Sunday, June 21, 2026

I've Looked At Clouds From Both Sides Now


 We enjoyed a nice Father's Day barbecue celebration at our home this past Saturday. We celebrated a day early because the weather forecast for Sunday predicted rain, but I should have known better, because it turned out to be a beautiful day on Sunday. 

In typical Colorado fashion, the weather was unpredictable!
It made me scroll through the sky photos in my collection since moving to Colorado thirteen years ago...


The Spring and Summer seasons often bring the most amazing cloud formations!

These towering, high, full clouds are called Cumulonimbus Clouds, and when I see them, this is what I think of...


...hail!

The first year we moved to Colorado, we experienced our first large summer hail storm. At first, we thought it was fun, as we had never seen such large hailstones. The streets and lawns looked like they were covered with snow in August. My husband joked that he never thought he'd need to shovel in summer. Fortunately, I thought to go down into our basement and was shocked to see a waterfall of melting hail come pouring in through our window wells. I used almost every towel I owned to mop up that water as it seeped through. 

Similar to hail is Grapel -- a new word we learned that first winter. Graupel is precipitation that forms when supercooled droplets of water freeze on a falling snowflake. It looks and feels like large drops of slushy ice falling from the sky!


More often than thunderstorms and hail, however, we are more likely to see Virga in Colorado.

A virga, also called a dry storm, is an observable streak or shaft of precipitation that evaporates or sublimates before reaching the ground. It is a new phenomenon to us, and another new weather word we learned. 


Of course, we do get our share of thunderstorms. This one was approaching the city of Denver a few summers ago. 


In years such as this one, when the West had unusually dry weather with very low snow and rain levels, we worry about lightning strikes causing wildfires, but rain is seen as a blessing for our high desert climate...


...and rainbows are always a welcome sight to see!

Speaking of rainbows, we learned another new weather word when we moved to Colorado...



Iridescent clouds are a diffraction phenomenon caused by small water droplets or small ice crystals individually scattering light. We usually see this in the winter months.

On our trips to the mountains, one of the most beautiful sights is watching clouds being formed.





A beautiful assortment of different cloud formations in my neighborhood.



An angel cloud in the sky?


Sunrises and sunsets are reminders that, regardless of the weather, each new day is a blessing.   

Happy Summer to all!
 
Please tell me what new weather words you have learned where you live.

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Sunday, June 14, 2026

Twin Deer Fawns Were Born in My Yard Last Week!



The adorable twin mule deer fawns seen in this photo in my backyard were born last week on June 8th, 2026!


Google made this collage a bit out of sequence order...

My husband and I had gone out for breakfast to celebrate our June birthdays, and when we arrived home, we looked out the window to see if there were any deer in our yard, as we wanted to do some gardening. We saw a Mule Deer doe lying in the shade under a pine tree in our side yard. It was a hot day with temperatures reaching 90 degrees. When we saw two hoves, we realized she was in labor and about to give birth!
 
The gestation period for a Mule Deer's pregnancy is around 200 days, and many in our neighborhood were also seeing fawns being born. This was the second time we witnessed fawns being born in our backyard in the thirteen years we have lived here--see the first time in this blog post. 



Female deer that are giving birth for the first time, often called yearlings, typically have only a single fawn. Mature does, however, frequently produce twins. I could see this deer was still in labor with the second twin when a curious buck showed up in our yard! If you look closely, you can see that his new antlers were beginning to grow in.


A doe licks the newborn fawn and eats every part of the products of birth to remove their scent and protect the fawn from predators. The buck came close to see what she was doing, and she had to get up and chase him away three times before he left for good!


It was nice to watch how caring the Momma doe was to her fawn.



A short YouTube video of the first fawn twin taking its first steps on wobbly legs.



The doe retreated under the pine tree again to give birth to the second fawn.


It began to thunder, and we had a brief rain shower, so she stayed under the tree during the storm.


When the sun returned, the firstborn twin curled up to take a nap...


...while the doe cleaned the second-born twin and bonded with it.



Momma Doe also looked ready to take a nap! 

They all remained in our backyard until the next morning, when they left. 
Important: a doe will leave her fawns for long periods of time to protect them from predators, as fawns' fur does not have a discernible scent. She will return for short periods to allow them to feed. If you ever come across a fawn that is alone when hiking, leave it be!


It was the end of a beautiful day!

I know these fawns will be back in my yard from time to time this summer, and it will be fun watching them grow!


 



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