Impression Evergreen

"Indian Peaks Winter" Colored Pencil The Indian Peaks are buried under deep snow on a cold, December morning. The evergreens appear black during the winter as they contrast starkly against the fresh, white snow. Navajo, Apache and Shoshoni Peaks take on a golden hue that compliments the bright, blue sky. It's the perfect time to be snowshoeing through the pristine basin, one of my favorite places in Colorado. Recent glacial action has sculpted the young mountains unveiling serrated ridges and an intimidating shark's teeth profile. The place was sacred to the Paleo-Indian people who traversed the high alpine passes thousands of years ago. Not long ago, the Arapaho tribe would migrate up from the eastern plains during the warmer months to hunt and fish in the bountiful area. To honor those early inhabitants, many of the peaks are named after western, Native American tribes. Seven summits are over 13,000 feet and more than 50 turquoise lakes dot the landscape. T...

"Abert's Squirrel" Colored Pencil Exhibiting no fear of heights, an Abert's Squirrel is perched on a limb high above the forest floor. It's a warm spring morning and the cautious squirrel needs to collect pinecones for an early breakfast. The large, bushy tail and long ear tufts are the distinctive features of this endearing creature. Compared to the rowdy, little red squirrel, who thinks it owns the forest, the Abert's is quite charming. A story about the simple life of a squirrel may seem tedious but we can learn much from its interesting and complex partnership with the ponderosa pine tree. Also known as the tassel-eared squirrel, it is strictly confined to ponderosa pine forests. The tree provides not only a home but also most of its diet. In exchange for food and shelter, the squirrel spreads fungal spores around the tree that are beneficial to the pine's health. The squirrel has to manage its fragile resource wisely because if the exploitati...

The Liebster Blog Award probably originated in Germany A couple of weeks ago I learned that my friend Judi Salzillo from 50 & Fabulous nominated Impression Evergreen for a Liebster Award. What's the Liebster Award you may ask? The Liebster is a form of special recognition that bloggers bestow upon their fellow bloggers. A way for us to share the work of our favorite independent publishers. The tradition appears to have originated in Germany and keeps plugging along like some kind of indestructible chain letter. If you choose to accept the award there are some tasks that must be completed to make it official. Here are the rules as Judi explained them to me. 1.  Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you. 2.  Answer the 11 questions from the nominator, list 11 random facts about yourself and create 11 questions for your nominees. 3.  Present the Liebster Blog Award to 11 blogs of 200 fol...

"Search and Rescue" by Dustin Miller Guest post by Dustin Miller On May 22, 2011 an F5 tornado hit the small city of Joplin, Missouri. It cut a path a half-mile wide and destroyed one third of the city. More than 150 people perished in the catastrophe. I live about five miles south of Joplin but I was lucky to be excluded from the tornado's path. During the time the tornado was wreaking its havoc, I was unaware of what was actually happening. I stepped outside and all I saw was black sky to the north. I ran inside to turn on the news. I not only witnessed the tornado live but I also began to realize the magnitude of the situation. I could not believe the destruction I viewed on television. I felt so bad for the people in Joplin that I wanted to go help. However, the authorities kept stating that they did not want anyone coming into the city. It was too dangerous and there were too many people there already. I felt horrible because there was nothing I could do to ...