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Sunday, September 6, 2026

25th Anniversary of 9-11 in New York City


 This is how I'll always remember the Twin Towers in New York City. 

This photo hangs in the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

 When I saw this photo on a visit to this very emotionally touching museum, I had an immediate flashback to the last time I saw the towers in August of 2001, when I waited to meet my husband, who worked in 7 World Trade Center, located across the street from WTC Tower 1. I sat in the WTC promenade by the fountain, and I remember watching a window-washing crew at work up high on Tower 2. 

We had traveled all around Italy with our college-age children that past May, and I remember thinking how we traveled so far to see so much beauty in Italy, but then sometimes take for granted the marvels we see almost every day here at home in the USA.




The unidentified remains found in the rubble after the terrorist attack are located behind this wall inside the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. The New York City Medical Examiner's Office is still identifying remains as tests become more sophisticated.



This photo is of our children when they were young, standing inside the glass tunnel entrance to 7 World Trade Center from the WTC Promenade. My husband worked in that building from 1987 to 2001. WTC 7 collapsed at 5:20:52 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, after enduring fires for almost seven hours, from the time of the collapse of the north WTC tower.

We were all fortunate that day, as my husband was home preparing to leave for a business golf outing. Our daughter was home as she was attending NYU and did not live in the dorm that year, but drove to the college from our home in Brooklyn. Our son, who had graduated from college in Washington, D.C. that spring, stayed to work there at the time and lived a few blocks north of the White House. He was preparing to go to work when he heard the news that the WTC towers and the Pentagon were hit.


Part of the memorial for the 343 firefighters killed on 9/11 at the Ten House Firehouse, located on Liberty Street. My older brother was an FDNY lieutenant for almost 30 years and had retired a few years before 9/11. He knew many of the firemen who perished that day. 

I have written many blog posts about 9/11, as you can see by the tab on my blog's sidebar under "Labels." Some of them show the many memorials to the memory of 9/11 that we have seen all around the country. The latest one we saw was as part of the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab we visited with friends last summer in Denver, Colorado. You can read about the purpose of this museum on their FAQ page.

They had a steel beam from the WTC on display as part of an exhibit.


When we moved from NYC to Colorado in 2013, we learned the pilot, Jason Dahl, from the third hijacked airplane on 9/11,  Flight 93, had lived in our neighborhood. 

His flight was the plane that the brave passengers brought down in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to prevent further destruction in Washington DC.



This memorial was dedicated to his memory in the area where his home was located. 

In 2002, the Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund was established to provide two deserving aviation students a scholarship grant in Jason’s name.

Our neighborhood all gathered on the 20th anniversary to remember and honor Captain Dahl, and we plan to do the same for this 25th Anniversary.

“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn
that life is short and there is no time for hate.”
~ Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl


The 9/11 Memorial and Museum has a special 25th Anniversary Remembrance and Service page.

Is there a 9-11 Memorial where you live? I'd love to learn about it in your comments below.

To all our friends, neighbors, and work associates that we lost on 9-11...

We will never forget!


It is up to all of us to make the world a better place.
 Let us spread kindness and defeat hate!

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Sunday, August 30, 2026

It's Been a Bear Filled Summer!


 Colorado is home to black bears. Black bears are the largest carnivores in Colorado and sport a variety of coat colors; although they are called black bears, they can be honey-colored, blond, brown, cinnamon, or black.
Adult males weigh around 275 pounds. Females weigh about 175 pounds. Depending on the season, food supply, and gender, black bears may weigh anywhere from 100 to 450 pounds. Black bears measure about 3 feet high when on all four feet. They can be 5 feet tall when standing on their back legs.
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In late summer and fall, black bears enter hyperphagia, a natural phase when they can spend up to 20 hours a day searching for food as they build the fat reserves needed to survive the winter hibernation.

All the photos in the photo collage above are photos neighbors in my community have taken of bears in their yards this summer and shared on our community Facebook page!
 Sadly, because of the persistent drought and early spring bloom followed by a severe frost and multiple wildfires, much of the normal food--chokecherry and serviceberry berries, nuts, and insects--that the bears would normally find in the wild has been scarce this summer.


Part of our Colorado Front Range community development is nestled in a high-altitude valley (5,735 feet to 6,503 feet) abutting the foothills, where Colorado wildlife roams free. We are used to seeing many deer in our area and occasional mountain lions, raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, moose, and bears.


I lived most of my life in New York City; seeing so much wildlife has been both educational and exciting to me!
 I learned very early on, as you can read in this blog post, to look up into trees when on a hike, as often bears and mountain lions can be sitting in them!


Early this summer, a wildlife expert, Mark Surls, came to our community to do a talk about living close to wildlife, and offered information on how to safely coexist with them. 

We learned how not to have attractants around our home, no food or other odor attractants in our cars, and to always have our car doors locked and our garage doors closed. We were reminded not to have birdfeeders, pet food dishes, dirty barbecue grills, and accessible garbage cans.  We are instructed to keep our garbage cans in our garage and to take them out the morning of trash collection, especially when the bears are out of hibernation.  Most bears seen in residential areas near or within bear habitat do not cause any damage. If a bear doesn’t find abundant food, it will move on.


The bears definitely love a full garbage can,  and sadly there is a saying that "a fed bear is a dead bear." Our community has installed bear-proof garbage cans along our trails as a precaution.



Once a bear finds a food source, they will always return to it and become habituated to looking at humans as a food source.  Sadly, if this occurs, most of the time they have to be euthanized by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. This summer there were double the reports of bear activity, even in places like the city of Denver, which rarely sees bears!


We have not seen a bear in our yard this summer, but we know they have passed through, as we frequently find and have to clean up large piles of bear scat! I kept this photo small on purpose as it is definitely "ick"! If you want to see it larger, click on it.


Bears are not the only wildlife suffering from the unusual heat and drought. We have a bird bath in our front yard that we have had to refill many times a day. We have seen not only birds, but squirrels and deer drink from it, and I would not be surprised if an occasional bear also stopped by for a drink! 
The deer have eaten almost all our flowers and greenery this summer, even things that they have never eaten before, and it may be they are trying to get moisture or are also not finding their normal wild foods in the hills.


Another animal that has suffered from the drought in Colorado is the marmot.

A marmot is a cat-sized, furry ground squirrel that lives in burrows in North America, Europe, and Asia. The 15 or so species worldwide include groundhogs. In the Rocky Mountains, yellow-bellied marmots are plentiful. Hikers often spot these charismatic creatures perched on boulders.

Last winter, scant snowfall and warm temperatures deprived many Colorado marmots of an insulating blanket of snow over their burrows. Researchers believe their hibernation quarters got too chilly, causing many to sadly die of the cold.

Summer flowers at our Community Center

September begins in a few days, which means autumn-like weather should be occurring soon in Colorado, and the aspen trees will begin to change color. Fall is my favorite season, and after a very hot summer, I am looking forward to it! I'm hoping for a more normal winter with lots of snow too!

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Sunday, August 23, 2026

The "M Climb" Event at the Colorado School of Mines


We live close to the town of Golden, Colorado. It's a wonderful place to visit, full of attractions and things to do. Coors Brewery is located there, as well as the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, the Colorado Railroad Museum, the Golden History Museum and Park, and many other attractions.

 I've visited and blogged about all these places in the past, and if you are interested to learn more about them you can find those posts by using the search feature on my blog's sidebar.


Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Founded during the Pike's Peak gold rush on June 16, 1859, the mining camp was originally named Golden City in honor of Thomas L. Golden.




The entire state of Colorado has a long mining history. My husband and I have enjoyed learning more about this history and its associated traditions as we have traveled all around the state in the past 13 years that we have lived here.




Located to the west of Golden is Mount Zion with a large letter "M" near its summit.



The large white "M" is maintained by the Colorado School of Mines. There is a tradition over 100 years old in which incoming freshmen climb 3 miles up the mountain carrying a 10-pound rock from their hometown, which is then whitewashed and added to the "M" design. 

This traditional  M Event occurred this week! 

The freshmen students are given a hard hat to wear on their climb up, and many sophomores, juniors, and seniors, who are called by their nicknames the "Orediggers," line the route to cheer them on and teach them to sing the college's "fight" song, along with many who douse the climbers with water to cool them off!

The "M" has been permanently lighted at night since 1932 and is visible for many miles in the area.


Please click on both of these informational placards, which will enlarge the photos for easier reading about the "M Climb." 



Placards around the town tell stories about the tradition, and the letter "M" stands as a symbol for the prestigious engineering college, the Colorado School of Mines.



The Colorado School of Mines is a public research university that offers programs in engineering and applied science.
 
It is also home to the National Earthquake Information Center, and nearby is the National Laboratory of the Rockies, a federally funded science institution.




The Colorado School of Mines also has a very interesting, free-to-visit Mines Museum of Earth Science filled with over 7,400 square feet of rocks, minerals, fossils, and other fascinating Earth Science-related objects. It is definitely worth a visit!




This short YouTube video shows the fun M Climb Event!

Graduating students are invited to take a rock from the M as a souvenir of their time at the college.

One-room schoolhouse at the South Park City Museum in Fairplay, Colorado.

It was also "Back to School" time for our grandchildren this week!
We have two grandchildren who are in Middle School and two in High School, and they were all excited to begin a new school year and see their classmates again.

I loved this quote:
“School is a building which has four walls with tomorrow inside.”
 ~ Lon Watters


As summer winds down, I am really looking forward to the fall season and cooler temperatures ahead. Autumn has always been my favorite season!

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Sunday, August 16, 2026

"Snow" in August!


This summer, actually this year in Colorado, has been an unusual one. In winter, spring, and most of this summer, we have been experiencing warmer-than-usual temperatures and extreme drought and wildfires, many caused by dry lightning. Normal snowpack in the mountains was subpar, and rainfall was low to nil. 

Weather-wise, the West was in a "La Niña" weather system, and now we are told by meteorologists that we are headed into an "El Niño" weather system. These systems both have to do with the effects of Trade Winds and Pacific Ocean temperatures--you can read more about this weather phenomenon and how it affects different parts of the world at this link.



 Now, we have finally entered the monsoon season in Colorado.

The North American Monsoon season usually starts June 15 and runs through September each year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This year, as weather patterns change, it has come later, and we are beginning to see heavy cloud formations every afternoon, bringing thunderstorms and rain to many areas.


Yesterday, the monsoon brought a powerful hailstorm to our area! 

View the short video above.

One of our neighbors was hosting a baby shower at her home, so many of her guests' cars parked on our cul-de-sac. Happily, the hailstorm brought high winds, thunder and lightning, but the hailstones were not giant-sized, so they did not do as much damage as they could have. If you read a past post I wrote about weather in Colorado--this link--you can see photos of how large hailstones can become!


It looked like snow in August! I asked my husband to please push my pot of basil under our outdoor table to save it from losing its leaves. I have harvested the basil plants once to freeze for the winter, and this was my second growth. Fortunately, it survived!


The neighborhood deer enjoyed eating the bounty of leaves that fell on the ground from the hail, so they were happy!


Did I lose flowers from the hailstorm? 
Not really, as you can see that 
trying to grow much of anything here when deer frequently roam through our yards is a losing cause. 
They seem to think anything growing is good to eat.


But how could I be mad at these adorable faces?

The twin fawns born in my backyard in June are growing up fast, and they will soon lose their spots when they grow their winter coats.

Will winter bring us a lot of actual snow this year with El Niño weather? 

Time will tell!

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