Late Monday afternoon the 30% chance of rain turned into great big beautiful snowflakes, dumping about 2 inches in Fort Collins. So much for weather forecast accuracy. It continued throughout the night then showed us blue skies by noon. In my eyes those big wet snowflakes make it a gorgeous snowfall. By 9:00 am I was excitedly heading to the Environmental Learning Center. I wanted to walk the trails and see the beauty nature was presenting. A wet snow like this one must be felt and experienced up close.
I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. – Robert Frost
What an awesome day we had this past Sunday. After rain on Friday and Saturday everyone in town headed out to a park or trail. My choice was the Environmental Learning Center that follows along the Cache la Poudre River. The river actually spits in this area and creates a rather large island that supports native plants and plenty of wildlife. I sauntered along the Wilcox trail enjoying the warmth and quiet. As I had signed up for the photo-walk on Saturday but did not make it, I made Sunday my own photo-walk, sorta like Paul did. I had a good time.
The Environmental Learning Center is the universities attempt to connect people with nature by facilitating educational, inclusive and safe experiences in the natural environment and to advance the field of environmental education through sound research and practice. It’s also a great place for photographers and birders to hang out. Last week was my first visit since getting back to Colorado in over a year. Way to long! The biggest changes I saw was with plants. A group if teasels I enjoyed photographing here were gone with some sort of plant that reminded me of wild rose bush. I had no intetions of visiting the ELC so I was not prepared for it. Needles to say shorts and a short sleeve shirt was not the best attire as the skeeters were patiently waiting in ambush for me.
I have taken my grandkids on hikes through the nature area. They would get back in the car and start counting and listing all that they had seen. I also noticed the banks along the Poudre River were dense with plants. Places I would sit along the riverbank and listen to the river were now surrounded by plants. But this added vegetation provides a wonderful habitat for birds and smaller animals. Fiver years ago I do not remember seeing any signs of beavers. I did not see any beavers today but there were signs all over the place now. 🙂
