Colorful Colorado

Apple Valley

Campbell Valley

Devil's Backbone

Boulder Creek

Green Mountain

From the top of one of the Flatirons

Cache la Poudre River

My Frequently Seen Scenes

The Front Range from Superior

Boulder Creek in Boulder Canyon

Clouds nestled behind the Flatirons

Boulder Falls in Boulder Canyon

Iceberg Lakes west of Nederland

Xeriscaping in Lyons

National Center for Atmospheric Research at the base of the Flatirons, snowy Twin Peaks behind

Bits And Pieces

Well, let's see.....    Nyquist spiked a temperature the other day, and then his white cell count was elevated, so he has been scratched from running in the Belmont Stakes in New York.
   The news around here has been kind of weird...  A man was seen shooting a handgun into Boulder Creek where it runs by the Public Library on Sunday.  He fired multiple times and was approached by a police team who told him to put the gun down on the ground, several times.  He didn't.  He was shot by the officers and died in the hospital a few hours later.  While the police team were giving the shooter medical assistance, more shots were fired into Boulder Creek, more than a block further east, in Central Park.  That shooter was not caught.  Beatrice and I showed up at the library at 2:45, and were puzzled by the crime scene tape that was in place by the Creek.  We learned later that we had missed the commotion by 30 minutes.
  We've had several traffic accidents that have ended with deaths - including an 8-year-old girl riding her bike in front of her house, with her Dad on the sidewalk.  A 20-year-old under the influence of drugs ran into two cars stopped at an intersection, and killed two well-known Boulderites.  The driver never touched the brakes, according to police investigations.
  We've had at least 10 raccoons killed by cars in the neighborhood recently, with at least two more having canine distemper.  And a young, but adult, bobcat was found in a nearby park with injuries from an automobile - he didn't survive.
  On the plus side, there are more cute foals on Assateague... in both Maryland and Virginia.  And my cousin asked about our Native American background - we've had rumors running through the family for several generations, but I've never been able to produce anything as proof positive.  I finally, this afternoon, found that a distant great grandmother was identified in the Shawnee Nation Register as an Arrohatok-Powhatan Native American.  The family rumors were that this lady was a relative of Pocohantas - but she would have been from a later generation, I think (one or two), unless the older men took young wives...   Then, there's a tale of my great-grandmother being 1/2 or 1/4 Cherokee, which I have yet to prove; and the tales of Whealtons and older Chincoteague families having taken local Natives as wives - from among the Accawmacke.   Time will tell, I guess.

All Sorts of Things - Boulder, Charleston, Eastern Shore

The flow rate of Boulder Creek has finally hit the level that causes our authorities to close the Creek for swimming, tubing, rafting, canoeing, and kayaking.  My neighbor, who disappeared while  tubing last month, is still missing.  A Denver man was fishing along the Creek up in Boulder Canyon and disappeared a few days ago.  His body was seen, floating in rapid water, and was recovered more than 24 hours later.  People around here don't understand or appreciate the power of water.
  The Aurora Theater shooting trial has lost a fifth juror.  Today, it is believed that the final witnesses for the prosecution will testify, and that the defense team will begin their side of the case soon.  The last witness for the prosecution is expected to be a woman who was shot during the movie, became paralyzed as a result of the shooting, lost the child she was then pregnant with, and also lost her 6-year-old daughter, who died from the shooting.  The defense is trying to stop her testimony - especially the showing of a photo of her dead daughter - because she is "too sympathetic."  Hummph.
  I am reeling from the news in Charleston, South Carolina.  In 1816, one hundred and ninety-nine years ago, the Emanuel American Methodist Episcopal Church was founded - to allow the African-American community a chance to worship apart from the hypocrisy of slave-owning white people.  It is the oldest existing AME Church south of Baltimore, Maryland.  Yesterday evening, a young adult white male sat in with the congregation during a Bible Study class.  After about an hour, this young man stood up and opened fire on the people in the class.  Six women and three men are dead.  The young man escaped the premises.  He is described as being about 5 feet 9 inches tall, having a slender build, and having sandy blond hair.  It is believed that he left in a dark sedan.  A manhunt is underway.  -  How can someone do this?
   On the Eastern Shore of Virginia, there was a building collapse on King Street in Onancock.  There were people working on the roof of the building, when there was a loud rumble, and the bricks began to collapse.  Luckily, no one was hurt.  The puzzle is that the building had passed a safety inspection last month - why suddenly collapse into the street on Tuesday?

    Accomack County and Amazon have reached an agreement, and a solar farm of 1,000 acres will be built near Oak Hall.  The solar farm is expected to power 15,000 homes in the area.
   And, on Chincoteague Island, 7-year-old Russell Dewire of Hughesville, Pennsylvania brought in a record-breaking first catch - a 27-inch, 7.7 pound flounder. - Way to go, Russell!

Odds and Ends

There was a pretty heavy downpour last night, and parts of Norwood Avenue were under standing water this morning when I went to feed and love Seek.  My sweater smelled like Pounce, and Seek let me know she didn't appreciate the scent of a male cat in her house.  After visiting my kits,  I stepped out the south door of the apartment building and looked at Boulder Creek.  It is rising, but it's not at a level that makes me concerned - yet.  Already fed and walked Lola and Cooper, and fed and medicated Pounce and Tipsi, so I have a little while before I'm due at Rosie's.  Maybe it'll stop raining and I can walk her.

This handsome colt is an extreme rarity on a thoroughbred track.  His name is Koda Chrome, by Blue Eyed Streaker, out of A Black Beauty by Atticus; and he's trained by Tom Drury.  His sire is one of two stallions in the thoroughbred registry that carry the overo coat gene.  This three-year-old made his racing debut at Belterra Park in Ohio yesterday.  He was in a speed duel for the lead, and ended up in third place.  Jack Van Berg trained his sire.
   The Grand Jury was cancelled last night, so I was able to watch the next-to-last episode of The Blacklist  - along with next week's teaser where Elizabeth tells Red that she "remembers everything" about the night of the fire (and possibly, all of her own personal history?).   That episode teaser is tantalizing.  SO glad that the show has been renewed and that they have made Hisham Tawfiq a regular co-starring cast member.  Dembe Zuma is an extremely interesting character!

Photo Mish-Mash

Farm scene in Germany

Marmot in Colorado

Rodnei Mountains in Romania

 "Tube to Work Day'" on Boulder Creek

Coyotes, Boulder Creek, and Neighbors

  It was cloudy this morning, then bight and sunny until 3 this afternoon; now it cloudy and thundering again.  Yesterday I visited the Boulder library to get some new books to read, as I was leaving, I caught a flash of water from the corner of my eye, so I walked across the parking lot to Boulder Creek.  The water was up over the banks on either side.  I went home and looked a the Creek at the south end of my apartment building...  While it will take a rise of four feet to approach my building, the pathway beside the Creek, which is an underpass walk-and bike-way, was under water and closed.  I suppose that since one could see the water flowing across the concrete path, quite a few folks felt that the the "Closed - No Trespassing" sign did not apply to them.  In the 10 minutes I was beside the Creek, I saw 6 bicyclists and 10 people on foot ignore the signage, walk around the edges of the barrier, and use the "Closed" path.  At that point in time, the water speed was running at 8 times its usual speed - over 800,000 cubic feet per minute.  When I went into my apartment, took care of the cats, and turned on my PC, I found that all of Boulder County was under a Flash Flood watch until 9 p.m.  I'm sure that if someone had accidentally slipped into the Creek at the Folsom underpass, they would have wanted to sue either the City or the County for their act of stupidity.
   We are, once again, under a Flash Flood warning, and will probably be under the warning for most of the hours between now and 4 July.  Tubing is now banned on the St. Vrain River, joining Boulder Creek, Clear Creek and the Cache le Poudre River.  We also had  small wildfire yesterday afternoon in Lefthand Canyon; fire fighters had it contained within 3 hours.
      I had a very nice chat with a new neighbor this morning - I met Meredith and her dog, Izzy.  Izzy is a trained service dog, and she is extremely well mannered.  She finds my cats fascinating, but doesn't chase them, and, if the cats come inside, she stops at the door.  Lovey pretty much ignores her (Izzy), but Nedi hasn't made his decision about her yet.  In any event,  we had a very nice introductory conversation, and the two of them met the three of us.  Only Nedi has any reservations about either of them.  ....  Britta, her dog Boulder, her cat Baby, and her four parakeets have moved out, but according to the maintenance men, the place is a wreck.  I don't want to hear what they'll think of Nancy's place when she moves out by 5 June...  The air inside her place takes my breath away, between the litter boxes, her refrigerator, and her burning of different herbs and incense.   At least the two guys dealing drugs in 101 have also moved away.  I hope the other new neighbors are also nice, quiet, and don't deal.
    I had fallen asleep last night before midnight, but awoke with a start.  I was trying to decide why I had woken up, when I heard the chorus again - 5 coyotes here in the cul-de-sac.  Five of the six houses here have dogs, and one place leaves their dogs in the back yard during the night.  The coyotes were congregating at the end of the driveway where the outside, over-night dogs live.  The song was eerie, but familiar.  What amazed me was that none of the dogs in the cul-de-sac, inside or out, barked or howled.  Not Lola, not Cooper, not the two Jack Russell terriers on one side, or the Bovier des Flandres on the other side.  I had expected our domesticated buddies to bark at the coyotes - but they were silent.   I wonder why.  Is the quiet a tribute to their "wild" cousins?  Do the dogs realize it's a pack that's crying, and they say silent for safety?  Cooper and Lola were both abused dogs, and are "rescue" pets; they bark at anyone and everyone they first encounter.  If I open the front door and allow them to run out, loose, they do so barking and running.  They don't bark if on a leash, even though they do try to hurry down the front steps.  When other dogs bark in neighboring yards during the day or night, Lola and Cooper run outside and join in the bark fest.  Do the coyotes frighten them?  Or do they respect their wild counterparts?  Why no barking at the coyotes?  I'm stumped.

Last Flood Photos For a Time...

The Coal Creek Canyon Road - no longer wide enough for even one car...

This SUV came to grief at Arapahoe Avenue and 3rd Street in Boulder

Aspen Grove Condominiums on Kalmia Avenue in Boulder

Boulder Creek on Thursday, 12 September, at the Public Library

The west end of Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder

The St. Vrain River near Lyons, Colorado

Flood Water Photos

Boulder Creek, 300 feet south of my apartment on Folsom Street

A mule deer, trying to avoid people and flood waters

House at the corner of Upland Avenue and 19th Street

Underneath the blue "Broadway" sign is the walkway I usually use to walk to the Public Library - the pathway will accommodate 10 bicyclists and 6 pedestrians moving abreast

This is 26th Street at the top of Topaz Drive, taken from the top of Agate Drive, looking north - Kathy and Jim's house is the sixth house back; and the water was only covered 15 feet of the corner of their yard.

Kudos to our US Mail Carrier, Mike Posniewsky, who managed to deliver everyone's mail every single day!

The water slammed the residents', across the street, two vehicles together...

Close look at what's left of Topaz Drive, east of my sister and brother-in-law's home

Boulder Colorado's 100-Year Flood

We got more than 14 inches of rain in less than 3 days.  I am living in an apartment on Boulder Creek - on the north end of two rectangular buildings.  The flood waters stopped 100 feet from my apartment.  I am currently house-sitting at my sister and brother-in-law's house in North Boulder.  They have the Silver Lake Irrigation Ditch running through their back yard, and Four Mile Creek runs on the east side of the property.  The Creek started flooding Wednesday night.  I evacuated my cats from the apartment to the house on Thursday.  Four Mile Creek jumped its' banks, joined the irrigation ditch, and ran rampant through the neighborhood, but did not get more than 90 feet of the house and garage.  We were very lucky and very blessed.  A lot of people have 6 feet of water in their basements - the apartment building, on the south end, had 6 inches of Boulder Creek inside.   I know people who have lost possessions, but, thankfully, only four lives have been lost due to the flooding.

Photos of Today and 1916

The Cache la Poudre River, west of Fort Collins, after ash, soot, silt, and soil from the High Park fire washed into it - July 2012

Boulder Creek surges through Boulder Canyon after recent rain - July 2012

Cliff Staley driving his wagon on Magnolia Road in Boulder - 1916

The old Scates Ranch on Magnolia Road in 2012

Flash Flood Warning Through Monday

We're going from fire to flood....  We had about 2 inches of rain Friday night and Saturday morning; we had about the same amount fall yesterday afternoon and evening; and Boulder County is under a Flash Flood Warning until 6 a.m. tomorrow morning.  If you live beside Boulder Creek, that is worrisome news.  Nancy and I were up in Nederland when the heavens decided to pour - luckily, we were inside Whistler's Cafe, having a hot meal, as the temperature was 52 degrees at 3 in the afternoon.  But we had to drive back down Boulder Canyon, right beside the Creek, to get back home.  That was, at times, somewhat frightening - rocks were falling, soil was washing across the road, about a quarter of the distance we travelled was under flowing water...   But we had an appointment to take Ramsah (one of Nancy's cats) to the vet in the late afternoon, so she could be fed and hydrated until she has an ultrasound of her spleen and liver Monday afternoon.  We are hoping the diagnosis is a fatty liver, and not cancer.  Nancy is extremely upset, and I don't blame her. 
   I took Lovey and Nedi in to see the vets at Pet Menders yesterday, and they both were in super condition, and got all of their shots.  Nedi was so nervous that he was leaving sweaty paw prints on the exam table.  Lovey was well behaved, but shed horribly ( a sign of stress).  Lovey needs to go back in October and get her teeth cleaned, while Nedi doesn't.  Rosie and Remy were great throughout the rain and thunderstorms last night.  I had one on either side of me on the sofa, while we watched Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element, then Remy stayed in bed with me for the night.
   My dear cousin Sarah read my blog yesterday, and pointed out that poor, bad, and egotistical riders can ruin a horse completely in less than 30 minutes.  Unfortunately, Sarah is totally correct.  One bad rider can ruin years of training...  and if the horse is young, and in the process of being trained, that one rider can make the horse un-ridable for the rest of it's life.  That is just so sad to contemplate. 
    At least Colorado is getting some rain.  I will not complain - unless Boulder Creek floods, and I lose my PC's memory.  If I get the warning in time, all electronic equipment will be on top of the refrigerator, and the kits and I will be out of here!  The farmers need the rain for their crops, the plants and trees just plain old need rain, and only the recent burn areas are having real trouble with this rainfall.  -  And, at a few minutes after 8 this morning, we are at only 61 degrees, and the humidity is 88%.  Wow - just like Florida in the winter!