Flowers and Barbed Wire (Sounds like some kind of Country song...)

So the last few days, Grandad and I have been working on some cattle fencing. The top of the mountain they live on is basically one giant cattle lease. The cattle show up on Sunday, so we've been frantically fixing the fence so that it will be finished by the time they get here, that way the cows won't eat our flower garden!

I must say that I have become a pro at the Wire Stretcher, and can fasten barbed wire to a T-post quicker than a chipmunk can eat a dandelion. I only have one scratch to show for it too. The "trail" that runs up and down the fence line is at times quite terrifying. I'm sure the ATV (four-wheeler) manufacturers would cover their eyes if they could see us riding up and down these ridiculously steep hills and valleys.

Of course, it's all in the middle of the San Juan National Forest, so there are signs of wildlife everywhere. I found bear tracks at one point, and after that I was on the lookout constantly. Every big black shape was a bear, not a rock or fallen log. These are things one just doesn't have to worry about in Texas, you see.

Speaking of the wilderness and things you don't see in Texas, the other day, while we were driving up the road towards the house, I happened to glance over into the shade of a few pines. Growing straight out of the pine needles were these strange red stalks that vaguely resembled the spike of a bluebonnet. They didn't have any leaves, and Grandad was just as perplexed as I was. I proceeded to spend about an hour sifting through the WWW to see if I could find out anything about them.

I thought they were some kind of mushroom or fungi because they didn't have any leaves, and boy, was I surprised when I found out what it was!



It's common name is Spotted Coralroot. It is an orchid native to Colorado that has brilliantly made friends with mycorrhizal
fungi, so that they don't need any leaves. Isn't that absolutely fascinating!!!!????!!! Wow.



These pictures are from my phone, and I took much better ones with my camera, but haven't been able to upload them to my computer yet. If you look closely, you can see the little tiny orchid flowers! So neat!



After a long hard day of fence work, we decided that we should reward ourselves with a hot dog cookout, and I leave you with this picture of our awesome fire and hot dog cooking method. Yummy!