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Category Archives: snow
One Last Fire
Spring, as I’ve said before, is a slow unfolding up here in the mountains of central Colorado: the season isn’t to be rushed. But eventually the days lengthen and long-dormant plants emerge. Among the first of these are rough cinquefoil, … Continue reading
Posted in change of seasons, snow, spring, weather, winter
Tagged firewood, snow, spring in Colorado, woodburning fireplace
4 Comments
Waiting on Winter
For the past few years, a wintertime fancy has crept over me in fall. As the leaves of the scrub oak tan themselves to the color of unoiled leather, I begin to think of the looping rhythm of my days … Continue reading
Posted in precipitation, snow, trees and plants, weather
Tagged Antennaria species, Colorado snowpack, December flowers, pussytoes
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The Rocky Mountain
In the usual pattern of spring weather, the promontory on our northeastern horizon gleams white like an alpine stereotype. The broad hulk of Pikes Peak is fronted by layered foothills and crags, which cascade down toward a grassy pool called … Continue reading
Posted in change of seasons, precipitation, snow, spring, weather
Tagged April snow, Colorado Fourteeners, Pikes Peak, snowpack
4 Comments
Winterspring
From a distance, not much has changed. Almost-mid-May from the house looks pretty much like just-past-mid-March. The difference, as it so often is, is in the details. The expanses of grass, passive and still eight weeks ago, are now host … Continue reading
Posted in birds, change of seasons, color, gardening, precipitation, rodents, snow, weather
Tagged April weather, Rocky Mountain springtime
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A Monotony of Mild
The winter started out cold—fiercely so, in fact. Icy air preserved the scanty accumulation from small snowstorms for weeks, solidifying it to slick veneers anywhere it was packed down—on roads, on the pathway I follow to and from the barn. … Continue reading
Posted in change of seasons, color, snow, spring
Tagged Colorado Rockies, El Niño, mountain bluebirds, spring snow
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Blank Slate
On a snowy day, the metaphorical alignment of undisturbed snow with the blank page is all but irresistible: that expanse of unmarred whiteness, awaiting signs of meaningful passage. I don’t necessarily mean to compare writers to rodents, but it has … Continue reading
Posted in rodents, snow, writing
Tagged animal tracks, first drafts, rodent burrows, the writing life
2 Comments
Gauging the Weather
Weather here defies pattern-seeking. High elevation and dynamic terrain make fickleness, with a propensity for the extreme, the norm. Sure, there are thunderstorms in summer, but their duration, ferocity, and direction of approach keep me guessing. The same can be … Continue reading
Posted in observation, snow, weather, writing
Tagged 2013 Boulder floods, National Weather Service, NWS, precipitation
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Shoveling Water
Spring snows don’t last long. The sun has a better angle for its rays—and more hours in the day—to use against the accumulated white. The air temperatures are higher. And the ground is no longer frozen but is itself a … Continue reading
Opportunism
I know spring has arrived when the bluebirds stay put for snowstorms, toughing it out through the white and wet instead of moving down to lower elevations to avoid the cold. Three different storms dropped snow in the first three … Continue reading
Posted in snow, spring
Tagged ball cactus, bluebirds, cinquefoil, moss, pasque flowers
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When The Old is New, Yet Again
We moved to this property in 2001, and settled into the new house in mid-March, 2003, which means that I’ve been looking at the view from this home for eleven years now. A few months ago, I did some mental … Continue reading
Posted in change of seasons, driving, learning, snow
Tagged March snow
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