meadow.  No structures are threatened, and the fire burned in an area full of pine beetle killed trees.

In Little Valley, life goes on as usual.  We are nearing the end of pine pollen season which means we will soon have an end to the dusty yellow veneer that covers everything--inside and out.  Most of the snow has melted both here and in the Park.  Babies are being born and we have had the opportunity to do a few "game drives" to see what is happening.  It amazes me that I never, more than this year, realized that all babies play:  human, marmot, coyote, elk, deer, moose just to name a few that we've seen.  I would say the exception to our viewing would be the young, great horned owls.  The only "play" we've seen from them is a great flexing of wings just before they fledge.

I have been blogging like crazy...in my mind.  That's not too helpful to those of you who like to know what's going on out here.  So, I thought I'd start with this one, just to let you know we are safe and well.  Next week holds the Fourth of July.  This year the big celebration for our friends is a delayed (by almost a year) wedding reception/celebration for Lee's great niece Katy Pietsch and her Swiss partner Philipp Reist.  They were married in Switzerland last fall.  

If you click on the following address, you will see a set of pictures called:
"Do You See What I See?"       http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtnpostpics/sets/
The pictures are from an early morning drive we did with neighbors Kristi Mann and Lyn Ferguson.  The lead picture of the little boy, binoculars to his eyes, cradled by his dad says it all.  There was loads to see...and lots of babies at play.  The set shown next to this one holds about 20 pictures of the coyote pups we have been watching.  They are really adorable and their parents are beautiful and splendid.

The best to you all...for the time being, so long from the mountains.