March Snow Storm

Storm Wallops Denver

- headline, Denver Post, March 26, 2009

It has been a warm, dry winter here, so, in my opinion, a snow storm is welcome. Of course, for those of you who live or have lived in places where big snowfalls are the norm, you might think that a 15" snowfall is no big deal. What you have to understand is that most communities on the Front Range are not equipped with an army of snow plows and towns don't even plow arterial streets...ever. If you, for some strange reason, are not the type that enjoys getting away to the mountain, then for 95% of the time you don't need snow tires, so why bother?

Governor Bill Ritter declared a disaster, which means that National Guard can now be enlisted to move the snow.

Here are my pics from today, during our walk through the nearby open space, well before the storm was over.

Ice ball!

Second Anniversary Trip: Salida and Manitou Springs

“One main factor in the upward trend of animal life has been the power of wandering.”

~Alfred North Whitehead

Steve and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary last weekend by taking a trip to Salida and Manitou Springs (both Colorado towns). We were accompanied by Peanut Butter and Loki, our friends' cockapoo who we are dogsitting. Though PB is a bit of a queasy traveller, she had a great time and Loki eased her nerves by offering up an ear to chew on now and again. PB gladly accepted.

Both Salida and Manitou Springs can be described as art communities. Salida is a mountain town located about two and one half hours west of Colorado Springs. According to a local artist, it was a derelict, boarded up town that was revived in the 1990s by a group of artists who decided to move in and get it going again. So far, it has worked; it's a great little town that is still affordable to normal people despite a mountain location. I suspect that it may retain its character because it is a bit more out of the way than other mountain communities.

Manitou Springs is located in the foothills just a few miles from downtown Colorado Springs and back dropped by Pikes Peak. Manitou Springs is both quirky and touristy with a strong arts presence as well as an old fashioned open air arcade and a number of mineral drinking springs.

Read on in the captions below.

Peanut Butter

Loki

Steve and Peebs

We spotted this taxodermy specimen at a real shoot-'em-up cowboy gas station in Fairplay, CO.

Steve and Peanut Butter in front of Colorado's Collegiate Range. Princeton is the big mountain - wonder where that explorer went to school?.

Steve's three ladies with Collegiate Range in background.


SALIDA

I love this multi-era mural. Guess what the "S" on the side of the mountain stands for.

Art about town. Loki was barking at some of the animal statues - too real for comfort.




MANITOU SPRINGS



One of several drinking water springs. These were. . . zesty and each is slightly different because of the path that the water travels through the rocks. If you zoom in on the plaque on the right, you can see the mineral content. Springs like these made Manitou Springs a favorite amongst those recovering from TB and other ailments once upon a time.

Tast testing.

Steve thought this one was a little bland.

Loki rides the elephant at the old arcade.

Going in to Cave of the Winds. My camera battery died, so I can't offer you better shots. Cave of the Winds is a limestone network of caves featuring fun cave geology like stalactites, stalagmites, cave bacon, and cave popcorn.

A most excellent 2nd anniversary it was!

Claire and Charlie in CO: Take 3

"It is better to be in chains with friends , than to be in a garden with strangers."

-Persian Proverb

We love visitors and we love friends and we were blessed recently by both duringClaire and Charlie's third visit to Colorado. Here are some pics of Claire and Charlie . . . oh, and Willow, too.


Charlie spotted this in a window in downtown Boulder - thought you'd appreciate it, too.


Watching glass blowing in Estes Park.

Steve looks like he's in Candyland, huh?

Making a vase.

The most spectacular Christmas tree ever!

On the riverwalk in Morrison, CO.

Charlie and Claire at Red Rocks

At the Dog Park

It's a nice opportunity for dogs to socialize, to get out, to have some fun with their owners.

~Paul Bousquet,
communications manager
City of Boulder's Parks and Recreation Department
From the Boulder Daily Camera, Nov. 9 2007

For those of you who are not familiar with dog parks - which are proliferating all over the country, I thought you might enjoy these pictures.


This picture reminds me of a Richard Scary "busy, busy" image with its varied activity.

The Boston Terrier that PB is wrestling with is Cosette. Cute name, huh? She's pretty scrappy, and can basically keep up with PB except when Peebs kicks on the after burners.

The crowd decends...

Dog and Kitty Paparazzi

When you have the paparazzi hiding in the bushes outside your home, the only thing you can control is how you respond publicly.

Portia de Rossi

Okay, JJ, you're actually outside my home...

JJ, the neighbor cat, has become quite interested in Peanut Butter recently. On this day, JJ walked across our lawn and flopped down, exposing his belly and rolling around in an seeming effort to taunt Peanut Butter, who was bouncing about wildly inviting JJ to play like a dog. You can see she's very excited. JJ, on the other hand, was not pleased that I - the "paparazzi" - was capturing this interspecies rendezvous on film.

(Picture taken from a garden level window.)

Visiting Mom and Dad: Silver Glen Springs, FL

Florida has more springs than any other region in the world. There are over 600 springs in the state - some merely a trickle and others among the largest in the world.

From a sign at Silver Glen Springs
Florida Department of Environmental Protection

I visited my parents at the end of January and, while I loved the whole visit, the two days that we spent at Silver Glen Springs were magical. It dawned on me as I was swimming in this hot spring, chasing the fish around, that I new what the Fountain of Youth that poor Juan Ponce de Leon had looked for, but never found was: a hot spring. I asked Mom and Dad what they thought and they said that there is a hot spring, valued by the Native Americans of the area, that people say is the Fountain of Youth he searched for. According to the trusty Internet that spring is Warm Mineral Springs, located in, yes, you guessed it, Warm Mineral Springs, Florida.

Mom and Dad spend quite a lot of time visiting this and other springs; I suspect this is their secret to eternal youth. Silver Glen Springs is a blast which should be obvious from the photos.

Entrance to Silver Glen Springs

The Springs. The area that is dark blue is the spring, about 15 feet deep before it disappears into a tunnel. The water comes out with some force, but, according to locals, not nearly as much as in the past thanks to golf courses and housing developments in the Ocala area drawing down the aquifer. (According to one of my city planning professors, Ocala is the sprawlingest city in Florida.)

Mom, with her hair pulled back in a bun, prefers to stay on top of the water.

Dad prefers to swim below. Just under him in the picture is the cave/tunnel where the spring water comes from.

I preferred being underwater, too. Here I'm chasing a large school of Jacks.

Ladyfish

A gar. These guys are gnarly looking, with their big, sharp teeth and primordial look. (They are actually a primitive fish, which is found in the fossil record as early as the late Paleozoic Era during the Permian Period.) Dad says they're curious, but I screamed and swam away rather quickly when one approached me. I took it as aggression.

You know those delicious tilapia, the favorite of aquaculuturists for their rapid growth and high protein content that promises to feed the planet? This is one; an invasive and an adult, most likely guarding her nest. Here's an interesting article on fat content in Tilapia - doesn't look good.

Palm fronds

Sand boils seen from a boardwalk on the Sand Boils Trail. See a Youtube video of a sand boil in action.

John Breaux: Beloved Community Hero

Louisville man's simple life, guided by kindness, touched entire community

Boulder Daily Camera
February 1, 2009

What does it take to get a community to discuss erecting a memorial in your honor? Declaring a day of service in your honor?

You might imagine an eloquent speaker, a generous community benefactor with deep pockets, a crew of firemen lost in the line of duty. For our community - Louisville - it takes is a bicycle, a wave, a big and kind smile, a very large heart, and a life dedicated to performing hundreds of acts of kindness and goodwill every day: picking up trash; greeting neighbors; helping with groceries; moving neighbors' daily papers onto their porches; shoveling snow; a kind word.

Even though John only lived five doors down from me, I had no idea he was my neighbor. He would wave and greet me mornings when I was walking Peanut Butter, but then I would see him all around town on his bicycle, picking up trash. I just figured he was doing his rounds when I encountered him in our neighborhood. One day, in front of Lamar's Donuts, he gave me a tip that the Lotto Jackpot was really big. I played that day.

When I first met John, back in August (when we first moved to Louisville), I knew I was living in a "for real" community. A special place.

It wasn't until I heard news that he passed away in a tragic accident late last week, that I learned that he was my neighbor and that he was so beloved by so many people.

I am writing about John Breaux in my blog tonight not because I was close to him, but my life was touched by him. He was a remarkable human being who had an extensive impact on Louisville and neighboring Lafayette and all it took was uncommon, sincere kindness. If you like to contemplate the power of kindness and the human spirit at its best, I urge you to read the Daily Camera stories: He was our goodwill ambassador, He believed in people and Tributes to John Breaux.

Today, I walked a bit in his footsteps and took some pictures of a handful of the many memorials around town. I've always noticed what a very clean community it is that we live in. Thanks to John. When I took pictures at the memorial site where the accident occurred, I noticed an errant bag and two store flyers pinned (by the wind) to a nearby fence. I picked them up and imagined John's big smile at my good deed.

Albertsons was one of John's haunts. This one is about a half mile from my house on McCaslin Blvd.

The memorial inside Albertsons, which includes a bicycle with bags on both handle bars, similar to John's bike.


A memorial on the door at the Conoco service station on McCaslin.

A memorial near a walking path on Pine St. in Louisville. (Click on the picture and read the message, if you can't already.)

A memorial in the window of The Empire, one of Louisville's finer restaurants, located in the downtown.

This gold-painted bicycle is just one aspect of the memorial on US-287 in Lafayette, where the accident took place. There are possibly 100 or more bouquets, banners (including one from an area high school), a white bicycle, a shirt from Louisville Rescue, a sign on the nearby footbridge that reads "St. John Blvd.", a mylar Tigger balloon, and much more. John is missed.

If you see litter, pick it up,
move through your day with a smile,
and be kind.