It Takes Three

I've been struck with a rhinovirus.

I could tell you that I have a common cold, but "rhinovirus" sounds much more intriguing. Actually, the way this thing has hit me, I feel more like I was struck by a rhinoceros. I wish I owned a photograph of a rhinoceros, so I could post it here for emphasis, but rhinos don't inhabit Estes Park. Unfortunately, rhinovirus do. 

I've learned a lot about this nasty little bug the past five days. (How did we ever research anything before the internet?) The details would only bore you, so let's just leave it at this. . . I've got my netti pot, hot Tazo mint tea with lemonade and honey (a recipe given to me by my friend at Starbucks), a hefty supply of chicken noodle soup and orange juice (mucho gracias to my beloved husband), and a pile of books and movies. This rhinovirus is doomed.

Ok, enough of all that. Let's get down to business. I usually post weekly photos when I blog, but since I've been quarantined in our apartment the past five days, I haven't been able to get outdoors with my camera. However, I've been looking through my wildlife photographs and found these taken in Big Thompson Canyon about ten days ago. Do you think these Big Horn are making a statement?

Ok, ok. If you don't like that one, how about this photo of a lone ram?

I was thrilled to finally photograph Big Horn sheep. They are stunning animals.

Next week I hope to be back up in RMNP with my hubby, camera in tow. Speaking of my husband, while walking by a new store in town this morning, The White Orchid, a placard in the window caught his eye. The words about Christian marriage written by Tertullian, an early Christian author, made quite an impression on him. When he got home he told me what he had read, and we looked up the text on the internet. The words were written by Tertullian around 200 AD in a letter to his wife:

How beautiful, then, the marriage of two Christians, two who are one in hope, one in desire, one in the way of life they follow, one in the religion they practice.

They are as brother and sister, both servants of the same Master. Nothing divides them, either in flesh or in Spirit. They are in very truth, two in one flesh; and where there is but one flesh there is also but one spirit.

They pray together, they worship together, they fast together; instructing one another, encouraging one another, strengthening one another.

Side by side they face difficulties and persecution, share their consolations. They have no secrets from one another, they never shun each other's company; they never bring sorrow to each other's hearts… Psalms and hymns they sing to one another.

Hearing and seeing this, Christ rejoices. To such as these He gives His peace. Where there are two together, there also He is present, and where He is, there evil is not.

We printed off the words and posted them on our refrigerator door. It's a visual reminder of the kind of marriage Dennis and I are committed to have. We can't do it by ourselves. Christ must be at the center of our  union. It takes three.

A Peaceful Existence

Our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains. -- William Shakespeare

I've been thinking a lot about peace lately. Not as in world peace, but rather as it relates to me as an individual.  "Simple pleasures" has been a theme on this blog in the past, and I believe that it is the simple pleasures in life that help promote a peaceful existence. 

We certainly enjoyed a peaceful afternoon yesterday at the Red Barn Pumpkin Farm in Eaton, Colorado. 

The owners, friends of ours, sent us home with a nice collection of pumpkins and other Fall goodies. 

As much as we enjoy trips to the Front Range, it always feel good to get back home. Dennis commented yesterday that we're "mountain people", and I have to agree. There's just something about high altitude living that appeals to us. We enjoy the peaceful environment and count ourselves fortunate to be so close to Rocky Mountain National Park, which never disappoints.  

Take this morning, for instance. We grabbed our Starbucks and drove to the Park, arriving just as the sun was coming up.

The red glow through the golden aspen was stunnng.

I was very excited to see this bull and his harem. It's the largest herd I've seen to date. Dennis says he's seen harems as large as 700, about 10 times larger than this one.

We had seen this crowd earlier, but the herd was so spread out then that I couldn't get a good shot of all of them together. 


I did enjoy snapping this photo of a few of the cows in the water, though.

While photographing the herd, I noticed another bull approaching the harem. He had been bugling from a distance, but now was closing in on the cows. The defending bull made a beeline for the challenging bull.

The challenger left with little fanfare. (Hey, let's face it. The defending bull didn't get a harem this size on charm alone. He had to be a formidable opponent.) 

Now the owner of the harem begins bugling to round up his girls. (I wonder if this guy gets any peace.)

On the outskirts of the herd, the young bulls -- or "spikes" as they're called -- spar and hang out together. Their time will come. (The spike hunkered down in the grass looks pretty peaceful.)

These beautiful rose hips in Endovalley spoke peace to me.

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." 2 Peter 1:2

Life Like a Vacation

Yesterday's morning jaunt to Rocky Mountain National Park reminded me, again, why I love living here.

Barely in the Park ten minutes, we spied these two bucks on the mountainside.

The gloriously gold aspen greeted us.

Majestic snow-capped mountains tower over Endo Valley.

The Alluvial Fan showed its lovely Autumn colors.

Not to keen on being photographed, this spike made a run for it.

This bull elk didn't seem to mind the camera at all.

When I came back a little later, he watched me from his resting spot in the grass. 

A magnificent fenced-off area of Endo Valley soothed our souls. 

Mallards, nestled in a far corner of the water, pleasantly surprised us.

Trees clothed in Fall finery lined the drive back to Estes Park.

This morning we ate breakfast at The Other Side restaurant. Our twenty-something server, from Texas, has resided in Estes five years. We asked him how he likes living here. He grinned, looked out the window next to us, and waved his hand toward the mountains. "It's a great place to live," he gushed. "Every morning I wake up and get to see all this.  I feel like I'm on vacation every day."


I couldn't have put it better myself.