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Archive for the ‘Mountain Life’ Category

Second Day of the Hayman Fire in Colorado 2002

Talking with a friend of mine this morning, I learned her father lives outside of Boulder, near where the Fourmile Fire burns. Luckily, so far, he’s fine. But looking at the images and videos on The Daily Camera, it instantly brought me back to memories of the Hayman Fire. It was big, angry, and grew quickly. And again, there were people who were told to be out in 15 minutes.

What do you take? The P’s.

• People
• Pets
• Papers (the important ones)
• Prescriptions
• Photos

Someone said they ‘packed a box of memories.’ We all want to hang onto the stories that have weaved themselves into the fabric of who we are now. Stories become precious.

Evacuating in 2002 was hard and incredibly stressful. What do you take after the Ps? Look around you now at literally anything you have. The lamp next on the table – you know it’s story – who it came from or what store you found it in. If purchased, why you chose that one over others. The spoon you use while cooking. The place you put your change and miscellaneous items.The dress still in the very back of your closet that you felt beautiful in, but that now would never even begin to fit. Our things store our memories. They become memory jogs.

By recording the stories of all these things, I find I can let them go if I had to (or just need to make room in our tiny house). That wasn’t the case in 2002, before I found digital scrapbooking. I wanted to hang onto so many things then.

In looking through the layouts I’ve done, most are the stories about moments. One project I want to take on at some point this winter (assuming life will slow a tiny bit) is to tell the story of the things. Get good photos of the things. Their stories matter. They tell who we were, what shaped us into who we are now. They are connections to people and times past. By scrapping these stories and tucking them safely away in a 3-ring binder makes it easier to let the actual item go if needed. And letting go allows room for more stories to come in.

So while my heart aches for those who lost their homes in this current fire, it also again reminds me that things are really just things. Things burned in the fire (or broken or damaged during evacuation) consumes the thing and leaves the essential, most important part: The Story.

It’s been awhile since I shared a page from my nature journal. I’m still struggling to find the size that will work for me, but I’m going ahead with the journal that’s the same size as my other journal. However, I think I’m coming around to agree with Susan Zwinger who taught the class I took with the Yellowstone Association – larger is better.

I did this sketch in pencil while waiting for Mike who had a meeting in Fairplay – I rode along to just get out of the house for a bit. The drive through South Park is so pretty anyway. During the wait, I took the time to get to know Curly Cup Gumweed a bit better. Later, I went over the pencil lines with pen for the most part, though the rest of the text wasn’t finished when I took the photo.

Good Friday Morning to you!

Last weekend, I finally opened the bird box since I was sure it was vacant. As much as I would have loved seeing the babies I knew were in there, that’s too much stress and I’d rather know that the babies would have a better chance at life and left it closed until now.

This is the combination of two nests. In March, I went on the Hunt for Spring and found the White Breasted Nuthatches taking up residence. Last year a pair of Mountain Chickadees successfully nested here, using moss and dog fur and bits of this and that to create their nest. We left it there over the winter as some birds use the box to stay warm during our cold snaps. I planned on cleaning it out in the spring, but the Nuthatches beat me to it. I watched them clean it out completely, saving the bits they liked by stuffing them in cracks in the tree bark.

Then they started over, using tree bark as a base. I didn’t get a photo of it when they were done as we were in Yellowstone then. And, by the time we got back and I thought about it, a pair of Violet Green Swallows were working on their nest which they obviously just built on top of the Nuthatch creation. In my research on the swallows, I learned they used feathers in their nest – and watched them carry feathers they found into the box.  And I waited. The Swallow babies fledged just a day or two before I left for the class with the Yellowstone Association. That was the same time the young squirrels discovered the bird boxes and were dive bombed by the parents constantly. Not sure if they had fledged or been too stressed and died, I asked Mike to check on the box. They had fledged. I don’t think we really saw them much after that.

Other birds who have successfully nested somewhere around here, though, have stayed close – Mountain Bluebirds, Evening Grosbeaks, Stellers Jays, Pygmy Nuthatches, Williamson Sapsuckers and possibly a Townsends Solitaire – though the T.S. immature (I think that’s what it is) is by itself.

Sitting outside each morning and just watching all the life that surrounds us relaxes and rejuvenates me in a way nothing else can.

It’s that time of year again. Firewood season. Time for us to start working on the wood we’ll need to keep us (well, mainly me) warm through the winter. Last year, the forest service sold a timber sale are near us, but the buyer defaulted and they ended up opening up the felled and limbed trees to regular fuelwood permits. People liked it so well that this year they did it deliberately – hired a logging company to prep the wood. Not only do people like it, but it allows them to better create fire breaks around the various subdivisions. With the easy pickings, the guys in our neighborhood network are working together to get everyone set. This network of neighbors is a crucial part of living well up here – on so many levels. If you don’t like to talk with your neighbors at least occasionally, you can make it fine up here, but it’s a lot harder.

When they go out for wood – they don’t come home empty. The bed IS sitting on the springs there – good thing it’s not far. And how manly is it to be driving out three trucks fully loaded? Physically providing like this for their families is deeply satisfying.

Firewood – it’s hard work – not for everyone. Occasionally co-workers come up to help. Usually they only come up once. They think they’re in shape. Then they meet firewood. It doesn’t seem like it would be that hard, but hucking wood down a hill and into a truck is a workout. I really should see if we can get a weight on one of those logs. Right now they’re green and it’s been raining. I don’t even attempt to lift the big ones. This is how the truck looks normally:

Now the next part starts. Splitting and stacking. Mike and I work together – he works the splitter. My job is to keep a steady supply of logs there to split and to stack the split wood. I sort of just roll the logs to the edge of the pile, then tighten my stomach muscles to protect my back and walk it down closer to him. Right now we’re still on the smaller ones, but the larger ones (that make the walls to hold it in) will just get rolled into place. Is it worth it? Yep. I’m really looking forward to seeing how our new wood stove works this year. There’s nothing better than heat from a wood stove. And now it’s considered ‘good’ – as it’s heat from a renewable source. Go figure.

LIVE WEBCAM LINK – “THE VIEW FROM HERE”

For the past week, I’ve noticed a few Williamson’s Sapsuckers around here – occasionally on the hummingbird feeder. So if you see larger birds hanging off of it, that’s them.

There seem to be three immature adults (2 males and 1 female) and a male and female adult – or at least that’s all I’ve seen at one time. They’re out most mornings and evening on the ground eating the ants (Yay, birds!). I assume they nested somewhere near here – more info from Wikipedia.

The other morning I watched two baby mountain bluebirds being fed moths by the parents near the house under a light that’s on at night (the summer bird feeder of sorts).  I took photos, but haven’t even downloaded them yet from the camera. We also have baby squirrels romping around – they might make it into the camera view on occasion – they’re pretty bold (or just young and stupid) right now and seem to have no fear. Rhad and Taylor almost got one in the dog yard the other day, but I think both dogs were stunned at getting so close and didn’t really know what to do if they actually caught one, so they stopped and then chased again when it got farther away from them.

I arrived home last Friday, and while lots was done on the weekend, yesterday was the first day I relaxed back into my regular routine which feels wonderful!  I took a stroll around the house and made notes of what was blooming, getting ready to bloom, and the flowers that faded.  Coming home the adjustment was almost jarring – Yellowstone is just hitting the warmth of summer (the technical first day of summer is pretty much on target there) and here it’s been around for awhile.  No regrets.  Just jumping in with a light and deeply grateful heart for the Gift of today.

Here are a couple of pages from the first day I really went out to look for signs of spring:

Time to at least get down the words and photos for another digital nature journal page.

Lots of signs this week – the Nuthatches have completely cleared out the bird box, though the trees still wear the fur bits from the old Mtn Chickadee nest.  They’re starting to build a nest as the box has bits of bark lining the edges right now and we can hear them tapping them into place.

This week we had 5-6″ of snow that melted away within 24 hours.  That worked to bring the pasque flowers and Candy Tuft above ground and I noticed the Kinnikinnik have started sending out buds.

The breeze is softer most of the time, and the days are getting deliciously warmer.   This is why this time of year seems to speed up so – I can’t help but wandering outside every now and again and I’m not quite as focused unless I lower the blinds and cut out the view for a bit.   I do enjoy our longer winters here, but I am looking forward to the busy-ness of summer.

(transferring over the post from my soon to be defunct photography blog – I just need to deal with one blog)

SPRING IN MACRO – OR ALWAYS CARRY A TOWEL

No, it’s not Towel Day yet, but I do try to remember to tuck at least a hand towel in my photo bag, especially in spring because finding spring up here means getting down on the ground and looking closely.  Having a towel gives me something to put down on the ground to kneel on and not get my jeans dirty or muddy.  And yes, every time I tuck a towel in my bag, I think of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Yesterday I did just that, and found the first Pasque Flowers and Candy Tuft finally poking up out of the dirt. The 5-6? of snow we got earlier in the week which melted within 24 hours seems to have worked its magic.  The kinnikinnik is also starting to send out blooms at about the same pace as last year. Right now the cluster of blooms is about the size of a peppercorn, perhaps a bit smaller.  Today’s photos come from last year’s stash.   The photo on the left was taken April 6 and represents where they are now.  The photo on the right on April 25, when the blooms on the right were about 1/4? in size.

Since I’ve kept good records of my photos for the past five or six years by date, I find I always look for these milestones and snap photos as an easy way to create a record – a photographic record – of the changing seasons.  It’s probably time I started pulling these together better into an album of sorts. Growing up – at our cabin we kept a family log – one of those journals that just has the days of the year in them.  In it we’d record what flowers we found, or the first fish caught each year, when the hummingbirds came back – just tiny observations.  Just something we did as a family – and I guess I still do. So, yes, I will take photos of kinnikinnik each year, and wild iris, and and aspen leaves.

There’s comfort in the yearly repetition of the changing seasons.  Maybe it’s a way for God to let us know that no matter what chaos is in our lives, He’s there as solidly as the tides and the seasons.  We can count on the fact that in the Colorado mountains in April, the kinnikinnik sends forth blooms just as Designed.

Happy Friday!

Happy Good Friday, everyone!

Today’s story behind the click is actually a triptych – three related photos. Today, I want to head out into spring, but since we’re not quite there yet at this altitude, I dug into my photo files which act as a sort of nature journal for me. We had a strong chinook wind yesterday that ate away a lot of the snow we had; the 5 foot pile in front of the house from plowing lost a couple of feet with those 30-40 mph sustained gusts.

Last spring I gave myself the photography assignment of coming up with a series of stock photos to document the spring growth in aspen trees. Actually, I have quite an Aspen collection that needs pulling together into a cohesive whole. That’s one reason I love stock photography – find a subject you’re interested in and then work to create a collection that defines that subject.  Stock photographers say creating your own assignments really is the most fun. I have to agree.

Every spring, there’s a week or so that, to me, is as thrilling as the fall week of the aspens turning gold. But the spring green week comes with little fanfare, let alone attention, from the media or those who travel miles and miles to see the peak fall week (which, by the way, is usually between my parents’ birthdays – September 23 and 28). Living up here, though, we get to watch the new leaves pop like popcorn and its as magical to me as the fall week if not more so simply because it’s like opening the door to the potential of summer – sort of a locals only party.

Each year I take photos and create scrapbooking layouts about this week. One was even published in Simple Scrapbooks magazine (now sadly defunct).

While I have many photos of this tipping point, last spring I went out every day to shoot stock photos (tripod,etc) and watch the slow emergence of spring. Because of this, I found a small stand of aspens down just outside of the dog yard that gave me a good, close view for the macro lens.  During these daily visits, I watched the catkins come out, and then, surprisingly, bloom with tiny bright red flowers. I’ve watched this for years, but never actually seen the blooms. They don’t last long, only a day or two before they wither and fade making them easy to miss.  As soon as they fade and start to produce the seeds, the leaves emerge and unfurl. The ‘folds’ in the leaves only lasts a day or two as well, and the green deepens quickly.

In looking through my photos, I show the new leaves popping (the flowers would be a few days prior) in my file folders for:
2004 – May 8 and 9
2005 – May 19 and 20
2006 – May 15 and 17
2007 – May 22
2008 – May 22 through the 27
2009 – May 13 through the 16

So another 5-6 weeks or so for us before we can hit that tipping point again.

I don’t know if I could live where they didn’t have seasons – one of my pure joys is to watch the changing seasons. We’ve had a shift from the dryer snow that stays around to wet snows that melt quickly.  While we haven’t had many big snows this year (much to Rhad’s disappointment), the little ones are beginning to add up, melting between storms except in the trees.  However, we are under a winter storm warning – YAY! If so, I’ll be hauling out the camera to photograph Rhad’s joy.

The day before yesterday and yesterday we had the first days that felt like spring – well, spring for up here. All the way up to the mid 50s! I’ve been enjoying seeing the baby calves on the ranches on the way to town for almost a month now (the very first sign of spring), but I hadn’t really looked close to the house. So on my lunch break, I grabbed not the camera, but a sketch pad and pencil. Birds are everywhere, and more seem to show up each day. I could have sworn I heard a robin the other day, but never could locate it to verify. It’s also time to keep an eye out for bluebirds. I thought I’d take a stab at sketching a bird or two.

It didn’t take long to find a subject. Two White-Breasted Nuthatches have been hanging out by the bird box the chickadees nested in last year. I noticed them going in and out now for a few days, but hadn’t paid much attention more than a passing glance. With sketchbook in hand, I watched them take mouthful after mouthful of nesting material out of there and stuff it into the cracks in the bark of two trees – the Ponderosa the bird box is on and a fir tree that’s over by the cars where I think they might have nested last year. Recycling? Airing out the bedding? Time will tell exactly where they’ll nest, but obviously they’re gearing up.

I did a few crude sketches and wasn’t happy.  I haven’t drawn enough to just ‘know’ what angle to draw that part or to get the beak the right shape (which seems extremely important when drawing birds).  I kept at it a bit longer and then went in to get the camera to get some photos to reference later on and left them to their work.

Later in the day I opened the bird box out of curiosity to see how much they removed and was amazed to see almost ALL of the hair layer gone.  The chickadees started their nest with moss and then piled on 2-3 inches of dog fur and other bits of material.

Yesterday I went out again to look at the vast amount of nesting material they had stuffed into the Ponderosa (mainly on the west side of the tree, oddly enough) and noticed a Mountain Chickadee tucking a bit of nesting material into the needles on the same tree, just above the box.  It will be interesting to follow the real life mountain drama.  Better than any reality show on TV in my opinion.

I hesitated in adding this sketch to the post, but I need to do this – I don’t like the feathers, I don’t like the ‘pants’ – but I DO like the head shape and beak. So, I might take that and trace it and rework the rest. Or, I might just work from some of the other reference photos and see what happens. But – here it is: