Connie in Ouray

 We have a lot of smoke in the area from wildfires burning west of us.  It blew in last night and is still with us today.  Most of those wildfires, including the two at Black Canyon the Gunnison, were caused by dry lightning strikes.  I'm still keeping my important things together.

Between having norovirus June 21st - what a nasty virus! - and coming home from Seattle with covid July 2nd, which I now have passed on to Mike, it feels like life stresses are catching up to me.  That said, Seattle was really fun, especially since there are mountains.  Life in Ouray continues to be a love/hate with tourists - love the money they spend, don't particularly like having to dodge them on Main Street all the time.  I've been pretty isolated with those viruses, so when I do get to town, it's shocking to see so.many.people! Firefighters and other emergency personnel did a remarkable job getting and keeping the fire up Red Mountain Pass contained.  Since there wasn't a cloud in the sky, preliminary report is human-caused.   We will keep our to-go pile current and available until snowfall. There is the cutest fawn hanging out with its mom right around the Radles' house.  I got to see it yesterday, and it still has its spots.   No Oura...

 There is a wildfire burning up Red Mountain Pass near the avalanche shed.  The highway is closed from Ouray to Ironton Park.  Not that I'm particularly worried about this fire, but it looks like it's going to be a long, hot summer, perfect for wildfires.  Mike and I are accumulating in one spot items we need to take on a moment's notice, important papers, meds, food for Dempsey, anything that is irreplaceable.   Scary stuff but the price we pay for living in paradise. Mineral Farms Lane has been graded and gravel spread.  There is more to come on the upper part of the road, but for now, it's so much more driveable.  Mike, the pothole man, is happy. Camp Bird Road is open past Engineer Pass, but last I heard, it is not open on the Telluride side.  That could have changed in the last few days. I got out our plat map the other day, because I'd forgotten the names of our two ponds.  The upper pond is Miser's Dream Lake, and the lower is Mis...

 After last week's rainy days, we're now into full sunshine and warm temperatures.  Everything is fully leafed out, and wildflowers are blooming.  Unfortunately, deer have eaten my blooming and almost blooming columbines, so I'm not a happy camper.  This is our fifth summer on MFL and the first time this has happened.  I hate the thought of putting up fencing around my wildflowers, but I'm going to miss those columbines so much.   And speaking of wild, we have a new neighborhood pine marten, and he/she is making a mess of the dumpster.  Dustin got the surprise of his life last week when he opened it up and the little bugger jumped out at him.  Steve has taped shut the drainage hole on the dumpster so the monster can't drag trash out and leave it for the bears.  He/she is impossibly cute but research says they are mean. Town is hopping, and I don't know if most of you know that there is very short-term parking behind the post office, acce...

 Time flies fast when you're having fun.  I'm back from the Jersey Shore, where spending time with my sibs and assorted others is a lot for this introvert.  Laughter and self-deprecation are the default for my sibs and me, making it so much fun. Mike and I have been algae hunting in the lower pond.  We weren't able to finish up last fall because of my impending foot surgery, so we started last week.  I think we have it all, but we'll stay on top of whatever shows up. The flowers are blooming, along with what my father called "the children's flower," dandelions.  It's a different way of looking at what we think of as weeds.  Mike and I were up the trail on Thursday, and the pasqueflowers have bloomed and are now replaced with yellow, purple, and white flowers.   Barb and I went up today - she's trying to get her mountain legs under her - and even more are blooming. Oh, and a bear!                ...

Sunday night, we got an inch of snow, bringing our season total to 138.5 inches, and it was well below freezing two nights in a row - flowers in!  Looking back, this isn't the latest we've had measurable snow.  May 21, 2022, we had 2.5 inches of snow.  I'm so happy I've kept track the past four winter seasons.   Camp Bird Road is being worked on hard this week, with flaggers and machines, lots of gravel, potholes gone, the area of damage repaired.  I don't know how long they'll be on the road, but I am grateful for all the repairs.  It was getting bad! I found out just today that there was a bear attack in Ouray last Friday night into Saturday.  A woman was walking home behind the Beaumont when she came across a bear with three cubs.  She survived after screaming for help but had to be taken to the hospital in Montrose.  Mike claims there are more bear problems in town that up here in Mineral Farms. The pond is filling up nicely, but we ...