Having fun taking photos around the yard.









They spend their spring and summers in my yard and for that I am grateful.
Every morning, when I go outside to put fresh water in the bird baths, they come gliding in, demostrating just how graceful they are.
They also come with hopes of getting a peanut or two.
When I started this blog, I knew nothing about creating a blog. I saw other people’s blogs and wanted to give it a try – mostly for fun, to try my hand at being creative and to continue my love for using the computer. After all my college degree is in a computer field and my career was spent using my technical degree (not too much creativity there).
When I first created my site I called it “My Side View” with the intention of sharing adventures while my husband and I travel in our RV. Well since then I have come to truly enjoy writing and sharing my photography.
The My Side View title, I believe, is not relevent to the time spent at home when not traveling.
I soon realized I had made a few mistakes when setting up my blog. My email address, for many years has been WolfSong. It is a name I picked years ago and is a reference to my love and respect for the Wolf. The blog address and the blog title did not match, so I decided to change the blog name to Wolf Song Blog. Now they match – WolfSongBlog as the address for the blog and Wolf Song Blog as the title.
Hopefully, this name change is a better fit for my site – it feels right to me. Let’s just hope this change works and does not create other unknown problems!
Alabama
Dazzling, sparkling wheels turning washed and waxed to perfection. Vivid and bold shades of reds, blacks and silvers, glittering in the evening sunlight. All three left their western home, in northern Loveland, rolling south to downtown Loveland with precious cargo on board.
Alabama
Groomed to perfection – bathed, brushed, braided and combed. They are pampered and spoiled and rightly so. It was a first for Loveland, it was exciting, it was a fun way to spend a Thursday evening.
Nancy, a friend visiting from the Lone Star State, and I heard about this event and decided we wanted to be a part of the fun. I longed to see them trotting down Fourth Street – the heart of downtown Loveland. However, we were a tad late arriving or they were a tad ahead of schedule. As we were trotting up Lincoln Street heading to Fourth Street they made the turn prancing in all their glory straight toward us.
What a magnificent sight, gold adornments flashing almost blinding in the sun. Eight majestic, powerful, beautiful, draft horses lovingly referred to as Gentle Giants entertaining the large crowds.
Matching, in their beautiful black collars and gold harnesses – mirror images of each other, bay in color with white markings on face and legs. Their muscled legs lifting in rhythm causing the feathering, on their lower legs, to flair up and out, symbolizing grace and power.
Can you imagine, eight Clydesdales, each weighting between 1,800 to 2,000 pounds and standing proudly 72 inches high, pulling their striking red wagon filled with Budweiser Beer.
In his green and white uniform, sitting tall and proud a top the traditional beer wagon, he expertly and commandingly drives his team. I will just call him – “The Driver” .
At his side and also sitting tall and proud, wearing his own taylor made gold collar is the other four-legged symbol of the Budweiser team – the handsome black and white (gentle) Dalmatian. His tail wagging to express the crowds heartfelt affection. As he sits and watches I call him – “The Sentinel”. {I later learned, when I got a big hug, his name is Chip}
As the team continued north on Lincoln we trotted along side, wanting to observe these Gentle Giants up close. They pulled to a halt several blocks away, along side the huge, red eighteen-wheelers that would take them back home.
Crowds gathered, young and old, standing in awe with cameras in hand. The Clydesdales thrilled the crowds, I know, because everyone was wearing a smile.
We talked to the caretakers of these beauties, again pride showing as they answered questions and spoke lovingly about their charges. One such young man, Will is his name, told us he has worked with draft horses since the age of five. We could tell he loved these horses!
The time passed quickly, they soon started unhitching the team – removing the gorgeous, black collars and gold harnesses, removing the leather leads and finally loading these amazing animals into their home on wheels.
Not wanting to leave just yet we watched until the two strongest and tallest, those just in front of the wagon, were loaded. All eight were wiped down, watered and feed. People continued to watch, peeking through the big doors as the horses rubbed their necks (spots needed scratching), throwing their heads up and down eager to be rolling and biting the poor horse stalled in front of them on the butt, I guess just for fun.
Next came the red wagon – Chip was allowed down, had to jump onto the shoulders of his caretaker, to the applause of the crowd. The wagon was then loaded into one of the sparkling eighteen-wheelers.
As the sun was setting over the mountains, its last rays of light striking the vibrant colors of the eighteen-wheelers they and their precious cargo pulled back out onto Lincoln, leaving downtown Loveland heading north – back to the barn.
It was with deep emotion, mixed with pride, as we watched the three eighteen-wheelers rolling on along. Will, his duty now as driver, saw us watching and tooted his big, loud horn and with a final wave they rolled on out of site.
We realized this event was special and that we had been graced with the presence of these symbols of strength and beauty.
Alabama
A walk outside to perform a simple task, offers me a relaxing break
While performing this task, my mind is unburdened allowing pleasant thoughts to weave in and out
A walk outside to perform a task, my flowers need a drink and birdbaths need filling
Looking around I am delighted to see,
~ Clover showing off their tiny blooms
~ Ladybugs in a romantic mood
~ Succulents seeking the sun, so little time to display their beauty, dusk looms
Not really a task for being outside is what I enjoy most