Morning in Paradise...

Morning in Paradise...  I can't believe it's September already, but that's what my calendar says, and I have no reason to believe it's wrong.  Dang!

Yesterday evening we took a drive down the left hand fork of the Blacksmith River, hoping to find wildlife.  We didn't find much of that, though we did see a doe with twin fawns on the way back out.  Our drive took us along a tumbling, rocky stream with the occasional beaver dam (and consequent ponds, willows, alder, aspen, etc.) through an unexpectedly narrow and dramatic canyon, with wall reminiscent of the Grand Canyon, though obviously on a much smaller scale.  We saw one side-stream that burst out of a spring on a rock wall (at right), and a few late-blooming plants (also at right).  It's very dry back there right now; no recent good rains and a lot of hot days...

This morning the boys (Miki and Race) took our usual walk.  We were a bit later than usual, and there were scads of hawks all around us, perched on every available elevated position, scanning the mown barley fields for voles.  I counted 22 hawks in sight from one place I stood!   The temperature was just about perfect for brisk walking: 62°.  The dogs, of course, were terrifically excited by this adventure.  As soon as I pick up the leashes or put on my hat, they basically go completely insane (admittedly that's not a big step from their normal state, but still...).  Some photos from today's walk:

Debbie read some exciting news online this morning: Crumb Brothers, which tragically closed a few months ago, is about to reopen under new ownership. Woo hoo! And it's even better than before, at least on the surface: the new owners are adding an espresso bar. Debbie is over the moon :)

And now you'll have to excuse us, as we're about to go to Herm's for breakfast...