WONDER

Season Greetings! (2022)

Hope the year treated you well and you managed to stay healthy. Fall was a busy time in Laramie; I returned to the classroom in September, teaching a few beginner-level English as a Second Language courses for our local community college (up to 18 hours a week, a bit more than planned), Susan continued with her tennis, and the boys got a lot of prairie outings. For a few months I had no lower leg issues and began running again but a recent flare-up changed that, and I need to visit with my orthopedic physician once again. Let’s hope for the best. Next month I finally depart for a 10-day Antarctica cruise – an adventure a long time coming. But Susan won’t join me – too cold, she believes she’s already living in Antarctica just without the penguins and ice bergs – so she’ll stay home with Lincoln and Ridge who celebrate their first birthday December 19th. Fortunately, Laramie recently opened Elevation Pet Resort (a doggie day and night camp) so Susan can get some time away from the boys. Don’t have many photos to share but will attach a holiday greeting card. Best wishes for 2023!

East Africa Wildlife Safari Program

Greetings,

Hope all doing well.  Still, unseasonable hot weather this summer in Laramie. We’re good (still Covid free) but back in a supportive orthopedic boot – another Achilles tendon flareup … aging is not for the weak of heart. But hope to soon return to walks with the boys and pickleball. Lincoln and Ridge are growing fast (8 months old this week); prior to my recent setback, the boys had their first swim opportunity at North Crow Reservoir (some photos below); they loved it! And the boys still get morning (and now afternoon) visits to a local dog park. Later this month, I’ll present a program at our local Eppson Center for Seniors (announcement below). Two recent YouTube videos will be presented — a link to one of the videos was shared in my last blog: Majestic Mara

https://youtu.be/RDHOIHUn75s; the other is a new video: Safari Moments 2004-2022  https://youtu.be/xaCptCbft5M . If you’re in Laramie, hope you can attend.

Enjoy what’s left of summer.

Majestic Mara

Greetings all,

Happy Summer! Very hot here, very unusual. Susan, Lincoln, Ridge and I all well; boys went for their first swim at North Crow Reservoir yesterday – will post some photos shortly. But first, I’ll share a few photos from our recent return visit to Bateleur Camp and the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya (also attached link to 20-minute YouTube video). Wow, what an adventure leading up to flight … so many challenges: I was wearing a supportive orthopedic boot due to an overuse injury of my right Achilles tendon; Delta airlines cancelling flights and moving departure time from Denver up two hours (10:30am); boys needing to be boarded for 10 nights in Fort Collins (at Camp Bow Wow) and not able to drop off until 7am; dealing with numerous visa and Covid-related requirements by the Kenya government necessitating electronic visa and verification of prior Covid-testing in the U.S. (thank you Bret) and possible Covid testing at Nairobi airport before returning to the US. In addition, for three years we hadn’t flown internationally so were already apprehensive about the trip and the thought of testing for Covid in Nairobi airport prior to return was unsettling, but we made it! Didn’t need the testing and had a wonderful time. Included are a few photos.

Boys First Month

Happy Spring everyone!

Hope you’re staying healthy; so far, so good for all of us. On March 20th we celebrated the first day of Spring with sparklers: celebrating both Spring’s arrival (in theory anyway) and the boys 13-week birthday; they’re healthy, happy and a handful. Today, the boys are another week older and time with them is flying by — yesterday, I posted a brief 7-minute video celebrating the boys first 4 weeks with us. Below is a link to the video and a few photos. 

 

Welcome Lincoln and Ridge

Hope new year going well for all,

For us, very quiet in the house since Sorrel’s passing in December, but that changed a week ago once we met the boys: Lincoln and Ridge. When we finally decided upon a breed of dogs that best fit our lifestyle, we blew caution to the wind and once more selected Springer spaniels, thereby committing, once again, to more active lifestyles. We truly love Springers, and these two males are the best pups: very alert, very active, very loving. Our search ended when we found Denise Root, a successful English Springer Spaniel breeder who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming (Rocky Mountain Springer Spaniels). Given the popularity of Denise’s pups, we had to wait about six months. Mother to the litter of eight pups was a lovely black and white English Springer Spaniel named Lizbeth; dad was Tucker, a blue tri roan colored English Springer Spaniel (both seemingly with wonderful dispositions). The boys are now a bit over nine weeks old and from the photos below you can already easily see who resembles mom and who resembles dad. For those living in Laramie, we hope to introduce you to the boys shortly, for the rest of you the boys can’t wait to meet you.

Saying Goodbye to Sorrel

Earlier today, like her brother Rusty who passed nearly a year ago, Sorrel was peacefully laid to sleep in my arms at Chappelle Small Animal Hospital in Fort Collins. As you might imagine, saying goodbye to Sorrel was heart-wrenching. A month ago, she celebrated her 15th birthday and for most of 2021 Sorrel was in fairly good health: still taking short runs/walks on the prairie once a week (sometimes with both Arnie and me) and able to walk to the park (on her leash) twenty minutes or so each morning. Then a few months ago Sorrel’s back hip began weakening and her stumbling increased. This past week was increasingly difficult for her though Sorrel’s spirit and resolve remained strong: drinking water, taking dog biscuits and allowing me to support her when trying to walk. Sorrel could no longer stand or walk on her own (I helped as much as I could) and we all knew it was time. She’ll be greatly missed. Below is an iMovie posted on YouTube shortly after Rusty’s passing and a few photos I’ll always cherish.

 Joyful Seven (19:05)

Happy Halloween

Hope you’re well. Two things about Halloween in Laramie: Susan is one of her most enthusiastic “istas” and it always snows. What follows are a few photos.

Stay healthy!

• 

Golden Colors of Fall

Greetings all and happy fall,

For those of you who live, lived, or even just visited our Gym City on the Plains, you know most seasons in Wyoming are limited (winter is long, spring is only glimpsed, summer is far too short) but fall can truly be grand. Fall in Laramie is a bit like an extension of summer only better: night temperatures can dip into the 30s but day temperatures can still reach the 70s and the colors are golden. During the past few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time outside enjoying the fall weather and hiking trails with camera in hand. Below are a few photos taken from some of my favorite fall locations.

• 

Sugarloaf Mountain

Greetings all,

Hope your summer’s going well … only a few days left of our nice warm, snow free weather in Laramie. We’re all good: Sorrel’s healthy and getting her walks to the park most mornings; Susan’s running, playing tennis and soaking in our Sabel pool; and I’m playing pickleball, hiking and photographing wildflowers. But I also had a recent adventure worth sharing here: finally hiking to the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain. (Sugarloaf is one of two mountains in the Snowy Range often overlooked by day hikers; the other is Browns Peak; I plan to focus on both in a future YouTube video.) Located some 41 miles west of Laramie, Sugarloaf is a picturesque cone-shaped, boulder covered mountain most frequently encountered and photographed by visitors to Lewis Lake. For a few years now, I’ve wondered about the best route to reach the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain (elevation 11,398 feet) for a look around. Recently my friend Marty returned to Laramie for a few days and we planned a hike in the Snowies – the hike became an adventurous boulder climb to the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain. Below are a few photos.

• 

Happy Summer

Hope all well. Not traveling abroad this summer so spending lots of time in Laramie: running, playing pickleball, and taking wildflower photos. We’re all enjoying summer: walks each morning to the park for Sorrel, tennis and pool-time for Susan, and for me enjoying that each day is spent wearing shorts and soaking my frequently tired legs in our little Walmart wading pool. Some good local news is the fence that stretched some five miles north to south across the Pilot Hill Recreation Area (blocking miles of wonderful trials) was finally removed.  So once more I’m enjoying long runs surrounded by beautiful wildflowers (photos below).  Also, I was elected president of our local Pickleball Association; one of my first tasks was creating an online presence (link to website below). Pickleball is a great game for players of all ages (providing exercise and fellowship); we’ve a fairly new outdoor pickleball court where and I tend to play two hours a day, five days a week. (“Recess for adults,” is how one of our older players once described pickleball.)

More soon … currently working on an addition to my Youtube channel featuring local wildflowers.