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Name the wildflower
I’ve been seeing these in the Northern Colorado foothills for a few weeks. They tend to appear in thick stands, usually not too far from water. Thanks again to Al Schneider from www.swcoloradowildflowers.com for the help identifiying this one, though I don’t think there’s an example on his site yet. He said it’s minty –…
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Book: The Five People You Meet In Heaven / Mitch Albom
The first book I’ve read in a while that fizzled for me – at least it’s short. This is a little fairy tale along the lines of A Christmas Carol, where people from the character’s life show it to him from different angles. Seemed to me like it’s been done already.
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Bouldering at Elkhorn Creek
I like this spot near Red Feather Lakes. It has solid, sharp, Vedauwoo-style granite boulders and formations in a more expansive feeling foothills setting. We did some fun problems, most too hard for us, but still quite enjoyable along with a night outdoors. We saw only one other climber, who told us there are trad…
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Movie: Raising Arizona (1987)
Very interesting to watch this Coen brothers’ movie again after seeing many others over the years. It’s absolutely chock full of stuff that I didn’t recognize the first time around, much of which I recognize from movies they made later. There are even direct references to subsequent Coen movies! The slapstick comedy takes place in…
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Name the wild berry
I guessed that these scrumptious-looking berries were probably edible, because when I broke one open the small round seed looked just like the ones in a big pile of bear scat we saw near Greyrock a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t try them, of course. There are a lot of berries in the upper…
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Book: When Nietzsche Wept / Irvin D. Yalom
A bold, inspiring piece of historical fiction. Having the guts to portray the likes of Friedrich Nietzsche, Josef Breuer, and Sigmund Freud is impressive enough, telling a story of the origins of psychoanalysis ups the ante again, and it just keeps going. Not only has Yalom pulled it off, his premise and subtext ring bright…
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Shambhala Mountain Center
We were curious about this Tibetan Buddhist center, and made the hike to the Great Stupa shrine. It’s a strange place, with a few really attractive buildings, this grandiose shrine, some construction trailers, and hordes of white and green canvas tents. We were going to leave with the impression that it’s something between a retreat…
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Bouldering at the 420s
A leisurely day with some leisurely bouldering in the Poudre Canyon. Ann and I both make our fingers pink and raw, arms exhausted. There are wild berries everywhere here, and I wonder if we’ll see more bear sign, but none appears. During the night, however, there is a loud huffing outside our tent that sends…
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Finding a camp site in the Poudre Canyon on Friday night
I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but after we passed our climbing destination for the following day we drove through every campground on the map, all full. Then Ann remembered, “Hey, I used to find a free spot to camp every night last summer.” She pulled out our map book and found some nearby forest…
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Radio Show Taping: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
I’d never attended the taping of a media show, radio, tv, or any other type. I was a little worried that the truth would ruin the illusion of a live quiz show. Would there be a big flashing APPLAUSE light?