DEAD ANIMAL PHOTO SPOILER ALERT

You know, just in case the picture of a dead javelina is going to gross you out...

It had snowed up in the mountains shortly before I left for the citay, and I saw this poor guy on the side of the road. Not having seen many javelinas up close (they're kind of aggressive and it is generally recommended not to come in close contact with them, especially if you are accompanied by your dog, which will with all probability chase the javelina for some time until it realizes there was not one but three, and they are not so very scared of it, turn quickly and high-tail it back to YOU, with angered javelinas as its heels), I turned around and pulled off the road in order to further inspect:

What odd creatures and what tiny, hooved feet.

My next stop was to renew my soon-to-be-expired driver's license (ah, waiting in the famed MVD lines...kind of made me think of Spain, ah ah ah) and say good-bye to my mummy.

And then, having broken forth onto the high plains, I saw perhaps the largest herd of pronghorn antelope I can remember seeing. The pictures do not display their numbers, but it was a very scenic...scene.

Also, I despise digital zoom on cameras and think the quality is abominable, but I think this image is rather striking, despite its lack of focus and/or extreme pixelation:

It reminds me of Little House on the Prairie and my grandmother's watercolor paintings.

In other news, I went [horseback] riding with some friends in Glenwood while I was home and put my waterbottle and camera in the saddlebag. Oops. Turns out the waterbottle leaked and I did not notice that my camera was getting this precious liquid into into its fine mechanical and optical parts, which do not so very much appreciate baths. This is rather unfortunate, as I am not financially able to buy myself a lovely new camera, as much as I have been wanting to do so for years...Until that time so presents itself, I am borrowing Mom and Dad's B camera, which is, actually, remarkably similar to my old one. Same model, in fact, but with a fold out screen rather than built-in. Anyway, I have, once again, been bailed out, so to speak, by my parents and am capable of capturing images. As an added bonus, my parents are not particularly zealous in deleting their photos after uploading them to their computer, so I imagine my delight in finding some remarkable photos from July. I'll leave you with this gem of a moment:

Big Al says "Don't forget to check the tire pressure and fluid levels in your car!" right before getting dunked by his grandson at a Fouth of July celebration. :)