Impression Evergreen

Fawn One of the things I love about living in the mountains is observing the wildlife. We routinely see elk and deer grazing in the townsite. The highlight of every spring is the mule deer doe that comes back to the yard and gives birth to twin fawns. They must feel safe in this locale because they hang out here all summer long. The fawns are up and moving almost immediately as they follow closely behind their mother. If she leaves the area, the little ones are given strict orders to get down and remain still. I've seen them lay and remain completely frozen for several hours. When mom returns, the curious fawns pop back up and continue to explore their surroundings. I was lucky to stumble upon this newborn last June. It's an endearing photo. The fawn was curled up underneath a pine tree, ready to bed down for the night. Because at this early age they are so vulnerable to numerous predators, ochre color tones and white spots allow the fawns to blend superbly into the mo...

Fall color on Rabbit Ears Pass I've been helping out with my 11 year old son's soccer team for six years now and it's been a lot of fun. Soccer is a great sport because it's a player's game. Once the whistle blows the action is non-stop with little or no interference from the coaches. The players are free to make their own decisions concerning positioning and ball movement. As the boys have grown older, my duties have evolved from tying shoes and wiping noses to shagging balls and picking up cones. Sometimes at practice, if the numbers aren't right, I have to jump into a drill and if I'm lucky I might even get to play in a scrimmage. I think the boys accept me like a teammate, I know I've grown very attached to them. We recently traveled up over Rabbit Ears Pass and down into Steamboat for a league game. It was a tough first half as our team constructed some good buildups and took great shots, they just couldn't finish. There were near misses, ...

The Awesome Walrus Guest post by Theo Miller It was the frosty winter of 2006 and snow was falling from the Northeast. A sudden flash of light came from behind me, then everything went black. When I awoke, I thought I was back home, but there was no wind, frost or even snow on the ground. When I turned around, I realized what happened to the snow... There was a 25 foot tall, glass window and people were watching me. There were little kids, old kids, smelly kids and teenagers taunting me. The parents were on their phones not aware that kids were dangling themselves over the wall, almost falling into my habitat. It looked like I was going to have the same day for the rest of my life. One day a child got pushed into my enclosure. I brought him to the glass wall and showed his mom. I climbed a rock and gave him to his mother. That was the right thing to do until I realized I was out of my pen. Now the chase was on! The Zoo Crew chased me to the San Diego beach. I used my swimm...