Springtime

Not much actually going on so here's some non-serious stuff.

A couple weeks back I remarked on a foot bridge being installed apparently leading into some fellow's back yard. Now it seems the curb and gutter was in the wrong place, and his back yard is being shortened.

Until we see water in the canal again, the footpath through the gulch and along the edge of the new chasm is how you cross the canal. More cement is anticipated on the far side at some point, maybe even a sidewalk.

Highline canal is lined with cottonwood trees, most of which are nearing the end of their usual life span of 110 years. Some have been decorated:

Loose pieces of bark aren't hard to find. Sometimes you get lucky and find unexpected stuff growing along the canal. Allium is not native AFAIK, but it's moving in.

Not much to see yet, but that dead puff ball on the upper left is from last year. When they bloom, that is a big blue ball, quite striking. Assuming that the canal maintenance folks don't just mow it down with the weeds.

In other news, I saw the hand doctors today who removed the cast on my wrist, took X-rays, assured me that everything was healing nicely, and then replaced the cast and told me to come back in 3 weeks. Geez, it might have been quicker to use stem cells to simply grow a new one. Under advances in Medical Technology, the old cast was black, but the new one is lime green. Hulk Smash! Still a damn nuisance.

A local Meetup group, Pedals and Pints, has a bike ride planned for the coming weekend. Great ride, 2 of them starting at Great Divide Barrel Bar and visiting 4 other craft breweries and a coffee house over the course of about 27 total miles. Allowing 30 minutes and a 4 oz sampler at each stop, this should be a fun and easy ride. Except for the weather. It's springtime in the Rockies and in the last 4 days, Weather Underground has gone from 4-8" to 1-3" and back to 5-8" of snow. If the weather and the rest of my schedule cooperates the P&P thing is a great way to waste a Saturday. I checked. There are about 65 craft breweries within bicycle range of my house. 'Tis a privilege to live in Colorado, as the local fishwrap used to proclaim.