April 26, 2017

Snow, buds, and the truth about #SpringtimeInTheRockies

April 26, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

If you've been on social media a bit lately, you've likely come across the hashtag #SpringtimeInTheRockies here or there. If you live someplace other than the Rocky Mountain region, the hashtag may have conjured romantic visions of some sort or another.

For residents of the Rockies, the hashtag reads #ThatCrazyPsychoBullshitOfSpringtimeInTheRockies, the italicized part an unwritten given for those who know what springtime in the Rockies truly entails.

To wit:

I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado — the Rockies. On Saturday we had snow (which I shared on Facebook):

On Monday, there was sunshine and...

April 03, 2017

Psycho spring

April 03, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Mother Nature took advantage of April Fool's Day on Saturday to make much of Colorado think spring's arrival was but a joke and we were still in the depths of winter.

I shared on social media Saturday the wintery outlook from various windows around my place. Here, my Instagram share — three brief videos (click each photo a time or two to start the snow; click the arrows on the sides of each pic to go back and forth through the three):

March 03, 2017

On waterfalls and wildlife

March 03, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

backyard waterfall

One of my favorite features of my backyard is broken. Our waterfall, which Jim — primary caretaker of the falls — likes to keep running through each and every season (despite it freezing for the most part during winter seasons), hasn't been running for several seasons now.

Because it's broken. Has a leak. Somewhere. Somehow.

Jim and I plan to spend much of Saturday figuring out the where and the how — and the what we need to do to fix it.

Taking apart the waterfall and putting it all back together again will surely be a pain in the butt. We don't look forward to it.

We do, though, look forward to once again having water streaming and splashing. We miss the sound, the peace, the tranquility of the special spot just off our patio.

Despite our reluctance to remove and replace liners and rocks and such, the special spot needs to be fixed. Not only to fulfill our...

September 14, 2016

Farewell from the ranch

September 14, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

Jim's oldest sister lives on a ranch outside of Hot Springs, South Dakota. My sister-in-law's property has been the scene of many a family celebration over the past 20-plus years.

Last Saturday it was the spot as many extended family members as could make it gathered to celebrate the life of Granny, beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother to all who were there.

In between taking hundreds of photos of the family, I wandered here and there to shoot a few shots of the spot that holds so many cherished memories.

ranch life

The expansive, history laden...

August 29, 2016

They're back!

August 29, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

For many years and through most seasons, we could count on seeing a small herd of seven or so deer in our neighborhood at various times throughout the day. Mostly in the evenings or when I walked the dogs (now just dog) in the mornings. Up until about three months ago.

We started noticing the absence of the neighborhood deer the beginning of summer and throughout, except for …

August 03, 2016

Grandma takes a break

August 03, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

I like to think I'm superwoman, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound... while juggling 361 duties with ease.

Sometimes life smacks me upside the head and tells me I'm a doofus for thinking such things.

Right now is one of those times, and I have no choice but to cry uncle admit I'm juggling more than I'm capable of at the moment.

One thing I'm juggling is caregiving duties for Jim, who — more than a month after his emergency foot surgery — is still on crutches, still has his PICC line for the mega antibiotics fighting the foot-damaging infection he had. Which means I'm still driving him to and from work, to and from doctor appointments, still administering his IV medication each evening, still handling absolutely everything around the house because he can't put any weight on his right foot if we want it to heal correctly. (Which we truly do want, despite the hassle.)

And now, as fate would have it, the "around the house" stuff I face includes something neither of us has ever had to do, thanks to the July 28 hailstorm from hell that hit our part of town. It spared our windows and roof, for the most part, but demolished every living thing in my yard, leaving pine needles and more everywhere.

hailstorm