Elk Crossing

I'm cleaning out my photos and found these that I took in December. We were on our way to Ely with a light snow falling when we spotted an elk crossing the road. He was joining some elk on the other side. (I feel like I should have some witty repartee about 'Why did the elk cross the road?' but my brain is functioning rather slowly today. If you can think of something, leave it in the comments!)

The highway department has recognized this area as a deer and elk crossing and even has it posted. If my photo came out better I would send it to them.

One of the most impressive things about elk is just how big they are. They are about double the size of mule deer, with elk cows (females) weighing around 500 pounds and mature elk bulls (males) weighing around 700 pounds. For more info about elk, click here.

Sleeping Prepared

I call myself Desert Survivor because sometimes it takes some extra, or at least different, skills to survive out in the rural desert, an hour from the nearest grocery store, over two hours from the nearest Wal-mart, and in a place where the population hasn't increased in several hundred years.

It's a great place to raise kids, where the whole world seems open to exploration. Manure piles, caves, tractors, and more await those who desire them. The air is clean, the views are spectacular, and the kids, cows, and dogs run free.

Well, it seems that Desert Boy has learned a few lessons about how to survive in the desert. We've been working hard at getting him to sleep all night long in his own bed. When I went in and checked on him the other night, I found that instead of cuddling with a stuffed animal or a special blanket, he had a bottle of water tucked under one arm and a flashlight under the other. I guess he's taking comfort to a different level.

I couldn't resist snapping a photo and sharing it with you.

Have a great day!

Haircut Time

Desert Boy was looking a little unruly, and we don't have plans to take him to town anytime soon, so the other night it became haircut time in the kitchen. He finally decided it would be okay to have his hair cut, a necessary step to get him to sit (sort of) still.

I didn't really know what I was doing except making it shorter, but at the rate his hair grows, it doesn't really matter. I figured as long as I didn't leave him with a mullet he would be okay.

Ah yes, such artistry.

Desert Boy thought the whole process took too long, but at least he stayed seated. I also managed not to cut off any parts of his ears or make him cry, so I would say it was a success. It's nice not to have too high of expectations.

Here's the final result. With a smile like that, it doesn't really matter what his hair looks like, does it?!

Winter Scenes

We haven't been getting out and exploring the desert as much as I would like to this winter, but I did stop and take some winter photos the other day. We haven't had much snow here this winter, it seems the storms dump as they go over the Sierra Nevadas and then split by the time they get here, either going north or south. So when we finally got a little snow last week, it became a winter wonderland.

The birds are really enjoying all the trees that have berries left on them. I even saw a flock of cedar waxwings, which was a treat.

I liked the symmetry of the outdoor amphitheatre at EskDale. During the summer we go to a Fourth of July celebration here. It's almost hard to imagine now.

At the bottom of the amphitheatre is a basketball court. The basketballs look a little lonely right now.

Our latest storm gave us even more snow, and Desert Boy and I had fun playing in it yesterday. We'll be heading out again today to make the most of us before the elusive desert precipitation disappears.

Procrastinating

Blogging has obviously not been my highest priority this last week, as will eventually be explained (but not today).

I have some photos I need to post, and I'll try to get to them sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I just posted at Protect Snake Valley about what we did last weekend, so take a look!

And we got our first decent snowfall of the year last night (it's only the end of January!), so Desert Boy and I are going to head out to make some dinosaur tracks and play in the sled. We are quite a bit behind on snowfall this winter, so hopefully we'll catch up in the next few months. Desert Boy really wants to make some snowpeople and snow animals and throw snowballs.