The end of the month was filled with regular activities: golf, pickleball, luncheons, and various appointments. Seemingly, time flies and we’re always busy. And August is going to be another busy month despite the hot, humid weather.

Only a couple of butterflies and one dragonfly presented themselves for photographs on Friday, July 31.

We began Thursday morning with coffee for me and Cappuccino for Kay; but we both opted out of a full breakfast since we were traveling. We drove south and between Ouray and Silverton, we came upon 4 moose browsing nonchalantly beside the highway. We were on the wrong side of the highway, but a short drive and turn-around allowed Kay to snap several photos, and I was able to take a few, shooting through her open window.

Continuing South on the Million Dollar Highway, we drove past Silverton, and then Purgatory Ski Resort to Durango. Plans were to stop and tour Durango, but like other towns in the San Juan Mountains, it was commercialized and crowded. At that point we opted to continue south, bypassing Farmington, New Mexico, headed to the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, a rolling landscape of badlands which offers some of the most unusual scenery found in the Four Corners Region. (I had planned to travel to this area in the fall, but since we were so close, we opted to tour the area on our way home.)

Time and natural elements have etched a fantasy world of strange rock formations made of interbedded sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. The weathering of the sandstone forms hoodoos—weathered rock in the form of pinnacles, spires, cap rocks, and other unusual forms. Fossils occur in this sedimentary landform, as well occasional petrified tree elements.

Regretfully, I chose the De-Na-Zin Wilderness Trail to hike rather than more scenic and well-known trails in the wilderness area, such as the Ah-shi-sle-pah Trail. The 2.8-mile out-and-back De-Na-Zin Wilderness Trail near Nageezi, New Mexico, mostly follows dry river beds through a series of rock formations and petrified wood. The first mile of the trail is relatively unremarkable, but as the trail continued, we entered a section with incredible formations and a significant amount of petrified wood.

And the flowers, particularly the Indian Paintbrush, were spectacular. We found the trail to be difficult to navigate at times, but thank goodness for downloading the trail map for assistance. We thought we had enough water, but the route is exposed to the sun with no shade. We hiked almost 4 miles in 100° weather, we ran out of water about a quarter mile from the trail head, and there was one point where Kay didn’t think she could make it out. But we did! 

The detour to the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area cost us about 4 hours time on the journey home. Was it worth it—not sure we’ll ever know! We overnighted in Tucumcari, New Mexico, stopping just before dark.

On Friday, we continued traveling west on Interstate 40 through Amarillo, Texas, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, arriving home about 5 PM. After unloading, the new Hyundai, dusty from all the gravel roads we drove, was washed and then cleaned inside. We were glad to be home.

A mix-up with respect too transportation found me alone at the hotel on Sunday, while Kay, Karyn, and the kids toured Garden of the Gods and Pike’s Peak near Colorado Springs. Matt toured the area independently. I spent most of the day processing photographs. Kay posted photos of their trip on Facebook.

We didn’t need much of an excuse to escape the sweltering heat and humidity of Arkansas! And the soccer tournament was just the thing. In that regard we added a few days to the the trip to the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. Our initial plans were to depart Thornton on Monday morning to drive Skyline Drive in Rocky Mountain National Park; however a permit is required because of the crowds and we didn’t have one. Instead, we drove to near Ridgway where reservations at the Double G Ranch had been made. What was supposed to be a relaxing drive took us an extra hour and a half because of a detour caused by a potential bridge failure over the Blue Mesa Reservoir. The detour included a lot of stand still-time on a long gravel road (maybe 15 miles of gravel). We stopped for dinner in Montrose and arrived at the Double G Ranch early in the evening. After unloading luggage and being shown our room, we adjourned to the deck enjoying the mountain views, cool evening, and lots of hummingbirds.

Our only “agenda” item for Tuesday was to visit Telluride and like to the 365-foot Bridal Veil Waterfallsl at the end of the box canyon overlooking Telluride.

The “moderate to difficult” 1.8 mile one-way hike proved to be too dangerous for us, and we aborted after hiking only a short distance, though a few photographs along the trail were made. Following the aborted hike, we drove to the gondola upper parking area and rode the free gondola up the mountain and then down to Telluride. Too many people and too much commercialization resulted in our return to the gondola and back to the parking area.

From Telluride, we drove to Ouray, a lovely old western mining town. It too is drawing large crowds, and we opted to drive the streets rather than maneuver the sidewalk traffic. With time on our hands, we drove the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton, another lovely old western mining town that is also too crowded. These towns reminded us of Red Lodge, Montana, which was absolutely delightful in the 1980s, but has now been taken over by commercial development and crowds.

The drive along the switchbacked portion of the Million Dollar Highway was well worth the time and effort with beautiful scenery virtually everywhere. Most conspicuous was Red Mountain.

We also say a young male moose between Silverton and Ouray on our return to the Double G Ranch.

The couple who own and operate the Double G Ranch are German expats. We opted to have dinner at the ranch, and it was good—bratwurst, masked potatoes, and sauerkraut, followed by a delicious dessert with a homemade berry sauce poured over ice cream. After dinner we enjoyed the deck and the buzzing of Rufous and Red-throated Hummingbirds.

We extended another night at the Double G Ranch as our plans were to spend another four or five days in Colorado. However, after seeing Telluride, Ouray, and Silverton yesterday, we were wearing thin on crowds. Consequently, we spent Wednesday chasing wildflowers and animals in the San Juan Mountains, driving a well-maintained gravel road through the Uncompahgre National Forest, cresting Owl Creek Pass at 10,114 feet, turning around at the Silver Jack Reservoir. .John Wayne loved this country, as both How the West Was Won and True Grit were filmed along this magnificent route winding through national forest and river basin country. The stunning peaks of Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain pierced the blue Colorado sky as we journeyed along this 1885 cattle-drive trail.

Tall white-barked aspen trees, spruce and fir, rivers, reservoirs, and seas of wildflowers were nestled among towering peaks. It was indeed a spectacular drive.

After returning to the Double G Ranch, we dined on grass-fed steaks cooked in a German specialty sauce, with German noodles. And of course, dessert followed.

Kay and I departed Tuesday morning at about 8:30 am driving to McPherson, Kansas, on the way to Thornton, Colorado, northeast of Denver.. This is the first road trip for the new Hyundai, and we’re anxious to see if it is as comfortable as the Honda Pilot. The purpose of the trip is to attend grandson #2’s super regional soccer tournament Commerce City, Colorado—his team is representing Arkansas 

The day’s drive was without incident, but the roads in Oklahoma, including the toll roads, were in pretty rough condition. This has not changed since we last traveled through the state some 10+ years ago. The roads in Kansas, on the other hand, were some of the best we’ve driven. Of note was that Kay drove most of the way.

For reasons unknown, I was sleepy most of the day, and slept a good p portion of the drive. Perhaps it was stress or the previous day’s work on the irrigation system, but it knocked me for a loop. We arrived in McPherson about 4:30 pm, had dinner at a local eatery, and then drove to the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge northeast of town. Regretfully, we didn’t see any of the 200 bison or 60 elk present at the refuge. It was an early evening for the both of us.

On Wednesday morning, I awoke fresh and feeling 100 percent. After a continental breakfast at the hotel, I drove most of the remaining way to Thornton, Colorado; Kay drove the last couple of hours. The first pronghorn was spotted about 60 miles east of Denver where we say a couple of small groups grazing. As we neared Denver, traffic was at a near standstill, and it was stop and go for most of the way to the motel. We arrived shortly before 4:00 pm and unloaded the car onto a luggage cart, completely filling it.  In all fairness, most of the stuff was mine, including photographic equipment and a portable refrigerator. Kay checked us in, and we enjoyed a brief rest after the drive. Five Guys provided our carryout dinner.

To open the month, we played golf and pickleball whenever conditions permitted. I ventured out on Monday, July 1, to make a few photos in the back yard.

We celebrated Independence Day holiday with a get together at the Seitz’ dock to watch the Balboa Lake boat parade on Wednesday, July 3, and held the “former educators” traditional July 4 (Thursday) get together at our house, featuring hot dogs and fixin’s, and Pam’s apple pie and ice cream. 

On Saturday, July 6, flowers, wasps, and butterflies were the subject of a few photos. 

Wrapping up the first two weeks in July, a few more photos were made on Wednesday, July 10, and on Thursday, July 11, while Kay attended the July “The Book Club” meeting. The bottom photo is of a Variegated Fritillary, the 19th observed species in our yard this season.

In addition to our regular activities—golf, pickleball, church, and club meetings—the last two weeks in June were occupied by local photography, basketball on weekends, and naps in the afternoon. Here are photographs made at Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area on June 17 and 29. (Just click on a photo to enlarge.)

These photos were made in our yard on June 19, 23, 24, 25, and 28. No new yard butterflies were observed. 

We were off to Cabot fairly early Saturday morning for Ridge’s AAU basketball games. They breezed through the first game, and won the second by a sizable margin. He is a really good basketball player, and has really good teammates. 

More basketball was played on Sunday, missing out on the state finals by only a couple of points in OT—the boys played well, but made way too many turnovers. We took Ridge home after the game and he was awfully quiet; he doesn’t like to lose!

Kay had her usual social and sports events Tuesday and Wednesday, while I played pickleball for the first time since injuring right knee a few weeks ago. First game went okay, but at the beginning of the second game, I was waiting on my partner to serve and felt three pops, and excruciating pain in the right hamstring. It’s been a terrible season for injuries; and I’ll be out for a few more weeks. Ridge played more basketball on Wednesday night, including a few minutes with the 8th grade team. He played really well in all the games, and especially well with the 8th graders. We provided his shuttle service to and from the games. These photos were made on Tuesday, June 4.

On Thursday, Kay took care of some car maintenance in Hot Springs while I had a haircut and dental cleaning, after which a few photos were made in the backyard.

The highlight of the week was on Friday as we had lunch with the Starrs. Food was good, the company was great, and the $2 beer was fantastic. Seems like the same creatures were enjoying the backyard as the day before.

No basketball today, Saturday. Kay played pickleball in the morning, and I drove to Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area to do some photography. It proved to be a good day as the really rare Pelton’s Rose Gentian was blooming and the rare Diana Fritillaries were flying. Interestingly, the butterflies did not start moving until about 11 AM and the dragonflies about 11:30 AM.

After returning home, these photos were made in the backyard.

On Friday and Saturday of the following week, I took advantage of our new butterfly garden and made several photographs of butterflies, and dragonflies and damselflies. It is so relaxing to just walk around and observe the flittering and sometimes fast-flying creatures.

As another month comes to an end, the unpredictable weather was predictable—great, then windy and rain! Kay got in a few pickleball games on Monday at Diamanté, A snake, a few butterflies, and dragonflies and damselflies provided subjects for a few photographs in our back “yard”.

I participated in a golf scramble with the guys at church on Tuesday. The golf game was pretty bad, though there were occasional good shots that keep one coming back. My excuse is that back issues and a strained right knee ACL alter my swing just enough such that there isn’t any consistency.

We traveled to Memphis on Wednesday to visit with Jenny, Harper, Lina, and Sutton. We had not seen them since mid-December; they have grown a bunch. And their communication skills are greatly increasing. Jenny is a supermom, and is to be admired for raising an 11, 4 and 3-year old as a single mom! Jenny was trying to work at home, and the kids were excited and rambunctious—not a good combination!

After the visit, we attended Harper’s Spring Dance Recital. She performed in the Jazz, Ballet, and Gymnastics categories, and I must say that she was the best of her group, executing all routines to near perfection. And, she’s such a sweet young lady. Regretfully, I didn’t shoot any still photographs, but did make a couple of videos which I will post to YouTube.

The drive home on Thursday was near effortless as we let the car do most of the driving, with frequent warnings to put hands on the steering wheel. Actually, the car drove itself only occasionally! After arriving home, a few bugs awaited photographing in the back, plus our friend “Slim”, including a beautiful Calico Pennant dragonfly. It’s the first time one has been observed in our yard. 

Friend Sue arrived for a visit in the afternoon, and she, Kay, and Pam went out for dinner at Diamanté in the evening while I remained home to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Friday was pretty quiet for me as Kay had an appointment in the morning, and she and Sue had a fun and productive night at Oaklawn Casino. I did go to Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area about midday and shot quite a few photographs as there were several species of butterflies flitting about. Here are a few of the small butterflies photographed.

And, here is a Pipeline Swallowtail.

And, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

And, a Great Spangled Fritillary.

And, Arkansas’ state butterfly, the rare female Diana Fritillary.

And, Arkansas’ state butterfly, the also rare male Diana Fritillary.

Not to be outdone, a couple of dragonflies cooperated.

And this most rare wildflower, Pelton’s Rose Gentian, found in only two places in the world, both in Saline County, Arkansas..

And finally, a few other beautiful wildflowers.

For each of the last several summers, a new project has been created to challenge knowledge and memory—not a difficult task these days! One such project was to learn to identify all of the skipper butterflies observed; this project carried over into two summers. After that, a new project was created to identify local dragonflies and damselflies for which a photo had been made. Let’s just say it remains a work in progress, and seemingly, every step forward is followed by two steps back. With the creation of the new butterfly garden and planting additional attractor flowers in other beds, this year’s project involves inventorying all the butterflies, dragonflies, and damselflies observed and photographed on our property, mainly the back yard and lake shoreline.

A semiannual appointment with the cardiologist occurred on Monday, and he said I had the heart of a 19 year old. He must be a great BSer. A butterfly and a dragonfly were photographed Tuesday morning. The dragonfly was a “lifer”, a Prince Baskettail.

A knee injury and persistent back issues generally prevented my serious participation in any physical outdoor activity during the week, although I did play golf on Tuesday; it was not pretty. Kay played golf with the Lady Duffers Wednesday morning, and shot a decent game.

The weekend was all about basketball as we drove to Cabot both Saturday and Sunday to watch grandson Ridge play. The handily won the three games on Saturday and the first on Sunday, but didn’t fair well in the second game; Ridge takes losses so seriously and he gives everything during the game.

Prior to the games on Sunday, a few photos were made of butterflies and damselflies. Even a bird made it into the album.

This first several days of May focused on continuing garden work: planting flowers, dressing existing beds, and creating a pollinator garden. The latter involved moving washed gravel (our “grass”) from the garden area, and replacing it with topsoil. Sounds easy. The gravel was moved shovelful by shovelful as neither of us were physically able to carry much more than that. We did move the topsoil from an existing bed on the north side of the house by loading it into a plastic box and “dragging” it to the new bed—a slow and arduous process resulting in our doing only about a third of the new garden. Back soreness from last week’s yard work limited both our ability and amount of work we were able to do. A shopping trip to the local nursery yielded purchase of several hanging baskets, potted plants, and dozens of pollinator flowers. In the new garden, I dug the holes and Kay planted the flowers. The flowers will be awesome when filled out. It should be noted that all of this occurred among almost daily rain showers.

Working outside provided extensive opportunities to observe butterflies, dragonflies, and damselflies flitting hither and yon in the back “yard”. On Wednesday, May 1, I ventured out to Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area for the first time in almost a year. It was a bit too early for many butterflies and dragonflies, though a few were captured by the camera. Of significance, at least to me, were photos of an Indigo Bunting and a Bell’s Roadside Skippers, the former being the first photo of the bunting, and the latter being a “life” butterfly.

On Monday, May 6, “our” Green Heron visited at a convenient time when the camera and big lens were ready. We’ve had a pair of Green Herons regularly visit the shoreline at the house since we moved in in 2015! 

Kay was busy Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with social functions and a golf game sandwiched among them. Of course, the biggie among the social activities was the monthly meeting of The Book Club. 

I managed to snap a few photos in the back yard on Tuesday of a bird, a couple of dragonflies, and a snake.

And the back yard produced again on Thursday with a bird, a butterfly, and a dragonfly.

Another butterfly (perhaps the same as yesterday) and a bird posed for photographs on Friday morning.

During the course of the week, back problems persisted, limiting our participation in both golf and pickleball, though opportunities to play were limited anyway because of rain or wet conditions. We did get out to play the front nine at Cortez on Friday afternoon.

The remainder of gravel was finally moved and and on Saturday, May 11, grandson Ridge hauled and placed top soil in the butterfly garden, and hauled and placed mulch in one of the front beds. To be only 12+ years old, he has a great work ethic, and it was such a pleasure to spend time with him, though he didn’t talk much!

I snuck in a couple of photos while he was working.

Kay’s kids treated us to dinner Saturday evening to celebrate Mother’s Day. I’m sure they know it, but she is a super mom, and we’re fortunate that our daughters and daughter-in-law are super moms as well.

Mothers Day on Sunday was without fanfare, and we hung around the house relaxing.