Sunday, March 20, 2022

A Snowy Springtime In Colorado


Happy Spring!  Springtime in Colorado means we get our best snowfall. March and April are traditionally our snowiest months. Since moving here in 2013 I've even seen some snowfall in early June.  These photos of myself as a child growing up in Brooklyn, New York, prove that I've always loved winter and snow. I would be out playing in it for hours, sledding, building snowmen, building snow forts. I know I'd miss snow if I lived in a warm climate, so living in Colorado suits me well. This winter we have had some snowfall almost every week since late December, and hopefully, the snowpack has been enough to counteract the severe drought we experienced in the summer and fall of 2021. Many rivers depend on Colorado snowpack melt. The Colorado River supplies 40 million people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming as well as a $5 billion-a-year agricultural industry. So, as they say: "Let It Snow!"


Photo albums of a vacation we took in Ireland


Recently, my husband and I have had an ongoing project of scanning all our family photographs up into personal cloud storage. It had been on our mind to do this when we moved to Colorado from New York and had to go through many photo albums and boxes of family photos to pack them for our move.  After we settled in, and a few years had passed, the photo albums and boxes sadly remained hidden away in drawers and cabinets and we procrastinated on the project. The devastating Marshall Wildfire that took place in December 2021 reminded us that we must finally make an effort to preserve these memories. We would not be able to pack all these photos into our car if we had to evacuate our home in an emergency and we knew we would be sad to lose all the memories our photos evoked. So now album by album we are scanning them all. It feels good to finally get it done!





A photo of our area last week. 

More snow is predicted this week!




The nice thing about spring snow is that the weather soon warms up and the snow melts quickly. In fact, last week we actually saw the snow evaporating like fog up into clouds above our area after the sun began to shine. It looked like heaven! The streets were steaming with water vapor and everything glistened.  Photos just can't cover the beauty of it all!



A deer smiling for her photo.




The deer curled herself up like this in the snow to take a nap. I was impressed that she was able to twist her neck back so far.  She slept for about a half-hour and then moved on to nibble more of my shrubs.



We celebrated St Joseph's Feast Day On March 19th, which is Father's Day in Italy, and we always purchase sweet zeppole pastries. We were happy to find a small Italian bakery in Wheat Ridge called Dolce Sicilia. So good!
For Saint Patrick's Day, March 17th, I make my favorite Irish soda bread for my family, along with the traditional corn beef dinner. The photo on the lower left is St Patrick's grave in Downpatrick Catherdral Cemetery in Northern Ireland. 



"Surely as cometh the Winter, I know 
There are Spring violets under the snow." 
~ R.H. Newell


So this is early springtime in Colorado! 


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40 comments:

Angie said...

Pat - I love the pictures of you from your childhood. Back in those days, I think kids were expected to be outside and not under Mom's feet! Congrats on getting your pictures digitized. That is a huge project and one I am sure you feel relieved to have completed. So glad Colorado is receiving more snow - a blessing in so many ways! Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday, and enjoy the week ahead!

diane b said...

The snow sure makes beautiful photos. Well done getting all your photos scanned. I am still ploughing through mine. I print them into photo books as well. It is still nice to look at them in book form and they are smaller than photo albums. WE are so different in our preferred temperatures but that's what makes people interesting,their differences.

EricaSta said...

Thank you for sharing this wonderful old captures , I enjoyed reading.
Happy MosaicMonday

NatureFootstep said...

loved to see the deer. Our snow is almost gone :)

eileeninmd said...

Hello Pat,
Spring in Colorado looks beautiful, but cold. The pastries and Irish Soda bread look yummy. The deer looks so sweet, I hope your shrubs survive.
Beautiful views and photos. Happy Spring! Take care, have a happy new week!

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

The snow is beautiful! I have to admit, I did love snow as a child growing up in Michigan. But now I am happy to see it in your photos!

Tom said...

...I love the beauty of snow, but I'm now ready to enjoy spring's beauty.

Ruth Hiebert said...

You as well as I are thankful for the snow. We too, were in an extreme drought last year, so I'm hoping the snow will make a difference in that. Your pictures are just lovely. I also know the importance of storing all photos online and make sure that all of mine are stored in that way.

Carol @Comfort Spring Station said...

beautiful photos of the snow but I want green for spring!

Barbara Rogers said...

Loved your kid snow play photos! The deer is sweet, if sleepy in much a wrong place! But when I clicked the link on your soda bread recipe, over on the page about your bread, it didn't work. I am unlikely to actually make it, but it sure did look good! Italian pastries always look delicious!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Hi Barbara
I checked the soda bread link and it worked for me. It's an older post on my blog and a really easy and tasty bread to make any time of the year. The recipe makes one loaf at a time so I t triple it to make 3 to give one each to my children.

Dixie @ Arranged Words said...

Beautiful snow photos. A wonderful for sure.
Sweet photos of you as a child playing in the snow.

Little Wandering Wren said...

That's a decent amount of snow you had to play with there as a child. No wonder you looked happy, as does that deer after chomping through your shrubs! Good job it's a little chilly outside to encourage you to scan your pics that's a massive job congratulations!
Wren x

Rambling Woods said...

I love all the snowy photos.....Michelle

Lydia C. Lee said...

Very chilly - love the deer #BlueMonday

stevebethere said...

What a fab mix of photos always loved the snow we used to get loads in London when I was a kid it's rarely seen these days sadly I liked the food too yum!

Have a snowflaketastic week 👍

Linda said...

I love your snow! I used to love skiing in Colorado in the spring! I would like to ski again sometime soon - before I get much older! But most likely in the winter. The thing about spring skiing i that it warms up during the day and then the slushy snow freezes overnight. I do not like to ski on ice.

ALL your pictures are awesome! I especially like the ones of YOU!!

Klara said...

lovely photos from your childhood, that's exactly how we enjoyed snow and winter.

NCSue said...

I'm no big fan of winter weather, but these photos make me reconsider - so beautiful.
Thank you for sharing at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2022/03/cat-traps-variety.html

William Kendall said...

That deer is a beauty.

Handmade in Israel said...

Beautiful snow photos - both new and old! The smiling deer is simply gorgeous. Well done for scanning all your photos. It is a monstrous task but I am sure you'll be glad you did it.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Those photos of you when you were little sure are precious! I love looking at old photos and it's a good project to get them stored for our kids and grandkids to enjoy. Love your snowy pics. I've been enjoying the Vail webcam and seeing it snow this week! Enjoy your day!

Lydia C. Lee said...

See earlier comment and thanks for joining in #Allseasons

ellen b. said...

Oh boy...you are the second blog I'm visiting in the last 5 minutes who mentions a good bakery. I don't know the last time I've been to a good bakery. Love love love those early snow photos of you! So cute!

isabella kramer - veredit said...

I love everything about your gorgeous post! Gives me back sweet memories of my own childhood.

Jeanie said...

I love this post so very much, Pat. The childhood photos, the deer, the snow, even a bakery! (Zeppoli are so delish!). Like you, I am in the process of going through all the photo albums and digitizing the photos; passing many on to the people in them, discarding the bad ones (why did I save them, anyway?) and keeping them safe. Your fire reminded me of that; so did the Ukraine situation, though I don't expect that kind of thing here. But fires, other situations, yes. It's a huge project. I wish you well on it. (I go in fits and spurts!)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Your current snowy landscapes are so beautiful and I loved seeing your happy childhood collage; you are definitely in the right place for a snow-lover. (My "Colorado kids" feel the same.) Your celebration food makes my mouth water!

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

Some great snow scenes here! I, however, prefer to bask in the desert heat. :)

Janice said...

Lovely photos of springtime in Colorado. My personal favorite are the ones of you as a child!

Yvonne said...

I remember all that snow and blizzards while living in Colorado Springs. I never thought of looking for an Italian bakery in Denver, but we did find a fabulous Russian restaurant in Denver that was out of this world on one of our visits. I miss all that wonderful German food in Colorado Springs. I loved all the snow, but not shoveling it off the driveway and driving to work in it. I do miss it at times, here in middle Tennessee, but look forward to the lesser snowfalls we do get here. Beautiful photos.

Michelle said...

I like seeing you as a child, enjoying the snow. I grew up in North Dakota and have similar photos. Not sure if I would like all the snow you receive in Colorado at this stage in my life! I admire your project of scanning your photos. A wonderful thing to do for preservation. Thanks for linking up!

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

I love that you love the snow and loved it your whole life. I loved it when I was a kid and now that I am retired I don't mind it too much.

Smart to scan your photos and put them in the cloud. I have all my digital photos in the cloud and sporadically work on the old film photos and negatives. I have a scanner that works fairly quickly that helps.

Esha said...

Such lovely snow photos from your childhood, Pat! I'm glad you're scanning the photos for storing them on the cloud. Good reminder for me to do mine too...have a huge collection waiting to be scanned.
Your recent snow photos look absolutely magical. The deer shot is so beautiful.

Einari Sinappi said...

I live in Finland and I don´t like winter. At all. Great to see it going away. For you as well. :)

Jim said...

Great post.

Keith's Ramblings said...

What a lovely set of photos. The pictures of the deer are absolutely charming! There's something very photogenic about snow. It's been years since we've had some here and I miss it!

My photos!

Spare Parts and Pics said...

I'm really pleased that your area is getting lots of snow this year. You are so right about the importance of the snowmelt. The photos of you as a child made me smile!

Karen (Back Road Journal) said...

When we lived in New Hampshire we could get snow in March but we didn't get much snow in April. I was always happy that each spring snowfall melted quickly as it was time for pruning apple trees. Enjoy your beautiful snow while it lasts.

Photo Cache said...

A lovely collection of photographs.

Worth a Thousand Words

eileeninmd said...

Hello Pat, your Snowy scenes are beautiful. I hope you had enough snow this past winter to help with the drought. The photos of you playing in the snow bring back memories of my childhood. I actually liked being outside in the cold snow. Cute shots of your deer, they seem very tame and happy in your yard. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, enjoy your weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.