It's been a while.

As my many reader (that's not a typo) have no doubt noticed, it's been a while since my last post. That's due to a couple of reasons. One, my ability to connect to the 'Net did not exist for nearly the last week due to a Qwest-purchased DSL modem that is no longer under warranty that failed. Qwest was happy to replace the modem, for SIXTY! bucks, but at least the new modem is twice as fast as the old one, so I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. Two, I refuse to live for a blog, as so many others seem to do. I'll post when I feel like it, but cyberspace doesn't rule my life, and I feel sad for those who allow it to. Pahnyahtnah (Russian for understood)?

On Monday, June 25, I went to help a friend realize his dream in southern Colorado. This friend, whom I'll call Roger, bought some land outside of La Veta and is building a house on it. While building it, he's been living in a rented cabin with all of his worldly possessions. I went to help him move some of his heavier goods (furniture, large, free-standing power tools, etc.). When I left on Wednesday, we had moved the majority of the items that required the attention of more than one person into his partially-completed home. Mission accomplished.

Redoubtable Roger's Retreat

I also went to the area to do a little solo camping, but the weather was uncooperative, a not-too-unusual occurrence in Colorado, so that didn't happen. Maybe it's just me, but I don't enjoy heavy rain while camping.

One bright spot, though, aside from the friendly visit, was seeing my first bear in the wild. While taking a scenic drive through the area mountains and valleys, I spotted a wide, black form about 150 yards to my right in a field. I quickly pulled over and, sure enough, it was a bear. I snatched the camera and snapped a photo and then traded the camera for my binocular. What appeared to be an ink-black black bear from a distance turned out to be a dark-brown black bear with a wide arse and body (I mean female-Wal-mart-shopper wide) and a tan muzzle. The bear was on the very edge of the field, near the forest line, and he only stayed exposed for perhaps a minute, then he waddled into the woods. Although I've never seen a black bear in the flesh, save the zoo, I've seen enough hunting photos of harvested black bears to know that this was a large, mature bear. I count myself lucky to have seen this animal.

See the bear? I took the photo and I can't, but he's there, somewhere, right of center.

Take care,
DAL357