Hi Everyone:

My apologies for the long delay between posts.  I've been down with a back injury that has kept me from getting around and haven't been able to grab my trailcams until just recently.  The good news is that there were a lot of fine videos from which to choose when I did manage to collect the cards.  Hope you enjoy seeing those that I've selected to share. 

Three bears wandered past the water hole within 45 minutes of one another recently (no sign of Goldilocks).  They all look pretty healthy and that's a good sign with winter and hibernation on the horizon. 

Bear Number One is the largest of the three, with a solid black coat that reminds me of our old friend Handsome.  This bear seems bigger than I remember Handsome to be and he (or she) didn't rub against the bear tree like Handsome does whenever he passes through, so I can't be sure that this is, in fact, Handsome.  Regardless, it's a good-looking bear.  Love the way she (or he) blows bubbles in the water with his (or her) nose before settling in for what looks like a very comfortable soak.
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Bear Number Two is also a well-fed bear, albeit a bit smaller than Bear Number One, with a similar solid black appearance.  He's (or she's) thirsty but not so interested in taking a bath.  I wouldn't want to share someone else's bath water, either (or drink from it, lol).
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Bear Number Three is about the same size as Bear Number Two -- maybe siblings? -- but sports fur of a dark brown hue, making him (or her) easily distinguishable from the bears who visited the water hole a bit earlier.  She (or he) was also much too modest to make use of the public bath, choosing to make his (or her) way back into the woods after quenching her (or his) thirst.
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Our next video is a nice view of one of our resident bobcats. It's interesting to watch her drink from the spring, flip her tail a few times and then casually saunter into the forest.
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We had a number of visits from one of the local groups of elk over the past couple of months.  I compiled this two-minute video of a couple of elk babies grazing on aspen leaves. 
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From bears to bobcats to babies to bats!  

I think this is the first time I've ever captured bats on my trailcams so thought you'd want to take a look.  Keep your eyes peeled, though, because they're pretty fast.  They only stay on camera for a flash at a time, but if you're quick with the pause button, you might be able to stop the video with one of them in the frame. 
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This summer has been a real SOB so far.  Summer of Bears, that is.

Mary and I have seen a number of our ursine neighbors out and about this year.  Most of the time we see them walking along the edge of the forest on the ridge to the south of the cabin.  It's always exciting to watch them browse from that safe distance.  

We had a great experience yesterday.  Mary went to the monthly meeting of her neighborhood book club - no, she didn't read the book - and saw a bear just off the road on her way home.  We occasionally see bears on the road leading to our place in the summer.  There are several wild raspberry bushes in the borrow ditches and the bears love to munch on the sweet treats as part of their preparation for the coming winter.  It was fun to see her so excited as she told the story of her brief encounter with a large black bear.  He didn't stick around long; she said that once he saw her coming, he gave her a look of frustration and lumbered up the hill and back into the woods.  Apparently, he wasn't pleased to be chased off the raspberries.

We headed into town that afternoon.  The annual High Mountain Hay Fever Bluegrass fest is being held in Westcliffe this weekend.  Mary and I aren't really fans of bluegrass, but the fest is always a good time.  As we're driving that same road toward town, I see a bear in the ditch along the road and say, "There's your bear." Mary replies, "No, that one is brown.  The one I saw was black."   We stop and watch as the bear gives us that look of frustration before turning into the trees.  In the background, I see the black bear, too!  He's already heading into the woods, so I creep the car toward them.  We saw both bears as they moved away from the road (and the raspberries).

It's odd to see two adult bears hanging around so close to one another.  It could be the food source that is making them so tolerant of one another, but the raspberries haven't quite popped just yet.  Of course, there's another reason a big boy (the black bear) and a grown girl (assuming the brown bear is female) get together.  Especially in July, which is the middle of the mating season for black bears.  I'm thinking that maybe these two saw each other's profiles on a dating app - that's the scent trail in the world of bears - and decided to hook up at the raspberry bar.  If they're compatible, we might just see a couple of cubs next spring.  

Really cool stuff.  

In other news, I managed to grab my trail cams last week.  A couple of them hadn't been touched for almost a month and I got some really good video.  In addition to birds, squirrels, coyotes, mule deer and elk, the cameras captured 11 different bears since June 6 (we've seen 17 individuals so far this year), a couple of bobcats and a striped skunk!  There are too many videos to post at once, so I've selected a few for your viewing pleasure.  I'll post others sometime down the road. 

We'll start with the big black bear with the white spot on his butt.  We saw this guy walk all the way from the southeast corner of our lot, up along the ridge to the south, past the stock tank and up and over the ridge to the northwest of the cabin.  He was heading right for the raspberry bushes.  Or the brown female.  Or both.  He's the same black bear we saw on the road last night.

Forgive the camera work, please.  I took the video from the dining room window so it's shaky in spots.  I cut and pasted a few segments together and it turned out to be about three minutes long.  Feel free to fast forward if you get bored.  Also, there's no audio (sorry).  I had to mute it because Mary kept making silly comments while I was filming.  Or maybe it was me.  Either way, I cut the audio...

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This next bear could be the girl in our little love story.  It looks small enough to be an adult female but too big to be an adolescent.  Also looks a lot like the bear we saw on the road yesterday...
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This next footage is a really cool video.  We see an adolescent bear first.  It's got a tag in its ear and that means he (or she) has gotten into a bit of mischief.  One tag means the bear has been caught and released after getting into or damaging someone's property.  A second incident would result in the bear being put down and that would be a shame.  The tagged bear is surprised by a second adolescent following close on its trail.  You'll see its reaction in the video.  It's fun to watch.
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I'll end the post with the striped skunk.  We rarely see skunks up here, but they seem to walk past the water hole once a year or so.  They're really pretty animals; too bad they're such little stinkers...
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Colorado was hit with a late spring snowstorm last night.  The forecast initially called for about 4 inches, but as the storm developed, the predictions went from that initial low total to the 12-18 inches they say we might get by the time it's all over.  We definitely need the moisture.  Three straight weeks of red flag warnings and wildfire danger had us all a little stressed out.  It's really nice to have that pressure off even if it's only for a little while.

We've got our hummingbird feeders out and there have been a couple of the little guys hanging around.  I looked outside last night and saw them both perched on the feeders; they were wet and shivering from the cold.  I thought that the front porch lights might offer them a little warmth overnight, so flipped them on and went to bed.  I guess it was a good idea because they were both perched on the fixtures this morning.  

Mary woke up a little later and said, "How long was I sleeping?  Did I sleep through summer and fall?"  It did look like winter out there.  Nine inches of snow on the ground and coming down heavy.  It's supposed to keep snowing until mid-afternoon, so we might actually get the 12-18 inches they're now predicting.  It's ok with me, though; gives me an excuse to build a fire, sit on the couch and watch sports all day.

Trailcam footage from this week was pretty awesome.  Two of the resident bear boars - Baloo and Trouble - are back in the area and there's a new bear I've named "BullsEye" who has made an appearance.  Videos are shown below.  Fair warning that a couple of the videos are pretty long (two to three minutes or so).  Given the snow this morning, the bears might have wanted to stay snug in their dens just a little while longer...

First, a young bull elk decides to send me a message:

Next, making his (or her) debut appearance is the bear I've named "BullsEye."  He (or she) has distinguishing rings around his (or her) eyes; thus, the moniker.  The other interesting thing is that BullsEye has discovered the stock tank.  Most of the bears don't come out of the trees that far.  This is one very curious bear.

A big boy bear I've named "Trouble" - as in "Here comes Trouble" - also wandered through this past week.  Trouble has only one eye.  I'm not sure how he came to be a one-eyed bear, but my imagination says he lost it in a brawl over dominance with some other big dude.  He's got the size and demeanor of a dominant male, with his confident walk, scent marking the little aspen by the water hole and back scratch on the bear tree.  My hope is that the boys in the 'hood have worked out the ursine pecking order and that no further fights are necessary...

Our last look this week is another big, brown, boy bear named "Baloo."  I think this is the third summer I've seen Baloo in the area.  He's not quite as big as Trouble or Handsome, but he's not shy about rubbing on that tree.  Or chewing on my cameras.  I guess a bear's gotta do what a bear's gotta do...

If I didn't know better, I'd think I'd moved back to the Midwest.

My trail cams recently have turned up video of a badger and a black bear.  As a native of Wisconsin, the Badgers are sort of a sentimental favorite; I tend to settle on any channel showing a UW football game.  And as a longtime resident of the Chicago area, the only NFL team I find worthy of my time is the "Be-lov-ed", the Monsters of the Midway, the Chicago Bears.  Even though it's been "wait until next year" for both teams for quite some time, it's tough to shake those childhood allegiances.  

Anyway, badgers are native to Colorado, but we don't often see them.  I think this is the third such sighting in the 17 years we've been visiting or living in Westcliffe.  Suffice it to say that it's always exciting to see that I've caught one on video...

Speaking of exciting, the first bear sighting of the year is something I eagerly anticipate each spring, and it's doubly fun when that bear is the gent I call "Handsome."  Handsome has been our neighbor for a number of years; it's remarkable how he's maintained his perfect coat after so many seasons competing with the other males in the area.  He's emerged from hibernation looking pretty fit, unlike some of the other spring bears I've seen.  A lot of bears, especially the young ones, barely put on enough weight before winter and end up looking emaciated in early spring.  Not our Handsome.  As always, he's perfectly coiffed.

Mary said, "Don't you wish we could just go out there and say hello to him in person, that he'd let us pet him and be our friend?"  I answered, "And not kill and eat us, you mean?"  

Personally, I prefer the wild Handsome.  Not all humans are as fond of bears as we are, and we don't need him thinking that we, as a species, will do him no harm.  Better to let him be himself and just enjoy the little glimpses we get of him every year.

​Hope you agree that Handsome is truly a handsome bear...

After a two-year Covid delay, Mary and I were finally able to go to Disneyland in California with our grandkids.  We had planned and paid for a trip and fully intended to be there in 2019, but the pandemic had other ideas.

With Covid restrictions relaxed, a fully vaccinated family and airline credits scheduled to expire at the end of March, we decided it was the right time to take the vacation we'd looked forward to for so long.  The delay actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  The additional two years of growth allowed all three of the grandkids to be old and tall enough to get on all the rides except one:  six-year-old Emmy was too short for the Incredi-Coaster, a fact that left the fearless little girl sorely disappointed.

While we were in California for a week, we only spent two days at Disneyland itself.  Mary and I met Bobby, Lindsay, Cale, Lincoln, Emery and Lindsay's cousin Kristen at the Orange County airport on Saturday.  I rented a giant Chevy Suburban so that we could all ride together, hoping the luggage would fit.  After collecting our bags, I walked to the Avis Rental Desk to get the keys.  The lady behind the counter asked if I'd like to upgrade to a Cadillac Escalade.  She seemed disappointed when I said no, the Suburban would be just fine.  She picked up her phone and called the lot, asking the guys there if a Suburban was available.  Nope.  No Suburbans, even though I'd reserved one weeks in advance.  As Jerry Seinfeld once so perfectly said, "You see, you know how to *take* the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them."

The lady behind the counter said, "Well, I guess we're going to have to give you the Escalade without an upgrade charge."  I thought I'd scored an unexpected perk, but as you'll discover later in this tale, it's not always cool to get a free upgrade.  Literally.

Everyone and all the luggage fit in the Escalade, but it was tight.  We had bags and backpacks on the floor at our feet, and since we had eight people and only seven seats, poor Lindsay was stuck sitting on the floor between the captain's chairs in the second row.   We made the drive to the house we'd rented for our time in Anaheim, got unpacked and settled in for the first half of our California holiday.

The first thing we noticed after settling in is how tall grandson Cale is getting.  He's 10, 5'1", and almost as tall as Mary.  Here they are back-to-back:

I don't know where they get their size from, but both boys (Cale and Lincoln) look like they're going to be pretty tall.  Lincoln told us that their pediatrician, using some method foreign to me, said that "Cale will be 6-6 and if he's lucky, he'll be 6-7 or 6-8, and I (Lincoln) will be 6-5 and if I'm lucky, I'll be 6-6 or 6-7."  I'm not sure that the doctor's estimates will ever come to pass, but I'd hate to be Emmy's boyfriend if her brothers turn out to be that big.

We spent Sunday on Newport Beach.  It was a nice day, but a bit cool.  The kids swam a bit, we walked down to the pier and had ice cream at a local shop...

I won't bore you with all the details of our two days in Disneyland, but we did have fun at the old theme park.  I told the kids that I went to Disneyland with my parents and grandparents about 50 years ago, and still remembered riding the Matterhorn with my grandpa.  It was really cool to relive that experience with my grandkids a half century later.

It rained much of the first day but wasn't too bad.  We all had rain jackets or ponchos, and that helped keep us fairly dry all day.  Day two was better, partly cloudy and in the 60's all day.  We counted ourselves fairly lucky weather-wise.  Better to be cloudy and comfortable when you're outside all day than 90 degrees and sunny. 

I was impressed by Disney's system.  They have what's called a "Lightning Pass," and for a few extra dollars per person - I'm not sure how much because Bobby and Lindsay picked up the tickets to Disney - you get to bypass the long lines a limited number of times per day.  We used our Lightning Passes pretty efficiently, never waiting more than 15 minutes to get on any particular ride.  The kids were enthusiastic about all of the rides.  Cale and Lincoln were a little scared on a couple of rides, but Emmy had no problems with any of them.  I used the word "fearless" to describe her earlier, but it was more than that.  She actually had fun on every ride, regardless of how high, fast, dark or scary they were.  Just look at her expressions in the photos.  Amazing!

After bidding Disneyland (and Lindsay's cousin Kristen) farewell, we headed east to Palm Desert to visit my mom, my sister Mary and her husband Larry.  The transition from the cool coastal area of Anaheim to the heat of the Coachella Valley meant that 65 degrees quickly turned to 90.  This is when we found out that a free upgrade to a luxury SUV wasn't as "cool" as we thought it would be.  The air conditioner didn't work.  At all.  Ugh.  It was a hot and sweaty ride to my mom's place and unless we could find a way to exchange the Escalade for something else, it was going to be a long three days in the desert.  Trying to get through to the local Avis team was a frustrating experience.  I kept getting transferred back to their central reservations desk, and they were no help at all.  To make a long story short(er), I ended up driving to the Palm Springs airport and standing in line at the Avis counter.  After about a half hour in line, I successfully exchanged the Escalade for a Ford Expedition with a working air conditioner.  It cost about 3 hours of time that could have been better spent with the kids, but it was worth it.  The Ford was much nicer than the Caddy and the working air conditioner made driving in the area much more tolerable.

We had a great three days in Palm Desert.  We had a BBQ at Mary and Larry's to celebrate my mom's 85th birthday.  My Aunt Leslye (mom's sister) and Uncle Lee (Leslye's husband) were there, too.  We also had a great day at The Living Desert, a small zoo in Palm Desert that just happens to have a model train set that takes up 3/4 of an acre of land.  Needless to say, Lincoln was eagerly anticipating our time there.  The unfortunate thing is that we didn't take a lot of photos.  I kicked myself when I realized that we hadn't taken a family photo while we were there, got only one photo of the kids with my mom, none with Mary and Larry, and none with Aunt Leslye and Uncle Lee.  We did get a few nice photos and I'll post them below.  First, a quick story:

We finally made it to the model train set at Living Desert and it did not disappoint.  There are eight different loops, as many as 19 trains running, and models of the Grand Canyon, mountains, streams, towns and other features to make it all even more interesting.   We spent some time viewing the layout, with Lincoln particularly interested in all of it.  After a while, we decided that it was time to head for home.  We all walked toward the main entrance, making sure we had all three kids with the group.  At some point, Lincoln saw another little boy and decided he needed to show him the trains.  Without any of us noticing, Link broke from the group and stayed to admire the train set for a little longer.  We were in the gift shop when one of us finally noticed he wasn't around.  As we started to panic, we saw a family walking toward us with Lincoln in tow.  The mom in the group asked if Link was part of our family.  She said he approached her and said he was lost and asked for her help.  He cried and apologized, saying "I was too focused on the trains!"  We all hugged him, relieved to have found him safe.  We thanked the kind family for taking time from their day to make sure he was safe and that we were reunited.  Something none of us will soon forget, I'm sure.

That's our week in California in a nutshell.  Sorry for the long post and hope it didn't bore you too much.

All the best,

​Rick

It brings me much joy to make the following announcement...

Buzz and The Little Guy's Talkeetna River Adventure has been published and is available starting today.  The story is based on a rafting/camping trip that I took with Bobby, Craig and my nephew Mark back when we were all a lot younger.  As with the first Buzz and The Little Guy adventure, I combined all the action so that it's represented by my two characters, but there's a little bit of Bobby, Craig, Mark, our two professional guides and me in almost every page. 

Once again, Martin Dirk did an amazing job with the illustrations.  He truly has a talent for taking the written word and crafting a colorful world that you can jump right into while reading.

If you're interested, click on the "Books by Rick Abel" tab of calinkery.com for information on how to order a copy.  Or you can simply go to your favorite retailer's website (Amazon or Barnes and Noble), enter "Rick Abel" into their search engine and it should be somewhere in the results.  

I've also got a number of books for family and friends who would like a signed copy.  Just let me know and I'll send one your way. 

The early months of the year are lean times for the local wildlife.  Elk and deer widen their migration pattern in their search for anything edible.  They'll eat dry grasses, gnaw on aspen bark, and feed on vegetation they wouldn't touch at other times of the year.  Their search for food leads them in ever expanding circles, which means we don't see them as often as we do spring through fall.  Bears are in hibernation, mountain lions are following the herds, birds have mostly migrated south.  Still, there are stragglers and it's always a thrill to find that they've passed through.

First on our list of visitors this week is a pair of adolescent elk bulls who can't seem to stop themselves from sparring.  I call them Danny and Mike.  You can see how thin they are; I can only imagine how hungry they must be.  Perhaps it's their "hangriness" that inspires them to push each other around so much.  

The video is about 4 minutes long, and while I could watch them all day, I understand that not everyone has that kind of time or interest.  Feel free to jump out of the video at any time.

Next up are two different views of a beautiful bobcat at the water hole.  He (or she) knows that there's a meal nearby - you can hear the chirps and clicks of a very nervous squirrel in the background - but can't seem to find it.  I love watching the cat as she (or he) looks all over the area trying to find the darn thing.

Our third look at the winter wildlife is of the canine variety.  We typically see coyotes throughout the year, and those that wander through are most often alone.  We spot pairs less frequently, and groups of three or more are pretty rare.  It was fun to catch this trio out and about, especially since they all look so healthy for this time of year. 

Last but not least is Mr. Bluebird.  We're not sure if he's lost or if it's the sign of an early spring, but we've been shocked to see this mountain bluebird hanging around the house this past week.  Hope his feathers are keeping him warm and dry and that he's finding enough to eat under the snow that's fallen in February.  He's a chubby little thing and doesn't look any worse for the winter wear...  

A lot of things have happened since my last post, so this is kind of a brain dump.  Apologies to those of you with short attention spans, lol...

I hope you all had a Happy Holiday season.  Mary and I enjoyed a nice, quiet Christmas and New Year.  Between my kids' work schedules and concerns about travel delays associated with omicron, visiting with family just wasn't in the cards.  Craig spent the day after Christmas with us, we had a Zoom celebration with Bobby, Lindsay and the grandkids, and we found some time to have a glass of wine (or two) with friends, but it was mostly just Mary and me alone at our mountain retreat.  I'm not saying it was bad - being alone with Mary could never be bad - it was just different.  I think it was the first time since Bobby was born that we didn't have at least one of the kids with us on Christmas morning. 

On a happier note, I started a new part time job this week as a substitute teacher at the local school.  The photo above was taken as a little joke for my grandkids.  Every year on their first day of school, they take a photo with a sign that summarizes who they are at the start of the year.  I thought it would be funny to take a similar photo on my first day of school, too.  They got a kick out of it.

Anyway, I had been seeing ads all over town and in the local paper begging people to sign up as subs.  I'm retired, have some time on my hands and thought I might be able to help.  I went through the process of getting my substitute teaching certificate - submitting a resume, getting fingerprinted and passing a background check - then applied for the job.  The interview went well, the school board approved the hire, so I'm now a substitute teacher. 

I spent my first day shadowing teachers at different grade levels to get a feel for the place and the kids.  I got to sit in with kids from second grade (helping them with reading), fifth and sixth grade math, seventh grade science, eighth grade English, and high school American history, gym and wood shop.  I helped a special needs boy (fifth grade) with his math and he high-fived me a half dozen times and asked if I wanted to be his friend.  His teacher told me he usually doesn't warm up to people so fast.  That was pretty cool.  

My first real day as a sub is on Monday.  I've got a fourth grade class all day and am hoping it goes well. 

Wish me luck!

Finally, I'm nearing publication of my third book, which will be the second in the Buzz and The Little Guy series.  It's called "Buzz and The Little Guy's Talkeetna River Adventure" and is based on a whitewater rafting and backpacking vacation I took with Bobby, Craig and my nephew Mark.  It was a great trip and I hope I've captured the essence of it through the story and illustrations.  I expect it to be finished sometime in February and will update this site when it's available.  

That's all for now...

Boy, it's been a while since the last time I posted something.  November came and went without so much as a "How you doin'?"  Well, I'm here to get you caught up a bit...

The month started out just great.  November is my birthday month and I was able to celebrate another trip around the sun.  I had a nice home-cooked dinner with Mary and Craig and did a Zoom call with Bobby, Lindsay and the grandkids.  I got a lot of nice birthday wishes from family and friends, too.  

After getting over that excitement, Mary and I headed down to Florida for a week.  For those of you who don't know, I have been playing baseball for the past 20 years or so.  Real baseball.  Hardball.  The National Pastime. 

My team - the DuPage Lugnuts - heads to Fort Myers every November to play in the Roy Hobbs World Series.  I don't get down there for the tournament every year, but now that I'm retired I've been trying to make it a more regular thing.   The tournament is for amateur baseball players and it's remarkable how many of us are still out there playing a game we learned as kids.  The tournament has seven divisions grouped by age, starting with the 35 and older teams ("The Veterans") and ending with "The Forever Young" gents at 75 years and older.  My team was entered in the 60 and older division ("The Classics") and it was a 49 team field.  That's a lot of old guys playing ball.  

We had a great time.  My team did ok - we lost in the quarterfinals - and I had a decent week after not playing for the past two years (I missed last year's tourney because of Covid).  The best part was seeing my old teammates again.  They're a great group of guys and terrific ball players, and it's always fun to get together with them to play ball, drink beer and tell stories.  As I've said to others, I'm 62 and still out there shagging flies, swinging the bat and running the bases.  Even when we lose, I win.

Mary and I got home from Florida, spent a week at the cabin, then made the long drive to the Chicago area to spend Thanksgiving with Bobby, Lindsay and the grandkids.  Our son Craig made the drive with us; having the third driver made it an easier trip and we were glad to have the entire family together for the holiday.  Here's the family photo (from left Craig, me, Mary, Cale, Lincoln, Emery, Lindsay and Bobby):

It wouldn't be a real post without a wildlife video, so I'll end with this 90 second look at our friend Handsome.  He was here a couple of times in October, but didn't make an appearance in November.  It's been pretty mild so far this fall, so I'm sure he hasn't settled in somewhere for his winter nap just yet.  I'm hoping to catch another glimpse before the cold and snow settles in out here; if not, we'll have a long wait to see if he returns in the spring. 

​Enjoy...

Our favorite bear is back and as handsome as ever.  We were concerned earlier this summer that Handsome had gotten into a fight with the nasty one-eyed bear we call Trouble.  The bear that looked like Handsome was seriously injured and had a big scar on his shoulder when we saw him a couple of weeks later. 

It was a great surprise when I saw Handsome again this week.  No scar on his shoulder.  His coat is perfect.  The only thing I can conclude is that the injured black bear was not Handsome, but some other bear that was just passing through.  It's good to see our old friend, and I'm really glad that he looks healthy and ready for winter.

I'm not the only one happy to see him back.  These guys let you know how they feel about our boy Handsome...

A couple of mule deer bucks - handsome in their own way - stopped by this week.  They're silent types, so you can give your ears a rest...

Nice to see all of these guys in the neighborhood.  Knowing they're out there and sharing our little corner of the world makes me smile...