Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

It’s thundering – and RAINING – in Durango! I think I’m in the twilight zone … Isn’t this Colorado? Isn’t it February?

From weather.com at 2:45 p.m. Saturday:

The basin is northeast of Dove Creek, almost a straight shot south of Naturita. That line is pretty prominent to be Disappointment Creek, but it seems to mimic the flow of the creek (as opposed to the bigger Dolores River) … but it’s weird that Egnar, of all places, is on the map, and the town of Dolores is not. If it is Disappointment Creek, see the bend where it goes from NW-SE to basically E-W? Northish of that bend is the basin (if that is, indeed, Disappointment Creek).

Thanks to all you dancers … Chris … I know how much you needed a visit … Maybe it will turn to snow and you’ll get in after all! Here’s hoping!

Sometimes I hear a voice. Sometimes I listen to it … sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I worry it’s not the voice of intuition but the voice I want to hear and claim it’s intuition.

While that may or may not make sense … today, I heard that voice, and today I listened.

And today was a 180 from yesterday.

Teaser:

This was taken literally moments before the sun disappeared, just a stone’s throw from where the elk were bedded down at the base of Filly Peak yesterday (yes, sunshine – so much for the forecast).

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous day, as gorgeous today as yesterday was grey.

I’m thankful for that voice … I’m thankful for listening … I’m thankful for the ponies that shared part of their gorgeous day with me!

“I just look at the skyline …

“A million lights are lookin’ back at me…

“And when they shine …

“I see a place …

“I know I’ll find some peace …

“I just look at the skyline”

~”Skyline,” Court Yard Hounds (two-thirds (the sisters) of the former Dixie Chicks)

The first two photos are of snow covering a small boulder in the bottom of Spring Creek arroyo. The blue background is the bank, which was a few feet away. The other photos are of ice crystals – ice flakes?! – on ice and snow a few feet opposite the boulder right at a wild-pony super-highway crossing. Water trickling below the snow and ice (a thick slab of it). Do you see the rainbows reflecting? I had just my long lens, and all but the top two photos are major crops of the originals. They’re not as sharp as I wish they could be, but …

This song started running through my head when I saw the snowflake crystals on the boulder as a “hill” against the “blue-sky” background. The rest of the chorus seemed appropriate. I did find much peace there, on my belly in the snow in the bottom of the arroyo (and yes, it went up my shirt because I had to keep scooching back to get the lens to focus!), the horses grazing above me, deep in the heart of the basin, surrounded by winter’s mantle, warm as could be, under Colorado-blue skies, listening to the snow (you CAN hear it, you know) and the horses talking above, buoyed by magic and the wonder of life.

Impossibly beautiful. Yet there it was. Gloriously beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vC8Hffm9BE

Beautiful. Look for the horses. You’ll see them twice!  🙂

This is how it turned out!

Cover

January

October

Thank you so much to all who voted on photos for the calendar. It turned out beautifully.

The first batch of orders are ready to send out, and I’ll make more as there’s demand. They’re $15, and $5 of that goes to the Colorado chapter of the National Mustang Association as a donation. If you would like to order one, contact me at:

mtbgrrl (at) fone (dot) net

Again, thank you all! This was such a fun project this year … though I should have started it earlier!

I wish all of you – and all of our wild and beautiful mustangs – a very merry Christmas. Peace on Earth is not too much to wish for. It’s not too much to hope for. It’s not too much for the horses and all creatures to ask of us.

May we all enjoy a little peace on the Earth, wherever we call home.

Merry Christmas. 🙂

Prairie Wind Lady!

I took pix of the drawing that I’ll put up later, but the reality of life caused a little later drawing that I had planned, so I wanted to get the announcement out there.

Thank you to everyone for going through all the photos in all the months and choosing your favorites! You did a fantastic job!

Prairie Wind Lady, I’ll email you for your mailing address. 🙂 Congratulations!!

Update with pic:

Thank you to my co-worker Katie, who pulled the name out of the basket!

THANK YOU ALL so very much for helping me choose the photos for my 2010 calendar featuring the mustangs of Spring Creek Basin! Every vote and comment is treasured because, after all, these aren’t just photos, they’re captures of a moment in time of these very special horses. I’d put them all in if I could!

January - Kiowa & Milagro

February - Cuatro & Hayden

March - Kestrel & Ember

April - Bounce

May - Kestrel & Winona

June - David

July - Hayden

August - Hollywood's band

September - Seven

October - Duke

November - Hook's band, La Sal Mountains

December - Jif & Hayden

Cover - Grey/Traveler

This was really tough, and I appreciate the time and consideration you all took to make your choices! There was one last-minute tie for August – I broke it in favor of Hook’s band. Several of the choices won by just one vote. I particularly appreciate the difficulty of the September choice. While Seven earned the nod there, the picture of Maiku, Spook and Chipeta garnered a lot of votes, so if you win the calendar or order one, I’ll include a 4×6 print of that photo, too, if you want it!

Note: All the photos will be 4×6 inches (some of the photos were cropped as 5×7 for the blog – or a “custom” crop, such as the one with Hook’s band against the mountains).

THANK YOU for your choices! And Friday, I’ll  have the winner of a calendar featuring the photos you chose!