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Aspen’s Covert Cotton and Other Subversive Traits

 in Colorado / travel / Wildlife/animals  tagged Aspen trees / cotton / cottonwoods / deer / elk / Grand Mesa National Forest / oldest organism / photosynthesis by

Cottonwoods are notorious for spewing cotton each spring, but the trails my husband and I followed on Colorado’s Grand Mesa were far from cottonwood country. So why was cotton everywhere? We were surrounded by aspens and spruce, and as far as we knew, neither produced cotton. Spruce trees launch their seeds in cones. Why would they make cotton? Suspicious. I scrutinized grove after grove and finally spotted fluffy tufts wafting off an aspen treetop. I’m a fifth-generation Colorado native who’s spent considerable time in the mountains. I’ve also watched three aspen clusters in our yard for over 35 years, so […]

spider

Can Spiders Fly?

 in travel / Wildlife/animals  tagged Charles Darwin / flying spiders / granddaughter / Oregon / spider research / travel by

At a scenic overlook in northeastern Oregon, an iridescent green spider caught my eye. Our granddaughter Mysa has a fascination for spiders, so I got my camera out. Then I noticed that the spider was struggling. One of its legs seemed to be stuck to our truck door. It twisted one way and then another, fighting a stiff breeze along with being stuck. I helpfully took a video. Glancing around to see if my husband was ready to go, I turned back to the truck and saw the spider glide by using a long strand of web as a magic […]

Eternal Truths from Pompeii

 in Greece / nicknames / travel  tagged ancients / archeology / death / Pompeii / symbols / travel / truths / Volcano by

After Grandmother read me the story of Pompeii, I sniffled over those tortured deaths by volcanic ash. Then I realized that Grandmother would die someday, and sobbed. I never dreamed that Pompeii held yet more shocking truths for me. I first toured Pompeii in 1973, and being a teen, my only clear memory is of a painting kept locked behind a grate to shield the innocence of children. In the painting, a man weighs his mega-member against a heap of gold on a balance scale. Interpretation: a man’s organ is more valuable than wealth. Fifty years later, Pompeii’s 66 acres […]

Glorious Grecian Gluten

 in Gratitude / Greece / travel / Travel tips  tagged Athens / baklava / European gluten / European river cruise / gluten free / Greece / Italy / rash / Santorini / tour guide / travel by

I wanted to scratch my skin off to make the itching stop. Even prescription meds couldn’t calm my rash. When I finally got in to see the dermatologist, she could offer only a list of possible allergens. Eliminating the allergens did nothing to help. After years of suffering, a friend suggested that I go gluten free. I bit the bullet and found blessed relief. Before I learned how to avoid the pitfalls, I learned that taking chances wasn’t worth the indulgence. The rash from even a small serving of glutenous food can bring a month of misery. So, when a […]

Athenian Subway Tour

 in Gratitude / Greece / travel  tagged Athena / Athens / avoiding pickpockets / GoAhead Tours / pickpockets / subway / travel by

Tour director Rachel recruited my husband Steve to help haul excess luggage across Athens, then treated him to a Metro ride back. She knew that taking the Metro was dicey. During the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, Greece had no resources to prevent illegal immigrants from flooding in, so Athens was overrun with desperate people, some of whom still struggle to survive. Many have turned to picking pockets, and the subway is an ideal locale for getting hands-on. After having Rachel point out a few likely candidates, Steve noticed that though pickpockets dress like tourists, they reek of body […]

Loose-Leash Encounters

 in camping / travel / Wildlife/animals  tagged baby fawn / bears / dog leash / hiking / moose / Sawtooth Mountains by

    High in the Sawtooth Mountains, my Molly mutt charged into a small valley. Through the trees, I glimpsed the creature she’d spotted. It was a little bigger than Molly, dark, and slow. Bear cub? The glance I’d gotten had left a calf shaped impression, but rough-cut, like a Gumby character. Bear or bovine, that critter’s mama was not going to stand for this. I shouted with little hope. I knew that Molly was too excited to hear me, and that my lumbering pace would make me a fine target for that mama’s wrath. This sort of situation is […]

A Memorial for Lily Marie Payton Womack

 in ancestors / Colorado / Gratitude  tagged Colorado General Hospital / Delta Colorado / Fruitvale Highline Canal / Grand Junction Colorado / Great Depression / Lily Payton Womack / memorial / Mont Ida Kansas / National Youth Administration / No Market for 'Em / obituary / Redlands Colorado / Rifle Colorado / San Jose California / Wendy the Welder / World War II tinner by

      My Aunt Lily was wonderfully friendly and fun. She lived in San Jose, California, so even though we Coloradans didn’t see much of her, I felt like I knew her well. When our daughters attended West Coast colleges, I sent them to meet Aunt Lily, and they agreed that Lily was a “cool aunt.” I will always appreciate Lily’s kindness to me and my girls, as well as her help with the book No Market for ‘Em which is excerpted below. Lily’s wholehearted enthusiasm over my first book also encouraged me to follow through on the next. […]

Are Turkey Tails Truly Colorful?

 in Colorado / Wildlife/animals by

Sometimes my family hangs around with a bunch of turkeys. I was lucky enough to get a nice shot of them, or at least one with a background I love. It seems strange to me that these gobblers are black. As a kid I learned turkey anatomy by way of art projects featuring a tail of brightly colored feathers. I’ve never seen a turkey with a tail like that, but then I’ve seen few turkeys–none of them very close. I only started siting the big birds around our family’s western Colorado ranch in the last couple decades, probably because turkeys […]

Freaky Finds of a Litter Picker

 in Colorado / Inspiration  tagged bullet hole / Litter picking / Parachute / strange finds by

I often applaud people who post photos of the litter they’ve gathered while walking. I’ve never taken pics of my hauls, until last week when I came across a head. What mystery writer could pass up a decapitated cranium?Today, I asked my walking friend to take some shots of another favorite find. It was hanging on a road sign along a country road near Parachute, Colorado, and I didn’t want to make off with it before the owner had a chance to reclaim it, so I watched it for a couple days. My plan was to wash it and donate […]