speaking the truth

[ A broad expanse of valley, seen from a high vantage point, and bordered on the left side by snowtopped mountains receding into the mist. Patches of trees give way to flat grassland, dotted with cultivated fields. Much closer, a few trees frame the view, scattered boulders below. ]

Okay yeah, that one’s big, it happens. It’s a good chunk of the San Luis Valley, which is, in fact, the largest alpine valley in the world. It’s a hell of a view.

I could get inspired & make some DAMN good faery home decor pieces there, assuming, that is, that I could find a flat spot large enough for a chair _and_ my workbench, the odds of which are an open question, because most of that part of the hill I parked on look more-or-less like this.

[ To the left, a clump of rough, lichened boulders. Directly ahead, worn and weathered pinyon pines. The ground below is uneven, rocky, and dotted with scrub oak and occasional small cacti. There’s about room to stand, but only if your balance is pretty good. ]

There are open spots, but they’re not flat, & the flat spots aren’t open, & it’s a good place to wander around for a while, but I don’t think I’ll be making jewelry there.

I did, however, cleverly notice that those pines are all piñon, & I giddily wandered around harvesting hunks of resin in between taking pictures, & I got enough to fill another tin. Which is good, I’ve been running short. (Here follows a rare product placement: I do sell piñon resin, & you can find it here.

[ A close view of a mostly-horizontal branch, upon which one can find, from left to right, a small round nugget of golden-brown pinyon resin, the large but long-healed gash in the bark from which it formed, and one of Loiosh’s forepaws. ]

I walked down to the road (such as it was & what there was of it — it didn’t have more than a suggestion of tire tracks, & I later discovered it was absolutely, definitely too steep for the van to go up) to get back to where I’d parked, finding, along the way, this interesting flower.

[ A bright yellow flower with three layers of long oval petals, seen from directly above. The leaves are long and narrow, and sprout in a circle right from the base of the flower stem. There’s another flower that has already closed up; its stem is round and reddish brown, and between where the petals have closed, there’s bits of white visible. ]

Is it a dandelion? The stem & leaves look right but I have never in my life seen such a simple dandelion flower; they’re usually a whole dome of yellow, not just three layers!

[ A closer view of the same flower. ]

After poking through a handy-dandy guide to dandelion lookalikes, I’m going to conclude that these are, in fact, dandelions. Maybe they’re just having a hard time up there? Maybe it’s a different species than the one I’m used to? I was just happy to see them, that yellow is so cheerful.

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[ Loiosh, an orange tabby wearing a blue bow tie, is walking down a bit of a slope towards the camera, looking up at it. The ground is mostly bare but there is a band of dried grass to the right, with water just past that. In the background are some still-leafless trees. ]

So what with one thing & another everything has been A Lot, & in an attempt to break out of the funk, I grabbed Loiosh, shoved him in the van, & drove out to one of the parking spots near the Rio Grande, thence to accidentally walk almost four miles WITH THE STROLLER, on paths that were never designed for anything with wheels wider than a bicycle.

… look, I’m not saying it was a GOOD idea.

A fair bit of it was right along the river, which was lovely; it’s pretty much thawed now, & the sound of running water is very, very welcome. (Also I found some good sticks! Shortly you will see some of them as faery home decor pieces!) Loiosh had a lovely time, most of it in the stroller, though he did get out & walk several times as well. Plus, of course, there was dried grass to gnaw on.

First you gotta survey the premises …

[ Loiosh is standing on a rock, with a bunch of dry grass right in front of him. He’s ignoring the grass, & is, instead, looking off to the left. ]

Then you get down to business.

[ Loiosh has shoved his entire head shoved into the grass. His mouth is a bit open, his tongue sticking just a bit out, & his nose is crinkled up as if he’s sneezing, which it’s entirely possible he was. ]

Then you do … whatever this is.

[ He’s picked his head back up and is basically making Mr. Yuck face, complete with the stuck-out tongue, I do not even know. ]

Then! As if the sun had suddenly & unexpectedly risen from years of night! A! Dramatical! Pose!

[ He’s almost sitting, head turned to look back over his shoulder, blue Colorado sky behind him. There’s about a four inch long stalk of some kind of plant stuck to the side of his face. ]

… so close. So VERY close.

Anyway that was WAY further than I’d planned to walk, & should you ever hear me say that I’m just taking a short walk & don’t need to bring along the water, kindly thump me on the head & make sure I bring it anyways. ESPECIALLY since I had the stroller & could easily have tucked it in there.

Still a fun walk, though, & I’ll definitely be doing it again, although probably with Loiosh in the back basket next time. AND WATER.

[ Loiosh is standing on the trunk of a fallen cottonwood tree, facing away; his tail is caught midlash, and his head is turned, ears and whiskers alert, looking at something interesting off to the left. ]

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[ A pyramidal, deeply eroded lump of coarse rock sits atop a treestump. Most of it is brown, but there are a few spots near the bottom, and one spot where it’s eroded more, that are white. ]

This is a salt lick! Ask me how I’m so sure!

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[ A broad pile of boulders, probably thirty feet high, looms over a stretch of ground dotted with confiers. ]

Turns out there were TWO big piles of rocks within sight of my Woods Day spot. A conundrum: which to climb?

Have you met me? BOTH.

This was the second one.

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[ Major Tom, a big grey tabby, is walking away from the camera, into a small space between big boulders. His tail sways from side to side. ]

Tom’s not at all worried about squeezing himself into a small space. To be fair, he’s smaller than I am, so there’s a lot less squeezing.

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[ Loiosh, an orange tabby wearing a green harness, stands on a good-sized boulder, looking over his shoulder at another rock a couple feet away. More rocks occupy the rest of the image, towering far over his head. A stand of conifers is visible through a gap between two of the boulders. ]

Loiosh does love scrambling around on rocks, just like his Momma. He’s better at the jumping part, though.

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[ A close view of Loiosh’s face — he’s an orange tabby, with white whiskers, and a couple of black freckles on his pink nose. ]

… but how could such a sweet, adorable boy possibly be such a trouble, you ask?

Like this, y’all. Like this.

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[ A really, really big boulder is visible through a break in the trees. Above it is that ridiculous blue Colorado sky. ]

First thing I usually do upon finding a new Woods Day spot is take a little wander around, just to see what looks like fun. Y’all know me; a big pile of rocks is DEFINITELY gonna be fun.

Y’all ALSO know that hell YEAH, I climbed that thing.

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[ Major Tom, a big grey tabby, is flopped on his back, rolling in the dirt. Both forepaws are tucked in front of him, and all the beans on his hindpaws are showing. His head is tucked to the side, and his belly is vast and pale. ]

There is very little that Tom loves as much as a good roll in the dirt. He’ll dig an entire channel in the ground to roll in, too, because, apparently, of Cat Reasons.

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[ A spray of oval green leaves sprawls over a pink granite boulder. The leaves look slightly thick, as if the plant that bears them is a succulent. ]

SO good to get back out into the woods.

I wish I’d gotten a better pic of these leaves, but, well. They’re cool-lookin anyways.

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