Connie in Ouray

 Every spring, my mother would say this ditty:  Spring has sprung, the grass has ris, I wonder where the flowers is.  Considering we're a bunch of grammar freaks, it still amazes me she could say this. Anyway...I saw some fish swimming in the pond a few days ago and no dead ones so far!  The ice is melting on the pond quickly, but the level is down about a foot.  Since we've only had 10 feet of snow up here on MFL, I'm curious what our summer is going to look like. Yesterday, I glanced out our kitchen window and saw Dempsey racing up the hill to the trail.  Out of the woods by the sheds, here came a coyote followed closely by Dempsey.  They then went up the trail again, down by the sheds, between 20 and 22, past the pond, and down the road.  What?!!  When Mike got home, I asked him if he thought I was nuts or if it was possibly a coyote.  He thought probably a coyote.  This morning, before I got up, there were five turkeys down in our aspen grove.  I haven't seen any be

 It's snowing but not accumulating as I write this.  We are now at 10 feet and two inches.  It snowed 10 inches on the 24th and another four on the 27th.  We continue to be slightly ahead of two years ago and three feet behind last year's epic snow totals. The ice park has officially closed, and the town is so nice and quiet.  I can find parking at the post office!  I figure we've got about four weeks until tourists start showing up, and we who travel Camp Bird Road daily get to take a deep breath. True Grit Mine

 With our last snowstorm, we hit 108 inches, nine feet.  We're still ahead of two years ago and behind last year.  We are really into mud season now, with snow melting fast and the ice park closing in a week.  They've posted that they're not doing any additional farming but working on maintenance only.  The parking lots are still full on weekends.  I've been snowshoeing a lot, and I've even gone to Ironton Park a few times.  I didn't realize how much fun it would be there, thinking that it was strictly for cross country skiing.  Now that the bears are coming out of hibernation, I'm not going anywhere into the woods by myself. Moose tracks! Last week, I went to Ridgway to walk the Uncompahgre River Trail with the dogs.  I'd started feeling a bit closed in and just wanted quantity over quality.  It was gorgeous as ever, and I saw a bald eagle!  It was just hanging out in a tree. And, finally, the new tire cover on our new-to-us Jeep:

 At just 94.5 inches, we are falling farther and farther behind.  The Gunnison water drainage, where we sit on the very most southern edge, is only at 96%.  No one expected last year's near recordbreaking totals.  It's March 2nd, and temps have been in the 50s. Our fisrst mud season has started. Rain - yes, rain! - is in the forecast for today, maybe some snow tomorrow.  Predictions are usually wrong, but they've been unusually wrong this year.   That said, I'm still able to get up snowshoeing, and it's still beautiful.  With the warmer temperatures, Mirabella and Dempsey have started going with me.  That blue sky!

 It has been WAY too warm for Ouray, highs in the 40s during the day, sometimes not getting below freezing at night.  While Mike was doing pothole repair on the bridge over the ice gorge, some climbers told him the ice is getting pretty soft.  We do have some chances of snow Monday night into Wednesday early morning, but at this point, it's hard to be hopeful.  Current snow total is 90.5 inches, seven and a half feet.  That's five inches ahead of two years ago and 31 inches below last year. Mike and I went up to Ironton Park on Wednesday, he to cross-country ski and me to snowshoe.  We were on different trails, and the one I took meandered in and out of the woods - oh, so pretty!  It was a pretty flat trail, and now that I'm more familiar, I'll take a more difficult one next time. We met our new neighbor a few nights ago.  Briggs Rigby is the young man renting Jason's (13) new tiny house.  He is a construction manager just out of college at LSU and working in Tellur

 We either get a lot of snow or a lot of sun.  We're currently at 85 inches, 30 more than two years ago, 20 less than last year.   All this means we've had lots of sun, mood brighteners if you will.  I've been taking advantage of the trail we've made up Veenstra's trail and snowshoeing about every other day.  Alex and Dustin were out yesterday skiing.  There's really no way to describe the serenity of those woods, but you've all experienced it.   I just know this is an animal's bedroom Coming into Ridgway last week