Another week flies by...

I can't believe I didn't get on a horse this week. I planned to go on the Granite Canyon all day ride on Tuesday, but not enough guests signed up, so it was postponed ;( Instead, I finally went on the afternoon nature walk at the ranch. It is lead each week by naturalist Larry Livingood, and he knows everything there is to know about local plants, birds and more. He is also an avalanche forecaster here in the winter! His wife always comes along and is also knowledgeable about birds and plants, and they stay for dinner. At the feeder, Larry pointed out the 3 types of hummingbirds that live on the ranch, the Calliope (smallest breeding bird in N. America), Rufous, and Broad-tailed, and told us when they migrate South... mid-September!

Then we took a short walk back through the guest cabins to a former Aspen forest that had been "snapped off" by a wind burst a few years back. He pointed out the plants that had emerged because of this, including goldenrod and fireweed with its bright red flowers. Musk thistle, the large purple flowers that my horse Diego loves to eat, is also a noxious weed that emerges after fires, oil spills and other ground disturbances. All have medicinal properties. At 4:30 in the afternoon, not much wildlife was out, but Larry and his wife went out to the ranch swimming hole after dinner with chairs and binoculars and spotted some large Great Grey Owls and a pair of moose.

Speaking of moose, I was awakened by a chomping and rustling noise early Wednesday morning and knew something large was nearby. As luck would have it, a pair of moose walked down the road past my cabin window. I hoped they would make a right into the crew area and walk right under the moose Xing sign and sure enough, they did! I got the picture, albeit with my screen door in between us. They were 10 feet away ;)

                                                          And off they go.... so cool!

This is also week 4 of 6 of the Grand Teton Music Festival. I attended the Tuesday night classical performance at Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village, as always, riding my bike there. This week's guest host was Barbara Scowcroft from the Utah Symphony Orchestra, and she provided commentary and background on each piece. One of the 6 pieces played was a jazzy number by Bill Douglas and featured a trio including a Steinway piano, oboe and bassoon. That combo was a first for me... great concert.

In Teton Village, there is a touristy trail riding operation, and this week, one of their horses had an adorable little colt. After the concert, I swung by on my bike and took a look. It was 3 days old and frolicking around... so wobbly and cute!

I missed dinner to go to the concert, and when I returned to the ranch, I was happy to see that one of my co-workers had made a plate for me from the Asian buffet (pork, duck, sushi, dumplings and more) , along with some ginger mango panna cotta and a fortune cookie! I'd say my "fortune" has been pretty good this summer!

Thursday night, I hopped on the tractor-pulled hayride. Along with a bunch of teen guests, we rode around the ranch for 45 minutes before being dropped off at the weekly cookout (Ribs!). This week, we saw a fairly large herd of elk and then... a lone coyote! My first sighting. I hear she has some cubs. Here's hoping she stays away from Scout.

Even though the week's events were similar to past weeks, it's always a little bit different. We've had 8 weeks of guests so far, with 8 weeks to go. Wow... time is flying!