Welcome to the first edition in March to the Nature Friday blog hop, where we join our New Mexico hosts, Rosy, Sunny and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard. Make sure you stop by the clicking on their link to see what others are sharing.
Last week, the Mile High spent most of it suffering in brutally cold conditions with multiple days in a row of snow. Total accumulations were between 8-10 inches. Apparently this week, Mother Nature reconsidered and then decided an about face might be appropriate, apparently trying to make up for being so bloody harsh and mean last week.
Yesterday morning’s walk showed how she was trying to make up by being pretty and nice. Look at that lovely clump of early blooming crocuses.
No doubt Mother Nature thought all could be forgiven if she merely provided a burst of beautiful color with some reticulated irises. Well…okay…maybe. Sights like this make you begin to think perhaps all those previous HBO thoughts you had weren’t warranted after seeing gorgeous deep purple crocuses with those vibrant, brightly colored stamens. Sigh, how can you stay mad with Mother Nature when she delivers days like this?
With sunny, warm days like these, one could easily be seduced into thinking Spring was just around the corner ready to burst forward. And then you hear the weekend forecast foretelling of the age-old battle between Winter and Spring duking it out with two back-to-back storms colliding in the metro area beginning later tonight with accumulations of 2-5 inches, depending on where you live. This, following record-tying temperatures in the mid-70’sF this week. In March! Today will be fairly nice again (albeit dreary) until this afternoon when the first front moves in with a splatter of moisture.
And then the bungee cord snaps your head back in the ongoing battle between the seasons here…often referred to as “Springtime in the Rockies.”
Join us next week when we share a big announcement-it’s gonna be ‘pawsome!’
Whatever you do this weekend, we hope you get check out to see what Nature has to offer-whichever season she deigns to share.
Welcome to February’s first Nature Friday edition, where we join our pals Rosy, Sunny and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard. Rosy and gang recently relocated to the Land of enchantment so make you you click on the link to check out their adventures.
Originally I had planned on doing a post about the big storm that hit the Mile High City this week, bringing windchill temps down to sub-zero levels. And then I heard a most remarkable story on the radio this morning about a nature story of sorts from the Western Slope and decided to rewrite it.
It all started the day after Christmas. Returning to their Grand Junction home from Denver, Charles Reigies, girlfriend Hannah Poscente and their dog, Mia hit a spot of black ice near Gypsum, CO late at night and crashed. When Charles came to, Hannah was injured, Mia had disappeared and their Jeep was on its side. Hannah was rushed to the hospital by ambulance with a broken neck. Charles searched for Mia until the tow truck arrived. He wasn’t able to find Mia in the snow but that’s not where this story ends.
When Hannah was released from hospital the next day, she reactivated her Facebook page and joined various lost pet sites hoping for a miracle.
Photo Courtesy of Hannah Poscente’s Facebook page
At the time, this was one of the first snowstorms to hit the region and cold temps moved in. Hannah’s post were liked and shared and thus the ‘village’ began the implausible quest of Charles and Hannah finding their beloved pet.
Enter Janet Cross, who lived near the crash site, and heard about it. She set up a trail camera near the accident. When reviewing footage, she realized Mia (like many pets do when separated from their family) returned to the area twice a day. Mia was skinny, temps were freezing, but she was alive. There were other sightings among various people but living 2 hours away from the crash made it difficult for Charles and Hannah to follow up quickly on them. But Janet didn’t giving up. She obtained a trap from animal control and checked it every hour. She refused to give up on finding Mia and continued to help reunite the family.
The deer fence the vehicle crashed into was rebuilt making Mia’s reunion even more challenging. Mia was not seen for 8 days. Then a miracle happened. Janet received a call from someone who lived 10 miles from the crash site indicating that Mia had been spotted so Janet repositioned the trap near that area. Mia was initialled scared off but after receiving a message about being sighted, Hannah and a friend returned to the area to continue the search. Still in a neck brace, Hannah decided to go out and look again while the friend took a meeting on her phone. Snow and sagebrush camouflaged the surrounding landscape but Hannah continued walking along the train tracks. Mia was there! And she didn’t scare off, instead she came walking toward her person. Hannah recorded the reunion with her cell phone.
Photo courtesy of Hannah Poscente
Mia was so excited to see her mom, she began jumping all over her and the video cut off. The same scene was repeated when Hannah returned to her Grand Junction home with Mia with Charles being knocked down by his happy pup. This improbable rescue ended one month and one day after Mia was lost. “She’s still got a lot of weight to put back on,” said Charles, patting Mia, her ribs showing, “but the vet says she’s doing good, all things considered.” No one will know what Mia endured while lost and her story continues to be shared on Facebook, often with the title “Never Give Up Hope.” And what about Angel Janet, the caring soul who made it her mission to help out? “She fought traffic and predators and snow and wind,” Janet said, “and I mean, she made it.”
Courtesy of Stina Sieg, CPR News
{sniffle} I hope you can now see why this week’s nature post needed to be rewritten and how it really does take a village sometimes.
While today’s post was about a shy dog whose adventures in nature we’ll never know the details about, here are a few photos of the Ranch Hands who finally were able to take a brief walkabout yesterday afternoon when temps finally reached 25Fº. The snow was still deep enough to require boots (much to their chagrin) with warm jackets but the Vitamin D outing was much needed by all 3 of us. For those still in the grips of Mother Nature’s cruel hands, we hope you stay safe, warm and cozy.
How are we supposed to walk in these stupid boots?Ahhhhhhh! This is how you spell relief.Hurry up, bozo. I have snow drifts to enjoy.
Happy Groundhog Day, the day where normally intelligent people rely on a rodent who supposedly predicts the arrival of spring. I myself have never put much stock in this silliness but it made me wonder where did this madness originate.
Apparently (and unbeknownst to moi), the tradition of consulting a rodent for a sign of an early spring or a late winter stems from the Christian tradition of Candlemas having its roots in pagan observances. Wait, another pagan influence? Ahem…move over Halloween.
“Candlemas was originally a Celtic festival marking the ‘cross-quarter day,’ or midpoint of the season,” according to the Almanac website. With the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox , a sunny day “predicted” the arrival of spring in about 6 weeks. Which, I might point out, is around the same time as the arrival of the spring equinox. Hmm, what a convenient ‘coincidence,’ you say?
Digging into just how we arrived at this annual rouse tradition where rodents predicte spring’s arrival, did you know there are a slew of season-predicting rodents, all from the Eastern part of the US. Probably the most famous of course is Punxsutawney Phil of Pennsylvania, followed by Dunkirk Dave and Staten Island Chuck both of New York, Millville Mel of New Jersey (who recently passed away and efforts to find a replacement were unsuccessful since groundhogs are hibernating this time of year), and Buckeye Chuck from Marion, Ohio. Interestingly this custom seemed to originate in Europe. Seems a bear brought the news to the French and Brits, while Germans looked to a badger for a sign of spring’s arrival. Why they just didn’t refer to the Gregorian calendar is beyond me, but then again…a lot of folklore seems baffling. When German immigrants arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1800’s, they brought the Candlemas legend with them. Pennsylvania being bereft of badgers but finding lots of groundhogs or woodchucks there, well lo and behold, an adaption of the legend came into being. Because a woodchuck is just a small bear, right? 😳
Anyway, I only had to look outside to realize spring ain’t coming any time soon. The Mile High was ‘gifted’ with between 8-12 inches of white stuff with wind chill factors pushing temperatures below zero.
Just look at that powdery pile!
These sunflower stalks in the front garden are about two feet tall and are pretty much halfway buried. The dogs weren’t very keen on trying to partake of their early morning ritual–going potty. Elsa gave me a look to chill my soul, though she bounced around once she finished while Norman’s eyes seem to ask…”do I really have to?” It’s safe to say today (and probably for the next few days) will be spent more indoors than normal given the brutally cold temps and Norman’s aversion for walking in snow.
If you were hit by this monster storm you already know the rodent’s prognostication wasn’t any kind of newsflash. And to think all we had to do was look at a calendar and not wake up some rodent from the squirrel family who shouldn’t be trusted anyway.
The good news is Friday is just a couple days away though. Stay safe and warm. Happy Hump Day.
Weather and climate change continue to dominate nature along the Front Range. Unless you live in a cave, you’ve no doubt heard about the catastrophic Marshall and Middle Fork fires which hit the northern metro suburbs yesterday afternoon. Hurricane force winds of over 100 mph are believed to have knocked down power lines sparking dry grasslands which moved quickly between Denver and Boulder. The entire towns of Superior and Louisville were evacuated yesterday which remains in effect today. Nearly 600 homes, the Element Hotel and a shopping center were destroyed. Six people were reported to have suffered injuries but it is unknown if there have been any fatalities. Winds were so strong yesterday, there was little firefighters could do but evacuate homes and businesses in the fire’s path as quickly as possible. Major traffic jams occurred when some cars four-wheeled over bike paths and through parking lots to escape the wildfire’s path. A state of emergency is in effect.
Photo courtesy of AP
Wildfires are becoming a year long phenomena throughout the Western U.S. but this latest fire is highly unusual in that it occurred in an urban area and not in any wilderness area.
The fire has consumed over 1,600 acres as of last night. Officials hope they can get a handle on the fire with less severe winds, cooler temperatures and several inches of snow scheduled to arrive later today. This map from the New York Times shows the affected area. Colorado Highways 93, 128, 170 and parts of US 36 are closed to traffic.
Photo courtesy of AP
The aerial image below gives you an idea of the scope of the fire area.
As if 2021 hadn’t been exhausting enough with record-breaking COVID cases despite vaccines, we now face a year round fire season. Don’t know about you, but I for one am SO. OVER. 2021.
However you celebrate the New Year, we pray you’ll do it safely. Best wishes from everyone at the Ranch who will probably spend most of the weekend huddled together on the sofa under a thick pile of blankets as single-digit highs arrive tomorrow. Yo Mother Nature…could you please lighten up?
This week’s nature moment is a bit of a travelogue from last week’s Thanksgiving festivities from my trip with my Dad and brother to see family in the Lone Star state. It was so special seeing everyone after losing mom earlier in the year. One moment however did dampen the holiday when we ‘encountered‘ a deer at dusk in rural Texas. Other than the deer, the only other casualty was Dad’s car but we were thankfully, unscathed (other than frazzled nerves). Getting there was quite the adventure with miles and miles of wide open spaces that were particularly stunning for this here city-slicker.
With miles of driving, taking hours and hours to reach our destination just outside Austin, our route took us through the northern part of New Mexico’s quiet plains. Vistas with plateaus in the distance and flat-to-rolling plains along the highway showed a “Dances With Wolves” landscape. Wide open and unblemished save for the occasional fence post. It made me wonder what was being corralled for no antelope, deer or cattle were spotted as we drove through.
Apart from wide open spaces, miles and miles of cotton fields were encountered once we reached the Panhandle. It was beyond anything I’d ever seen before. Fields of white fluff as far as the eye could see.
Image courtesy of Flicker, Northwest Texas
Getting to Texas is a long, challenging drive. My first shift behind the wheel was 5 hours long and yet there was still so much farther to go. After my brother hit the deer and made a turn in the wrong direction, we ended up spending the night in Abilene. We arrived at my sister’s the next day.
Reaching my sister’s took us through pecan country. These beautiful trees can be seen from roadsides as well as directly in my sister’s neighborhood. The pecan tree, like the fruit of other members of the hickory genus, is not truly a nut, it’s technically a drupe meaning fruit with a single stone/pit, surrounded by a husk produced from the exocarp tissue of the flower (the internal structure of the fruit, i.e. its ovaries). The nut develops from that structure and contains the seed. My sister said they are a ‘messy tree,’ having spent days and days raking up leaves and hulls before we arrived. I was captivated by the large, wide canopy on these trees.
In addition to pecans, live oaks (which don’t lose their leaves) were abundant. This one was full of acorns and filled my head with visions of clever craft projects.
The landscape was not all drab, with this colorful beauty gracing the pool area. “Duranta repens” (a part of the verbena family native from Mexico to South America and the Caribbean) is a flowering ornamental shrub. It’s apparently considered an invasive weed in some areas of Australia but is very striking.
Despite warm temps (warm by Colorado standards), Thanksgiving Day was deemed ‘chilly’ in that it only reached the upper 50’s for our traditional family game of football following the tasty meal. There was a brisk wind which, coupled with humidity, made it seem cooler than the numbers might suggest. It struck me how relative perspective played out with each of our interpretations of ‘chilly.’
My canine buddy during the visit was sweet little Miley who decided I was a good auntie and kept me from missing Norman and Elsa too much. A pocket full of tasty treats and belly rubs go a long way.
Our return trip was uneventful and we powered through 13 1/2 hours of driving in one felled swoop. A long drive buoyed by great memories of a family who enjoys celebrating holidays with one another no matter what the cost. Hopefully we can make another trip down there without time restrictions and really enjoy some of the amazing slices of nature along the way.
Now that we’re in December and many of us are preparing for the next holiday, we hope you’ll be able to sandwich in some time during these hectic days enjoying a quiet moment of pleasure experiencing nature at its best. Have a great weekend!
Welcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we take a look around our urban neighborhood to see what Nature has served up. As always, we’re joining Rosy, Sunny, Arty and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard.
Leaves changing colors continues to be hit or miss. One tree will show color while the tree right next to it steadfastly holds on to the green. It’s one of the oddest autumns I’ve ever seen. Earlier in the week, mild warm days graced the Mile High which allowed for extended walks around the ‘Hood.
So let’s check out this week’s most interesting plant discovered on one of our afternoon walks. I’ve seen these eye-catching plants around before but never knew what they were called until I did some further investigating. Castor bean plants (Ricinus ommunis) are often planted for their striking foliage. Originally native to Ethiopia, the plants are now cultivated throughout the world. Caster bean seeds have been found as far back at 4,000 years ago in ancient Egyptian tombs. The oil obtained from the plant was used to light lamp wicks and is still cultivated as a natural laxative or massage oil. With it’s extremely high fatty acid content, it can be useful for treating dry skin. Caution should be exercised however when planting these striking plants around small children and pets, as the seed pods are extremely poisonous. After looking it up, I was grateful I didn’t touch those seed pods. {shudder}
Yesterday Mother Nature decided to do a runner and skip town with temperatures plummeting and snow falling in some metro areas (though not in my neighborhood). The nearby mountain ski area, Arapahoe Basin received 14″ of white stuff and will officially open one lift this weekend, bringing a collective hear-hear from Front Range hardcore skiers.
Here in the city, a light freeze from a few showers left a hint of frozen water in the solar bird bath last night but warmer temps will return by Sunday (forecast calls for 75ºF/23ºC). Colorado’s yo-yo weather remains intact.
While I don’t mind temperature changes since Nature has been more than generous with warm temps thus far, it will take some time getting used to juggling two leashes with poop bags while wearing gloves. The dogs seem to not only enjoy the crispness in the air but also the inability of my easily adapting to manage yet one more thing in hand on morning constitutions. Elsa in particular finds these are her best squirrel hunting moments and seems to relish turning me into a kite at the drop of a hat. Stay turned, no doubt there’ll be a good story about me landing on my back side while the dogs enjoy seeing me trying to ‘master’ the art of prestidigitation.
Any plans to get out into Nature this weekend? Whatever you do, we hope you have a ‘pawsome’ outing.
Happy TGIF and welcome to another episode of Nature Friday, hosted by our Pacific Northwest fur-iends, Rosy, Sunny, Arty and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard. Don’t forget to click on the link to check out what they and others in Blogville shared.
Having enjoyed more than a few days of life sustaining moisture earlier this week, spring has ramped up its presence. Tulips continue to bloom but other spring bulbs and tubers are now front and center. Alliums, a member of the garlic family, are now blooming and are quite gorgeous. We’ve been encountering many of them along our daily walks. Allium are a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants that includes hundreds of species, including cultivated onion, garlic, scallion, shallot, leek, and chives. Did you know allium is the Latin word for garlic? Allium vary in size in the different species, ranging from small (approximately 2–3 mm in diameter) to large (8–10 cm).
Bearded irises have begun blooming too, assuring lovely bouquets for alfresco dining.
Even the heavenly-scented lilacs, are beginning to emerge from a long winter sleep.
With all the rain we’ve received lately, woodland plants are verdant and beginning to bloom. Lupines and woodruff are some of my favorites.
Not all the moisture that’s fallen recently has been rain. It recently has been ‘snowing’ a bit, too.
Just kidding, that fallen ‘snow’ is just spent blossoms. Had you going there for a second, didn’t I?
It seems warmer and drier weather is in the foreseeable future and will be welcomed. Yesterday was a day of R&R enjoying the landscape while visiting my dad in southeast Colorado.
We hope you enjoy your weekend but don’t forget to use some sunscreen. Or you could spend outdoor time under an umbrella like I did yesterday. Either way, we hope any time is spent outside enjoying nature is ‘wagnificent.’
Welcome to Nature Friday where we join our ‘fur-iends’ from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Mother Nature has been all over the map this week. It’s been a bit of a typically weird Springtime in the Rockies kind of week weather-wise.
As I drove back from my parents house in southern Colorado, a large wet weather front hit pretty much most of the state but especially along the I-25 corridor. Monument Pass (just north of Colorado Springs) received several inches of white stuff. Luckily the roads weren’t too slippery but with nearly 15 miles of road construction, it was a slow, sad slog home.
While I was in Pueblo, Norman and I took occasional walks around the chaparral near my parent’s house. There are lots of ancient pinyon and cedar trees, some a few hundred years old. Norman wasn’t particularly interested in their history, only the crossing trails of bunny scents.
While snow this time of year is not unusual in the state, a couple of days of rain are (we’re more likely to receive snow than rain). The rain has refreshed the landscape, washed off the dust and grime of the city and brightened everything as Spring moves forward. The tulips have been extra gorgeous this year.
After a few days of rain and cold, Colorado’s bluebird skies and sunny conditions returned. They made for a great background for the now flowering crabapple trees yesterday.
The yo-yo temperatures will continue today, likely reaching 81ºF. That said, the forecast for early next week once again includes snow, keeping the past few years of history intact around Mother’s Day, with snow in the Mile High. If you don’t like the current weather, just wait 10 minutes because it will no doubt change to something you may enjoy.
Whatever is your jam, we hope you have a lovely weekend and you’re able to share some of nature’s beauty with Happy Mother’s Day wishes to all moms, whether your kid has two or four legs (or wings).
My goodness, here it is April already. Where did the first quarter of 2021 go?! As we typically do on Friday’s, we’re joining our adorable weekly hosts, Rosy, Sunny, Arty and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard to see what’s going on with Mother Nature. Don’t forget to click on the link to check out the blog hop and see what else others in Blogville have shared.
Spring has been working overtime trying to catch up after recent visits from Ole Man Winter. There’s still some white stuff remaining on northern exposures but all and all, the week has been all about spring with clear bluebird skies, warm temperatures with perennials, shrubs and trees that are beginning to bud.
A Pasque flower I walk past daily has just recently begun to open and its arrival is always reason to smile with hope that spring is here. Pasque flowers (known as Pulsatilla hirsutissima, Pulsatilla ludoviciana, Pulsatilla patens, Anemone patens, etc.) have an undisputed appearance but a somewhat disputed name. It has been known as Pulsatilla hirsutissima, Pulsatilla ludoviciana, Pulsatilla patens, Anemone patens, etc. “Pulsatilla” from the Latin for “pulsing”, “moving about”, plus the diminutive, “illa”: thus “a bit of quivering” (from the wind). Pasque Flower or Easter Flower is from the Hebrew “Pasach” i.e. “Passover” [the last supper was the celebration of Pasach] and thus this plant has became associated with Easter since they generally flower around the Easter/Passover season when winter snows begin to melt. The name most likely arrived through variations of French, “passefleur” and “passflower” both similar to the French word for Easter, “Pasques” which has its roots in the Hebrew word “Pasach” so it’s somewhat easy to see how the common name has morphed into “Pasque Flower.”
A walk about through my garden yesterday when temps were in the mid-70’s showed the blueish grape hyacinths fully in bloom. I was shocked to find a lone outlier white one in the middle of the blues and hope nature has some sort of grand plan. The bee didn’t seem to mind that lone white one either as it kept going back and forth to it, probably reacting much like us humans do with ice cream…”chocolate or vanilla? Oh what the heck, I like them both.”
Over the next several days temps are expected to be in the upper 70’s to low 80’s so being outdoors to enjoy this glorious time will be the MO of the residents around the Mile High.
We wish everyone a blessed Easter weekend and hope whatever your religious persuasion that you find some time to get outside and sing the glory of nature’s beautiful work.
Spring arrived over the weekend and boy was it ever glorious (sunny and 65ºF-perfect in my books). While walking around the garden picking up wrappers that has blown in during last week’s blizzard, I noticed my favorite baby blue grape hyacinths had begun blooming an Ode to Joy. I had to chuckle because of what I knew would probably be coming.
These little guys are my favorite of the grape hyacinths in my garden (the purple ones have a later blooming timetable and bloom longer) but they never fail to charm. The fact that the original dozen has naturalized nicely makes them even more appreciated.
This morning, the Ranch hands woke up to this scene and is expected to continue accumulating off and on today, tomorrow and possibly Wednesday.
At least there was at least one day of spring which may be the shortest spring on record. Funny thing about these records, we seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Mind you, I’m not complaining about the snow; we need the moisture. But it does mess up my plans for a day trip to visit with out of state family members who will be in the southern part of the state just until this Thursday.
Whatever is going on in your neck of the woods, we hope your week starts out with a smile and sets the stage for a ‘pawsome’ week. Happy Monday!
