What do you suppose she’s looking at? What do you suppose she’s thinking about whatever it is that she’s looking at?
Whatever it was, it occupied her attention for a couple of minutes. Then she went back to grazing. What a quiet, peaceful, beautiful life.
Skywalker moseyed through the shadscale following his bachelor buddy. He was less interested in glamour shots than in his path. I took a few shots and backed away from his greatness. 🙂
Yeah, it was kinda like that last night.
He’s Master Hayden.
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And in case you missed it, here’s the link to my previous blog post about “Revising our HMAP.”
Look at Tenaz, lookin’ all handsome-like in the melty fresh snow, with the clouds clearing over the La Sal Mountains on the far horizon.
The clouds released rain on us first, in the dark of early morning. That turned to snow, even as the temperatures crept above freezing. And even as the snow fell, it melted and dripped from roofs and vehicles and filled old hoofprints in the lanes.
The basin got at least a couple of inches of fresh stuff – already very much melting by the time I spotted Tenaz’s band and he posed for me so handsomely. In the photo above, you can see the tease of sunshine on lower Disappointment Valley.
Want a better view of that faraway?
Heaven, you say? Yes, just a little part of it. 🙂
It’s here! 2020!
Much of our current technology makes our lives easier or better, but the things most lacking in technology still might be the ones that bring us the most peace and happiness. Spending time in the natural world, on trails, not roads, with mustangs, not on social media, brings me the most peace and happiness.
When I scrolled down through the blog posts from the last year, it became apparent that I tend to repeat a few basic words:
Beauty.
Moisture.
Gratitude.
Beauty = It surrounds me. It lifts me. It is a constant in my life. From the mustangs themselves to this little paradise in southwestern Colorado, beauty permeates my life.
Moisture = We always seem to need it … and more of it. 🙂 When we’re lacking it, we worry. When we receive it, we’re grateful.
Gratitude = The most important aspect of appreciating all that surrounds us in this life, the challenges as well as the blessings.
There’s a lot going on in the world today. Many headlines are negative and, in some cases, downright terrifying. There tends to be a feeling of dismay, of crushing hopelessness, the thought that any one of us can’t do anything against the onslaught of doom.
And yet light shines. Possibly – probably – in more places than we realize. For all the negative headlines, there are stories that don’t make headlines, that go unnoticed except by the people involved.
We have a pretty good story going here in Spring Creek Basin. Our partnership with BLM has resulted in a mustang herd that is well-managed and cherished.
Our horses are beautiful. We have moisture.
We are grateful.
Here’s to more of the same in 2020. 🙂
May the magic of the season be with you now and throughout the year!
Sometimes, titles and wording of explanation come to mind easily for blog posts.
Sometimes, there’s not any word or string of words that can accurately convey the feeling of the moment a single image portrays.
Spring Creek Basin. Temple. La Sal Mountains. Moisture. Forage. Light. Color. Beauty.
Grateful.
Don’t miss the mustangs for the mountains. 🙂
Hint: They’re just inside the line of shade at middle-left in the photo. In the middle-ground of the photo is the north rim of Spring Creek canyon. The farthest “point” forms part of Spring Creek Basin’s western boundary.
Disappointment Valley got a varying amount of snow – about an inch in the basin.
Part 1: I kinda forgot to do a blog post last night for this morning.
Part 2: Disappointment Valley woke up to a dusting of snow, and I didn’t really have a pic to fit the scene.
The above photo shows sunset a couple of evenings ago over the La Sal Mountains, to our northwest. The south rim of Spring Creek canyon can be seen in the foreground. We didn’t get nearly the moisture from this system that was a) forecast or b) expected by those of us always wishing and hoping for moisture forecasts to be true.
It’s a very dry snow, so not much moisture, but it’s pretty, and if it lasts long enough, I won’t forget a pic for tomorrow’s post! Well, I won’t forget in either case!
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 