I just purchased my airline tickets and made reservations for a rental car for my Florida visit in October. I'll fly out of Denver on Tuesday, 25 October, and return from Jacksonville on Tuesday, 1 November. And I got a 25% discount since I'm using Enterprise Car Rentals - I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends in the Sunshine State! Ya-hoo!
We had several more rain showers yesterday afternoon and evening - Boulder Creek did not flood at my apartment, but the seasonal creek on the east side of Jim and Kathy's property once again spilled from its banks, and covered about 15 feet of Topaz Drive with about 18 inches of swiftly running water. Fourmile Canyon residents again had to run for higher ground due to the rainfall and debris from last fall's wildfires. A couple of families had banded together and placed a 10-person camping tent on the top of a crag behind their houses - they were lucky. Someone called and told them that another 4-foot-wall of water was heading their way. They got to the tent in time to watch their sandbags hold up pretty well. I called and asked Kathy if the creek had "roared" as it came through the night before last, when it flooded three blocks of Topaz. She had to admit that she and Jim didn't know, because they had been called up Boulder Canyon to open the Silver Lake Irrigation Ditch's side spills to lessen the amount of water flow into Boulder itself. She said that Boulder Creek was literally black from the cinders, ashes, and burned items that were washed downstream from Fourmile. I know that the gooey muck was covered with fine black silt again today....
Rascal, Shady, Cloudy and Rosie and Remy have all been cared for and walked, or groomed, this morning. Alexy is due home around noon today, so I brought all my gear back home. It turns out that today and tomorrow will be extremely hectic for the Rs' family, so I'll be stopping by to spend time with the red kids, and walk them, after each of my next three visits with Rascal. Lovey is trying to "tempt" me away from the keyboard - she is walking back and forth on the desk, rubbing herself all over my chin, nose and glasses, and talking. Nedi is draped across the back of the love seat. Mocha is stretched out on the tiles in the kitchen. The weather folks say highs in the upper-90s and near 100 degrees through next Tuesday, with a good chance of thunderstorms every afternoon and evening. I just hope there's no power outage during my surgery on the 19th!
Enjoy your weekend! (No one else can...)
Friday, July 15, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Around Boulder
Boulder Creek from the Folsom overpass - to the lower left is the 8-foot-wide path that is under water...
Rascal Stucka, a delight to play with
This rose almost looks fake - but I took the photo yesterday afternoon on Spotswood Circle
Reverse 911 Call
Hmmmm. At 11 last night, I checked the local news on-line and found that the Boulder Office of Emergency Management had blown the sirens downtown at 6:30 last night to warn of flash flooding - rain and debris from the area of the Fourmile Canyon Wildfire had caused a 4-foot-high crest above what local creeks were already dealing with. The alert was cancelled at 9 p.m. last night. When I returned home this morning, I found a reverse 911 call from the City of Boulder OEM - all the recording said was "...for further information.", then a dial tone. I consider myself lucky because the 4-foot-crest died before it got to the mouth of Boulder Canyon, and although there was a little bit of street flooding, my apartment stayed high and dry. We're under a Flash Flood Alert from 3 p.m. today until 5 a.m. tomorrow.
After caring for and loving Cloudy and Shady this morning, I walked up Topaz and along 26th to Tamarack to do the usual morning thing with Rascal. At the east end of Kathy and Jim's property runs a seasonal creek - and it apparently got a lot more than just the rain water last night - the three blocks of Topaz, from 2300 to 2600, had been completely under water. I was wearing my light-weight summer walking shoes this morning, and I'm lucky to have escaped Topaz with both shoes on my feet! There was a very gooey, grasping layer of reddish muck covered by black silt (anywhere from 1/4 inch to 4 inches deep) on top of the road bed for those three blocks - not to mention all the tree branches, bark, leaves, and rocks that had been carried along by the flooding waters. I took care of Rascal and then went to grab Rosie and Remy for their walk. While the creek had flooded, all of the normal streams, where I usually water the dogs, were completely dry... it was totally weird.
The kits were very happy to see me this morning when I got home. Lovey and Nedi greeted me at the door, while Mocha did a little dance and talked to me from the kitchen. I fed them all, loved them all, groomed them all, cleaned the litter boxes and sat down with the PC. The road up into Fourmile Canyon has been closed due to mudslides and debris fields. A few people tried to drive out of the canyon last night; there are photos of vans and small cars trapped in mud up to their windshields on the road. OEM has bulldozers and dump trucks lined up to start clearing the road - but we're expecting more rain each afternoon and evening for the next week. Talk about having to "wait and see..."!!!
After caring for and loving Cloudy and Shady this morning, I walked up Topaz and along 26th to Tamarack to do the usual morning thing with Rascal. At the east end of Kathy and Jim's property runs a seasonal creek - and it apparently got a lot more than just the rain water last night - the three blocks of Topaz, from 2300 to 2600, had been completely under water. I was wearing my light-weight summer walking shoes this morning, and I'm lucky to have escaped Topaz with both shoes on my feet! There was a very gooey, grasping layer of reddish muck covered by black silt (anywhere from 1/4 inch to 4 inches deep) on top of the road bed for those three blocks - not to mention all the tree branches, bark, leaves, and rocks that had been carried along by the flooding waters. I took care of Rascal and then went to grab Rosie and Remy for their walk. While the creek had flooded, all of the normal streams, where I usually water the dogs, were completely dry... it was totally weird.
The kits were very happy to see me this morning when I got home. Lovey and Nedi greeted me at the door, while Mocha did a little dance and talked to me from the kitchen. I fed them all, loved them all, groomed them all, cleaned the litter boxes and sat down with the PC. The road up into Fourmile Canyon has been closed due to mudslides and debris fields. A few people tried to drive out of the canyon last night; there are photos of vans and small cars trapped in mud up to their windshields on the road. OEM has bulldozers and dump trucks lined up to start clearing the road - but we're expecting more rain each afternoon and evening for the next week. Talk about having to "wait and see..."!!!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Miscellaneous
Boulder Creek and the submerged Creek Path at the south end of my apartment complex...
Rosie got an all-new shorter trim at the groomer's yesterday.
Front yard flowers on Poplar Street
Wednesday Drivel
Lynn called me at 11 p.m. last night to say that ,"unless Christine changes her mind," she won't need my services through Sunday as scheduled. So I'll be at Alexy's tonight and tomorrow night, and then at home until the first of August. It will be so nice to sleep in my own bed for more that three nights in a row! - I am still walking the red kids on a daily basis, plus I have Rascal to care for and play with until Saturday evening; not to mention Cloudy and Shady at Alexy's, of course. I have already taken care of Rascal, walked the Rs, and stopped in at Alexy's to greet and love her two kits. I'll be heading back there in a couple of hours. Jim, the maintenance man, is mowing the apartment lawn, so Lovey is sitting beside me, with her tail wrapped around my left arm. Nedi is in the cat tree watching Jim, and Mocha is stretched out asleep on the tile floor.
The rains here in Boulder last night were spotty and not very heavy at all - but to the east of us, the Plains got 2 to 4 inches of rain overnight. I took photos of Boulder Creek this morning at 6 a.m. - the rock I usually sit on to read during extremely hot days is completely submerged. The Creek is flowing at 1100 cubic meters of water per second today, so there's no hope that tubing and swimming in the Creek will be allowed soon. (The flow rate has to be under 700 before the ban will be lifted.)
At the thoroughbred breeders sale in Japan, a yearling filly sold for 360 million yen - or $4.365 million in US currency. ... The owners of Uncle Mo, the Kentucky Derby favorite who did not run, hope that he will return to racing in the fall. He is being readied to return to Todd Pletcher's training stables. ... And I'm ticked off with the local newspaper - 6 weeks ago, a man was attacked by a dog while out walking in the woods. The man had a hunting knife with him, and stabbed the dog repeatedly, causing it to die. The man was bitten on the face, arm and stomach, and ended up with a lot of stitches. The reason I'm ticked off is that 6 weeks after this happened, the local newspaper runs a headline that screams: "Man Attacked by Pit Bull" followed up with "They all need to be killed." Why was this not reported in the paper at once? Why wait 6 weeks and then blaze headlines?The owner of the dog said that the dog had shown aggressive tendencies prior to the attack, but he had still let the dog roam off leash in the National Forest. The owner accepted the responsibility, and held his dog as it bled to death. He stated that since the dog had apparently attacked the victim with no cause, it was right that the dog should die. The victim is now going about stating that every single dog with any Pit Bull blood needs to be destroyed immediately. I can understand how he feels, but that is foolish in the extreme.
- Oh! And all except one of my Sharon Green books has arrived - and, of course, the one that's missing is the next in the series. (Humph!)
The rains here in Boulder last night were spotty and not very heavy at all - but to the east of us, the Plains got 2 to 4 inches of rain overnight. I took photos of Boulder Creek this morning at 6 a.m. - the rock I usually sit on to read during extremely hot days is completely submerged. The Creek is flowing at 1100 cubic meters of water per second today, so there's no hope that tubing and swimming in the Creek will be allowed soon. (The flow rate has to be under 700 before the ban will be lifted.)
At the thoroughbred breeders sale in Japan, a yearling filly sold for 360 million yen - or $4.365 million in US currency. ... The owners of Uncle Mo, the Kentucky Derby favorite who did not run, hope that he will return to racing in the fall. He is being readied to return to Todd Pletcher's training stables. ... And I'm ticked off with the local newspaper - 6 weeks ago, a man was attacked by a dog while out walking in the woods. The man had a hunting knife with him, and stabbed the dog repeatedly, causing it to die. The man was bitten on the face, arm and stomach, and ended up with a lot of stitches. The reason I'm ticked off is that 6 weeks after this happened, the local newspaper runs a headline that screams: "Man Attacked by Pit Bull" followed up with "They all need to be killed." Why was this not reported in the paper at once? Why wait 6 weeks and then blaze headlines?The owner of the dog said that the dog had shown aggressive tendencies prior to the attack, but he had still let the dog roam off leash in the National Forest. The owner accepted the responsibility, and held his dog as it bled to death. He stated that since the dog had apparently attacked the victim with no cause, it was right that the dog should die. The victim is now going about stating that every single dog with any Pit Bull blood needs to be destroyed immediately. I can understand how he feels, but that is foolish in the extreme.
- Oh! And all except one of my Sharon Green books has arrived - and, of course, the one that's missing is the next in the series. (Humph!)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Boulder Creek This Afternoon
This is the view from the public library camera of Boulder Creek downtown - about 13 blocks from my apartment.
Boulder Creek Path Has Flooded ...
Boulder Creek, which runs by the south end of my apartment complex, has leaped its banks. The Creek Path, which runs beside the Creek, and under Folsom Street, is about 6 inches under water at the moment. It's been "closed to the public", meaning they've stretched yellow tape across the walkway. The weather folks have predicted heavy rain showers that move slowly for tonight - and Boulder's Office of Emergency Management has opened - in case we do flood. My apartment is about 200 yards from the creek, toward the north end of the buildings. I'm not too worried... The creek is still within its banks on either side of the underpass....
I have the new James Rollins Sigma book and the new C J Cherryh Foreigner book to peruse. And I have just received the first of 6 Sharon Green's The Blending books that I ordered. At least I won't need to find something new to read next week! Oh, - and the new Catherine Coulter book, Split Second, is due to be released on Tuesday, July 19.
I have the new James Rollins Sigma book and the new C J Cherryh Foreigner book to peruse. And I have just received the first of 6 Sharon Green's The Blending books that I ordered. At least I won't need to find something new to read next week! Oh, - and the new Catherine Coulter book, Split Second, is due to be released on Tuesday, July 19.
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