According to Wikipedia, The hot air balloon is the first successful human-carrying flight technology. The first untethered manned hot air balloon flight was performed by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes on November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, in a balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers. The first hot air balloon flown in … Continue reading Hot Air Balloons
As I’m leaving Woodland Park behind me and driving north on Colorado State Highway 67 early on this August 18 morning, layers of mist hover over the damp meadows that border the road through this high and wide mountain valley. This summer’s monsoon season has been even more generous to neighboring Teller County than to … Continue reading Bedewed is Bejeweled
Unless one is into raising chickens or other poultry, the opportunity to watch a bird develop ab ovo—from the egg—doesn’t come along every day. Up until my encounter with a pair of jelly bean–shaped hummingbird eggs during a hike at our local Cheyenne Mountain State Park on July 4, which I shared with you here, … Continue reading Ab Ovo
Some of you will remember how gobsmacked I was by Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass. When I learned that she had written an earlier book, I ordered Gathering Moss from one of our local independent bookstores, first read it in December, and just finished delving into it for the second time. Gathering Moss is as … Continue reading Gathering Moss
If someone were to rummage through our recyclables, they would notice an inordinate number of empty grape jelly jars during the summer months. Do we have a sweet tooth? Yes. Are we responsible for the consumption of these vast amounts of jelly? No. So who is? It’s actually several members belonging to our avian garden … Continue reading The Taste Of Summer
