Life on the High Plains

 I'm still staying safe at home so here's more sky shots from the farmstead. This morning it was four degrees when I went out to feed the horses.  It's amazing what you think is cold as the winter progresses.  In October you think 50 degrees is cold, but by January four degrees isn't actually so bad as long as the wind isn't blowing. Here's a view of Pikes Peak on the way back to the house.  As you can see we got a few inches of snow yesterday. Tonight when it was time to feed the horses dinner we were treated to a fantastic full moon.  Unfortunately, I sent my zoom lens to Nikon for repair and cleaning and haven't gotten it back yet so all you get is an iPhone photo of the moon. Hope you're staying warm and safe on this cold eastern Colorado day. Happy Skywatch Friday!

 Last year I really started exploring the "urban" mountain that is in the middle of Colorado Springs.  Normally I like to get out in the woods when I hike, but it's always a bit of a drive. I decided that it's okay to go for an urban hike especially if it gets you into nature and there's at least a little bit of solitude.  Maisy likes to hike here also and sometimes Irv gets to come along.  On this morning he asked me if I wanted to go geocaching and I said "yes".  Anything to get out of the house for awhile. There had been a recent snowfall so in sunny locations the trail was dry... ...an in other locations it was snow packed. Maisy detests hiking on anything other than dry ground and to be quite honest, she prefers a paved path which are exactly the well beaten paths I choose to avoid. One of the geocaches Irv found was a little off the trail.  It's helpful when footprints in the snow indicate where other people have looked.  It's a hint for th...

 Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate winter especially the cold, wet stuff. I will admit, however, that it is really beautiful.  I can say that now that we're old retired folks who don't have anywhere to go when the roads are snow packed and icy. Colorado is still in the midst of a pretty severe drought.  We needs lots more of the white stuff on the ground.  (Secretly I'm counting down the days until summer.) Happy Skywatch Friday!

 One day while we were in Phoenix we loaded up Miss G and made the drive down to Tucson to visit the Saguaro National Park. Miss G is always up for an adventure. We stopped and did lots of walkabouts.  Many of these photos are courtesy of Miss G.  She asked if she could use the camera so of course I said yes. Everything is a contest in this family so we were all looking for the saguaro with the most arms.   I believe this was the winner.  It was right in front of our car when we parked at the trailhead. There's always the obligatory selfie when we hike. Miss G walked and walked and walked and I kept asking her if she was getting tired.  At some point she finally agreed to turn back and it wasn't long until she asked Pappy to carry her.  Those days are gone though, but she was a real trooper and made the hike out. She dared Pappy to kiss a cactus. When we were on the nature trail she asked us to stop and read all the information signs.  She is...

 We made it to Phoenix and first on the agenda was Miss G's ice skating performance. Miss G's parents gave us their two tickets.  Each performer only got two tickets due to Covid so we were very grateful to be the lucky ones who got to see her perform.  I would post the video, but FB tagged it as a copyright violations because of the music and I'm sure YouTube would too.  I don't need another violation. Here's Miss G and her coach. Afterwards we went home and made some Christmas cookies. They came out so good.  I can't believe we ate all of them in just a few days. When you live in Arizona you can do things like hang out in the backyard in the middle of winter. This is my very photogenic grand cat--Charli Anne. There's always something going on in Miss G's house. The reindeer toss was a big hit.  This family is so competitive that anything becomes a big challenge. Our tradition is to have chili on Christmas Eve and Irv is the official cornbread baker. Th...

 After visiting the Petrified Forest on our way to Phoenix we made a pitstop in Flagstaff. Look who we found there!  Miss G and her dad had been skiing that day so we met them in Flagstaff and kept Miss G for the night in our hotel.   Flagstaff is where we found out how little other states care about the pandemic.  The lobby was packed, the swimming pool was packed, the breakfast buffet was packed.  We got dinner from a nice nearby restaurant and brought it up to our room to eat.  No wonder Arizona has more per capita new cases of Covid than anywhere else in the world. We got up bright and early the next morning and made our way to the Grand Canyon. It was cold and windy, but wow... ...the canyon was amazing.  I had not been to the Canyon for 30 years or so.  It is an amazing sight. We took off on the canyon rim trail lead by Miss G.  She kept warning us not too get too close to the edge. She likes to run ahead and hide from us in the wo...