Surprise!

I'm back!

Forsythia

I covet my neighbor's forsythia bushes. They have about 6 huge bushes that one doesn't notice throughout the entire year until spring when they are a huge wall of yellow flowers.

Because the house has been vacant for a few years, and because the bank is clearly taking over ownership from the latest house flipper that has tried to rehab it, and because I walk on the wild side (I'm practially a CIA operative. I'm surprised they haven't contacted me for a mission yet.) I went over and "borrowed" about 8 shoots to "recycle" in our yard.

My heart was almost to my throat the whole time. Judging by the tingling in my right ear, someone was staring right at it. I have an uncanny way of sneaking around an area the exact minute that the owner shows up. Anyway, the mission was successful. I am safely back to base camp. The shoots are in a bucket of water right now.

I'm going to try to emulate that row of forsythia bushes along the side of our yard. Success is not imminent, but when you are basically in the black ops nothing is for sure.

Elk

We went to the animal enclosure at Lake Jacomo a couple weeks ago. It is a huge area, which is divided into a couple sections. One section has elk and another section has bufflo. Even though they are fenced in, they have a lot of room to roam, shelter from harsh weather and good feed. They even get CARROTS on occasion. These noble creatures are crazy for carrots.

Turkey in the backyard

We have about 17 wild turkey that cruise through the neighborhood eating corn that most of the neighbors toss into their backyards. This glamour girl had just finished a little corn in our backyard when she saw me. The breeze is blowing her little beard, or necktie, out to the left. She is positively windswept. Like the Farrah Fawcett of the turkey world, really.

Fleece blanket

I have one craft that I am pretty good at...making these little fleece blankets. So everytime someone has a baby, I make them one. They are so cozy and soft. Babies seem to like them. This one was for a co-worker.

I have a big one. It was the first one I made. My mom bought the fleece for me. It has rosebuds on it. Since Rose was my maiden name, I like it alot.

Crocus

The crocus begin to bloom in our yard each March. Even though there is usually a lot of cold weather left, it is a big relief to see them. Makes it seem like Spring might actually arrive one day after all.

Old Faithful

Check out this new webcam, hosted by Canon, at Yellowstone National Park.

www.nps.gov/yell/photosmultimedia/yellowstonelive.htm
Click on "Launch Old Faithful Geyser Live!—Video WebCam"

It shows streaming images of Old Faithful and the surrounding geysers. It is actually operated by a person, so if not much is going on with OF, it will pan over to show another geyser erupting. If you didn't already know, the area surrounding OF is some of the most geothermally active territory in the world, rivaled only by parts of Iceland. So there is plenty to see from just this one webcam

I know OF is considered cliche by snotty intellectual types, associated with throngs of tourists, who talk loud, litter and allow their spoiled children to kick wildlife, but I think it is one the coolest things I have ever seen. Even with the tourists, it is cool.

The great secret of Old Faithful is that you can watch it with noone around, even in high tourist season, if you just go toward the end of the evening or early morning. This is easy to do if you stay in the geyser area. After nightfall, you can't see it erupt at all even though it is only a couple hundred yards away. For something that seems so familiar, the darkness of night is a reminder of how remote it really is. For a large part of the year it is only accessible by snowcat vehicles, park staff, snowshoers. It is really only visited by large crowds for 3 months of the year.