June

Wow, it's the 12th of June already and we are still getting frost in the morning, first time if five years I can recall frost in the morning when I leave for work.

Been getting a lot of rain lately, which is good after many years of drought, everything is nice and green, and we finally have leaves on the aspen. We are still getting snow on the peak and last weekend a friend of mine went on a motorcycle run with the local VFW to the top of Mt. Evans, it was 29 degrees and snowy at the top (14,240 ft).

Been seeing elk, mulies, lots of foxes (which drives the dog nuts), and saw my first Rocky Mountain Bluebird the other day, and I swear, the Magpies are the size of chickens!

Where's Spring

Well it's almost here, the middle of May. The elk are seen both morning and night along with a few mulies here and there. Oddly enough, we don't have leaves yet, the aspen are just beginning to bud. Things are beginning to green up, cows are with calves, and while still somewhat cold at night, the days are beginning to be somewhat pleasant.

Nice, albiet somewhat strange day today... warmer up here in the mountains than it was down on the plains when I left work. Hit 70 before the overcast moved in, although we are not supposed to get any rain. I suppose I'll have to clean up around the property now that most of the snow is gone, well mostly gone except down by the barn where it slides off the roof forming great heaps. It's amazing what seems to blow in over the winter, littering the ground before the vegetation takes off. Time to clean up the property and clean off the deck in time for Memorial Day.

March in the Mountains

This past week has been quite interesting, temperatures in the 70's down in the city, upper 50's at altitude, been able to drive home with the top down three days in a row, the envy of all my east coast friends. Now the weather hasn't been perfect mind you, those warm temperatures came with 50-70 mph winds, a little fire up here in the mountains and a big fire down on the Army post.

Today was a little cooler and this evening it snowed, so I guess that quite possibly we are back to looking forward to spring sometime in May... and the news today announced that the front range (where the mountains meet the plains for those of you unfamiliar with our terrain), is in a 'moderate-drought', not something to look forward to after years of severe drought. It's been an odd year with very little snow, although the western slope and ski resorts are doing fine. I can actually see most of my driveway right now... the earliest that has occurred in six winters now. Even the lake is starting to melt off around the edges.

Cheers!

~Finntann~

Colorado in January

Yesterday was one of the things I love about Colorado. January 20th, the middle of winter, and it was seventy degrees. Well it was seventy degrees down in the flatlands when I got off work. Put the top down, kicked back, and enjoyed the cruise home. At about 8600 feet it cooled down enough to roll the windows up to cut down on the wind, but it was still comfortable when I got home. Driving on snow with the top down in January, only in Colorado!

The Wolf Moon

Well last night was the largest full moon of the year, the Wolf Moon. Well we haven't seen any wolves in awhile, but it was quite spectacular anyway. We haven't had much snow this year, but we still have enough to cover the ground, and it was almost bright enough to read by. When I lived in the city the moon was pretty much sidelined by all the lights, it was never really all that dark anyway. Here, dark is dark, on a moonless night you can barely see your hand in front of your face if all the lights are off, the moon then becomes much more of a presence.

The light becomes pervasive... it's bright outside and it's bright enough inside to see your way around. With the snow, the moon gives off a cool blue glow that seems to come in all the windows equally. Tonight, it's not quite as bright as high clouds are streaming in... the forecast is for snow tomorrow.

A Turf Fire

Having a long Irish genealogy, I have a great deal if interest in Irish history, music, culture, and the like. That being said, I received a rather unique Christmas present this year, a large box of peat bricks, also known as turf.

According to my research, the first written records of peat being used as a fuel dates back to 7th century Ireland, although the first usage undoubtedly predates that by quite a bit. For use as a fuel peat is cut from the bog, generally in spring, stacked, and allowed to dry over the summer. The peat I received was manufactured by Bord na Mona (http://www.bnm.ie/fuels/index.jsp?&pID=306&nID=310) and came from www.irishpeat.com .

Having experimented last night with a few bricks of peat, and several newspapers (I'm not kidding) to get it lit... I started out with a wood fire today and once we had a good bed of coals, stacked the peat in a 2 by 2 by 2 pile, alternating the bricks 90 degrees. Even sitting over a bed of glowing red coals it took quite awhile to get going, perhaps an hour to an hour and a half before we had a bit flame.

It seems to burn cooler than wood, at least that's what I'm guessing as the flame is not bright and the burning peat glows a dark cherry red, but throws quite a bit of heat and a lot more evenly than wood. Overall I'd have to say it's a better fuel than wood, requiring less fuss, once it's going you can pretty much ignore it, and my little pile burned for about eight hours.

The aroma of burning peat is considered to be quite a distinct and unforgettable scent. The smoke is not as acrid as wood smoke, and the smell is faintly sour with nutty overtones (Geez, sounds like I'm describing a wine). It is the scent of Irish cottages and pubs, and not at all unpleasant. The scent was somewhat familiar, so I am guessing that I've smelled it before, my best guess was that I probably was around a peat fire in the Cotswold's, although unaware of it at the time.

As a fuel, it is a low-sulphur, low-smoke fuel and in Ireland, can be burned in places that wood and coal can not. While not a true cut of turf, the Bord na Mona peat has been processed and ground and remanufactured into briquettes, it at least gives a good impression of what a true turf fire is like. I can't imagine trying to start a true brick of turf, as difficult as these were to get going they are supposed to be easier to light than pure turf.

All in all an interesting memory with which to start this new year, just wish I had a draught Guinness to go with it.

Slainte

~Finntann~

You know you're from Colorado if:

North is mountains on the left, South is mountains on the right, and East and West are where all those damn liberals come from.

You can make it over a 12,000 foot pass in four feet of snow, but can't make it into work in four inches.

You hang a $5000 mountain bike on the back of your $500 car.

When you wake up and it's eighty degrees, you wonder if it will snow.

Explosive decompression of the aircraft cabin doesn't faze you in the least.

You don't know the population of towns, but you damn well know their elevations.

You get seriously annoyed when people freak out just because there is a twenty-foot statue of a man on a horse in the middle of the intersection.

You think that the two parties of our two-party system are Republican and Californian.

People from other states breathe five times as often as you do.

You know what the PRB is (People's Republic of Boulder)

Potato chips are always crunchy, they might get moldy, but they are always crunchy.

Your idea of formal wear is ironed denim.

When people out east say they have mountains, you laugh.

Not only have you urinated on the continental divide so it can run into both oceans, but you get a certain feeling of satisfaction knowing that both California and Texas are downstream.

When visiting friends back east you can run up ten flights of stairs without getting winded.

Whenever you get lost, you stop and look for the mountains.

You've run both your furnace and air conditioner in the same day.

You know what upslope and downslope mean.

You think red means three more cars.

When people say, oh look an airplane, you instinctively look down.

If applied to buildings, FAA regulations would require that your house be pressurized.

You've driven at altitudes that would require oxygen if you were operating a plane.

Driving directions normally include the word "Pass".