Not Fast Enough

These first two pictures were taken by LC.

They were part of a series of sunset pictures that he took in back of the house late in the evening only a few days ago.

Fire in the sky......................

I have no idea why, but double rainbows are very common in Wyoming.

LC called me one day late last week to tell me to look outside, because there was a wonderful double rainbow in the sky facing down towards one of the neighbors' houses.

It was still raining outside, so I did not want to walk in the rain without a jacket and truthfully did not feel up to rummaging around in the closet to dig one out.

I had expected to just poke my head out and look to the west and towards the neighbor's home, but when I walked out onto the covered porch this rainbow was clearly visible on BLM land.

These kinds of sights are not common in Tennessee.  Sunshine and rain at the same time.  Light sky on one side of the rainbow and dark sky on the other.  Double rainbows.

It was a beautiful, and very unusual sight.................

On Saturday morning LC and I were downtown.

We turned off the main street on the spur of the moment after seeing a random yard sale sign, and as we drove down the quiet side street looking for undiscovered treasures, unexpectedly saw deer grazing in someones' yard.

A quick inventory told me a healthy looking doe with a surprising three little ones, all still proudly wearing their spots.

LC slowed the truck down, not wanting to scare any of this young family.

As we slowly approached the deer, momma suddenly saw us and ran across the road.................

A minute after momma ran across the road two of the three fawns followed suit, and all three of them proceeded to graze on the grass and eat from the trees of this new home..................

The lone straggler still on our side of the road stopped eating leaves long enough to look across the street at his mom and siblings and I felt certain that he would also make a dash for the street.................

Surprisingly, this hungry little guy decided to eat some more from the tasty bush for another couple of minutes before deciding to join the rest of his family on the other side of the quiet road................

I smiled in satisfaction at this reunited deer family (dear family) and when LC pulled the truck over to the side of the road at the site of the yard sale I walked back a few houses to watch the family again, now all together and now grazing hungrily on a new set of trees and bushes.

They disappeared behind the house before I could take any more pictures of them.................

About an hour later we were on the opposite side of town and we drove down yet one more quiet side street in search of yet one more yard sale.

I dug my camera out of the side pocket of my small pack when I unexpectedly saw this good sized buck happily grazing in another Cody resident's yard.

I took this picture from inside the truck.

I had planned on climbing out of the truck and slowly walking closer to the fence so that I could get a better shot of him, but thought better of it after I realized that he had seen me.  He was already watchful and on alert, and I knew that if I tried to move closer he would bolt.

Instead I snapped this quick picture, and both LC and I watched him, and watched him watching us, for another few minutes before he slowly walked further away from us along the hedgerow..................

We were just about to drive away when I looked in the front yard of the same house and was very surprised to see yet one more buck.

This one had a great rack, but was thin.  Too thin for this time of year.  Too thin compared to what he should have weighed judging from his rack.

He moved and ate as though healthy, but his weight was cause for concern and as I watched him happily eating away wondered why he was in such a physical state....................

One of the many things that I have always enjoyed about Cody is the residents close relationship with the local deer.

It is very common to see deer sitting in the shade of a tree in someone's yard.

To see deer grazing on flowers or bushes or grass in yards.

To see them walking alongside residential roads, down driveways, running from home to home and yard to yard.

Most residents love their presence.  I know that I do.

But some residents get angry because the deer poop in their yards, or eat their flowers or their vegetables or their pretty bushes.

Some simply complain about it, while others build high fences around vegetation that they want to protect from these frequent visitors.

To me and many others though, the presence of deer in town has always been one of Cody's great charms.

The deer have however also become cause for concern recently.  Mountain lions have been sighted twice this summer on the outskirts of town adjacent to the hospital.

And only a couple of weeks ago a black bear was darted and relocated after having been sighted in a tree in a residential neighborhood.

There is speculation that the towns' deer population is drawing these predators into town.

In a small town surrounded by BLM land, mountains and nationals forests it is cause for concern, but the presence of predators is also in truth only one more aspect of and reality of life in the west.......................

In the middle of summer the sun rises somewhere around 5:45am, and usually I am not up to see it.

On a restless and mostly sleepless night one day a couple of weeks ago I walked outside just as the sun was coming up, looked west towards the mountains (as I always do when I first walk outside) and realized that the mountains were a color I had never seen before.

With the sun gradually shining more and more on them as it rose higher into the sky, the mountains took on a wholly unexpected pink color.

I walked back into the house to quickly retrieve my camera so that I could take picures of these beautiful pink mountains.

Before photographing the mountains though, I wanted to get pictures of the sunrise.

Looking east across pasture land in front of the house....................

After quickly snapping a series of pictures of an every changing sky, I heard a noise behind me.

When I turned I realized that Dixie, our neighbor ladys' horse, was walking towards us curious and friendly as ever.

Still in pajamas and not caring if any of the neighbors drove by and saw me in pajamas, I bent down to pick a handful of grass and weeds to give to this animal, who is gradually getting to know us better.

Trustingly and hungrily she pulled it out of my hand, chewed it and then eagerly looked for more.

I stroked the front of her face and then patted her and told her good morning before wandering away so that I could take more pictures of the pink mountains before the sun came out completely..................

By the time I gradually made my way back down the driveway and to the back of the house I was surprised to see that the pink was rapidly disappearing.

Carter Mountain was awash in increasing color and multiple shades of light and dark.

At the start of the day and at the end of the day, when the rising and setting suns change the appearance of the world moment by moment, I had to be fast.

On this morning I wasn't fast enough.

But it was a good way to quietly greet the day anyway...................