PEACHFRONT SPEAKS

Recent entries july 4, 2018 - 2018-07-04 the triangle continues of courtney, boobear, & nyota - 2018-07-03 Cookie so cute telling, "Hello" to sparrows - 2018-07-01 lovebirb in love - 2018-06-30 wren with fluffffff - 2018-06-24 Read my new book, The 10 Best Things You Can Do For Your Bird at Amazon or at many other fine distributors like Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and more. By public demand, and after a delay of an embarrassing number of years, I've finally put my notorious essay, Ender and Hitler: Sympathy for the Superman, free on the fabulous internets. A bibliography of my published books and stories. Here's a simple card-counting FAQ to get you up to speed on the basics. Here's the true story of the notorious DD' blackjack team, told for the first time on the fabulous internets. No other team went from a starting investor's bankroll of zero to winning millions of dollars. A Sadean take on Asimov's classic Three Laws of Robotics can be found in Roger Williams' NOW REVIEWED ON SLASHDOT!!! The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. Adult readers only please -- explicit sex and violence. For updates on the "Dead Tree Project" and other topics, you may visit the official fan site, Passages in the Void.. My Bird Lists -- My Louisiana State Life List, My Yard List and, tah dah, My World Life List. HEY! What happened to the Peachfront Conure Files? The world's only OFFICIAL Peachfront Conure site now features free peachfront conure coverage, including a magazine length Intro to Conures previously published in American Cage-Bird Magazine, now free on the web. I offer the best free Peachfront Conure information on the internet. If you have great Peachfront Conure info, stories, or photos to share, contact me so I can publicize your pet, your breeding success, your great photograph, etc. on my site. Thanks.

our fourteener 2009-09-03 - 6:20 p.m. all photos � elaine radford me at the summit of mt evans, i had to sit because i was told that if i stood up, then my photographer would have a phobic nervous breakdown anxiety attack so sheesh... Today we had a beautiful summer day to make our ascent to Mt. Evans, the highest auto trail in North America. On the way out, we made a mental note of the city of Denver bison herd, which was foraging quite close to the interstate, but we didn't want to stop for, let's face it, fake wild animals when we needed to get an early start to see real ones. We found the entrance to the road without too much angst, but there was a plot twist that I hadn't predicted. In short, a short ways past mile marker 3, IMOM announced that he was having an anxiety attack. Maybe, maybe not. To me, he seemed to be a victim of thin air, because he seemed to be breathing rather heavily. Be that as it may, we decided it best to turn back to the Visitor Center (not yet open) at mile marker 3. It turned out to be a fortuitous stop, because here behind the building was the path leading you through the trail of 1,600 year old Bristlecone Pines. We were also greeted by the ground squirrel that looks like a chipmunk, the actual chipmunk, and an odd tree squirrel that scolds you with a sound that seems almost mechanical. A pair of Mountain Chickadees also dropped down to pay us a visit. Now, my reading public may be wondering why I didn't offer to do the driving myself. It's pretty simple. I don't have the proper insurance. And I just don't see anybody's anxiety attack being calmed by having an uninsured Peachfront at the wheel of their sporty Mercedes. In a real emergency, sure, I'd do it, but I was confident that he could handle the job. And, sure enough, we ascended above the timberline without (too much) screaming and cringing, and after awhile we ended up at Summit Lake, mile marker 9, where we got out to take a stroll around and check out the view. There were any number of American Pipits picking along the rocks at the waterside, but I had a mental block -- I always have a mental block with that bird -- but oh well. On the way down, I checked again at the Visitor Center and got it all sorted. At some point we headed the rest of the way up the mountain. Marmots and mountain goats had already greeted us along the way, but once we reached the peak, we also quickly observed pica. Lots and lots of mountain goats, often in sets of three -- presumably mommy, daddy, and the little one. SOOOOO cute. view from a trail at summit lake, near mile 9 on the road to mt. evans summit After all the hypothermia and blizzard warnings, I expected snow on the mountain. Maybe it's a victim of global warming, but I had to hang off the peak of the mountain and lean over and then I could see a bit of snow where a couple of Ravens were playing like schoolkids caught in a snowstorm. What will they do when their last tiny patch of snow is gone? Back down the mountain. Picnic at Echo Lake. Kind of quiet because it was such a warm lunch-time, but we did meet up with Gray Jay and a very cute young White-Crowned Sparrow. At some point the youngster tried to kiss up to an adult white-Crowned Sparrow, but all to no avail. Kid, you're big enough to find your own damn food. On the way back, we tried to find the city bison herd again. All we found was a very peculiar sign that informed us that we were looking at "the most beautiful bridge," when in fact, the bridge in question was no more than the usual ugly/typical overpass over I-70. Onward to Lookout Mountain, in hopes of getting a good view of the city of Denver. The nature center lady was probably working part-time for the chamber of commerce, because she suggested we go to Buffalo Bill's grave/museum for the view -- where there's a fee. Yeah, whatever. Actually, we found a pull-out on the way back where we could enjoy the view. With a name like Look-out Mountain, come on, there just has to be a view. We also took the forest loop stroll behind the nature center. I was impressed by the acres and acres of beautiful wildflowers, and I tried to snap a photo of one of the exotic orange butterflies using them. At the last minute, though, I noticed that the butterfly in question had a bite taken out of his wings. Oopsy. Oh, and we saw the back of an owl escaping through the forest, but we couldn't quite see it well enough, even though it was close. They escape so silently and so skillfully, don't they? A Stellar Jay popped up and squawked indignantly, but he didn't have any better luck in finding the owl again than we did. He's probably still pleased with himself for chasing it off. Also on the way down, we encountered two battling black squirrels. Cute as pie. Thanks to a few drops of rain, we'd programmed the geology museum for the Colorado School of Mines into the GPS. We planned to do the museum if it rained for real. Of course, this meant that on the way home, the GPS directed us to the Colorado School of Mines. Oopsy again. It looks like a cute little town, especially for a place where in theory you're handing out free beer. Tee hee. Did I mention that I got a photo of the Coors factory from Lookout Mountain? back - next All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2002-2017 by Elaine Radford