Believing The Bird

It’s a bright, windy day with temps in the 30’s. The sky presents a spring assortment of types of clouds that compete with the view of the Rio Grande River where several pairs of geese noisily guard their nests.

Skims of ice ride the river waves in places but 99% of the river is freely flowing. We see misty storms above the Sangre de Cristos to the east and wonder if we’ll get caught in snow before we get back to the car.

Deer tracks and pressed-down sections of tall grass tell of deer. Information signs caution us about cougars frequenting the area. We’ve not seen any evidence of them, but have heard news reports in the past about cougars seen in the town of Alamosa.

We take the easternmost section of the trail which eventually takes us out to Colorado 17 near Coni Grant’s art gallery-studio. This section also skirts the community gardens that have claimed more land in the last few years.

Irrigation canals look burnt so preparations are underway for the new season. We’re bundled up against the cold, but our faces get very cold as we make our return loop into the wind. We had planned to go farther west on the trail but our faces vote, “No.”

A few walkers and runners are out and about but the cold and wind has discouraged more families with children today. We do pass a brave pre-schooler riding his little bike with his dad following close behind. A couple of men with their dogs stand talking near the playground.

We watch a little dog get acquainted with some squirrels as we return to the car from our river walk. Finally the squirrels scatter and the dog’s attention zeroes in on one that wisely gets some vertical distance for himself.

We take that as our cue to get warmed up in our car.