My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
Christmas day was cold out here. The high only reached 15 degrees. The sun came out in the early afternoon, offering glimpse of blue sky, so I drove out east looking for winter scenes. I had a location and scene in mind but it did not offer me what I wanted. With the attitude of not giving up I found these animal tracks interesting. I was not the only one looking at animal tracks as it seemed like there was a hawk or falcon perched in a tree every mile or two. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
Seems everyone has a phone and many of those are smart phones. For example at lunch the other day all six of us in the restaurant were on our smart phones either texting, emailing or checking our blogs. (I’m in the later category). CNNTech article states that , “45% of cell phone owners said that their phone is a smartphone. Also, 49% of cell phone owners said that their phone operates on a smartphone platform common to the U.S. — which includes BlackBerry.” And, most of those are owned by adults. I have one. They said in an article that the biggest growth in smartphone ownership was among adults aged 18 to 24 (up 18%); the next highest growth was among those aged 45 to 54 (16%). Other demographic segments with high growth in smartphone use include whites (15%); those with some college education (14%); and women, rural dwellers and those aged 25-34 (13% each). The article also stated “The slowest growth in smartphone use was among people aged 65” which means I have 3 more years to go before I have to put mine away. Of course by then I probably will be using the next generation of whatever it is. So, this morning I was doing as this young man, enjoying a mocha latte and checking your blogs.
Ever wonder what an animal is thinking as they make eye contact and stare? In this case I assume he is not thinking about the political debates, his taxes, his 401k, or who won the Super-bowl. His focus is on the world around him, which includes us. This world is where he finds shelter and food, the necessities of sustaining life. He is part of nature. He stares at me trying to determine if I’m a predator or abserver, a danger or not. However, I do smile as it doesn’t look like he’s that worried about eating. 🙂
On Wednesday it started snowing sometime after 11:00 pm and continued until midday. The silence of a snowfall during the night allows us to awake to a new world, one covered in a blanket of white. For me watching a snowfall is a thing of beauty but there is something special when a silent snowfall surprises you in the morning. And, I accept, that along with all this beauty in nature comes the cold and wet, which is its way of sustaining this world of ours.
So I grabbed the camera and braved the icy roads. I had no particular plan but let my intuition guide me. I traveled north and east on 120th in search of the farmers two trees and they were still there. After a few frames and letting the cold air invigorate my soul, I drove to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. I wanted to take in the beauty of the grassland and cottonwoods in their winter white.
To my enjoyment, not far from the cottonwood grove, I found a nice buck and four does in search of food, while off in the distance a solitary coyote entered a group of trees.
“One is never alone in the forest. One is never unobserved.”
A Far-Off Place by Laurens van der Post
In my experience it is seldom that a prairie dog will allow humans to come very close. But, for some reason this little one let me closer than usual. His hole was located along the outer edge of the prairie dog town. They can detect predators from a far distance and then alert other prairie dogs to the danger with their special, high-pitched call. They are considered a keystone spicies, which means they have a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance. They provide food source the many prairie animals such as the fox, coyotes, raptors, badger, and snakes. They are definitely a pest for farmers and ranchers due to the towns they build. Anyway, this little one was letting me know I was being closely observed.
This image was taken in the early afternoon at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. The moon had risen about an hour earlier and the sun is just setting behind me. Even though the deer within the refuge are protected and accepting to us visitors, they always seem to keep a wary eye on us. If we were to study animals more we would see how adaptive they are to the world around them while man seems bent on changing the world around him.
A doe checking me out last week at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal MWR. Even with no hunting on the refuge the wildlife always keeps a close eye on us, usually seeing us before we see them. Hope everyone enjoys the coming week!
This is Sky, my sisters cat, working hard at being a cat on a hot day. 🙂 And, so am I as I head back to the skies for another trip. Unfortunately, for me anyway, only the passengers get a chance to do this on the aircraft.
