Yesterday morning this little lady graced us with her prescense, not once, not twice, but three different times throughout the morning. The first time she came we were shocked to see her since we were running the generator in preparation for taking our morning showers. The noise did not even phase her. Even though the following is not the greatest photo in the world it shows you how close she was to the cabin. This is looking out our dining room window.

We often just sit our our table, which is a bar height table that affords the best view of the meadow. It's like watching a nature show unfold before our eyes. We like to call it Cabin TV. The birds come and go, the varieties change each time you look. 

Yesterday was a cool bird day. We had several of these Black-Headed Grosbeaks visiting.

Also this red-naped sapsucker.

Of course we also had the stellar jays, the silly pine siskins, juncos and a goldfinch.

Just a brief shower today and in and out sun. Not a bad day weather-wise. The temperature did climb to 63°F although it didn't feel like it with a brisk cool breeze.

We are still trying to acclimate to having land legs again so we didn't do too much. The altitude is kicking our butts a little but each day getting out and walking is helping.

The day got even more exciting with yet another visitor to our meadow. More to come.

This little pine tree in our "front yard" started itself as a seedling. We've been keeping track of its growth.

Here is the first pic we took in 2010:

I thought we had taken once per year but I can't for the life of me find one from either 2011 0r 2012.

Here is 2013:

And last year, 2014:

It's coming along nicely!

NOTE: for clarification, Rick is 6"2" to give you an idea of scale.

This old tree at the top of our property has given up. But what a view it chose for it's final resting place! In the far distance you can see the snow capped peaks of the Snowy Mountains in Wyoming. Bull Mountain is iin the foreground.

About ten years ago I spotted a large gray wolf while I was fishing down at the beaver pond. I looked up and saw a large gray dog-looking animal staring at me from across the water. It jumped with its front paws in the air and twisted to run away from me. And, it was gone. I was sure I had seen a wolf. It was too big and it was the wrong color to be a coyote. It was not one of my dogs which are black and can't move that fast. The whole episode took about 3 seconds. But, I was sure of what I'd seen.

I told this story to a few people, and none believed me (other than Lynne.) It was well known that there were no wolves in Colorado and had not been for decades. However, a couple of years later, a gray wolf was spotted along I70 between Denver and the Eisenhower Tunnel, and my sighting became more credible. It became even more credible when the department of Colorado Parks and Wildlife released a wolf sighting form to be used whenever a wolf was spotted.

Wolves have been reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park, and it is now believed that some of these wolves have migrated south. I'm including a video, below, that hypothesizes the impact this wolf reintroduction has had on Yellowstone.

Recently, a Sand Creek Park neighbor wrote me warning us to be careful with the dogs the next time we visit. Three calves (cattle) have been found killed near Bull Mountain. And, the kills have been confirmed as wolf kills. So, I guess we'll need to keep a close eye on the dogs, make sure they wear bear bells, and not let them wander outside alone.