Colorado, filled with majestic images of stunning Rocky Mountain Peaks and luxuriously full lakes and streams, rolling plains and sandy dunes, continuously provides excitement and adventure. Even in the chilled and sometimes frigid mornings of the winter freeze, awesome sights and spectacular feats await the crowds who visit. Skiing, snow shoeing, ice fishing, snow man building, and snow ball fights themselves along with ice skating await the eager visitors, especially those locked on coasts where the four seasons merge into two without the falling white stuff. For years I lived in California, growing up near Los Angeles. When I began visiting my family after they moved here it was always at Christmas time with the frosted panes and untouched white snow across their acreage on the Santa Fe Trail Ranch. Something so magical and peaceful strikes a chord in those memories, the nostalgia perhaps of White Christmases. However, something about the earth’s untouched beauty and raw changes of nature as she replenishes her own bounty and wipes clean the soils, that is what spoke to me. Observing how mother nature provides and renews itself amazes me. Everything becomes so peaceful, so calm, so still in those winter snows.
Yet, what truly delights is the emerging spring as sprigs of green slowly rise amid the dormant browns and yellows of the once brilliant blades as well. Water steadily moving past stilled frozen ponds once more with gray clouds merging with puffy white ones start to appear more and more. Bulbs and buds peek out from their underground shelter seeking warmth of the sun and the April and May showers. Snow melts into sleet and slushy snow cone like mixtures, eventually reaching the ground more abundantly as rain while the distant rumbles of thunder start to echo through canyons and valleys. The oddity of the rare event of snow thunder can sometimes occur in these months as the earth reawakens from its frozen slumber. Birds soar over the land, their delightful chirps of song ever more present. The breeze heats after fierce winds wash away the dust and cold days of the winter months.
With spring, the appearance of Colorado’s diverse wildlife begins to grow more and more. No longer seeking the confines of a warm den, the animals go forth and explore the new abundance of earth’s vegetation. New life flows throughout the area. Thanks to a new lens, Brent can finally capture their journeys from a distance, providing shots of the animals as they go about their own business. Many grab fishing poles too with the new licenses permitting casting lures as of April 1. Fish jump to the surface, their gills seeking oxygen and mouths desire insects now finding it warm enough to emerge and land on the crystal, calm waters of the lakes.
Spring stays a delightful time in Colorado, a season of rebirth and promises of the summer. Everything comes back to life again, bathed in the afterglow of the winter snow. Following through the next few months, new adventures will appear in the blog and new images in our galleries. We hope you will join us and learn more of Colorado’s hidden secrets and spectacular jewels. Exciting new adventures await and images of lands untouched in winter are just ready for the snapping. So come join us and we’re sure Ms Bailey will help us scout the new adventures.
Touchstone Pixels 