Welcome to Friday where we join our friends from Adventures of the LLB Gang with glimpses of Nature from around our urban ‘Hood as well as Southern Colorado. With the official arrival of Spring on the calendar a mere two weeks away, there are more subtle signs that the landscape is beginning to wake up. Hi, there, just us two Ranch Hand editors sharing a few scenes from around the area.
Norman: So Mum’s sister from Texas came to visiting their Dad in Southern Colorado so we came down for a few days to visit and wanted to share some sights from life in the 719 as well as a few scenes from earlier in week from the Big City. Plus I know my Grandpa absolutely adores me and was especially concerned after I was sick last week. He needed to make sure I was in tip-top shape.
Elsa: You’re still milking that pancreatitis thing, aren’t you? Life around the Ranch has been windy and dry so Mom is keeping her eagle eyes peeled for signs of color. She squealed when she saw these tiny crocuses between the sidewalk and lawn. That’s definitely a sign that Spring is on its way, right?
Norman: Cute little buggers, aren’t they? With such a nice pop of purple, it made them fairly easy to spot but Mum thinks most people just walk past them because they so tiny.
Elsa: Right about that, brother. But you know what Mom says about Spring Bulbs?
Norman & Elsa {barked in two part harmony and in unison}: DON’T LET YOUR PET EAT ANY SPRING BULBS-THEY’RE TOXIC TO US 4-LEGGED FUR BABIES.
Norman: Mum took us for a walk a couple of days ago before heading south Mum spied this grass seed head. It was rather stunning against the wooden fence. All those lovely shades of tawny brown.
Elsa: {interrupting} You just wanted to sniff it, you could care less about how it looks!
Norman: Ahem…that’s not completely true. I’ll have you know I can appreciate an interesting picture as much as the next bloke.
Elsa: {giggling} Right. You keep telling yourself stuff like that, maybe one day you’ll actually believe it.
Norman: I rather do believe it now, thank you very much. Not everything is about the neighborhood pee bulletin board, I’ll have you know, little sister.
Elsa: Uh-huh…sure. Whatever.
Norman: {moving along} Did you know this week we had a Full Moon? Seems as though it was the third and final full Moon for the northern hemisphere’s winter season which took place and fell on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Did you know it’s referred to as the “Worm Moon” in some parts of the world because of the ground temperatures are warming allowing earthworms to come to the surface. Mum didn’t have her big camera so only was able to take this shot with her cell phone.
Elsa: It won’t win any Pulitzer prize, but it was interesting how the clouds seemed to pull back with the Moon in the middle, almost like a curtain, so I guess that’s kinda cool.
Norman: Very cool. So let’s share some of the sights we saw once we arrived at Grandpa’s house. The sunsets and sunrises are always quite stunning and Mum never tires of seeing them on the prairie. Check out this sunset shortly after we arrived. Is this a great country or what?
Elsa: Yeah, the sunsets are only surpassed by the sunrises. Mom really likes that time of day…it’s quiet and you can’t beat the colors. Especially against all the brown that tends to dominate the scenery this time of year. Check out this progression of light. This series started when it was fairly dark. But chilly.
Norman: You can say that again. 22ºF but when a mate has to go…well it makes you do your business and then trolly back into the house quickly.
Elsa: Us girls may have stronger bladders than you boys, although I can practically pee on demand whenever I go outside.
Norman: No need to remind me. Sunrise didn’t take long. Check out the next pic.
Elsa: Those are some pretty colors over the Greenhorn Mountains. And you can still see a few spots of snow on some of those peaks.
Norman: It was quite the trio of sunrise pics. Here’s the last one of the series. The sun came up fairly quickly after that. And I noticed Mum managed to capture a shot with the moon hanging over the mountains.
Elsa: Well, as they say in Hollywood, that’s a wrap. We hope you have a terrific weekend. Make sure you can get outside and see what Nature is dishing up.
Norman: Cheerio, mates!
Live, love, bark! 🐾