Uninhibited Creatures

If you click on any of these pictures they will start a slide show of enlarged pictures.

These were taken sometime within the past week, as were the pictures further down of the snow.

This late in the season there now seems to be a constant battle reigning between winter and spring.

Days are cold and then warm.  Days of snow and then melt.

It is a nice time of year here in Atomic City.

Getting warmer and the world holds promise of a spring that is springing.

LC is glad about that after what seems to be a long winter.

Although I am looking forward to exploring trails in the mountains, I already miss winter even though it has not even left yet.

When I look at the picture above I see a magnificent blue sky and cloud formations that are always so very interesting to me.  Late in the day, the light is amazing.  

For a picture of one single butte, and the odds and ends that belong to somewhat odd desert residents, I like this picture very much.

I was walking with Kory at the time.

She loves to run freely on BLM land that can be accessed in back of town only a couple of minutes from the house.

But she also seems equally happy to just wander the gravel streets of tiny Atomic City while on leash.

Where else can we both walk slowly down the middle of one street after another without worrying about traffic?

I greatly enjoy wandering with her, and every trip seems to bring an unexpected adventure.

One day we will stop at the bar so that I can say hello to the owner and his wife and inquire about recent shoulder surgery while Kory receives a dog biscuit treat from the jar behind the bar, that she knows is there.

Another day we will wander freely between town streets and BLM land - sometimes her leading and sometimes me leading, but no matter who leads who she is always just happy to be there.

On this particular late afternoon we turned down one street and saw two deer standing at the edge of the road watching us.

Not wanting to spook them I slowed my pace and shortened Kory's leash, forcing my dog to both slow down and move closer to me.

The doe and her yearling continued to watch us, following our progress.

As we got closer I looked to my right and saw more deer grazing on the brown, stubbly grass in an open field.

Looking to my left I realized that more deer was grazing on the front lawn of one of the town residents.

I see them almost every day, but these gentle creatures always manage to soften my heart for a moment.

I like them so much and they are a gift to the town.

Kory and I slowly continued to walk towards the deer until finally momma and growing baby sprang across the road.

When we had deer on both sides of us I pulled gently on Kory's leash and we both stood in the middle of the road, me smiling inwardly and snapping random pictures and Kory standing motionless and silently staring at them.

For the next few minutes we stood watching the flurry of motion as deer crossed over the street headed for the lawn, crossed back over the street to meet up with the rest of the herd in the small field.

Back and forth these guys ran and walked and bounced - some tentative, some confident, all beautiful.............

When all of the deer in the yard had finally regrouped with the herd in the field, Kory and I slowly continued walking down the street.

As we arrived at the end of the street I looked back to see the deer one by one moving on to the next field.............

Snow comes and goes very quickly these days.

A look back towards town as LC, Kory and I head towards BLM land on a morning so warm that the snow was gone by late morning.............

One more snowy day this past week, only this one was freezing cold and the wind was bitter.

The sky was predominantly sunny, but there was an inversion surrounding the town.

I thought that the sky threatened an impending storm but I was wrong.

Even after almost eight months I still find the messages in the sky confusing.

LC, Kory and I walked in town, battling the strong and cold wind, but enjoying the time together...............

Rock on a stick..............

A couple of weeks ago I was walking with Kory and found this........thing........half buried in the dirt on BLM land.

It was heavy and rusted and when I looked at it I immediately saw a pen holder.

We painted it flat black............

LC and I were at the "junk piles" that sit on a piece of property owned by one of our neighbors, that I have written about in previous blog posts.

We were looking specifically for one particular size lumber.

As I wandered around, watchful for rusty nails, I looked down and saw something rusty - yet one more thing that was rusty and that was also half buried in the dirt.

When I bent down to see what it was, I realized that I was looking at an Indian on horseback.

It was very rusty and the bottom of it had broken off and was who-knew-where, and I loved it.

When I excitedly called LC to come look at it, I handed it to him and like a little kid said "It's mine, I found it and you can't have it!"

After cleaning it a little and then putting a thin layer of oil on it, we screwed it onto a random piece of plywood that we had stained.

I like this thing very much..................

I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren't certain we knew better.  They fight for honor at the first challenge, make love with no moral restraint, and they do not for all their marvelous instincts appear to know about death.  Being such wonderfully uncomplicated beings, they need us to do their worrying................George Bird Evans, Troubles with Bird Dogs