Duck Race a Huge Success

After two pandemic years of virtual (2020) and indoor lazy-river races (2021), The Estes Park Rotary Duck Race was back in Fall River. It was a huge success with brilliant weather, a record-setting number of ducks in the water (9,643), and $161,709 returned to participating organizations — the highest amount in the festival’s history.

 

Wayne and I spent several hours sitting on the bank of the Fall River at the finish line, recording the winning numbers from the bottoms of the little racing ducks as they finished their two-mile swim. We were so busy that I didn't have time to take many photos, but here are a few from our latest duck race adventure.

The day before the race, we prepared the prize boards at The Wheel Bar.

9,643 little yellow ducks begin their two-mile race

Photos from the Finish Line

The wood and wire fence stretches across the river to help

prevent little ducks from escaping downriver. 

Each large duck is decorated to represent a contributing sponsor.

The tiny yellow dot in the river is the $8000 first-prize-winning duck!

Narrowly Averting a Tragedy

My daughter frequently sends me a good morning text. Often, it's a picture of a recent bird sighting. Today, her text included these appalling photos. We are so grateful that no one was injured and the damage was confined to their Ranger Utility Vehicle. While the guys were dealing with the burning Ranger, Jenny was on the phone with the 911 operator.

This is our grandson spraying water on the burning Ranger. Undoubtedly, a 

big surge of adrenaline helped Virgil push the vehicle out before the shed

could catch fire.

The firefighters were fast to respond and had the fire extinguished quickly.

There isn't much left of the Ranger. It was parked in the shed and not

running when it caught fire.

Western Bluebirds

This handsome pair of Western Bluebirds has claimed one of our birdhouses this spring. Territorial and feisty, they keep busy chasing other bluebirds away, including their own reflections in our south windows. They are relentless and have become annoying, and I'm researching remedies for keeping them away from our windows.

For the Love of Nature

Before I learned to quilt, I fell in love with counted-cross-stitch. I especially loved stitching on linen using Danish patterns and Danish Flower Thread, some purchased during a trip to Denmark. I have a large stash of patterns and floss, and during our COVID sequestration, I spent hours looking through and sorting them. 

The task of turning linen and floss into beautiful or whimsical images is calming and stress-reducing for me. I recently started a sampler on linen using DMC floss, most of which I already had on hand. For the Love of Nature, by Teresa Kogut, is stitched on 32 count linen. Since my eyes are not as good as they were years ago, I find I need a magnifier and headlamp.

I'll post photos of my counted-cross-stitch tools and the progress I'm making in a few days.

Memories of Tucson

As I watch the snow falling outside my windows in Estes Park, I'm posting additional photos of our month in Tucson. It won't be spring here for several weeks. Eight inches of snow fell overnight.