2006 Adventures

Updated:22-Jun-2006

April

'Twas an interesting day in the back yard... I looked out and saw a fox sneaking up on a group of a dozen geese... finally the fox took off running and caught one of the geese (the slowest one) by the wing and fought desperately for several minutes until the goose eventually died. This was at about 2pm, and there were several people nearby. Apparently the little fox was very, very hungry to risk being out in the middle of the day with people around.

The other geese stayed just a few feet away, apparently wishing their goose-friend strength. But immediately after the captured goose finally stopped battling, the remaining geese all flew away together. It was so interesting... they all stayed, just twenty feet away from the battle, until it was obvious that their goose-friend had lost the battle and then they all departed in unison. They seemed to know the exact instant when life had departed. 

It was all very touching... tears came to my eyes when I saw the goose and fox battling, each in their own way battling to save their life. The fox was so exhausted that she laid down to rest after the battle.  They were too far a way to get a very good photo...

Now she's trying to find a way to carry it back to her hungry family... but she is too small and too weak to carry that huge bird. She's been struggling to drag it, but in ten minutes has only been able to move it about ten feet.

At first I thought it was a coyote... but now I'm convinced that it's a red fox... she has a noticeable reddish color and a very large, bushy tail, as well as black feet, white tip on the tail, and black underside of the tail.  

And after all that exhausting work, now some passers-by have come along and scared her off. I hope that she is able to come back soon and get the goose...

Oh good, she's back... trying again to drag away her huge catch, but still unable to do so... now she's starting to eat it. Maybe she'll be able to take some of it back to her family once she's got it a bit more disassembled.

All are Thee... ever changing forms and appearances, yet always the same One. What a miracle it all is.

June

As a delightful weekend adventure, my friend Susan, who lives in Durango, took me to a relatively unknown group of three Anasazi cliff dwellings in southeastern Utah. The cliff dwellings were probably occupied around 1100 AD.

It was wonderfully peaceful and quiet in the canyon. The gentle sound of the breeze through the trees was occasionally punctuated by the sound of birds and some bees... it almost seemed as if we could begin to hear the happy voices of children playing nearby. Magnificent.

This is the view from inside one of the cliff dwellings, looking out about 40 feet above the stream-bed that runs down the center of the narrow canyon:

Apparently this was home sweet home for somebody:

This pictograph of three human-like figures is just inside one of the caves:

And, amusingly, this next pictograph is just outside one of the caves, located immediately below the edge of an overhead cliff... and seems to be showing what happens if one falls off of that cliff... perhaps a memorial to someone's friend who suffered a nasty fall:

 

September

Last night I was flipping thru the TV channels to see if there was anything interesting, and as I passed by one of the religious channels, a skinny woman preacher from Texas was shouting out:

       "Whatever your problems may be, always take refuge in the Lard!"

and in the next couple of moments I couldn't even change channels.. my brain was frozen, half amused at the idea of escaping from worldly problems by hiding in the lard, whilst the other half of my all-too-literal brain was protesting that surely there was some mistake here.... and then I realized that she just had a very heavy Texas accent. Oh brain.

October

Hmmm... every year about this time, it starts to get cold here in Colorado, and the trees begin to change color. Here's a photo taken from my backyard, looking across the golf course:

And, for even more color, here's a photo taken near just below Kebler Pass, near Crested Butte, Colorado:

But, since it was getting so chilly in Colorado, I headed on down into Arizona. The area around Ajo, Arizona is somewhat desolate, but I really like these Ajo Mountains, especially with the desert so beautifully green from all the autumn rains:

And from there, on down to Puerto Penasco, Mexico. When the winds are calm, the Sea of Cortez is flat... but when the wind is blowing from the south, the 3 to 4 foot waves are quite delightful:

December:

Looks like winter has arrived here in Colorado...

                 

     .... That's a bird-bath piled high with snow, not a white mushroom.