Spooooookeeeeee

31 10 2024

Red sky at night, sailors’ delight.

Red in the morning, sailors take warning.

The following pix are from sunset the night of Oct. 28 (I couldn’t think of anything spookier for today’s post!).

Morning the 29th was grey and dark – and raining from the heavens! – and I was fully delighted by both the light show … and then with all of the RAIN (0.86 inch total)!

Am I right, or am I right?! The above is nearly straight out of my camera – I sized it and applied some sharpening. That’s looking west.

This is the spookiest part of the post (!). Looking east toward/across/beyond Spring Creek Basin. Again, the only thing I did was size it and apply some sharpening.

And a bit closer as the color was absolutely exploding.

The above are from my camera; the below – for wider views – from my phone (again, nothing but sizing and sharpening):

And:

I don’t know about sailors (any folks on actual waves are half a continent away), but *I* was the very best kind of astounded!

And very grateful for the rain overnight and the next morning. 🙂





Bruised, not shaken

30 10 2024

A closeup view of Flash, a bit battered but never to be counted out. 🙂





Greetings over there!

29 10 2024

Mariah whinnies to a band she can see a pretty fair distance away. I’m not sure who she was communicating with – or trying to – but it elicited a couple of answering (sympathetic?) whinnies from a couple of her band mates.

**********

Update: It is raining like crazy over Disappointment Valley and the entire region (all of the Western Slope, according to the radar, which very often lies, but I think is pretty accurate right now!). This is only a guess currently (9 a.m.), but I’m sure all those little and big arroyos are running, I’m sure Spring Creek is running again, I’m sure Disappointment Creek is running! I’m sure ponds are filling (whether from dry depressions or semi-full already), and I’m equally sure this is fantastic for all the water catchments in the basin.

Yay for late-season RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Feel the change

28 10 2024

Something other than me caught Chipeta’s attention the other day: my buggy, which I’d left along the road to hike out to her and her band. 🙂

Warm days, cold nights; short(er) days and crisp nights (they don’t seem too long yet … until the time change?). The ponies have thickening coats, and the feeling of late autumn is palpable. Rain in the forecast today and tomorrow. Snow in much of western Colorado on Wednesday.

******

Happy birthday to my very wonderful mom, Nancy! 🙂 I owe much of my strength and half of my strong love of horses to her. I love you, Mom! 🙂





Wealth

27 10 2024

I just adore the richness of a beautiful bay mustang against the blues and golds of a rich desert background. Tenaz.





Mission: Serious

26 10 2024

Maiku again. Because he’s pretty awesome.





On a mission

25 10 2024

A big group of horses had gone into a twisty, deepish arroyo toward the end of the day to drink. They were nice and orderly and calm and occupied different bends of the arroyo according to band.

From out of nowhere (OK, from above us at the top of the ridge to the east), Maiku came barreling down the slope like a bullet. I’m not sure what prompted such an impassioned reaction, but he was focused!

His encounter didn’t last long, and pretty soon, he was galloping back up the ridge to his band.





Braidy art, part 2

24 10 2024

Here’s a little better look at Alegre and her glorious braid.

That is a tight, twisty, amazingly glorious work of absolute wind- and faerie-art. 🙂





Changes

23 10 2024

Young Master Flash is looking a little scarred and beat up, but he otherwise looks good and ready for winter. He still has some remnants of his pinto pattern, but otherwise, he’s pretty grey, grey, grey. 🙂





Rain, passing

22 10 2024

Buckeye stands between his band – some up, some down – on a high ridge in western Spring Creek Basin with a background of rain across the southern ridges of Disappointment Valley.