I've lived at high altitude in the mountains of Colorado since 1989.
Winter and spring always dance together through April and May.
Winter always leads.
(Every year, I learn this fact anew.)
Sometimes at the end of April, we have a glimpse of spring.
Temperatures rise 20 degrees above freezing and snow melts.
Then, temperatures plummet and icicles form.
Snow squalls add new whiteness to older, dirtier snow.
Weather changes constantly, hour by hour.
The waltz of melt/freeze continues.
At the end of April, I'm seeing more open water in the streams and rivers.
Ice is melting on Maggie Pond at the base of Peak 9.
However, spring doesn't stand a chance at high altitude.
Winter always dominates.
I go outside to exercise most days.
Yesterday, I walked with graupel falling.
Graupel is ice-covered snow flakes.
The little hard balls look like styrofoam.
They bounce off whatever they hit (including me).
I've been meeting foxes on my walks.
The females give birth in spring and stay close to their dens while hunting.
The two videos I'm sharing are of female foxes.
This female approaching my front porch looks like she may have just emerged from her den.
She has a lot of dirt and debris on her fur.
The second female I met while walking on the rec path.
She was favoring her left front paw.
Nature's surprises are always among my Good Things.
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