Welcome to the last Friday of 2023. In many ways, we’re glad to see the end of the year, in other ways, it’s impact firmly holds in place by some of the sadder moments we endured. Either way, 2024 is ready to enter the scene with a fresh clean slate for us, ready or not. As always we’re joining our pals, Rosy and Sunny for their Nature Friday blog. Click on the link to see what other have shared.
Elsa: Well Mom, I don’t know about you, but I’m still tuckered out after Santa Paws managed to drop by despite what Nature delivered. She sure was in a bad mood this past week. But we made it to the end of the year so I guess there’s that. Guess we showed her, huh?
Elsa: {continuing} What began as a forecasted blizzard on Christmas Eve was nothing compared to the one you experienced back in 1982, was it, Mom?
The Mom: Exactly, it didn’t snow as much as back then, but the 50-65 mph winds that came with this storm didn’t exactly make me want to try to drive in it after spending the holiday with my Dad and family in southeastern Colorado. We stayed a few days longer until the system moved out of the state. After checking the forecast and seeing the mess out there with traffic around Monument Hill (that so called ‘mountain’ pass between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs, elevation 7,352 feet (2,241 m), I decided my cargo, (i.e. you) was just way too precious to risk getting into an accident. Besides, just sitting in traffic with hundreds of other cars didn’t seem like a great way to spend the day after all the warm fuzzies and fun we enjoyed over Christmas with the family. Here’s a traffic cam image we found showing the northbound lane backed up on I-25 after an accident. Miles and miles of cars, just sitting there once the storm began to clear out.
Elsa: Yeah, it was hard enough just going outside to sniff and potty, between the windy conditions and cold, I kept losing track of what I was supposed to do. Hey, did you realize that snow enhances bunny trail scents? That part was awesome but kind of distracted me somewhat.
The Mom: Yeah, don’t remind me about your 4:30 AM wakeup call to go outside on Christmas Eve in the dark and then you deciding it would be a good idea to sniff around a while for heaven only knows what.
Elsa: Heh, heh…so you weren’t too appreciative of my Goldilocks imitation? {in a sing songy voice} “This spot is too hard, this spot is too soft, this spot is…”)
The Mom: {interrupting} Please. don’t. remind. me. I was hoping you’d quickly do your thing so we could get back inside since I hadn’t put my gloves on and was rather surprised you dallied so long sniffing around thereby forgetting what you were supposed to do.
Elsa: Maybe that’ll teach you for trimming my furs…still you should know by now, pottying is a serious endeavor for me. It has to be just the right place in order for me to move ahead and get straight down to business.
The Mom: I’m keenly aware of how you…ahem…shall we just say, are a bit ‘discerning’ as to where you ‘go.’
Elsa: Just because where you go may not be as important; it is for us dogs, since ours had lots of info for everyone who follows and read our pawprints. So if you’d be so kind as to lighten up, I’d be grateful.
The Mom: Umm, remember that you’re a poodle, not a Bloodhound and your name is NOT Sherlock Bones.
Elsa: Pfft, as if that matters. And for the record, my nose is as good as ANY hound, blood or otherwise.
The Mom: I see we’re going to wrap up the end of the year once again with agreeing to disagree. Which, when you think about it, is like every year I suppose.
Elsa: Yeah…well, it’s not a problem for me-so you’d might want to adopt a similar approach, it might help lower your blood pressure…just chill out, Mom. Besides, you only took one nature photo this week to share, although it was an ok one, all things considered. I do like how the sunrise pointed to Rudolph on the flag.
The Mom: Just so everyone knows, you weren’t all that keen on wanting to wander around outside while the wind was blowing snow sideways. It sure beat the images we found off the ‘Net regarding the storm {shiver}. Besides, Pikes Peak and all the other nearby landmarks were completely covered in thick cloud cover, and walks searching for critters or wide open landscapes were out of the question, what with the windchill and all. I think everyone, uprights and wildlife alike, hunkered down where they lived. Even the donkeys were huddled together in their barn and I could barely see them anyway. Check out these videos showing coverage from a Denver news station as well as one from a Colorado Springs station (with apologies for the ads, sheesh do news stations ever post anything these days without ads that seem to last longer than their stories?). The reporter from the Springs station might be looking for a TV series because he goes on for a long time reading updates from viewers, going on for about 10 minutes yet the ice was real.
https://www.9news.com/embeds/video/responsive/73-c1806c76-2711-456a-8c2b-ca6314002eb1/iframe
Elsa: Mmm…you got me there. Let’s end this year with lots of gratitude for all our readers and wishing them a pawsome New Year. We hope 2024 will be bright, prosperous and filled with much happiness.
The Mom: Nicely put, Ninja. May your New Year be a wondrous adventure shared with friends and family and especially filled with loads of snuggles, cuddles or purrs with your fur baby(ies).
Elsa: Happy New Year. Don’t forget to check out what Nature offers-you just never know when you’ll see something nicely highlighted. Stay warm.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Welcome to the first full day of Winter following yesterday’s Solstice. While the days are short, and in this season, it’s easy to get your tinsel in a tangle, but it’s also a magical time of year with ‘Santa Paws’ arriving in just a few days. As always we’re joining Rosy and Sunny at 
Well, well, well…sports fans…another Friday is here so now we’re just 10 days from Santa Paws’ arrival. Elsa here ready to share a few (and by a few, I do mean few…my editorial staff photographer has been busy with Christmas preparations and hasn’t taken too many pics lately-I dunno know…seems like a lame excuse to me). And those she did take should probably be taken with a grain of salt as “nature” shots. Her idea of nature and mine are clearly different. Anyway for the record Santa, in case you’re listening…I’ve been good. Oh alright, let’s get real here, I tried real hard-that’s gotta count, right? But I can guarantee I was stellar during this year’s Christmas photo shoot as you can see above. Lots of different hats were plunked on my head and I 
🎵 Oh give me a home…where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play…🎶…oh, hi,ya remember me? Elsa here and after a long time away, I’m back from the Thanksgiving Day break visiting Mom’s Dad in Southern Colorado. It wasn’t intended to be extended but Mom was kinda stranded with poor cell phone coverage and no Wi-Fi. I don’t know what Wi-Fi is but it spun my Mom into a real tizzy. She’s not a techno-wizard type and really had a hard time dealing with all the behind-the-scenes machinations of getting everything back to normal and restoring the network so to say she was stressed out was an understatement, but I came to her rescue providing just the kind of Ninja support she needed…but no I didn’t chew anything up. After working 87 hours and a few days on getting the network up and running with lots of crossed paws…we think everything is ok. We’ll be talking with Grandpa later this morning to make sure nothing fell through the cracks.
