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<\/a><\/p>\nNext day, last of winter,<\/p>\n
having recently discovered we own a half share of the “upper eighty” with Dave<\/p>\n we went up under overcast skies for a look.\u00a0 The eighty, which Dave bought along with the land down here in 1994, has a somewhat miraculous spring on it.<\/p>\n As seller John Casey said, “There’s a lot of water in the Buffalo Hills, Dave” …so Dave got first refusals on everything in sight as<\/p>\n vast views abound and after Casey passed an even more elevated<\/p>\n spring with even vaster views came into his possession [along with much else, to the considerable consternation of John’s executor, who’d anticipated grabbing everything in-house and wholesale for his buddies].<\/p>\n We took a look at that one, too, which<\/p>\n overlooked the hanging playa where we’d left the truck.<\/p>\n Said little playa was colonized by bushes during the drought but being early in the season a good and bugless time was had by all.<\/p>\n Then<\/p>\n down to doze and whatnot.<\/p>\n Monday, first day of Spring, began o-cast and dark but<\/p>\n with midday sunshine leaves began Unfurling Visibly in Real Time.<\/p>\n Nothing here stays the same for long as<\/p>\n night rains made morning walking mighty muddy<\/p>\n and<\/p>\n afternoon brought massive showers while I was in the repo putting up 2011,<\/p>\n the Year of the Least Watercolors, but abandoned the effort [63 triptychs take a lot of tacks] for other pursuits until eventually the sun, as they say, burst through.<\/p>\n Wednesday the surviving fishes came out to investigate the intermittent input to their pond after the low restored the artesian flow, Finnegan most persistently<\/p>\n whilst shepherds got their trailer stuck at Wall Canyon first thing…<\/p>\n but managed to extricate, move out and sneak the sheep south by lunchtime…or so we thought.<\/p>\n The watercolor installation [Year of the Least being Most Likely to Fit] was finally completed.<\/p>\n At sunset, without a sheep in sight, a pickup dropped off a pack of vocal dogs<\/p>\n so maybe they’re sequestered up Wall Canyon somewhere; sun set.<\/p>\n On the morning walk, Thursday already,<\/p>\n the sheep were plainly evident, southbound.\u00a0 First band of the season headed for shearing at Espil’s before lambing…a hard life, that of a sheep, having to walk all the way up from Lovelock just to get fleeced and turned loose, naked, onto the desert.<\/p>\n After a last breakfast on the porch L., nearing the end of that Last Spring Break,<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n