One of our Bullock's Orioles with an identity crisis...
Life continues on and I just don't know where the days go. Summer is just fantastic...warm days and cool nights for sleeping. Although we've been in the 90's on a regular basis, almost every afternoon the black clouds come tearing down from the mountains and with them come a fantastic breeze and occasionally rain. Somewhere to the north of us gets rain on a regular basis but almost daily for us the winds ramp up and the clouds drop the temps from 90's down anywhere from the 60's to the 80's...it is fantastic to feel thirty degrees shaved off in a half an hour. That is when we retire to the front porch after grilling dinner for a little sit down.
Speaking of that...
The front porch is where our 'feeding station' resides. The birds love it and the word is out. Multiple hummingbirds visit the feeder as do the orioles, as can be seen above. The suet feeder is attractive to most everyone else including sparrows, finches, quail, and so on. The quail now have babies, little two inch critters running about. The birds are becoming accustomed to us sitting on the porch and are beginning to visit the feeders regardless of our presence.
Thankfully, we've found that the rattlesnakes are not that bold. While doing some landscaping today, a small (18") rattlesnake came out of the bushes and promptly turned around and went another direction. That was a much appreciated gesture. But it's a good reminder for us to be vigilant.
Farmer's Market
Pueblo holds its Farmer's Market on Thusday from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm from late June to late August. Along the Arkansas river, vendors set up and we enjoy. The riverwalk is lined with watermelon, tomatoes, squash, corn on the cob...all fresh and local. Other vendors sell homemade jellies and jams, local honey, and some fabulous tamales. There's nothing like heading downtown to the Riverwalk after work and grabbing a few tamales, sitting on a bench and eating one hot and fresh, then shopping for the week's produce. There's not much better.
Historic Arkansas Riverwalk, downtown Pueblo, CO
Technology Plays Hide & Seek
We got a weird kick in the pants from technology... after a long period of resisting valiantly, we gave in and signed up for Facebook. Not long after, we were flooded with people we hadn't been in contact with for ages...one of them being B's old roommate from about 13 years ago. He and his family just so happened to be vacationing about half an hour away and so we got together for a cookout. It was fantastic to catch up and after such a long time of not seeing one another, it was like old times...easy conversation and lots of laughs.
What's Next???
Next week, weather permitting, we plan another trip up into the wilderness. Somewhere east of Salida there is lots of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land where we can park and hike with no one else, pure wild. I'm sure we'll get lots of photo and video... to be posted soon
For now, I'll leave you with a very short clip of lightning from a storm a few nights ago...
