Living – Places: 35

Interviewer: Did you make a lot of money out of your music?
Bob Marley: Money … I mean, how much is a lot of money to you?
Interviewer: Yeah, that's a good question. Have you made, say, millions of dollars?
Bob Marley: No.
Interviewer: Are you a rich man?
Bob Marley: When you mean rich, what you mean?
Interviewer: Do you have a lot of possessions? A lot of money in the bank?
Bob Marley: Possessions make you rich? I don't have that type of richness. My richness is life, forever.
– Clip⩘  from the film Marley⩘ , 2012

2023

Predawn splendor! When I went out to hang the bird feeders this morning, the clouds in the northeast sky were lit bright red by the predawn sun. By the time I got my phone out to take a picture, the clouds that were lit up had shifted to the southeast sky, and moments after I took this photo, the light show had faded away.

A view through a couple dimly lit Ponderosa pine trees of a snow covered hillside and a partially cloudy sky. Some of the clouds are lit up bright reddish orange.

(Why am I still taking in the bird feeders in the evening in December? Previously, the bears hibernated by the end of October, but I guess climate warming is changing even fundamental behaviors like that. A couple weeks ago toward the end of November, I was awakened in the middle of the night by a tremendous crash on the deck outside our bedroom. When I jumped up and looked out, I saw a bear had torn down one of the bird feeders. I don't know who was more scared, me facing a big ole bear across the deck, or the bear seeing a crazed, disheveled madman in his bathrobe waving his arms wildly and shouting. Fortunately, the bear decided it wasn't worth it and left. Luckily, I had a spare feeder to replace the destroyed feeder the next morning, but now I don't know when I can trust that the bears have actually hibernated, so I'm still taking the feeders in every evening.)


 ∧ Top   

Ah, one of my favorite things about living in the foothills of the Rockies is sunny days following snowfalls. This morning, the sky is totally blue and a silence permeates the landscape, except for occasional puffs as little clouds of snow fall out of the trees and the quiet chattering of song birds.

Across a snowy field of wildgrass, a line of sunlit snow-covered Ponderosa trees stands beneath a beautiful blue sky.

We are having a beautiful autumn snowfall. So far, about a foot of snow has fallen, and it's still gently snowing. Paused my snow shoveling to feast my eyes on this scene and take this picture.

A view into a stand of Ponderosa pine trees, somewhat dimly lit because there is a thick cloud cover and it's gently snowing. Everything is covered in snow with clumps of snow gathered on the Ponderosa needles and tan wild grasses sticking up out of the snow. A pathway, totally white with undisturbed snow, winds through the trees.


 ∧ Top   

We never have had pets, but I'm always grateful when I occasionally meet our neighbor, Carse, and her wonderful dog when I'm out walking. Buca, a sweet old girl, is pure heart. I always walk away from our chance encounters glowing with joy.

Buca, a Bernese Mountain Dog, is sitting and looking up with a look of pure love in her eyes. She has black fur, with a white chest and paws. Her forehead and snout are also white, and she has patches of tan above her eyes and around the back of her mouth.


 ∧ Top   

The state of the world has been crushing my soul. Walks seem to be the only anecdote. Lately, the beautiful hues and wonderful fragrances of autumn have been helping to restore me to some semblance of equilibrium.

Beautiful orange and red-hued leaves of wild plum bushes with tan hills and blue sky with just a few whispy clouds beyond.
Bright yellow leaves of a large cottonwood rise up into a vivid blue sky with tan hills and a butte beyond.
A deep blue sky frames the vivid yellow leaves of the crown of a large old tree.
A trio of autumn trees in shades of yellow, red, and green tinged with yellow against a blue sky.
A hillside of orange and burnt yellow-hued wild grasses backlit by afternoon sun and interspersed with some Ponderosa pine trees through which can be glimpsed a blue sky.

A few days later, we welcomed our first beautiful snowfall. At the same time, the wild grasses have matured into bronze/copper hues.

A hillside of bronze/copper-hued wild grasses poking through fresh snow with white pathways winding around..


 ∧ Top   

Autumn beauty is at its peak just as the ring of fire solar eclipse arrived. Fortunately, it is a beautiful day, cool, but sunny. Just as we headed out for a walk, the partial eclipse was at it's fullest for us. Here's what it looked like through a colander.

Cast against gray deck boards, the shadow of a colander can be seen with each of its holes showing the outline of the ring of fire solar eclipse, looking like a 2/3 crescent moon.

The partial eclipse looked even more beautiful as seen in the patterns cast by the shadows of trees on the road we were walking along.

Each of the points of sunlight in between the shadows cast by the leaves of a tree on a stretch of ashpalt is shaped ike a crescent moon.

About ten minutes later, the full sun was returning and we were treated with this view of one of the grand old trees along the way. What a gift of a day!

Rising above tan hills and showing against a brilliant blue sky is a grand old tree with bright yellow leaves.


 ∧ Top   

The first hints of autumn: the days are still warm, but now the nights are cooler; the Maximilian Sunflowers and the Rabbit Brush, the last bloomers of late summer, are now flowering; and the grand old cottonwoods are just starting to turn.

A circular photo featuring the rounded crown of a grand old cottonwood tree whose leaves are just beginning to turn yellow, set against a brilliant blue sky.


 ∧ Top   

Such a beautiful day. Cooler after a long spell of hot days. Totally clear, vibrant blue sky. A gentle breeze causing all the pine boughs and leaves to dance. And floating above it all, a silent quarter moon.

Looking up at the top of a Ponderosa pine tree and a deciduous tree reaching up into beautiful blue sky with a quarter moon floating by above.

Additional views a bit further along the way.

A view across the South St. Vrain valley to a thick line of trees with redstone bluffs beyond.
A view across the South St. Vrain valley to a timeworn butte rising at an angle above the surrounding hills. A lone Ponderosa pine with a rounded crown is growing on top of the butte.


 ∧ Top   

My beloved called me out to the garden this morning to watch large honey bees collecting pollen on her vibrant sunflowers. My heart is so happy to see bees in the wild, and other insects, too.

A pair of golden yellow sunflowers with burnt orange centers facing into the late August morning sun. On one of the flowers, a a couple big honey bees are busy working side by side storing golden pollen on their legs.


 ∧ Top   

At one point along my daily walk there is a little still pond surrounded by a dense chaos of plants, shrubs, and young trees that have made a comeback since the flood ten years ago. Today, this splash of bright yellow at the edge of the pond caught my eyes. I think it is Nuttall's Sunflower, one of the five types of sunflower that are native to Colorado, the latest blooming one.

A view of a tangle of vegetation--grasses, plants, shrubs, and young trees. Beyond the vegetation is a glimpse of a the blue water of a little pond. At the edge of the peaceful pond is a little cluster of ten blooming sunflowers with thin petals that are pointed at the ends.


 ∧ Top   

Just about ten years ago, our community was hit by what was at that time described as a once in a millennium flood, caused by days of very heavy rains over the entire watershed, up to the Rocky Mountain Continental Divide that feeds into the St. Vrain Creek and this valley. This whole area was under rushing water for a couple days and was stripped bare of vegetation. A lot of trees were swept away, too. The creek actually jumped out of its normal channel and created a whole new channel. This is a view afterwards. A quarter mile further up, a whole bridge was swept away. A lot of damage was done to homes, businesses, and infrastructure in our town and the surrounding area.

A view of the St. Vrain Creek and the little valley it flows through after the flood. The whole valley is swept clear of most vegetation and is covered in silt and rock debris.

Over the next few years, a lot of work was done to divert the creek back into its previous channel, to clear away debris, to plant new vegetation, and to rebuild. But we've had a lot of hot, dry summers since then, so the recovery has been very, very slow. This spring and summer, we have been enjoying an abundance of rainfall (though not too much!). The vegetation has responded with an exuberance of growth. For the first time, it feels like we have finally mostly recovered from the flood. This is a view of the same valley now. The St. Vrain Creek is barely visible in the center of the photo. The field is now a happy jumble of mostly native plants and bushes, included wild sunflowers (the splashes of yellow in the field). It's August and the hills are still tinged green, which is very unusual here. My heart is rejoicing.

A view today of the St. Vrain Creek and the little valley it flows through. The valley is full of native shrubs and plants including blossoming sunflowers. Trees line the creek, and beyond the hills on the other side of the valley, the sky is a soft blue with a few clouds.


 ∧ Top   

One of my favorite moments of early summer is when the Chicory flowers open.

Interspersed in a stand of green wild grasses are a couple dozen chicory flowers lit up by the midday sun, each with as many as 20 thin, pale blue petals that are kind of squared off at the ends and arranged in a flat disc that is 1 to 1.5 inches across.


 ∧ Top   

We are enjoying an exceptionally beautiful spring and early summer. A much higher than usual amount of rain has resulted in an abundance of exuberant vegetation along with beautiful insects and pollinators feasting on that abundance. On a recent walk, we spotted this caterpillar, which I think is a type of Sphinx moth (Sphingidae) and certainly one of the largest and most beautiful caterpillars I've ever seen.

A large, long, green caterpillar seen from the side. It has beautiful black, yellow, and red spots and little yellow pointed legs is eating the edges of a leaf on a wild Four O'Clock plant.
A large, long, green caterpillar seen from above. It has beautiful black, yellow, and red spots on each side with black stripes speckled with tiny yellow dots running above them, and a yellow spiked tail at the end. It's balanced on the stem and leaf of a wild Four O'Clock plant.

These caterpillars turn into amazing large moths that look at bit and fly like hummingbirds, though they're quieter. Several years ago, we were hiking up in the Rockies and came across a large bed of Bee Balm flowers in which a moth was feasting. I think it was a Bedstraw Hawk moth (also in the Sphingidae family).

A view of a large moth from above as it flies next to and feeds on the nectar of Bee Balm flowers with their spiky pink petals.

More of this beautiful early summer: a cluster of Golden Aster flowers and a trio of delicate Prickly Pear flowers, one closed, one partially open, and one fully open.

A cluster of dozens of Golden Aster flowers, each of which has about 16 long thin yellow petals that are rounded at the end and deep golden orange center.
A Prickly Pear cactus plant. The main plant is a series of branching round flat green pads with thorns sticking out. Out of three of the pads are three delicate light yellow flowers with orange tints. One flower is still closed, one is just opening, and one is fully open. In the center of the open flower are dozens of this stamen with yellow pollen at the tips.


 ∧ Top   

What a wonderful moment! At last, we had the final county inspection, after which we were able flip the switch to turn on our solar panel system. It wasn't an easy month with all the noise and disruption of the installation, but it was all worth it once we opened the app showing the clean energy the panels were generating.

Our new heat pump also passed its inspection the same afternoon. It replaces our old propane furnace and a rickety old window AC unit. It was a hot day, and it was a great feeling to see that while the sun was up, the solar panels generated much more energy than the heat pump was using for cooling, as well as what the rest of our house was using. Feels like one of the best investments we've ever made.

A view of the back of our house with sun-soaked solar panels mounted across the roof and a heat pump tucked into one corner. A naturally wild yard surrounds the house, Ponderosa pines rise around it, and a blue sky smiles down from above.

Thanks to the REenergizeCO⩘  team for doing a great job on the solar system installation, and to the Save Home Heat⩘  team for doing a great job on the heat pump system installation.

See also: Heat pumps twice as efficient as fossil fuel systems in cold weather, study finds⩘  by Fiona Harvey, Environment editor, The Guardian, Sep 11, 2023.


 ∧ Top   

We received the gift of much more rain than usual this spring, so nature is celebrating. Everything is really green and the trees have so much new growth and so many leaves and seed pods. The other day, I was out walking along the cliffs. The abundant buds in the big old cottonwood trees were bursting exuberantly, filling the air with tufts of cotton. When viewed against the cliffs, which were still in shade, it looked a bit like we were having a summer snowstorm. So beautiful!

Tufts of white cottonwood seeds with rays of sunshine lighting them up are floating in front of a redstone cliff that is in shadow.


 ∧ Top   

Evening Primrose. So named because it flowers in the evening, is in its full glory overnight, then fades away in the morning. Spotted this one catching the very first rays of the rising sun early this morning. It's special because we had a huge rainfall yesterday evening, and another huge one in the middle of the night. That this delicate flower flourished through those two downpours is simply astonishing.

A bright yellow Evening Primrose flower poking up out of the shadows of dense green foliage into the first rays of the morning sun. It has four large, overlapping petals and a little forest of yellow stamen sticking up in the center.


 ∧ Top   

Yesterday evening, the skies turned ominously dark, then filled with flashes of lightning and thunderous booms. It began pouring, then hailing (thankfully, not too large). In less than an hour, the temperature plunged from the mid-70s to mid-40s F, two inches of rain pounded down, and piles of hail formed all over the place. It was a ferocious storm, the kind where all we could do was watch in tense awe.

Today it dawned clear, calm, and sunny, and the temperature rose into the mid-70s by midday. Despite the sunshine and warmth, when I took a walk at midday, there were still piles of hail alongside the road. This was one beautiful view I enjoyed, looking north at the foothills and a few puffy white clouds across the way.

A pastoral scene looking out past some vibrantly green roadside bushes toward pine-covered foothills with a deep blue sky above in which there are a few puffy, brilliantly white clouds floating.

The next day, we saw evidence in our yard of just how happy the fungi are with all the rain we've been receiving. The lower one is 7″ across, about the size of a dessert plate.

Two large tan colored mushrooms with darker tan speckles in their centers. They are growing next to each other, one slightly overlapping the other.

On my daily walks, some of my favorite moments are the many views I enjoy of this beautiful butte with the South St. Vrain Creek flowing by in front (well, rushing by right now after all the rain we have gratefully received this spring).

Across a field of wild grass and shrubs, a creek can be seen flowing rapidly past. Beyond are exuberantly green trees, and rising above is redstone butte that is capped by a single Ponderosa tree.


 ∧ Top   

The wild things are blooming! After more than a week of cool, cloudy, misty, rainy weather, the full sun came out today shining a bright light on the glorious dance of springtime: fields of robustly growing deep green wild grass interspersed with yellow wild mustard flowers and framed by newly leafed deciduous trees, mostly cottonwoods and willows.

A field of deep green wildgrass interspersed with thousands of yellow wild mustard flowers. At the edge of the field are bunches of cottonwood and willow trees with fresh green leaves, and beyond them (on the other side of the South St. Vrain Creek, which can't be seen, but is roaring from the spring snow melt coming down from the mountains) rise redstone cliffs topped by dark green Ponderosa pine trees.

In front of the field are many blooming wild cherry bushes.

A seven-foot tall tangle of wild cherry bushes with scores of elongated clusters of tiny white flowers with dark golden centers.

The Boxelder Maple seeds are forming.

A branch of fresh Boxelder maple leaves, some so new they are still a beautiful light yellow-orange color while others have turned a fresh green hue. Hanging below them are young, pale red colored, winged Boxelder seeds.

Wild grape flower buds promise that the air soon will be filled with divine fragrance.

A wild grape vine in a tangle of bushes, its fresh green sawtooth-edged leaves basking in the sunlight. Clusters of tiny green flower buds with rose-colored highlights hang amongst the leaves.

My eyes are rejoicing at the nourishing deep green of the fresh wild grass.

A field filled with fresh green wild grass. Beyond the field are a mix of deciduous and pine trees, as well as a rusty steel arch bridge crossing South St. Vrain Creek. In the distance are the pine covered foothills of the Rocky Mountains beneath a blue sky with just a few puffy white clouds.

A branch of a cottonwood tree with its clusters of fresh fruit.

A cottonwood branch with rich green heart-shaped leaves and hanging clusters of its small, round, green fruits.


 ∧ Top   

Not very good photos, but moments to remember. A couple days ago, we spotted the emergence of a juvenile Great Horned Owl from its nest in a little crevice in the rocks in the cliff face alongside the road we walk along. Then today, we spotted it in a tree a few feet from the nest, perhaps after its first tentative flight.

Two photos of a fluffy young Great Horned Owl. On the left, it is looking down from a ledge in front of a crevice in rock face. On the right, it is looking down from a perch in the upper branches of a tree in front of the rock face.


 ∧ Top   

Ah, I love spring! The apple blossoms are just about ready to pop.

Deep reddish pink blossom buds with fresh green leaves unfurled behind on an ancient apple tree.

And the Boxelders are dancing in their springtime hula skirts.

An upright Boxelder tree branch with the first leaves of spring emerging, surrounded by hanging yellow stamen filaments with dark red anthers containing pollen at their tips.

A few days later and the apple buds are blooming.

Delicate white five-petal blossoms with pale yellow stamen stalks in the center glowing in bright sunshine. Behind are several more now pale pink buds in the process of opening.


 ∧ Top   

These beautiful Freemont Cottonwood catkins are one of the beautiful ways that Spring is announcing itself.

Several deep red catkins emerging from the ends of cottonwood tree branches, with a blue sky beyond.

Later in the day, we enjoyed a short springtime rain shower followed by a gorgeous evening rainbow.

A full rainbow crosses the evening sky framing a hillside reflecting the last rays of sunshine and several Ponderosa pine trees.

A few days later, the catkins have opened.

Several now open catkins hanging down and showing rows of their tiny individual flowers that are white beneath their red crowns.

One of the most wonderful gifts of springtime is the flowering of the Wild Plums, which releases an amazingly delicious fragrance into the air.

Clusters of small Wild Plum flowers with long delicate yellow stamen radiating outward above white petals.


 ∧ Top   

What a gift! After a couple weeks of unseasonably warm weather—often reaching into the high-70s and even mid-80s F, with some strong winds that left everything dangerously dry (wildfires can spread crazy fast when conditions are like that)—the temperature fell yesterday and all day long it either softly rained or lightly snowed. Because the ground was warm, the snow immediately melted in, and by nightfall, when the snow stopped, everything was nice and nourishingly soaked. This should lead to an exuberant burst of springtime growth.

Then we received an additional gift: overnight, it snowed much more than the ½″ expected. Because our gravel drive still retained heat, it totally melted in (woo-hoo! no need to shovel), but everything else is frosted in a beautiful coating of a couple inches of snow. Here's a view of the very first rays of morning sun lighting everything up, and a closeup of one of the Ponderosas. Such a glorious morning!

A view of a corner of our home surrounded by snowy Ponderosas, with a gravel driveway curving off into the distance.
The top of a big, old Ponderosa pine with all of it needle bunches totally frosted in fresh snow.


 ∧ Top   

Another moment of really noticing something I have walked by hundreds of times. This grandmother poplar stands among a cluster of younger relatives, her off-white bark glowing in the midday sun and looking particularly beautiful against the deep blue of the clear sky beyond.

A large, old, off-white poplar tree reaching its bare branches up into a clear, blue sky.

(Here she is a couple weeks later fully celebrating springtime.)

A large, old, poplar tree reaching its branches richly covered in brightly lit deep green leaves up into a clear, blue sky.


 ∧ Top   

I've walked along a nearby lane between some cliffs and a creek hundreds of times, yet still often notice things in a fresh way. This morning, I really noticed the cliffs. At some time in the far distant past, this area was a mile beneath the surface of a sea. At some other time, it was covered in glaciers, and as they melted away, their roaring waters carved out this valley and wore away multiple levels of these near vertical redstone cliffs.

It sometimes blows my mind how these cracked and fractured faces with many huge overhangs even stay in place. It actually looks like a good bit of it would come tumbling down if you gave it a good kick at the base … which makes my fingers tingle whenever I think about it.

The near vertical face of a redstone cliff with huge overhanging boulders and black lichen covering much of the face.
The near vertical face of another redstone cliff with massive slabs of overhanging rock.
The near vertical face of another redstone cliff with a massive pointed slab of overhanging rock, like an arrowhead, and a Ponderosa pinetree perched at the edge of the clifftop; this face has more green lichen covering it.
The near vertical face of another redstone cliff further down the way, again with massive slabs of overhanging rock above. This portion of the cliff is a much more orange color as there is very little lichen on it.

And here's a view of one of the cliff faces across the valley.

A view of the cliff face across the valley. A beautiful pair of redtail hawks nests there.


 ∧ Top   

Two days ago, it warmed up to 58° F. In the late afternoon, the temperature began falling. By nightfall, it was just above freezing and it began misting. Overnight, it plunged to just above zero.

The next morning, we awoke to several inches of dense, granular snow, except for the bottom most layer, which was nearly an inch of frozen mist (I don't know how else to describe it; we didn't so much shovel it as scrape it off).

All day yesterday, it hovered in the single digits and a very fine snow continued to fall, slowly accumulating a few more inches. Overnight, it dropped several degrees below zero.

This morning dawned clear with sunshine lighting up an incredibly beautiful world, though still crispy cold. And I enjoyed pausing for a moment to notice the special way the accumulated mist snow is laying on the Ponderosa boughs, almost like a sugary frosting.

A close view of a grouping of Ponderosa boughs with a very fine, granular snow coating and sitting on top of the needles, looking almost like a sugary frosting.


 ∧ Top   

When I first woke up this morning, the thermostat said it was 6° F outside, more snow had fallen overnight, and I was a bit grumpy about needing to shovel snow again, as it was so cold and I was still a little tired and sore from shoveling yesterday.

Then I stepped outside into such an incredibly beautiful early morning: bright sunshine, all the Ponderosa trees wearing a fresh coating of snow, and the snow itself was my favorite kind, dry, light, and dancing with thousands of multi-colored sparkles. It turned the next hour of shoveling into more of a playful treat.

What a gift!

A view looking up a snow-covered hillside glowing in the brilliant noontime sunshine, with snow dappled Ponderosa trees in the distance and deep blue sky beyond. The corner of a garden fence can be seen on the left side, and on the right side, the two tracks of a freshly shoveled drive curve off to the right.
A view looking through snow covered Ponderosa pines at a steep, snow-covered hillside in the distance. The hill is topped by a rocky ridge, and there is a clear, blue sky beyond.

And here's my favorite old log barn with its gambrel roof covered in fresh snow and catching just a bit of the glow of the low winter afternoon sun.

An old barn built of logs with a snow blanketed gambrel roof seen across a snow covered pasture, with a steep hill behind and the winter sun just above the top upper right portion of the photo creating a bright glow in the blue sky.


 ∧ Top   

I usually prefer to take snow photos on mornings after a snowstorm when the skies are blue and the scene is lit by brilliant sun. But when I was out clearing the dry, powdery snow from our driveway this morning in crisp 1° F weather with a light snow falling, I was awed by the silence and the soft atmosphere created by the low clouds hovering just at the hilltops, almost hiding the rising sun and promising more snow to come. I'm so grateful that we are having a cold, snowy winter this year, something we can't count on anymore.

A view of a steep, snow-covered hillside. In the foreground, a couple Ponderosa pine trees with big balls of snow around all of their needle tips are framing the view. Misty clouds hang just over the top of the hill, with the sun a faint glow just above the hilltop.

The sun still managed to impart a soft glow to the east-facing side of the Ponderodas.

A view looking up a tall Ponderosa pine tree covered with snow around all of its needle tips and softly glowing in the cloud-dimmed morning sunlight.

After several snowy, cold, overcast days, with temps dipping below zero at night and hovering in the single digits during the day, the sun is shining in all its glory this morning, lighting up an incredibly beautiful landscape. A welcome visual feast.

A view a day later looking up the same tall Ponderosa pine tree covered with snow around all of its needle tips, but this time glowing intensly in bright early morning sunshine, and framed against a brilliant blue sky.
A day later looking at the steep, snow-covered hillside, this time glowing intensly in bright early morning sunshine, with a brilliant blue sky beyond.


 ∧ Top   

< Previous · Next >