Farewell Colorado

As we prepared to leave Colorado for Texas it was only appropriate that we drove past this sign as we drove around for a final look at some of the beautiful scenery and things we would remember about the area. The sign was a good prediction of what we found as we traveled west.



















One of the things I had put off until the very last was cutting aspen walking sticks for the family. The rangers will give you a permit to cut walking sticks (free) so it is just a matter of finding one you like the looks of and going to work. With so many beautiful aspens you would think this would be a very easy job but it turns out when you are looking for just the right size/shape/length it takes longer than you expect.




















I finally found the perfect candidate so it was time to get out the handsaw and go to work. If you have never made a walking stick from aspen you know the real work is just beginning (at least the way I make them). I like to do all of the prep with my trusty pocketknife and I peel off the bark, smooth out all the knots from where the branches were removed, sand it down smooth and put 3 or 4 coats of urethane for a nice protective finish. However, it is a labor of love so time is not of primary concern.













This is a shot of three of the walking sticks I have made during our travels. The one on the left is a finished aspen one, the next one is one from Shenandoah Becky found (not sure of the wood) and the one on the right is an unfinished one from aspen. The photo does not show the shiny finish very well but perhaps you get the idea.





















The National Forest provides a cabin for some of their rangers and this is one that might tempt Becky and me back into the workforce.










In the town of Creede we had noted this Episcopalian Church - founded 110 years ago and meeting in the existing building for 100 years. We never made it to a service but did speak with the vicar, (who serves several churches in the area) and would have enjoyed hearing him. Perhaps the next time we visit the area. I am also including this for my friend Charlie who first introduced me to the Episcopalian Church during our college days.













One of our friends at the lodge in Creede was Princess. She was a faithful companion as I went on my morning 'walkabout' and frequently came to our trailer to visit (and sit outside the door waiting on Becky to bring her a treat). She was a perfect lady at all times and managed to catch quite a few ground squirrels and chipmunks even at the ripe old age of 13.















Here Princess waits patiently for her afternoon treat.

Dad's Thoughts on Happiness

A conversation with a friend of mine today made me think about how some people seem to always be happy and others seem to always be down in the dumps. Personally I am of the opinion that being happy is a 'choice' we make. The reason is I see so many people who have so little reason to be happy (at least from an outsider's perspective) but are still always upbeat, a smile on their face and never complaining about how life is so unfair to them.

On the other hand the reverse is also true. Some who 'appear' to have so many reasons to be happy always seem glum, complain about one thing or another and are pretty well interested in talking only about what is 'wrong with their world'.

Again, personally, I find that even when things are not going as I would like, I have no difficulty in finding plenty of things to be thankful for (and happy about). Hence I believe we can 'choose' to be happy (my personal choice). I truly hope my children and their families agree with me - it appears to me they do. I thank the Lord for that as he has been good to us all.

I realize there are others who will likely NOT share my view. So be it.

Some Wildlife Photo Ops

Friends we met at the lodge manage a waterfowl refuge. The woman's father had owned much of the land when she was a child and had put in a trout hatchery using artesian wells as his water source. He later sold much of the land to the state and now his son-in-law manages the original land, in addition to several hundred more acres, as a waterfowl refuge. When we visited them it was 'banding' day for ducks. Here Dave prepares to release a mallard hen that has been captured, checked and recorded.






Ever wondered how to tell the gender of ducks when they are too young have any color differences? Here Becky learns 'more than she ever wanted to know' about ducks as one of the workers conducts a duck sex education class. Somehow I don't remember this much detail in my tenth grade biology class!!!












Currently funded by various government agencies - including this study by one of the Colorado Universities - much of the money for the reserve has come from Ducks Unlimited.
Our friends have designed a water distribution system using several artesian wells with numerous canals with water gates which allow them to flood the entire area in the winter using only gravity! They leave it flooded for the waterfowl when they come north in the spring. They use only natural plants as feed and try to keep the area as much as possible like it was hundreds of years ago.











Very hard to see in this photo but right in its center is a badger we encountered. This one was shy but our friends told a story from their youth of a badger backing down a bear!!! Not a critter to mess with.

















Here we have found a deer who has found the perfect place to hide. She has plenty to eat, a cool place to lie down and a great hiding place. She must have felt safe as we drove quite close to her without her ever moving.








Another good hiding place. We almost missed this one as we were driving up the valley one day. She made the mistake of moving a little and caught our eye. I am not sure what she is but she reminded me of the grouse we use to see in the Yorkshire Dales.

















Back at Love Lake we found more ducks - this being a family of mom and little ones. They too showed little fear of humans as they swam right up to the bank where we were fishing. The little ones were as fearless as momma.

The Old Fishing Hole - Colorado Style

Most of the fish we caught in Colorado were rainbow trout but, just to be different, Becky managed to catch this brown trout. It is the only trout you are allowed to keep when fishing in the Rio Grande River but we did most of our fishing at Love Lake up in the mountains where rainbows could also be kept.














Although the brown above was the only brown we caught, rainbow were a different story altogether. We caught a few in our first couple of visits to the lake but after running into a mamber of the little church we attended in Creede up at the lake who let us in on his 'secret' we pretty well came home with our limit of eight rainbow every trip. He even shared hooks and bait with Becky that first day!







After icing down our catch we sometimes drove up the road a couple of miles where you find spots such as this one where Becky is enjoying lunch. If we saw another vehicle we considered it crowded!!














This is the view Becky was enjoying as she ate her lunch to regain her strength after a hard day on the lake - all together now - "Poor Becky".






Of course, like everywhere, fishing was sometimes a little on the slow side. When this was the case there was nothing to do but enjoy the scenery (how bad can it get?). On this day a couple of the local cowhands were rounding up cows to push them up the valley getting ready to gather them for winter. Their shouts echoing up the valley as they drove them along the trail took you back in time to the 19th century when this would have been a common sight.










This shot was taken from the spot we usually chose to do our fishing. I must admit it really did illustrate the old saying about a bad day fishing being better than the best day working!!! Below you can make out the cowboys and cattle as they make their way up the valley.

Local Birds

One of the joys of our stay in Colorado was the birds. We have put out bird seed and hummingbird feeders for years but never had the quantity of 'participants' we had in Creede. The hummingbirds quickly became dependent on our feeders and would become quite upset if the feeders ran dry. Here is an early morning shot of the crowd gathering.
















The hummingbirds were VERY accustomed to humans and would almost light on you. They would follow me as I prepared to refill the feeder and land on the feeder while it was in my hand (the one below is coming in for a landing) or sitting on the table! As they flew around your head (sometimes coming straight at you!) it took a lot of faith in their flying and navigation skills to not duck.











Here the feeder is just about standing (flying?) room only as there is only one empty landing post. We actually had every spot filled with more hummingbirds waiting in the air on holding patterns a few times. Their being so tame allowed me to get better closeups of them flying than I had previously.


















We visited friends who managed a bird sanctuary on one of the days they were 'banding' ducks. Here I am preparing to release one of the mallards which had been captured for census taking/banding. She was already banded so she was recorded for the records and released.











Becky being given a lesson on how to tell the sex of waterfowl. This is a very good example of why you should not ask the question if you do not want to hear the answer. Needless to say we now know more than we ever wanted to on this subject.

Dad's Thoughts on Parenthood

With Matty about to turn one year old and a second grandchild on the way (for anyone who does not know, Lori and Dave will be presenting me with a new grandchild next April) my thoughts have turned to the challenges of parenting. Today's thought is:

Perhaps one way to measure our success (or failure!) as parents is to look at the ratio of how many of our GOOD traits we have passed on to our children compared to how many of our BAD traits they exhibit.


Love of books is a GOOD trait.