Great Horned Owl Family Loves Lowe’s!
Have you seen a Great Horned Owl up close and personal? Well here’s your chance. For the second year in a row, in the shadow of Pikes Peak, a pair of Great Horned Owls have taken up residence on a pallet of Ice Melt at the Lowe’s Garden Center at University Village shopping center, Colorado Springs. Seems these owls who normally have a habit of stealing nesting sites from other birds, have decided to call Lowe’s home. There are also a family of Great Horned Owls in residence at the Lowe’s Garden Center on Constitution and Powers in Colorado Springs.
Two weekends ago, we went to visit the owls and see what all the commotion was about. Employees of Lowe’s spotted the owl eggs months ago and contacted the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The three owlets are now nearly as big as their parents and oh so cute! But DO NOT TOUCH THE OWLS. Not only is this a warning, but it’s the law. The great horned owls are not endangered but along with all owls, they are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibits the capture, killing or possession of them without a permit.
An employee told us that behind the Lowe’s are a wide open fields and access to a creek. Perfect hunting grounds for the owls. The two feet tall mother owl watches the owlets by day and the father
takes over parenting duties by night. When the owlets fly down to the floor, the employees cordon off the area until the birds return to the rafters. Safety for all since according to the Nature Conservancy reports a great horned owl can extend its talons. As with all wildlife, it is wise to keep a safe distance from owlets and their nests. Great horned owls are not afraid to attack if they perceive a threat to their family.
The owlets will remain with their parents for another two or three months, then fly off to find a place of their own. Perhaps another Lowe’s will be in their future?
Not the first time great horned owls have called home improvement centers home. In 2009, an owl family selected a Home Depot in Prescott Valley, AZ. The pair of great horned owls nested in the outdoor canopy area atop a bag of soil. In 2014 great horned owls staked their claim in a Lowe’s in Omaha, NE., and in 2016, A great horned owl family nested in a Phoenix, AZ at an unspecified home improvement store. Guess word got out on the Great Horned Owl Network that home improvement centers make great nesting sites. LOL
Did you know there are psychological benefits of wildlife viewing? According to Where Is The Wildlife. Nature produces an emotional response of awe, wonder and privilege that unlocks ecocentric and anthropomorphic connections to wild animals and a feeling that is ‘beyond words’. There is time to stand and stare and contemplate. Nature and wildlife are not only spatial events but also temporal ones. In this liminal, embodied space of a wildlife encounter, socially constructed modern fast time dissipates and is replaced by stillness and nature’s time whereby participants are totally absorbed in the spectacle. All thought and action is concentrated on the moment. This provokes a deep sense of well-being that transcends the initial encounter leading to spiritual fulfilment and psychological health benefits. Yep, this is why our family goes camping!
So if you’re in the market for flowers, home improvement supplies, or an owl sighting that could lead to spiritual fulfilment and psychological health benefits, Lowe’s at University Village, Colorado Springs is the place for you!
Mom has tuffs on her head and Owlet doesn’t
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Posted in My Say What Blog, The Pikes Peak Region and tagged camping, Great Horned Owls, home Improvement Ctrs, Lowes, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Nature Watching, Psychological Health Benefits, Where Is The Wildlife by Tena Stetler with 5 comments.
Camping a Recipe for Summer Treats & Reads
My hubby, our dog, bird, turtle and I love to trade the jungle of civilization for a few days of paradise relaxing in the cool quiet of a Rocky Mountain campsite with a mesmerizing book and evening campfire. That’s my idea of Summer Treats and Reads. Okay, let me qualify what camping is to us. We have a fifth wheel trailer with all the creature comforts required, left tent camping behind a long time ago. LOL
Favorite camping areas in Colorado are: Rocky Mountain National Park a stones throw from Estes Park is a great hiking and biking destination. Twin Lakes in the Pike & San Isabel National Forest is wonderful for kayaking and mountain biking. Both these areas are dry camping, no services but with a generator or solar panels you are all set.
Another fun place is Steamboat Lake, a Colorado State Park, the kayaking is good, hiking with your furry friend is excellent. Electrical is available on some sites. Not far away is Pearl Lake, nice kayaking area, lots of wildlife early morning or around dusk. No motorized boats allowed. It’s also primitive/dry camping but there are several sites large enough for a 30 foot fifth wheel trailer.
These are just a few of the exciting camping area’s in Colorado. Last week we enjoyed a fun filled vacation at Lake Vallecito which I detailed in the prior post.
Mueller State Park is close and a great weekend trip to the mountains. Cheyenne Mountain State Park is centrally located for visiting all the Pikes Peak Region has to offer and is open all year around. It is usually our final destination of the season. The park offers full hookups, tent pad and campfire ring on each site.
Now for the Treats: Chocolate Cherry Dumpcake Recipe. Quick and easy.
2 cans (21 ounces each) cherry pie filling
1 package (about 15 ounces) Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake mix or your favorite Chocolate Cake mix.
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 X 9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Spread the pie filling in prepared pan, top with cake mix only, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. pour butter over top, covering cake mix as much as possible.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Make 12 to 16 servings. Now for just my husband, myself and a couple of friends, we cut this recipe in half and use a 9X9 inch baking pan or a cast iron dutch oven. Yummy!
For Reads: Obviously, I’d like you to check out my books,
A Demon’s Witch, Charm Me (its on sale for .99), A Witch’s Journey. Otherwise, The Wild Rose Press has lots of wonderful authors with a wide variety of books. I like cozy and regular mysteries, paranormal romances books categorized as fun reads. I’m not into thrillers or weepy books. Happily Every After and feel good novels are what I read, anything else, I can get by turning on the television or internet and I don’t call that entertainment. Just me.
Please visit the other blogs listed below for fun, games and prizes. To be entered to win the $10.00 Amazon gift card I’m giving away, like my facebook page and sign up for my quarterly newsletter on my webpage at https://www.tenastetler.com. Winner will be drawn at random and notified at the end of the blog hop. Also the author’s of The Wild Rose are giving away a Kindle Fire as a grand prize. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter below. Good Luck! See you next time with tales of the unexplained. Got your attention now! <giggles maniacally>
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Check out all the fabulous writers and their blogs
in the SUMMER BLOG HOP below!
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RV Memory | Visit blog
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Tricia Schneider | Visit blog
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Anna Durands Spunk & Hunks | Visit blog
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Judy Ann Davis Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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Spicy Summer Treats with Mia Downing | Visit blog
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Linda Nightingale. . . Wordsmith | Visit blog
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Jana Richards – Journeys with Jana | Visit blog
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Summer Memories of books well read @ Peggy jaeger. com | Visit blog
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Summer on Cape Cod ~ Kathryn Knight books | Visit blog
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Summer Fun at the Beach, with Katie OSullivan | Visit blog
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I Believe Ill Go Canoeing – C. B. Clark | Visit blog
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Summertime Love is Sweeter with. . . Frozen Mango? @ Kimberly Keyes blog | Visit blog
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Wild Rose Summer Treats Blog Hop @ Brendas Blog | Visit blog
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Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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Midsummer Magic on the Isle of Skye! | Visit blog
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My Guilty Summer Treats from Lori Sizemore | Visit blog
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Wild Rose Press Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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Hywela Lyns post for the WRP Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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Wild Rose Press Summer Treats & Reads | Visit blog
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Camping is a Recipe for Summer Treats and Reads | Visit blog
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The Snarkology | Visit blog
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Summer Survival Tips @ Nitty Gritty Romance | Visit blog
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Wild Rose Press Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop | Visit blog
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Nell Castle – Summer of the Sweat Lodge | Visit blog
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Myth, Magic & Wonder Susan Edwards, Breathing Life into the Past | Visit blog
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Romance with Spice, Sydney St. Claire | Visit blog
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Author Kat de Falla | Visit blog
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Anni Fife. Exciting new author of Steamy Romance with Irresistible Heroes | Visit blog
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Summer Vacation, Victorian-Style, AND a Giveaway | Visit blog
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Wildfires, Monsoons, and Mojitos – Author Susabelle Kelmer shares how she keeps cool in a climate that is on fire! | Visit blog
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Casi McLeans recipe for Hot Reads and Cool Treats | Visit blog
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Cool Summer Reads: Jeannie Halls Romantic Suspense Blog – Where Hearts Tremble From More Than Attraction | Visit blog
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Summer treat – Adult Slushie | Visit blog
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How to Rediscover the Magic of Bicycling | Visit blog
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Caryn McGill | Visit blog
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Posted in Camping, For Fun, My Say What Blog, The Pikes Peak Region and tagged Anne Hillerman, Authors, Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Chocolate Cherry Cake recipe, Cozy Mystery, Lake Vallecito, Molly Harper, Mueller State Park, Nancy Atherton, Pearl Lake, RMNP, Romance, Steamboat Lake State Park, Summer Treats and Reads Blog Hop, The WIld Rose Press, Twin Lakes by Tena Stetler with 18 comments.
10th Anniversary – Mountain of Authors
Saturday, April 23, 2016, I had the pleasure of being part of the Pikes Peak Library
District Mountain of Authors. It was a blast. Thirty-four local Colorado authors were on hand to showcase their work. A panel of three mystery authors and a panel of two authors and an agent each presented stories and their experiences in the publishing industry.
The keynote speaker was Anne Hillerman, daughter of award winning author, Tony Hillerman
who penned eighteen Navajo mysteries. I loved his books and was deeply saddened at his passing in October of 2008. I own every one of his books and have enjoyed the adventures of characters, Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee and Bernadette Manuelito.
I was excited to learn that Anne has followed in her father’s footsteps breathing life into his beloved characters once again. Giving Bernadette a fresh, strong woman view point in Spider Woman’s Daughter and Rock With Wings. She also researched and wrote Tony Hillerman’s Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn. A stunning collection of original documentary photographs of the New Mexico and Arizona landscapes that were integral to Tony’s detective novels. Pictures by photographer, Don Strel, Anne’s husband. This is a timely showcase of a hauntingly beautiful region that captured one man’s imagination for a lifetime, and is a daughter’s loving tribute to her father. Yep, you guessed it, the book enjoys a place in the center of my coffee table.
Okay one more fangirl observation. Nancy Atherton, author of over twenty Aunt Dimity mysteries, including many bestsellers. These cozy mysteries whisk you away to a small village in England filled with quirky characters. Again, I have all of her books. Nancy’s participation in the Mountain of Authors – It’s A Mystery Panel was very 
entertaining along side her cohorts in crime, Robert Greer and Manuel Ramos.
It was thrilling to visit with the above authors as well as many other talented local authors. I look forward to next year’s Mountain of Authors. I’d love to see you there.
Thanks for putting up with my fangirl musing. Oh did I mention I sold a few of my books too. Exciting adventure for a new author. Warning shameless promotion! June 15th my third book, A Witch’s Journey will be released. You’ll love it!
I enjoy hearing from readers and other authors. So please feel free to leave a comment. Until next time, take time out of your hectic schedule to read a good book. Its a great stress reducer, if only for a few hours.
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Posted in My Say What Blog, The Pikes Peak Region and tagged A Witch's Journey, Anne Hillerman, Authors, books, Mountain of Authors, Mystery, Nancy Atherton, PPLD, Tony Hillerman, Writers by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
Up, Up and Away – Hot Air Balloon Festival Fun!
Okay, okay, I know I’m late and that the Colorado Springs Balloon Festival was a Labor Day 
festivity. But the exciting feeling of watching those beautiful balloons lift off is still with me. This morning as yellow and orange spread across the horizon, the whoosh of a patchwork color pink, purple and blue hot air balloon in the clear azure sky above my house reminded me of the festival. I stood in the back yard watching the balloon as my dog stood by my side boofing quietly unsure what to do about the object invading her airspace.
Now, I am not — nor have I ever been a morning person. But the draw of breathing in the crisp, cool morning air and watching the early 
assent of a cadre of colorful balloons in a variety of different shapes was just too much. So with one eye nearly open and the other squinted my husband and I piled into the truck. We stopped at a favorite fast food restaurant to grab a breakfast sandwich to go with our orange juice and hot chocolate then headed for the park where the festival is every year.
Finding a place to park was a challenge, but finally through the dusky morning we suck in a breath at the scene unfolding before us. Multitudes of brightly colored balloons are spread across the grass, slowly filling with air heated by the flames from their burners. The first one to lift off is bright yellow with multi-colored squares, followed closely by the rest of the group. Then it’s the splash and dash, where the pilots float down and skim the balloon’s basket on the water of a nearby lake then regain altitude.
Wide varieties of venders offer their wares to the throngs of spectators throughout the morning. A beautiful pair of turquoise and coral earrings in the shape of a balloon found their way into my possession. Then we were walking back to our truck and the multitude of projects
that awaited our attention at home.
The memories of this once a year festival remain with me throughout the year, especially when I don my beautiful balloon earrings or hear the whoosh of a hot air balloon as it floats over our home.
Have you attended a balloon festival or ridden in a hot air balloon? I ‘d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment.
**Next week check in for part one of a three part series of Haunted Colorado High Country. Until then, have a great week and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!
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Posted in My Say What Blog, The Pikes Peak Region, Uncategorized by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
