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Category Archives: weather
Riven
The color of the wood caught my eye. Dull gold? Whitened tan? Honeyed beige? Light, in any event, blanched against the worn grasses and graying woodland litter. We were on the way back from a little hike, about a quarter … Continue reading
Posted in trees and plants, weather
Tagged Colorado weather, lightning strikes, pandemic memories, ponderosa pines
7 Comments
Isn’t This a Long One?
January last seems impossibly distant. Memories from back then are round-edged and worn, like relics of a lost civilization. The pandemic was dawning, of course, although few of us in this country had a clue what was to come. Lockdowns, … Continue reading
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
Summer Got-away
I promised myself last spring it wouldn’t happen again: the summer, this year, would not spiral out of control. I would manage my time, balance my obligations, ride herd on my expectations. But the summer got away from me. Again. … Continue reading
Parched…and Yet
I knew these days would come. In late spring for the last several years, I have nagged myself to remember—and be grateful for—the luxury of going into summer with moisture in the ground. How pleasant those days were. I didn’t … Continue reading
Posted in color, humans and wildlife, summer, weather, wildfire
Tagged Colorado wildfires, Colorado wildflowers, fire danger, wildlife in Colorado
2 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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Late Season
Years ago, reflecting on our move from the outskirts of Boulder, Colorado to the more rural center of the state, I wrote about planning the space that would be our garden in the mountains: Despite the high elevation, short growing … Continue reading
Posted in color, fall, gardening, humans and wildlife, rodents, weather
Tagged gardening with wildlife, high altitude gardening, mule deer, walled gardens
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Summer of a Different Color
August: By now, usually, our high mountain landscape is burnished with a brassy gleam, as grasses send seedheads up to nod and wave in any breeze that bothers to turn up. In July, though, a monsoon weather pattern settled in, … Continue reading
Posted in color, observation, weather, wildflowers
Tagged Colorado wildflowers, July precipitation, monsoon rain, mushrooms
4 Comments
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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