Pack Rat Art: The Minimalist Approach

Sunday afternoon it rained which is truly an event that doesn’t happen all that much, or at least not when we are in residence. The best you can hope for is a little sprinkle or a quick shower. Not so for Sunday’s deluge. At times it poured. Sheets of wind-driven rain obscured our view of Bull Mountain and pretty much everything else that wasn’t 500 feet from our window. Rain drummed on our metal roof and slid off in waterfalls. eBay hid in the closet with the water heater and Bella kept rolling her eyes upward towards the ceiling at the noise.

It continued to rain a little bit all night long and yesterday we woke to gray skies filled with bruised clouds. Very wintry looking and feeling at 43 degrees. Where are those typical-sunny-warm-September-in-Colorado days? Not that we are complaining, because we aren’t. This is exactly the cozy kind of weather we always long for up here but never seem to get.

Our aspens surrounding the cabin really haven’t started to change yet, which is a bit strange. They were still very green when we arrived on Friday and now we can see that they are losing their color and (hopefully) starting to change. A few trees on the walk to the bottom have already turned in just a few days.

Yesterday we did a provisioning trip into Laramie and took the girls with us since it cloudy and cold. The dirt roads were muddy and puddled and it’s now hard to tell what color the Suburban really is.

We got groceries for a week, salt & mineral licks for the deer and moose which we’ll put out today, a dog bed, assorted household things we needed, buffalo bones for the girls (their annual treat), a bathrobe for Rick and a couple of books each from Hastings.

I started a beef stew in the afternoon and we took the girls for a walk down to the bottom and then down the main road where Rick saw a coyote cross right in front of us. I didn’t see it as I was too busy seeing what the girls were up to behind us.

The stew was delicious! Just simple ingredients: beef cubes (which I braise to a nice brown color), carrots, onions, potatoes, peas. At the end of the cooking time I drop baking powder dumplings on top.

This morning as I type I am still in my robe, a cup of coffee almost gone and a half eaten bran muffin at my side. The sun is just starting to hit the meadow and the tall pines are swaying to and fro in the wind. I can’t see any clouds in the blue sky from where I sit. The steller jays have almost emptied the feeder of their morning portion of peanuts.

We don’t have any big plans for today other than a couple of walks and a neighbor coming by late this afternoon for a glass of wine and a chat.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad at the cabin 8,650 feet above sea level

Minimalist approach indeed.  I’m sure the pack rats are thinking that since their art just gets swept away you’re very harsh critics and it’s not worth the effort!

So happy the moth balls worked - at least one morning.

Love the Pack Rat Art! Are those aspens in the last photo? They do look like they’re turning yellow. It all sounds cozy and pleasant up there!

Steve, yes they are aspens—the baby ones on our avalanche slope which is covered with snow until May so the trees don’t grow much. They always change first but the other big aspens in all the other places are just now starting to change.