Life on the High Plains

Every January I assist with the 4-H Western Roundup in Denver, Colorado  This year I helped with both the horse bowl and horse judging contests.
About three years ago the events moved from a local hotel with multiple conference rooms to the Colorado State University (CSU) Spur campus.  The spur is a free, public, educational campus that focuses on water, food and health.  The campus features...

 If there's anything I can't resists it's big brown eyes.
This is the pup we rescued off the side of the highway nine or ten years ago after she'd been hit by a car.  She's been grateful every day since and I love her to pieces.

I volunteer at our local nature centers at least once every week.  Last week I was at Fountain Creek and the view of the pond was different to what I've seen before.
What in the world is causing those round spots?  I knew we didn't have bubblers out there to keep the water from freezing....

The very mild winter weather continues here on the high plains of Colorado.  We did experience a blast of artic air a couple weeks ago, but it passed on through and headed east.
On Sunday it was 60+ degrees so we loaded up the dogs and headed to our favorite nearby walking/hiking area.  The ponds are frozen over.  You probably can't see it in the above photo, but there's a basketball in the middle of the pond.  Thank goodness...