I was walking up this road last night when Roland and I ran into a friend and her dog, Buddah.  She was leaning on the wooden fence you can barely see in this picture on the right.  Her dog was standing in the meadow there looking at something.  I walked over to talk to her and she pointed out the coyote that was laying down watching our dogs play together.  

It was one of the largest coyotes I've ever seen, so tall that I thought it might even be a deer laying down.  Buddah and Roland watched the coyote for a while but they both had learned not to go play with it, even when he tried to convince them to come play.  I walked on out into the meadows and got both dogs to come with me on the other side.  The dogs played while I thought about the elk, deer, mountain sheep, bear, mountain lions, bobcats, a plethora of birds, and people who share the use of this place regularly.  So far the sharing thing is going along nicely.  Once I spent two hours here sitting in a bunch of rocks, holding Roland and watching the elk walk all around us eating.  I've gone to the other side time after time while coyote mothers let their babies play out in the sun..  They in turn have backed off when we bring our babies to play.  Almost all of those animals are nosy enough they will stick around and watch us for a while.   Spring is a time when you see animals playing with each other.  Dogs and deer, coyotes and dogs, elk and coyotes, etc.  not common sights at other times of the year.  I'm thinking we are all so grateful for a little sun and some green that detente rules in our star-shaped valley!