Warmth in cold

23 12 2022

Cassidy Rain seems to skip through the snow as she follows her band away from a little water hole. It wasn’t snowing on us there, but it was still snowing lightly far to the east. I love that no matter how wintry cold the landscape looks (and it was chilly), the mustangs always look so perfectly warm (especially as I’m practically waddling in all my Michelin-Man layers!).





Winter solstice sunset

22 12 2022

The winter solstice was yesterday. The shortest day of the year saw temps plunge 30 degrees in 15 minutes at Denver International Airport – from 42 degrees to just 13, according to a Denver Post headline that came through my email.

Over here in the southwestern corner of the state (note to news source that said the temps would be “shockingly cold pretty much everywhere in Colorado“: we’re actually in Colorado, thanks), we started *warming* a little bit today. I saw 34 degrees, but it may have gotten a bit warmer. 🙂

Quite a start to winter. Stay warm out there, wherever you live!





Waves

21 12 2022

Waves in Sundance’s mane; waves of erosion folds on the far ridge, accentuated by snow.

Love it all. 🙂





Quiet grace

20 12 2022

When I was visiting with Sundance’s band recently, he suddenly became very interested in the little pinon-juniper forest nearby, which alerted me to a fairly big group of mule deer does and fawns. By the time I saw them, at least half were slipping silently into the trees. I was happy to get this group portrait of several of the girls looking toward me and the horses, alert but not upset.

Behind me, Sundance was watchful, but his mares had already settled into nap mode under the ever-so-lightly falling snow.





Winter heart

19 12 2022

Corazon. We *heart* him! 🙂





Pretty in white

18 12 2022

Pretty Piedra is practically camouflaged in her snow-white surroundings.





Mystery of the ages

17 12 2022

The power of water, all in one image, illustrated by the lovely Terra!

Frozen water in the form of snow. Over eons and eons, it has fallen and settled on that boulder, and the freezing and thawing, thawing and freezing, has cracked it all the way through.

Not much of a mystery, really, but awe-inspiring.

Are you awed?

Me, too. 🙂





Surprise snow

16 12 2022

It snowed yesterday morning!

And it kept snowing!

And as the sun set, the snow was still coming down!

There were some breaks during the day – and depending on location – but the day ended as it started – with snow falling lightly, gently.

What made it surprising – at least to me, who looks fairly obsessively at forecasts this time of year, hoping to see snow icons that warrant further, detailed investigation – is that this wasn’t really in the forecast. There were some minor mentions of “a flurry or two,” but chances were low, which *didn’t* warrant those further, more detailed looks.

Another surprise is that here in Colorado, snow waves usually give way to our typical bluebird, clear-sky, bright-snow days. Today, the snow just sort of kept on coming!

The mustangs were tucked into sheltered places again, apparently, because I saw a couple of lone bachelors and only two bands. Fortunately, one of those bands was Sundance’s, and he’s always up for a bit of modeling work. 🙂 That said, it’s hard to tell the story of falling snow with a grey mustang! If you click on the pic to enlarge it, you might be able to zoom in and see the tiny little snowflakes that show a bit better against the far northeast east-pocket ridge.

What a beautiful day in the neighborhood. 🙂





Copper in a white world

15 12 2022

Hollywood is usually one of the specific horses I look for in Spring Creek Basin to help show off the white goodness when we get snow because his color is so RICH and divine. The clouds had come over by the time I found him and his family, but he still stands out like a particularly bright spot in an otherwise mostly-monochrome landscape. He may not have the “beard” some of the horses grow in winter, but you can see how wonderfully thick is his velvet coat!





Queen of her world

14 12 2022

Temple was soaking in the rays during a little nap while her family grazed around her.

The temp was cold (around freezing?). The snow was crisp. The day was gorgeous! Just like the mustangs. 🙂