It's about time

Here is it the 20th of January 2025 and I've yet to make my first blog post of the year.  Here's a few things that have happened so far this month.

Here we are bringing in the New Year.  Well, actually it was several hours before midnight, but it was our New Year's Eve celebration.

We've kind of made it a tradition of going to the Electric Safari at our zoo to welcome the new year.  I'd rather be outside in nature with the animals anytime.  Yes, it was cold, but we were prepared.

The giraffes are always a must stop at place.  Not many other zoos allow you to feed them and even grab a quick pet.  I will admit it's quite stinky in there when they're locked in for the night.

The elephant barn is always a great place to hang out and warm up for a few minutes.

All the vipers were quite active.  This one even posed for a photo.

Our zoo does a drone show for Electric Safari that starts at 7:30.  Of course they do all kinds of animal shapes.

The show only lasted about 10 minutes which was much shorter than last year.  The wind was blowing slightly so we figured they decided to bring them back in.

One of the best things about visiting the zoo at night is the wolves.  They were howling like crazy in their enclosure.  It was too dark to see any of them, but we could clearly hear them.

Irv made me wait until January 1st to take down the Christmas tree.  My good friend who lives in Wisconsin is a glass artist and every year she sends me a gift of some of her creations.  I have to admit I treasure these ornaments.  Gifts that have thought and care behind them are my favorite.

This is one she sent me last year.  Isn't it adorable?  Vicki was my best friend when we lived in Wisconsin.  We had great times together and we've exchanged Christmas gifts every year since I moved away in 1998.

The nature center I volunteer at hosted a volunteer appreciation lunch in early January.  The staff prepared home made soups and the rest of us brought sides to share.  Only about five volunteers showed up so I was glad I went.  After eating we played bird bingo and trivia.  I have to admit I was out of my element because those people know their birds like crazy.  

Another beautiful day on the high desert.

Then it was time for the annual 4-H Western Roundup.  I've been tabulating the horse judging contest there for probably about 15-20 years.  I get to wonder through the areas that the public normally doesn't get to see.  It took all my willpower to not jump in this barrel and act like a rodeo clown (or bull fighter as they're called these days.)

The Blue Ribbon Clydesdales were getting ready to be hitched up.  Such beautiful and large creatures!

Here's the "old" crew.  We've all been friends for 25 years thanks to 4-H!

This is the lunch CSU served up.  The veggie sandwich had one leaf of lettuce, one thin slice of tomato, and a few red onions.  The sandwiches had obviously been sitting out for hours because the bread was as hard as a rock.  I ate the chips and threw the sandwich out.  Note to self:  bring your own lunch next year!

Did you hear the Broncos made it to the playoffs this year?  The excitement didn't last long though because the Bills pulverized them.  This is how Maisy and I felt at the end of the game.  Next year will be our year!

This is a greenback cutthroat trout at the nature center, the Colorado state fish.  They were thought to be extinct in 1937, but a few were discovered in a single stream in the South Platte basin in the 1950s.  Through conservation efforts their numbers have grown and they were reintroduced in the wild in 2014.  This guy is solo in the tank, there used to be several of them but they couldn't get along so CPW came and removed the others.

Irv has a new fashion accessory these days.  No kidding--he can hear me whisper across the room now.  A real game changer!

Like the rest of the country, an arctic blast arrived over the weekend.  The horses hate having to wear their blankets and be locked in the barn at night, but they're elderly and need the extra attention.  Kudos to Irv who willingly is their caretaker when his wife refuses to go outside.

When it got up to 10 degrees yesterday we decided to let them outside.  The first thing both of them did was to lay down and roll to try to get the blanket off.

Jasper is an expert roller and even when completely over a couple times.  Unfortunately for them, the blankets stayed in place.

Last night it was supposed to get as low as -13, but when we woke up this morning it was only -4.  Heat wave!  Look at that -27 feels like temp though.  Today it's only supposed to get up to +6 or so then tomorrow it starts getting back to "normal"

Hope you're staying warm during the arctic blast!