A difference of minutes

29 01 2026

Seneca’s band had gone to water, and as their way to water doubled as my way back to my buggy, I moseyed along with them.

The sky was clearing to the northwest, but the clouds were still patchy and heavy enough in the western and southwestern and southern sky to block most of the late sunlight when I took this pic of Seneca right above the evaporation cover of the water-catchment trough. Temple Butte in the background was catching some of the gorgeous light that *was* breaking through.

And just a few/several minutes later (less than 10 minutes later from my image files’ info), from down the hill and back at my buggy … the above scene. The sun found a last-minute sneak-peak hole in the clouds to light up the lower slopes of Temple Butte. Just … kinda … wow. πŸ™‚

“Why do you keep going back?” I sometimes get asked. … Really? πŸ™‚ Because it’s never, ever, ever the same. Always, heart-liftingly, beautiful.

(And the same note: While there’s still a little, very patchy snow out there, it’s way melted from the images captured above.)





It’s all there

28 01 2026

See the eagle? πŸ™‚





Clearing

27 01 2026

Again, it’s not nearly still that snowy, but you’ll get some snowy pix because I took a lot, and I like to remember how it looked when the world was (mostly) white. πŸ™‚

Sancho has his super-cute winter mustachio again, and I SO want to get a closeup pic of it. It’s a goal.

Meanwhile, he was looking warm and cozy in his winter fuzzies while catching up to the band. Not far to the left was a whole band of south-facing hills/ridges – bare of snow. Some day soon, hopefully it will snow again.





Native pinto

25 01 2026

Who better than a pinto girl to show off our snow … and how much had already melted by late afternoon?

Thanks, Chipeta. We appreciate your lovely cooperation!

Fascinating mix of snow on the ground and still on some tree branches while south-facing slopes have nearly all slurped up all that snowy-good moisture (despite the lack of sunshine most of the day). We got maybe an inch … 2 max. It was melting while it was falling. Eh. We’re desperate for ANY moisture. I think the temp hit 40F. … The forecasters claim this morning’s low temp will be 7 or thereabouts. Yeesh. But it’ll keep some of that snow on the ground and soaking in slowly, under another full-blue Colorado sky.





On the upside

23 01 2026

The weather is *starting* to look as though it’s changing, hopefully for the positive, which is – *crossing everything that can be crossed* – “AM snow showers” Saturday. The percentage chance drops a bit more every time I look at the forecast, but it’s still there. … Surely that means something??

All dances, wishes, prayers and hopes accepted!





Right all right

22 01 2026

Kestrel.

Blue sky.

Temple Butte.

Not much more required. πŸ™‚





Catching up

21 01 2026

Just as I reached the top of the hill, Buckeye’s band was approaching the trail, about to head down to water. Rowan was waiting for Aiyanna and Buckeye to catch up, and Dundee already had gone ahead.

Mustangs are mostly on the same page, but there are always the ones who lag. πŸ™‚





Camo shade

19 01 2026

Pretty Aiyanna stopped in just the right place to show off the big, complementarily colored (!) boulders at the base of Filly Peak on New Year’s Day. … Notice the piΓ±on tree growing between the two boulders behind her. It doesn’t look super healthy, but that’s probably more the ongoing drought than having sprouted up between two giant sandstones. Still, pretty cool … and it makes you (OK, at least me) wonder about the eons of history there.





Find-her

18 01 2026

I tell Chipeta all the time (well, when I’m with her) that she really can’t hide. She’s too much of a standout!

Plus, she’s the only pinto in her band of greys. πŸ™‚

It doesn’t stop her from trying (to hide) … and it doesn’t stop me from trying to get creative in “finding” her!





Streaked

17 01 2026

Oh, I just adore this little guy.

None of the pintos are very big (even in comparison to the other not-so-big mustangs), but they all have big personalities (and not just the pintos!).