• Category Archives Shadow Mountain

  • In Flight

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Spring, Mountain Spring Moon.

    The Latin work has begun to change, moving toward more careful, yet faster translation, a new novel is underway and my exercise program has altered. So, too, is this blog undergoing change. I don’t anticipate much difference in the work I do here, but the form needs to reflect a new reality, Colorado home.

    The mountains, the plants, the animals of this Western state press increasingly into our minds: scissor-tailed flycatchers, the fat fox, mule deer, mountain lions, Ponderosa and Lodgepole pine, Shadow Mountain, Black Mountain, Mt. Evans, Conifer Mountain. The drives into Denver, to Evergreen, to Aspen Park, toward the Kenosha Pass.

    When the travelers have settled, the way will appear.


    Colorado Jefferson County Mountains Shadow Mountain The West

  • Wandering

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Spring                                        Mountain Spring Moon

    Back of Black Mountain DriveGot tired of reviewing my Latin so I got up and wandered around in our thawing yard. Lots of things to see. Lichen growing on moss and old stones. Mule deer scat. Lamb’s quarter beginning to emerge. Green showing its springy fingerprint on so much. Still just an accent color, but soon.

    This acre, though smaller than our Andover hectare, has a more spacious feeling. There is no undergrowth, no weeds, shrubs, hedges, anything. The Ponderosa cluster, a few trees to a group, several clusters and some open space. The soil, or ground, is rocky and looks unforgiving from a horticultural perspective. Not a surprise.

    It feels important to me to have enough land that I can walk around it, see it from different angles. After the place in Andover, this feels necessary though I know it’s not. But, I like it. Caring for land is in my blood and I want to figure out how to make this place the best it can be. At least for now.

     

     


    Our Land and Home Shadow Mountain

  • Mountain Weather

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Imbolc                                                Mountain Spring Moon

    5-8 inches of snow for elevations in the front range above 8000 feet. That’s us. One way they tailor weather forecasts out here is by elevation. Often we get a forecast for 6,000 to 9,000 feet. That’s basically foothills, but includes those of us who live further back and higher than most of the foothills. The forecasts then get further segmented by north, central and south. We’re in the central Front Range, and at 8,800 feet on a 9,000 plus mountain and in the company of others that are 10,000 plus we’re in the mountains.

    Weather forecasting out here, especially when it concerns snow and other water related events, is a matter of tremendous moment. The weather impacts ski areas, a significant part of the state’s tourism budget, but more importantly it determines, in winter, the depth of the snowpack. Not only does the Colorado snowpack directly affect the state’s regional water availability, but it also decides the fate of the Colorado River which provides water to the thirsty southwest and southern California, especially L.A.

    If we’re gonna get our 5-8 inches though it’s gonna have to scramble. The morning’s snow has already melted.

     


    Mountains Shadow Mountain Weather +Climate

  • The Week

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Imbolc                                    Black Mountain Moon

    Neighbor to the east, Jude, has transferred to days after four years of working nights. This means that he now lets his two border collies out around 6. They bark, for some reason, without stopping until he leaves for work around 7. It makes the quiet of the early morning here less desirable, means I’ll have to adapt. Today I sorted and read e-mails.

    Not sure what I’ll do over time.

    A quiet week, but a busy weekend. On Friday I’ll attend the member preview of We (heart) the Rocky Mountain National Park exhibit at the Colorado History Museum. On Saturday Kate attends a mineralogy day sponsored by the Friends of the Colorado Geology Museum. It features lectures on gem coloration. Then on Sunday we go to the Curious Theater for a play that is the second of a trilogy, The Brother/Sister Plays, written by a student of August Wilson’s, Tarell Alvin McCraney. This one is In the Red and Brown Water. The first in the trilogy will play this summer and the third in the fall.

    Buddy Bill Schmidt has fiddled with the fonts on Ancientrails. Thanks, Bill, I like the change. Anybody else have an opinion?

     


    Art and Culture Dogs Great Work Shadow Mountain

  • Ponderosa

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Imbolc                            Black Mountain Moon

     

    OK. About those lodgepole pines. Turns out they’re actually ponderosas. Ponderosas split at the top while lodgepoles go up straight like a lodgepole. So Black Mountain Drive is also Ponderosa. Cue the theme music. The bulk of the pine beetle infestation has been among lodgepole pines though Holly said yesterday that they have begun to jump to Ponderosas, too.

    As Goya says in his etching, Anco impari. Still learning.

     


    Mountains Shadow Mountain

  • Different Place, New Rhythms

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Imbolc                                                    Black Mountain Moon

    We now know our neighbors across the street (Eduardo and Holly), next door to the east, (Jude), a door down and to the west across the street (Jim and Roberta), and behind us (Karen). Jon, Jen, Ruth and Gabe came out, too, to help us celebrate St. Patrick’s day. Ann Beck, the realtor who helped Kate find this house, came by later. With the exception of those times we had the annual Woolly meeting at our house in Andover, we rarely entertained. Kate’s birthdays and the occasional bonfire in our fire pit were about it.

    Out here we’ve set a new lifestyle in motion, one more involved with the neighborhood. Thanks to Next Door Shadow Mountain, an online social network for our area, we’ve also communicated with Justin who lives somewhere nearby. He’s offered to mentor us in mountain gardening. He and his wife have an extensive garden.

    Different place, new rhythms. As we age, it’s good to have folks around whom we know and who know us.

    Kate’s initiated both of these events, so she deserves a big thanks. 2011 01 03_0638

    Eduardo is off to Kansas City for a week as plant manager for the uniform company he works for in Denver. He’s a second shift supervisor here. In K.C. he’ll be filling in for the top job.

    Eduardo is from Tijuana originally and brought special candies from there.

     

     


    Friends Shadow Mountain