Greetings fellow Nature lovers. Welcome to Nature Friday where we happily join our fur friends, Rosy and her brothers from LLB in our Backyard for this week’s edition.
You may recall where I’ve shared the Mile High area has ‘enjoyed‘ a lot of up and down weather these past 3 weeks. We seem to be in a pattern that repeats itself weekly…sunny and warm for a couple of days, a small snow storm, then warming up again. It may be a bit challenging to have any Easter egg hunts as the forecast once again calls for snow to arrive, this time on Easter Sunday.
We relished absolutely gorgeous days this week that highlighted beautiful spring bulbs which in this age of sad COVID news helps brighten low spirits. And a couple of real stunners to boot helped lift my spirits.
The Ranch hands experienced a couple of scary encounters on their normal walks with unleashed pets (along with their unleashed owners not adhering to social distancing) so we’ve been mixing up our routes to avoid as many people as possible which is why I decide to walk over to Sloans Lake, the urban, man-made lake in the park with the same name. We were richly rewarded for our efforts on the warmest day yet.
On the way over, I saw Hellebore flowers in someone’s front yard. I have never seen them outside of the pampered environment of the botanic gardens. They’re so pretty but fussy about their environment but look how well they’re doing in an urban landscape and just beginning their seasonal bloom.
Along with the Hellebore, another spring beauty were these Scilla Sardensis, known as Glory of the Snow. I love seeing these little blue flowers popping up in spring. So cute and colorful.
One of the best reasons to visit Sloans Lake are its lovely city views. With a beautiful city skyline toward the east, I often look toward downtown, but when you look in the opposite direction, you can catch snowy mountain peaks. On a mostly clear day, that view was just too beautiful not to share.
The Ranch Hands and I wish you a lovely weekend. Please stay safe, keep smiling and wash those paws. We also recommend wearing a mask if you must go out. Shopping trips have turned into a gigantic scavenger hunt. Some items you find, others remain elusive. I’m learning how to function wearing a mask which makes my face sweaty and fogs up my glasses while simultaneously getting by with less. Norman made his own PSA for staying safe.
Live, love, bark! š¾
Happy pre-Thanksgiving Day. As many of you know, Denver was hit with a gigantic storm yesterday that buried the city with a foot of snow. It prevented Sam and I from doing our hospital visits and has us pretty much confined. It did however allow me to enjoy my favorite blizzard beverage, hot chocolate. With Schnapps and whipped cream. We are warm and fine if not a bit stir crazy. It’s too cold and deep to take the dogs for their usual walks and apparently not possible for Sam to use the dog run to relieve himself beyond the occasional pee over Elsa’s spots in the freshly created pee-atio in the dog run. Elsa however could practically pee or poop on command but Sam is nothing, if not discerning about where he goes. I have to chuckle about his refusal to not poop in the run, but know if I scooped out a square over at my neighbor’s house, he’d drop a log in a heartbeat.
The once colorful homes of Gilman sit close to the mining facilities with the waste tailings flowing down the hill. Though posted as a no-trespassing area, the town continues to draw vandals who have posted hundreds of images on social media sites. Looking through many eerie and creepy images on Instagram, it seemed the residents left in a hurry. One particular image, a box of Cheer soap, spilled on the floor along with children’s toys, magazines, among scads of debris haunted my thoughts. I did not trespass the fence area, instead taking in some of the natural beauty of the mountain. I couldn’t help but wonder about those who lived and worked there and how many of them fell ill after they left.
