June Gloomier

If you have been at LWON for a while, you might have noticed that I post this one every year–because somehow, once again, it is June. And once again, it is gloomy. But things have been extra-cloudy this year, and people who don’t live in California have noticed! I mean, the Washington Post was even […]

Spring rain

First snowmelt, and a month of dry, but the rain finally comes, and everything is flowers, for a time.

Penspective: Looking up

This post ran a few springs ago, in appreciation and imitation of Craig’s ‘penspective’ series, but with less effective photography. Spring seems like a wonderful time for cloud-spotting here. Last week, there was an amazing lenticular cloud in the shape of a cigar. I didn’t have my pen with me, but I can still remember […]

OH NO!! Dust On Snow!

I live in Western Colorado, where we’ve had an absolutely EPIC winter. At the Skyway cross-country ski trailhead on the Grand Mesa, we’ve measured more than 450 inches of snow this winter, compared to our seasonal average of about 290 inches. Our 10 foot high snow measuring stake was buried this winter — that’s how […]

Baltimore in August

I have nothing good to say about Baltimore in August. Ok, the farmers’ market is moving into high season, peaches & tomatoes, also okra — that’s good. Digression: I spent childhood on a small farm in the midwest making internal proclamations and declarations about freezing beans and canning applesauce in a hot kitchen, like, if […]

Why I’m Smiling in a Megadrought

We had a doozy of a snowfall last week in southwest Colorado, the high desert blanketed a foot and a half deep, the mountains getting a good four feet. Knock on wood, I don’t like to tempt the fates of nature and climate change, and I’m not meaning to brag, I just want to celebrate […]