A Wedding at Shadows Ranch in Georgetown: Christy & Alex
“Are those dogs… in a tree?”, my wife, Charlotte, asked puzzled.
I looked in the direction she was pointing. Indeed, there were what appeared to be two dogs sitting in a tree off about 200 yards from the ceremony site at Shadows Ranch.
“Ummm…”, I began to answer as I walked closer. I raised my 70-200mm zoom lens to my eye as I walked, straining to see why two large dogs were sitting in a tree. As I brought my lens to bear and focused, one of the dogs arose and walked along what appeared to be some kind of wooden path or platform raised up about 20ft into the air. A chill ran through me, suddenly bringing me back to my many years spent as a child hiking and playing in the wilderness of the Colorado high-country. As boys, there was one silhouette that my brother and I always fantasized about seeing again in our Rocky Mountain backyard: the Timber Wolf.
My feet stopped walking.
“Uhhh, babe? Those aren’t dogs.”
Charlotte seemed impatient, “They’re not? What are they??”
“Wolves, baby. Those would be wolves.”
Charlotte froze, “Are they just… OUT?? Is there a fence or something???”
Again, I strained my eye through the lens, unsure of what I saw against the thick forest background. After a moment I answered, “Yeah, there’s a fence below them, I think…”
“How high is it??”, Charlotte demanded.
It didn’t look all that high. “About 6 feet I think”, I answered, unsure.
“Six feet?”, Char did not seem assured, “Couldn’t a wolf jump six feet?”
I paused to think. I knew my old dog Loki, who was half-wolf and half-German Shepherd regularly scaled her 6 foot fenced enclosure with relative ease.
So I lied.
“Nope. No chance, sweetheart. Not a chance at all.”
Wolves at a wedding. Coolest thing ever.
