Connie in Ouray

 It's been a hard day as I've come to the realization that some wonderful hiking trails are gone.  I'm thrilled that no lives nor structures have been lost.  I'm less than thrilled with my anxiety level every time I see a whiff of smoke.  Maybe PTSD from the 2012, 2013 forest fires in Colorado Springs. Some photos from today: my panic tonight - this view from Camp Bird Road appeared to be a new flare-up Looking north, a clear delineation between clear sky and smoke from us all the way  to Grand Junction Leaving Montrose, all that smoke was my first  clear realization those hiking trails were gone Firefighters are heroes!  Can you imagine climbing this to get to the hotspot with all that equipment?  Picture is at Whispering Pines Bridge

  from our deck Helicopter!!

 I'm posting everything I know through email posts.

 I have never really suffered from seasonal allergies, but this year is biting me.  Grass pollen is high, trees moderate, so I think the grass must be getting to me.  My doctor advised me to throw everything at it, Claritin, Flonase, Astepro, and I'm keeping the house closed up.  The wind is not helping a bit. Bear activity in the neighborhood seems to be on the rise.  We had two or three of them wandering around our house the other night, and I chalked that up to the outdoor meat grilling we had done.  Aaron and Marchelle have had two bear encounters at their house, both scary.  Bear aware. And we all know know the water issues we're facing on Mineral Farms Lane.  So many have been involved in trying to solve this issue without costing us three quarters of a million dollars, but our options are few.   Mike has been spreading pheromone packets around town with the help of the Ouray Trail Group.  Supposedly, when the pine beetles are...

 I've had a cold the past 10 days, but I finally got out Saturday, and town was jammed with people.  I know, I know, it's Memorial Day weekend, but I'm not prepared for tourists yet.  We want them, but they are so.much.trouble! Mike and I hiked up to the overlook early afternoon.  I'm trying to build my endurance after that cold - it seems to get harder as I get older - and the wildflowers are blooming.  We saw aspen daisies, sedum, larkspur, ragwort and sandwort, pussy toes.  The pasqueflowers are all spent.  There are a lot of dandelions, which my dad called "the children's flower."  Since then, I haven't been able to look at them any other way.

 Two inches of accumulation this morning brings us to a whopping 94 inches for the season.   We have had our two hummingbird feeders out for the past three weeks or so, and Mike is having to refill the feeders almost daily.  We've seen about seven at one time.   Marchelle sent me a picture of a bear above the movie set mine a few days ago.  She said it was medium size, but it looked huge to me.  That could be because Sequoia and Mango were with here.  Bear aware - tis the season!