I was in Grand Junction on Monday, Feb 11th 2008, and thought that this mesa looked spectacular with a dusting of snow. This isn't Grand Mesa--it's a much small outcropping north of Grand Mesa. We fly right over it when we are inbound to GJT from Denver, and over Grand Mesa outbound to Denver. I think that Georgia O'Keefe would have like to have painted this, had she spent time in Colorado. Maybe one of these days I'll break out my pastels or watercolors and start painting or drawing again--with this kind of scenery around, I should!


I'm lucky--I get to see amazing things every time I go to work! I'll try to share some of those with you as often as I can. On this particular trip, Denver was experiencing a blustery day, with blowing snow and wind gusts up to 40 kts! Grand Junction, however, had calm winds and partly cloudy skies--a lovely day in the valley. You could even see the snowmobile tracks in the snow on Grand Mesa--wish I could have taken photos, but I had an airplane to fly!


Today was chilly, but nice. I spent a little bit of time at the barn, visiting Ranger and Beau. I didn't ride today, but plan to ride both boys tomorrow (Wednesday)--it's supposed to get up into the mid-40's.




Of course, we are expecting a "winter storm warning" for Thursday--that equates to a BLIZZARD! Fortunately, I'll be on my way to Birmingham and Chicago on a 4-day trip. While in Chicago, I am hoping that it will be mild enough to take the train into the city to see the musical "Wicked." I've been trying to see if for a few months, but it's been bitterly cold, windy and snowing on every overnight that I've done this winter! I'll keep trying, and if I can't see it in Chicago, I'll try to see it on an overnight in another city. The photo below is the ramp at the E-gates at Chicago O'Hare two weeks ago--and the reason that I didn't walk to the train station to go into the city to see "Wicked" last time I was there!




When I got home from my trip last night, I noticed critter tracks in the snow in front of my garage, running along the door. They went behind the garbage can, then up my steps, crossed in front of the front door to a birdhouse that I have on my porch. Tracks led in and out, so I examined the birdhouse and discovered that something is living in there! It has created a warm, comfy nest of downy fur and grass. I'm not sure what it is--or that I really want to know--but it's welcome to live on the porch in the birdhouse for as long as it wants. The adjacent photo is of the tracks on the steps; they are about 1/2" across for scale.


A lot of critters live in my neighborhood. I've seen foxes, coyotes, skunks, deer, ground squirrels, moles, shrews and a bear. There are barn owls, snowy owls, bats, and multiple species of hawks including rough-legged, red-tails and sharp-shinned hawks. I've seen flickers, red-winged blackbirds, magpies, hummingbirds and bluebirds, as well as blue jays. There is an enormous flock of crows living at the barn--they love to steal grain from the horses! I inherited a love of bird-watching from my Grandmother, so I'm able to identify quite a few birds. I look up those I can't.



I hope that you are having a good week and that you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!
Karen