Happy Mother's Day

Moose Watching

      When we were in Colorado this summer, there was a pond near the road that the local moose loved to visit in the afternoon. 

     Ten or twelve of us photographed her from the road, but she didn't seem to mind.  There was a barbed wire fence between us so perhaps she knew none of us would cross the fence to bother her.

    One of people spotted her calf in some tall weeds on the other side of the pond.  He or she was very well hidden.

    My edited close-up is a bit blurry.

  A day or so later she was back in the pond.  Or at least a moose was in the same pond. I'm not sure if its the same moose. She also had a calf. This one looks older and bigger to me, but I'm no moose expert. 

     Moose are such amazing animals.  Huge, too.  I saw my first one in Maine in a state park pond.  In Alaska I saw a momma moose and her calf very close to the Visitor's Center in Denali.  Lots of people around, but at least no wolves to snatch her calf. So she was a smart moose.

     I've made some moose inspired jewelry, too.  

If you like moose jewelry, too, check out my Etsy shop to see what's currently available.

An Escape to Nederland

     

    With temperatures soaring past 110°F here, it was time to escape the desert.  We took off for Nederland, Colorado, a small town nestled in the Rocky Mountains.  Nederland is west of Boulder at an altitude that’s a cool 8200 ft.  We chose it because I had arranged to do a workshop with my favorite bead artist, Heidi Kummli, who lives nearby.   It was a magical week that included beading, hiking, wildlife viewing and happy hours.   

      Boulder Creek was right behind our Lodge. An easy walking trail is next to it so you can hear the relaxing sound of the mountain stream.    

       The town is small and picture perfect.   This covered bridge leads to Crosscut Pizzeria & Tap House, which makes the best wood fired pizza I've ever eaten.  A huge selection of craft beers are available, too.  We shared the patio with the other pizza lovers and their dogs.  Nederland is a very dog-friendly town.  

                    

     We hiked a lot.  The mountain are spectacular.   The lakes, when we could reach them, were beautiful. 

   The highlight of the wildlife was a moose and her calf that we saw a couple of times.  She was very accommodating by standing in a pond that was right beside the road.  My knees appreciated her thoughtfulness!

    

  One day we drove the scenic Peak to Peak highway to Estes Park.

          We returned to Lily Lake, where we had hiked a few years ago.  We walked around the lake and saw ducklings, ground squirrels, and a muskrat. On our first visit we had seen a beaver lodge. Unfortunately they died a year or so after our visit. However, a ranger at the Lake said that a young beaver has been spotted a few times recently.  Maybe the next time we go back we'll see beavers.  

      The day I spent beading with Heidi was wonderful.  She helped me lay out a pattern and place my first 3 cabochons. This is my most ambitious project so far so it will take a while to complete.  More to come on this subject.

       In the meantime, we soaked up the mountain air and tried to pack it in our suitcases.  Too soon we had to return to the heat of the valley.  But we loved Nederland and plan to return soon.

  

I Wanna Be a Bear

    

           Denali is so green and the air is filled with the scent of the pines.  

     For four days we toured the park on an Adventure Bus and took hikes along the streams and through the woods.    We saw lots of moose and caribou, a fox, a wonderful grizzly bear, and more.  



The first moose was off the road, munching away.   We saw it fairly soon after entering the park on the Adventure Bus.   Our bus driver was great.  He stopped quickly and stayed until we all got lots of pictures.

       Something was so delicious that this moose never raised his head long enough for me to get a picture of his face.  

Another one was right by the road near the Park entrance.

But our closest encounter came while we were on a walk very close to the park's Visitor Center.   Our bus driver had told us that the cows frequently came closer to the entrance, where there were people and more activity, in order to keep their calves safe from wolves.  

  Caribou were plentiful, too.  I like their other name best, reindeer, because it reminds me of Santa Clause and Christmas. 

       This one was sitting on snow to keep cool.   Denali was experiencing a heat wave, nearly 90F, which is really hot for them.

 

     We saw a fox walking right down the road next to the bus.  In fact, she was so close I couldn't get a picture.  But she was beautiful.  Our driver believed she was a female because of her size, and he seemed to know a lot.    At one ranger station we saw Dall sheep up on the mountain, and lots of small squirrels.

 

   But the star of my show was this grizzly bear.    A lot of the grizzlies in Denali are blond.

 

 

      We watched him for quite a while.  At one point he stood up and scratched his back against a tree.   I was so busy watching I missed taking the picture!  I had been hoping to see a bear, and I wasn't disappointed.  We stayed until he ambled out of sight.

       Later I found this great description of a bear's life on I Love Teddies: 
    

"If you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.

If you're a bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, but cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If you're a bear, your mate expects you to wake up growling. He expects that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

Yup, I wanna be a bear."

- Author unknown

 

Me, too.