She’s a she, not a he, and hence, no antlers. But I don’t care. It’s been a lifelong goal of mine to see a moose. To the extent that, as a child, my imaginary friend was a moose (named Bruce, no less). So on our return from Steamboat Springs, I was super excited when Kelsea and I entered the Moose County of Colorado, complete with Moose X-ing signs. It was dangerously pouring rain, when Kelsea swore she spied TWO of them out her window, in a copse of trees. We steered down a side road nearby hoping that I could catch a glimpse, but they, in their elusive mooseness, had vanished. I was glad she had seen them, but I was sorry for myself. She tried in vain to cheer me up by saying that really she was only 98% sure that they had actually been there, and not just a moose hallucination, as we have had previously. I was just bemoaning the fact that here I am, an animal shaman, for heaven’s sake, and I can’t even summon a moose, when there she was. I veered off the road so sharply that I almost hit a random pole and am surprised that she didn’t run away. But she didn’t. She calmly drank rainwater from a puddle, lifted her head and observed things in general, and casually trip-trapped into some aspens, thinking perhaps that they were an excellent disguise. I was so happy that I cried. Honestly, I wept with joy. I’m glad I got to share the experience with Kelsea.

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(To give credit where credit is due, Kelsea took this shot. I was busy trying not to kill us.)

Highway 14, near Gould, Colorado.

Quote of the day: ““Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it. ” — Henry David Thoreau

Daily gratitudes:
Flippy skirts
Seeing MKL after a few days absence which make the heart grow fonder
When work is a workout
Lisa’s chocolate chip cookies
Foggy mornings