Mule Deer

We’ve seen the mule deer often this week. Here a buck is scratching his antlers against the dead branches of a bush and digging a hole. We couldn’t decide if the hole was the result of scratching his antlers, or if he was trying to dig.

One morning after I’d put birdseed out for the birds this buck appeared. He kept pushing the feeder with his nose until he figured out how to tip it enough for seed to fall out into his mouth. Several Stellar’s Jays, a rabbit, and two chipmunks searched the ground around the deer picking up the seeds that fell.

Another deer showed up and stared up at Tad as if to ask for more.

Our Heroes

At the boys’ school they had a Heroes Wall outside of the cafeteria for Veterans’ Day. Kids posted information about the person they knew in the service and then the second grade decorated around the pictures with eagles. Justin’s eagle looked regal.

Grant wrote about cousin Jim. Jim was in the Navy, went to Vietnam on the carrier USS Ranger and was assigned to Attack Squadron 155. He flew an A-4F Skyhawk from the carrier on missions to drop bombs in Vietnam. Jim was an Ensign when he joined the squadron and had acquired the rank of Lieutenant by the time he left the service. One fact we all thought unbelievable was his original training was to fly at 100 feet at 360 MPH using only a map—that takes focus!

Justin wrote about Granddaddy Howard. He was a photographer in World War I. He took pictures on bi-planes on the ground with people walking on the wings while smiling. Then he edited the photo so it looked like the plane was flying; very good advertisement for the Army. When Granddad was in the service he was stationed at Fort Dick, which was part of the Fair Grounds. He met Grandma while he was hitchhiking from base

Halloween

Trick or Treating in downtown Evergreen is a big event. In the foothills there are lots of people that don’t live in neighborhoods with rows of houses so the merchants downtown setup candy stations at their door and hundreds of families walk along the sidewalks.

We saw Frankenstein who was over 7 feet tall walking on stilts, werewolves with long fangs wearing torn flannel shirts, Winnie the Pooh, a giant iPod, a basket of dirty clothes, a head on a plate, and lots of unidentified characters covered in fake blood.

The bank gave out fake money, the taffy shop gave free samples, the animals shelter gave away puppies and duck calls. The duck calls could be heard down both sides of the street keeping the kids busy as they waited in line to get into the next shop.

In the late 1800s rich residents of Denver developed downtown Evergreen so they’d have places to eat and things to do when they visited the natural beauty of the area. They left one side of the short strip with its original two levels; the bottom one for hitching up your horse, and stairs leading up to the stores above. Thank goodness ski resorts to the west have grown up- Winter Park and Vail to name two- and now the rich of Denver don’t overrun Evergreen. Hoorah for progress, which brought money to our town, helped it grow, and then moved on!

Today Evergreen is still one of the first towns west of Denver in the foothills of the Rockies. Leaving Denver the land is flat, 30 minutes later you enter a valley surrounded by mountains. You don’t even need to get out of the car to see wildlife. Elk and mule deer wander the town, and bear and fox can be seen once off the road.

A persistent reminder of man are the many Harley bikers that cruise the area and then stop at the bars downtown that offer beer and food, and seating along the river running through town. For the most part the bikers look like a tame bunch, the older crowd out for a drive.

At Christmas time there will be a walk through downtown so we’ll be back for the festivities. And this time we’ll know to get their early to find a parking place, or park around the lake and hike over.

Snow is back!

We woke up to light snow and paw prints on the deck. We're wondering what might have come to visit.

Today the snow is pretty because it is blowing around in the wind and if you don’t look at the ground the trees give the impression the ground would be covered in white.

While the boys are at the school the snow powder starts and stops; is blown away, and then the next round starts. Because it is sunny the snow melts and then freezes in the trees and on the grass.

After school the wind comes up, the boys look out the window and see a mule deer running in the back yard. Two more deer join in, all bucks with wide racks. Like big dogs they chase each other up and down the hill, kicking up snow. The take turns locking antlers and pushing one another down the hill. The largest of the group sees us, runs up the hill, and stands under the window staring at us. He doesn’t appear upset; maybe curious??? We are definitely curious. He continues to play up and down the hill, often stopping for a few seconds to look at us.

For perhaps five minutes the deer take turns playing with each other and scratching their antlers against any tree they can engage. When four more bucks appear and they all take off into the meadow behind our house.

P.S. Sunday we stop at a park to look at the field of ice and ask a park ranger about our deer. She said, “I bet they are just acting like teenagers.”

Gardening?

This summer Justin grew tomatoes. The plant was healthy and flowered, but it took all summer to grow three of them because nights are too cool for the plants to produce well.

Here is a photo of the largest of the three. All were beautiful, bright red fruits with no blemishes. The flavor was wonderful so we cut them into small pieces, added a little vinaigrette and ate them slowly.

We filled clay pots with dirt from our flowerbed and added flowers, herbs, and vegetables to sit on the deck. We heard from our neighbors that the deer and elk eat most of what you plant so we began filling the deck first. Then one day we had a squirrel eat several large holes in the new umbrella Mr. Jim gave us to shade our table on the deck. We wondered if the deck would be safe, but our experiment was in motion so we continued to plant.

Besides tomatoes Grant had luck with strawberries. They too were miniatures with a lot of taste. The only crop we didn’t have luck with was bell peppers. The plant blossomed and a beautiful pepper began, but somewhere along the way it decided to give up and stop growing. Parsley, chives and oregano grew with gusto—plenty for our salads, pizza, and to freeze. Next summer we’ll put our small garden in a little red wagon and pull them in at night. Or perhaps we’ll cover our flowerbed so the plants won’t be eaten and it will be warm at night. Or maybe a greenhouse. Probably the grocery store.

Grocery stores all sell flowers and they are really cheap. The weather is dry and the sun hot, so the stores don’t want to keep watering them a couple of times a day for long. After a couple of weeks, the sale signs appear. Reading on the Internet, talking to neighbors and friends we decide to plant a few bargains- rosemary, red salvia and chrysanthemums. Since all have a bitter taste the consensus is they are pretty safe.

One morning I looked out the kitchen window to see the back end of an elk standing in the flowerbed. She didn’t eat anything, but she was definitely curious. A couple of times a week I’d find several plants pulled out of the ground. Continuing this dance throughout the summer- she’d pulled them out of the ground and I’d plant them back.

The hummingbirds liked the red salvia. Tiny darting iridescent green bodies would travel from one to another. I added a hummingbird feeder and our house was officially added as one of their summer stops. If I forgot to add syrup to the feeder one particular hummingbird would hunt me down. Sitting on the deck reading a shadow would appear over my shoulder. Then the little green bird would fly in front of me, dipping a couple of times before taking off to the feeder. How strange that something so tiny could be so persistent.

Something else liked the salvia, but we never saw what it was. One or two blossoms a day would vanish in a line.

This winter I’ll read about plants for the foothills. Part of our yard is high desert. There are rocks and cactus (not pointy), wildflowers, lots of grasses, lichen, and flowering shrubs. Add a heavy sprinkling of lesser chipmunks, Stellar Jays, and nuthatches and you have our view out back. Maybe I won’t grow vegetables.

First Snow of the Season

Today after the boys left for school the snow started, by 10am there was an inch covering the grass. Yesterday the temperature was in the 60s, the ground is warm so wherever there is gravel there is no snow, but looking out into the backyard the scene is winter. And with 39 degrees it feels like winter.

Several times flakes came down that were so large they were bumping into each other, morphing into icy lace. Other times the snow was so small it looked like rain. In either case the flakes came fast and the temperature didn’t climb as the weatherman said.

Tad built a fire in the fireplace 15 minutes before the school bus was due. We put on our coats, headed outside, and found the snow had just stopped. Five minutes later the snow starts again fast and steady as the boys get off the bus. We watch the bare patches in the grass greedily soak up the new as we walk to the house.

At 5pm there is snow everywhere, 2 to 3 inches. The boys have talked Tad into taking the sleds into the backyard and trying out a slope or two.

The weather forecast says the temperature will be 31 degrees tonight, so tomorrow we may be greeting the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of fall dressed in white.

Justin Makes $28

Today Justin had 7 baby teeth pulled to make room for new permanent teeth. Looking at the picture you can see they had some big roots. You can also see we left them untouched—blood still intact.

First the dentist gave him laughing gas and let him watch Shrek on a big screen television mounted on the ceiling. After about 30 minutes Justin was smiling pretty big and didn’t seem too concerned about having teeth pulled even though it was the first time.

The dentist deadened his whole mouth since the seven teeth were pretty equally spaced throughout his mouth. Then in less than 30 minutes that seemed to me like 2 hours the dentist pulled all the teeth, put them in a big plastic tooth, and gave us instructions so we could go home.

As we paid Justin stood by the office door. He said, “I’m not in pain now, but it hurt several times, the cotton wads in my mouth are bloody, and I’d like to go home.”

We were home by 10:30am and taking to heart the number one instruction: watch Justin so he doesn’t bite his cheek because the deadening feels weird and he might chew on himself checking it out. Since the shot was to wear off by noon this was an easy job. All the cotton wads came out, Justin had soda and relaxed about half an hour. He wasn’t sleepy so I got out the craft kit I’d got as a surprise. He stitched three pictures from Eric Carle books in no time with his shoelace sewing kit.

By the time Grant got home from school at 4pm Justin looked as if he’d never had surgery. Wow, talk about fast healing-- he’s talking about eating pizza this weekend.