Usual Schizophrenic Spring Weather

Let's see...  Thursday and Friday we had a combined snowfall amount of almost fourteen inches in Boulder (up in the mountains, they had 2 and 3 feet of snowfall).  It was overcast and cool on the weekend.  Yesterday, we reached a high of 72, with some mild winds - the Chinook that was forecast didn't kick in.  It is currently 50 degrees (F), with 37% humidity outside.  The newspaper says that we'll have a high of 67 today, and we have a good chance of snow tonight.  Hunh?  Yep, it's the usual Boulder schizophrenic Spring weather pattern kicking in.  NOAA says breezy this afternoon and tomorrow, with snow tomorrow morning.  Both NOAA and the forecasters say we'll have snow Friday....  The one thing I have learned since moving to Boulder is that the weather is completely unpredictable - and that the average last day of snowfall in Boulder is May 6...  Folks are encouraged not to plant outside until after Mother's Day, which is on the 8th this year.
   And - just a silly question - why does the date of Easter jump around so much on the calendar?  I mean, the church has chosen December 25 as the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, no matter what day of the week it falls on.  I easily understand how Jewish holidays seem to change dates, but the synagogues use a lunar calendar that has been in use for thousands of years.  Why does the new, "modern" Christian church use some sort of hocus-pocus theory to set the date of Easter - which can occur, according to the church, in March, April, or May?  I have to admit that, as a child, Easter only meant the Easter Bunny and lots of chocolate, but it seems to me that it usually took place in the last half of April.  Again, that might just be my sugar-fogged brain supplying incorrect information.  But why does Easter float all over three months of the calendar?  At the time, the Romans were using their calendar, and the Jews were using their lunar calendar, so can't a specific date be set?
   Oh, well....  Off to walk the doggies.

Happy Easter - And Looking Ahead to the Kentucky Derby

First,  Happy Easter!

   Second, it's also the 15th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre here in Colorado.  There are still a lot of shell-shocked ex-students and parents who are grappling with their memories of this day of blood.

    Third, it's also 4/20 (in the dating style of the US) and that is a counterculture day to celebrate the use of marijuana.  Cannabis use is now legal in the state of Colorado, in the privacy of one's own home, and as long as you, the consumer, has less than one ounce of weed, and you don't share it with anyone under the age of 21.  You can give pot to a friend, but you can't sell it...  And you can grow up to 10 individual cannabis plants in a secure area, that the public cannot access.  People are coming from all over to celebrate 4/20 in both Denver and Boulder - and I'm sure there will be quite a few private parties throughout the state as well.

   On to horses, thoroughbreds, in particular.  Yesterday evening, the Charles Town Classic was run, and the purse this year was $1.5 million.  Game On Dude was the betting favorite,but was pressed early in the race for speed.  He finished second, behind Imperative, and ahead of Moreno.  The Illinois Derby was run yesterday, as was the Lexington Stakes.  Both races used to be (several years ago) last-minute warm-ups for the Kentucky Derby; but most trainers now believe that with the Derby only two weeks away, these two races are no longer to be considered as preparatory races.  The Illinois Derby was won by Dynamic Impact, with betting favorite Midnight Hawk in second, and Irish You Well   finishing third.  In the Coolmore Lexington Stakes, Mr. Speaker defeated Divine Oath, who was a head in front of Supermonic.  Cairo Prince, once considered a top Derby contender, is at Rood & Riddle Hospital, being evaluated by Dr. Larry Bramlage.  He is lame in his left fetlock, but X-rays are clear; it's up to Dr. Larry to work his miracles and decide what's wrong with the colt.  Another promising colt, Bond Holder, was an early entrant on the Derby trail; he has succumbed to laminitis.

  Now that entry into the Kentucky Derby is determined on racing points, we have few horses in the race who do not belong there.  Currently, there are 25 colts with enough points to run the race; 20 points are needed, and the following colts have between 150 and 20 points.  No more than 20 starters are allowed to run in the race since 1975.  Here are the names of the colts:

California Chrome

Vicar's In Trouble

Dance With Fate

Wicked Strong

Samraat

Danza

Hoppertunity

Intense Holiday

Wildcat Red

We Miss Artie

Ride on Curlin

Chitu

Tapiture

Midnight Hawk

Ring Weekend

General a Rod

Medal Count

Candy Boy

Uncle Sigh

Vinceremos

Harry's Holiday

Commanding Curve

Pablo Del Monte

Bayern

Social Inclusion

(I'll be looking into their bloodlines later this week...)

  

Fort Marion? - The Castillo...!

I am much better today than I was yesterday. It's kind of gray out, and we have a 50% chance of rain through this afternoon and snow this evening. But it's 40 degrees outside, and I have the patio door open so the kits can run around before I deliver brownies and walk doggies. Nedi just came running back in, smelling of rich damp earth, and making me want to plant something and watch it grow... Thirteen of us appeared for the Easter gathering at Kathy and Jim's; Grandma Anne was snowed in up on Sugarloaf Mountain and had a pea-soup fog to contend with, so she decided to stay at home. Nephew Mike was a whiz in the kitchen - he baked the ham, cooked and mashed the garlic and rosemary potatoes, made a gravy from the ham drippings, and baked fresh pineapple in teriyaki sauce. I had my friend Bret make a fresh fruit tart for me to take, as well as taking fruit cookies and teeny Easter baskets for all the Mom's who were attending. (The baskets had Jolly Rancher jelly beans and Dove dark chocolate eggs in them.)
> In reading about Native American/ Indian history, I have, lately, come across multiple references to "troublesome redskins" being sent to Fort Marion in Florida. I've dug through my memories of state history that I was taught in Florida, and the only place I could think of was the Castillo de San Marcos in Saint Augustine. Having dug through the detritus in my brain, I then looked it up on Google, and was pleased that I had correctly identified the place. No wonder the Indians, who had grown up on the Great Plains and the Southwest, thought going to Fort Marion was such an awful ordeal. They were right on the ocean; the year round heat and humidity would have been oppressive after living out in the open west; being confined inside the Castillo and forced to share the areas with other natural-born enemies; and, of course, the cramped areas and more exposure to the white man's diseases, against which they had no immunity. I can't think of anything more inhumane. - Or is that my 13-times great grandmother's (supposed) Powhatan blood speaking? - All I know is I agree with the old standard, "Don't Fence Me In" ! And every time I see open plains with few fences, I want to climb into a saddle and just ride on forever....