Look upward, for the world lays not at your feet.

     When you are feeling a little down in the dumps, invite friends over to make oatmeal cookies!  And always remember to lick your fingers, too!

     Fall is about at her peak here in the West Elk Mountains as the colors are now fading and snow in the high country is falling yet again.  A great time for me to get out for those long walks on trails I have been on hundreds of times before, yet there is always something new to be found on them.  New sights, of course, but also new smells and sounds as well.  Yesterday was the day I found the sounds of stillness by the side of a small pond.  The pond itself was originally formed when a small dam was built to supply a hydroelectric plant with water to turn the turbines.  After the electric plant shut down, the pond was taken over by beavers, ducks, geese, trout, mule deer, elk, a couple of mountain lions and all the rest of the critters that call that mountain valley home.  Sitting by it's banks for a bit, the breezes died down, the leaves stopped rustling and even the water itself seemed to quiet itself as the sun was drawing down.