Nature Friday ~ November 13, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 57 Comments

NatureIn addition to today being Nature Friday, it’s also the third and final Friday the 13th of 2026. Wilson here. Most people look forward to Friday since it’s the gateway to the weekend spent with families and friends. Today will likely be the same, unless you happen to have paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia – the irrational fear of Friday the 13th. Did you know Friday the 13th only occurs when the month begins on a Sunday? Anyway, fear or not, Friday is here and we have a few photos of nature around our neighborhood so let’s join the pups from Adventures of the LLB Gang and get started. Be sure to click on their link to see what others have shared this week.

Wilson: We had a surprise visitor this week, in fact, twice within a couple of days which we’ll show below. That’s a first and it put Mum in her happy place. She usually has to go several weeks or even months before she sees them. Before we entered the wildlife habitat area, Mum took a small detour along the canal and she was struck by the beauty of the autumnal color of the leaves along the Ralston Creek Trail. It was a dazzling afternoon and she saw some beautiful reflections in the canal.

Autumn reflections

The Mum: Just look at all that golden light on a beautiful blue sky afternoon. It was serendipity that I decided to take a slight detour down one of a canals in the neighborhood. It was especially peaceful and I loved the reflection of the trees.

Wilson: It was pretty but mostly because we didn’t see any squirrels.

The Mum: You and your squirrels! Silly boy. You didn’t seem to mind seeing this critter shortly just before we took that side trip down the canal. I was amused at his casual lounging on the putting green, big as you please, and owning it like a boss.

Coyote on the green

Coyote on the green

Wilson: His coat was so soft looking and beautiful. Once again, I was disappointed he refused to stick around for a meet and greet.

The Mum: Oh House Pony…I know you’d love to meet him up close to introduce yourself but he’s a wild creature and wild creatures aren’t interesting in meeting domestic dogs or people. They are instinctively cautious of us. But seeing them on occasion is the next best thing and simply makes my heart sing with joy.

Wilson: I suppose so but still, I wish they weren’t so afraid of us. Two days later we ran into him again. We were just crossing one of the bridges over the creek and lo and behold…there he was. He actually stayed there watching us for a several moments. I was sure once we crossed the bridge he’d want to meet, but nope…again with the quick skedaddle.

Coyote on the trait

Coyote

The Mum: This was the closest we’ve ever come to any of the coyotes. He was probably 20 feet away and once I realized he wasn’t going to flee right away, I pulled out my cell phone and managed to fire off a couple of photos before he trotted off into the brush. He was at least twice that far away on the golf green so seeing him here was a real treat.

Wilson: Maybe we’ll get lucky and see him again this weekend. So…any plans for this weekend? I think Mum is trying to start her Christmas plans with the family. There are just 42 days left until Santa Paws arrives and while that may seem like a long time, it’ll be here before we know it. The weather poobahs are saying we may be receiving our first snow in the city sometime next week so we’re going to enjoy the glorious weather while we can. What are your plans? Whatever you plan to do, we hope you are able to get outside and enjoy autumn in it’s full glory.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

 

Monday Musings ~ November 9, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 58 Comments

Another weekend is in the books so that means we need to start out the week with a fresh smile. We hope yours was terrific.

One characteristic that all Old English Sheepdog owners are keenly aware of is the fact that when you adopt an OES…privacy, especially in the bathroom is not a pleasure you will likely enjoy. This breed is notorious for following you into the bathroom. It’s as if they think you need an attendant to observe your actions. I’m used to it now but whenever the weather begins to transition to cooler temps, a cold wet beard on one’s bare thighs can be quite the wake up call.

Wilson - bathroom

There he is guarding the loo, just waiting for bare skin. I had hoped to deflect his attention long enough to brush my teeth. Alas, he is not easily dissuaded.

We hope you are dissuaded into having a fantabulous day. Happy Monday!

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ November 6, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 52 Comments
Pumpkin - skellie
Dog skellie imitating squirrel behavior

Happy first Friday of November. There are now 48 days left until Christmas arrives which means there are 55 days left in the year. We don’t know if you’ve recovered from this week’s mid-term election but one thing is certain, we can presume not one person in the U.S. is missing the constant barrage of political ads. The energy in the country seems almost peaceful, though we know there will be strife as each side tries to foist its power base on everyone. Hang on to your knickers but savor this pause in the process. We can only hope that both sides calm down and ease up on the rhetoric so that the country may begin the process of healing to create goodwill toward all and make peace the center of those efforts. We don’t know about you, but we’re exhausted at all the vitriol that has become the norm.

Wilson here. Enough about politics now. Let’s see what kind of scenes from Mother Nature we found this week. The weather has been exquisite. Perfect autumn days have been the norm with comfortable temps during the day and crisp temps at night have combined to make conditions absolutely splendid. We’re looking forward to the next week of clear blue skies and golden light as leaves are dropping at a rapid pace. As always we’re joining those pups from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Make sure you check out what others have shared by clicking on the link.

Wilson: We had an unexpected visitor a couple of days ago. If you’re easily creeped out, you might want to skip this portion. Mum was busy doing mum kind of things when she looked outside and saw a dark grey critter laying on the sidewalk. What the devil is THAT, she asked?  I was more than happy to check it out but she was adamant that I not get anywhere near it. We don’t know what happened to it and she didn’t want to risk my well being. Dawning latex gloves and keeping a paper towel shroud close, she went to investigate it up close. She couldn’t see any obvious signs of injury and could only speculate. Mum kindly gave this poor baby a dignified funeral behind our house. I named him Harold and reverently bowed my head while she was disposing it. We have owls in the neighborhood and it could have been a victim who fell from a death gripe. The owls in our neighborhood are notoriously elusive and probably not inclined to circle around and pick it back up. Then again, it just may have been its time. At any rate, Mum did the kind and respectful thing. The circle of life can be hard on nature lovers.

Norway rat
Rest in peace, Harold

The Mum: It was quite strange to find ‘Harold’ mid-morning. I have a good view of the front garden area where he was and saw nothing that might explain what happened to him but first saw it when I took out some recyclables to the garage. Then a few minutes later the neighbor kids were huddled around it. At first glance, I thought it could have been a muskrat from the canal but Sherlock Google said it was more likely a a common Norway rat. With the influx of new homeowners settling into our neighborhood, we suspect we may see more displaced critters like this. At any rate, we’ll keep our eyes open for burrowing in the mulch and other obvious signs.

Wilson: Never fear, Mum, I’ll be on high alert. I’m already getting quite adept on the bunny watch thing. Those little buggers are becoming quite plentiful. I see them nearly every night on my especially on the last evening airing. I keep thinking they’re squirrels but then realize they’re ‘just’ bunnies and for me not to get overly excited. They never stick around long enough for me to properly introduce myself and let them know I’m completely harmless but I guess they don’t want to risk any encounters. I’ll keep trying though.

The Mum: I’m sure you will. Hopefully you’ll get less interested in trying to arrange those up-close encounters. So what else did you find this week?

Wilson: Well, just take a gander at this cottonwood tree that lives behind our house. The early morning light highlighted how beautiful autumn is this time of year.The sky was ablaze with bright oranges and pinks. Everything seems to glow at this time of year.Sunrise

Sunrisew

The Mum: It truly was a spectacular sunrise this morning. While you were busy noshing on breakfast, I took a quick walk around and was in awe of the beautiful sunrise. What a great way to start the day!

Wilson: Well that’s it from us. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and are able to get outside and experience this beautiful time of year, first hand. Any special plans?

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ November 2, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 67 Comments

Welcome to November! Is it just me or are you having a hard time believing we are 52 days until Santa Paws arrives. We hope you had a peaceful but fun Halloween. It was fairly subdued around here, and as I expected, no little goblins or ghosts stopped by, likely due to the HOA hosting a trick or trunk event (complete with adult beverages) but even that didn’t seem to attract a lot of kids. The neighborhood is still filling in with new families but it seems like people celebrate Halloween differently than when I was a kid where we walked for blocks in search of the best candy. Now days, kids attend parades at malls or in business shopping districts in daylight. Oh well, no biggie…just trying to figure out what to do with the bag of chocolate I’m left holding. Any takers on a bunch of ‘fun size’ Snickers?

The most exciting thing to have occurred over the weekend was the return to standard time. You’re probably saying, but wait, didn’t Congress vote to move to daylight time all year long? Well, the House voted for that but the U.S. Senate did not vote on that so we have to deal with changing clocks that don’t automatically change and try to sync our circadian rhythms to manipulated time. Returning to or maintaining Standard Time year-round is strongly supported by the medical and scientific communities as well as safety organizations for the reason that it aligns human biology with natural sunlight. We’ll have to see how this shakes out after the mid-term elections to see if Congress can actually pass meaningful legislation.

But putting aside political shortcomings, it’s Monday so that means we will start the week with a smile. Our friend from Indian Hills is back again with another groaner chuckler, depending on your personal take. Happy Monday. We hope you have a great week.

Monday smile

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ October 30, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 56 Comments

Wilson - HalloweenWelcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we join the pups from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Be sure to click on the link to see what others have shared. Wilson here. I gave Mum the day off-she’s been extra busy lately so I told her I’d take care of this. Anywho…today is Halloween Eve. I sure hope no goblins or ghosts try to frighten me.

You may remember I mentioned we actually received some rain at the beginning of the week. Like a lot…close to .three fourths of an inches of wet stuff. Mum was over the moon about it…I on the other hand was far less pleased. But if it makes her happy, who am I to deny her. But I’m glad this week has since been dry but heard our weekend forecast is calling for snow for the mountains and most likely rain at the lower elevations. I just hope it isn’t too bad. Besides not being a favorite of mine, all that moisture will dramatically impact the remaining leaves that are just barely hanging on after months of heat turning most of them in our neighborhood into crunchy facsimiles of their usual selves. The slightest breeze makes them fall onto the ground. It all seems rather sad to see it go. But the weirdest part of the rain was we experienced a major fog that moved in when the rain stopped. Fog is not something we see very often so I had to ask myself, “yo mate, what is this thing called fog.” Fog is basically a cloud that resembles stratus clouds and is shaped by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions. So fog is simply a low-laying cloud that’s made of tiny water droplets that are suspended near the earth that reduces visibility.

But I needed to know more about fog. I mean, just how does this mysterious cloud form? Fog can form when the surrounding air cools to the temperature where the air becomes completely saturated with water vapor dew. Suffice to say fog is strange and often forms on clear, calm, cool nights when heat escapes the ground and chills the air right above the ground’s surface. I had gone out around 1:30 AM and it was barely sprinkling when we got up at 5:30 AM. Once the rain stopped, fog began to form. I don’t know if it was the rain or the fog that made everything smell amazing. Gosh…if I’d known how wonderful everything was going to smell I might not have been so reluctant to check it out. My walk was an olfactory bonanza,

Fog

It took a while before the fog burned off but it sure was interesting along the creek trail.

Fog

The fog was naturally the thickest along the creek and the air was heavy with moisture, almost like a mist. All I could think of was the famous Carl Sandburg poem, “Fog.” I know cats are very quiet on their feet and that poem compares the quiet arrival and departure of fog to a cat’s movements. 

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Cats notwithstanding, the air was heavy with moisture and almost felt like a mist. Is there a difference between fog and mist? Both have suspended water droplets, but fog has limited horizontal visibility, whereas mist allows for greater visibility.
Fog
It was somewhat surreal but timely, considering this is Halloween week. And speaking of Halloween week, Mum was recently out running errands and decided to swing by our old neighborhood to see if the gigantic skeletons were displayed. She was pretty happy to see they were and chuckled at the red carpet movie premiere scene.
Halloween skellies
I’m hoping Mum doesn’t get any crazy ideas about dressing me up in some bizarre costume. Are you dressing up? Mum told me people dress up and go trick or treating. Hmmm, maybe I should rethink this costume thing if treats are involved. Whatever you do, we hope you have a lovely Halloween weekend and are able to get outside to see all the beauty nature shares with us this time of year.
Nature
Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ October 26, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 61 Comments

Well, well, well…welcome to the last week of October. Goodness gracious…I blinked and first September and now October, have flashed by in a heartbeat. We’re finally receiving some long awaited rain (it’s been raining since 1 AM this morning). Southwest Colorado has been flooding for the past three days but we only received cooler temps. Yesterday’s low was 36F (2.2C) with a high of the mid-50’sF (13.3C). It feels good entering sweater weather finally. Poor Wilson looked at me when we walked outside for the early morning bathroom break like I was insane. He immediately dropped down to a prone position once outside but think the umbrella intimidated him more than the threat of being wet. Even his favorite potty spot didn’t speed up his process. He just stood there with his head hanging low, looking pitiful. I was finally able to encourage him enough to start his day and then he happily raced back to the house for the comfort of his dry bed where he’s now snoozing after enjoying a tasty breakfast. Our morning walk should be ‘interesting.’ Wish us luck.

Anyway, let’s start this week with a little smile. We found another sign from our friend, Vince The Sign Guy and hope you enjoy it.

Monday smile

Have a great Monday and an even better Halloween week.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ October 23, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 64 Comments

June's Tea PartyHappy Friday. Today is a special day, I’m penning a two-for-one post! First, as we typically do, we are joining the Adventures of the LLB Gang. But following our regular nature post, I’m galloping over to June’s Tea Party of the century at Zoolatry. We hope you’ll join us over there once you’ve strolled through our autumn photos. Click on the links to check out all the fun.

Looks like autumn has finally arrived with trees beginning to show some color change. Yesterday on our walk, we finally found some leaves actually changing color. Some are still green, some are yellow and brown but others are finally changing to red/orange. We’re still getting used to the area on this side of town so every day as the landscape changes is an adventure as to what is going on visually.

Autumn leaves
What…I can’t hear you…that tree is too loud.

With a few trees showing some bona fide autumn color and not just the yellow from all the cottonwoods near our house, you can see the creek is barely running now. Trees along this stretch are mostly yellow (and/or brown) since we still haven’t received much rain. It’s ironic as southwest Colorado (Pagosa Springs, in particular) are experiencing some serious flooding the past couple of days. Nature sure is cranky. Maybe when I go to June’s Tea Party, I’ll offer her a cuppa so she can calm down.

Autumn leaves

Autumn leaves

If you look way in the background, you can see a couple of trees that read the memo about changing colors. Mum and I walked over one of the bridges at the golf course to see if there was anything colorful toward the west. The sky was cloudy and threatening all day but we only received about 15 drops of rain. Nature continues to tease us.

We found a lovely out-of-the way spot along the trail near the tap house so naturally Mum had to stop and made me pose for her. Give that woman a camera and she’s all up in your grill. Notice my furs were stolen this week? It hasn’t been cold yet for me to shiver, it’s just nice and crisp for our morning saunters.

Wilson - autumn

Well that’s it from me. Time for me to sashay over the Tea Party and serve some cake to the guests. I’m going to volunteer to clean up any crumbs left on the grounds. We hope to see you there. Both Mum and I wish you a great weekend and hope you’ll be able to get out and walk about in crunchy leaves and enjoy the sights and sniffs autumn provides.

Nature

Live, love, bark~ 🐾

Monday Musings ~ October 19, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 79 Comments

Happy Monday troops. Hope you had a great weekend. As I mentioned on Friday, our family welcomed a new great grandbaby. Kai Michael Mercer joined us Friday morning via c-section and we have been thrilled he’s adorable and beautiful at the same time after exhibiting a dangerously low heart rate. He’s fine now and learning what life outside the womb is all about. For those curious, Kai is a Hawaiian name which means ocean. It’s another homage to the parents’ love for the island where they met and lived for many years. You may recall Halia’s name means ‘in remembrance,’ so together the two kiddos honor their spiritual home.

Kai

Of course we are over the moon with this latest addition, it’s still Monday which means we start the week with a smile. Wishing you a fantastic week.

Monday smile

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ October 16, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 80 Comments

Wilson Welcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we join the Adventures of the LLB gang. Wilson here. After setting records for 10 of the first 11 days of October, autumn finally arrived this week and with the cooldown, we also received close to an inch of rain. The super El Niño we’ve been tantalized with by Nature actually provided a nice long rain shower over Tuesday and Wednesday. What a joy to be able to finally be able to measure moisture in inches instead of drops. And snow has hit the high country in the season’s first storm. Woohoo.

Wilson: Zzzz…mlem…oh hello. {Sleepily} Good morning. It’s still pretty dark outside and I’m feeling rather comfy here…yawn…while waiting for things to warm up. It’s currently 36F (2.2C) outside so this spot on the sofa is cozy and warm. We’re currently under a freeze warning until later this morning.

The Mum: Good Friday morning, House Pony…you plan on getting up any time soon?

Wilson: Only if there’s breakfast. It’s quite toasty here and I’m rather enjoying it.

The Mum: Well, I just made up your dish and it’s ready for…

Wilson: Bouncing up and racing into the kitchen. You don’t have to ask me twice.

The Mum: {snickering} I kinda thought you might be interested in food. I’ve never seen you turn any down. So what have you got for us this week?

Wilson: {nom, nom, nom} Umm, hang on a second {inhaling his breakfast}.

The Mum: Why don’t I get us started while you eat breakfast. A few days ago we were walking along the creek trail when I noticed a couple of coyote pups in the wilderness habitat  meadow area. They split up, one ran south, deep into the trees and the other one ran north across the trail. This pup stopped and turned to watch us. Isn’t he gorgeous? He looks nice and healthy. After a few seconds, he moved into the deep undergrowth.

Coyote pup

Wilson: Here’s the meadow he ran through. I wasn’t sure what to think. I think he felt the same way about me, Mum. Meadow in autumn The Mum: I love seeing them in person. I’d heard them earlier yipping just before dawn but hadn’t seen them along the trail for a while so this chance encounter was quite serendipitous.

Wilson: We had another encounter with a critter a couple of days later. Because it’s been so dry and warm, the canal has all but dried up. Not sure where the beaver went, but the raccoon was checking out his summer home. That little pile of sticks to the entrance of his little den can be seen in the lower right hand side.

Raccoon

The Mum: We’re finally seeing some leaves changing colors finally but it seems fairly apparent, this is not going to be a vibrant year for color]. So whenever I see a spot of color, I have to grab a shot of it. Wouldn’t you know it, I’m pretty sure it’s poison ivy. Well, we won’t be walking through that spot but will admire the color from the safety of the path.

Autumn

Wilson: Poison Ivy?? Yikes, Mum. Yeah, no, I won’t go sniffing for great smells there, rest assured.

The Mum: You got that right. There is a lot of wild things that we need to avoid but we sure feel lucky to be able to see stuff like wild animals and amazing flora right off the path.

Wilson: I know I can count on you to protect me, Mum. Well that’s it from us. We hope you have a marvelous weekend. Have any special plans? Whatever you do, we hope you are able to enjoy a beautiful autumn weekend.

The Mum: We are on baby watch, getting ready to welcome the second great grandbaby. Little Halia will be joined by a new brother. I’m beyond excited for my sweet granddaughter and the whole family. Just received word that they left for the hospital a little bit ago this morning. Squeals!

Nature

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ October 12, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 57 Comments

Welcome to Monday. Can’t believe the weekend is already over. There has been way too much to do lately with an ever increasing list of things to take care of, including servicing of the car with hours of waiting. While the following “model” will be serviced next week, I couldn’t resist turning him into today’s groan pun. Hope you enjoy a wonderful Monday.

Wilson - Fur-rari

Live, love, bark! 🐾