Showing posts with label Skywatch Friiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Skywatch Friiday. Show all posts

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.

I can also be found on





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Monday, March 30, 2026

A Tour of the Colorado Rockies Coors Stadium


 
The 2026 American baseball season has begun, and it reminded me that I never showed photos of a tour we took last April of the National League Denver Rockies baseball team's home field,  Coors Field in Denver, Colorado!

Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, four blocks from Union Station. The stadium has a capacity of 50,144 people for baseball.


Tours of Coors Field are available Monday through Saturday. Our tours provide a behind-the-scenes look at one of the premier ballparks in Major League Baseball. Tours typically last 70-80 minutes and cover a distance of approximately one mile. Our "Motley Crew" friends group all pre-purchased tickets to attend the tour, and we met in front of Gate D, where the tour begins.



The guided Coors Field tour took us through the dugout, premium seating areas, press level, and the rooftop, and gave us many insights into how Coors Field operates beyond what fans see during a game.


One of the most distinctive features of Coors Field is the famous purple row of seats, in the upper deck, 20th row, which marks exactly 5,280 feet--one mile--above sea level. (1,609.344 meters)


We learned fascinating facts about the stadium on the tour, such as the fact that the grass has an electric heating element below ground to keep it green and fresh even in cold early-season weather. We also learned that baseballs have to be specially treated to function in the mile-high altitude of Denver. The baseballs are kept in a humidor set at 70 degrees and 50% humidity. It is well-known that baseballs travel approximately 9% further at Coors Field because of its elevation.


The Rockies Clubhouse was off limits to visit, as the players leave their private possessions there, but we were able to visit the visiting teams' clubhouse. Our tour guide showed us the various rooms for the visiting manager and coaches, as well as the dressing room for the teams. The teams are treated to gourmet meals, and laundry and other services are provided. 



Coors Field has many dining options, from casual to upscale.
The Rooftop at Coors Field is a 38,000-square-foot addition to the upper deck in right field, offering numerous eateries, a variety of seating and standing-room options, and stunning views of downtown Denver and the Rocky Mountains, along with craft beer options and lively entertainment. The Rooftop opens when gates open and remains a favorite hangout spot for fans throughout the game. No special access is required, but it’s best to arrive early to claim a good spot.





The Rockpile is one of the most budget-friendly and iconic seating areas in baseball. With a history dating back to Coors Field’s opening in 1995, these seats offer an old-school bleacher experience. 

Day of Game Rockpile: Both $4.00 and $1.00 Rockpile tickets are available for purchase on the day of the game for most home games, beginning two hours before game time at the Rockpile Ticket Office located near Gate A. Rockpile tickets are available to Guests 12 years of age and younger and 55 years of age and older for $1.00.

We have attended a few games with our grandchildren at this great price and enjoyed seeing the game from one of the most unique spots in the park!


Some fun displays around the stadium.
Dinger is the Rockies Mascot. He is a lovable, purple anthropomorhic triceratops dinosaur that has been the Colorado Rockies’ biggest fan since he firsthatched from his egg at Mile High Stadium on April 16, 1994. 

The choice of a dinosaur, specifically this type, was inspired by the discovery of a number of dinosaur fossils—most notably a 7-foot-long (2.1 m), 1,000-pound (450 kg) triceratops skull—at Coors Field during its construction.



McGregor Square is a new addition to the Coors Field experience, featuring dining, shopping, and a massive outdoor screen that broadcasts games. It’s a great spot to soak in the baseball atmosphere before or after a game, and entry is free!

We all enjoyed our tour of Coors Field and highly recommend it to all baseball fans.

Go Rockies!!




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Sunday, February 22, 2026

Chinese New Year Party Fun!


We attended a fun Chinese New Year celebration at our friends' home this weekend! 
They have been celebrating this event for many years and have collected quite a few fun decorations.


According to Wikipedia, "Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture and was placed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2024. Marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring, this festival takes place from Chinese New Year's Eve (the evening preceding the first day of the year) to the Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year. The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February.

Click on the photo to enlarge it to view the information

A paper placemat our friends had at each place setting described the Chinese Zodiac signs associated with different years.

This year, the New Year was celebrated on February 17, 2026.

The Chinese Zodiac sign for 2026 is: Year of the Horse


According to Chinese astrology, Horses are confident, agreeable, and responsible, although they also tend to dislike being reined in by others. They’re fit and intelligent, adoring physical and mental exertion; they’re decisive but also easily swayed and impatient.



Our hosts had prepared a Pork and Vegetable Egg Roll filling--see the recipe they used on this link.  We all had fun taking turns to fill and roll the egg rolls to bake. We then had fun eating the hot-from-the-oven egg rolls as appetizers, dipping them in assorted sauces.

 

Our hosts prepared some delicious stir-fried entrees buffet-style, along with Hot and Sour Soup brought by one of the guests.

Dessert was fortune cookies!



My two cookie fortunes told me I was going to have an adventure in August and enjoy some culinary delights on my trip. 

That sounds perfect to me!


Thank you to Bekki and Will for a wonderful party!



Happy Year of the Horse

Good Fortune and Prosperity to all!




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Sunday, February 8, 2026

Our No Snow Winter!

The photo above was taken on an early morning drive to the Denver International Airport late last month. As you can see, there is no snow on the high plains or in the foothills, and there has been very little snow accumulation in the Colorado Rocky Mountains this winter!


Denver didn’t get its first snow until Nov. 29, the second latest first snow on record, and it was only 0.2 inches. 
Temperatures around the Colorado Front Range have also been downright balmy, drawing close to, or even setting, record highs. 
It was 70 F degrees (21.11 C) in Denver on Christmas Day!


A persistent pattern of high pressure over the western U.S. has been the main driver behind both the warmth and the lack of snow, effectively blocking Pacific storms that typically help build Colorado's snowpack.
Natural climate patterns from the Pacific, such as "La Niña, " are also contributing factors. 

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), during La Niña events, trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia. Off the west coast of the Americas, upwelling increases, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface. These cold waters in the Pacific push the jet stream northward. This tends to lead to drought in the southern U.S. and heavy rains and flooding in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the South and cooler than normal in the North. La Niña can also lead to a more severe hurricane season.

 

My front lawn is usually covered with deep snow by this time of the year.
Instead, this winter, it is full of deer enjoying the cool shade!


The few snowfalls we have had so far are light and melt quickly as the ground is warm and dry. The Rockies are at 50% of the snowpack they need, and I heard today that they will need five to eight feet of snow (2.4M) just to catch up to normal!

If we, and the other Western states, end up with really low snowpack numbers, water supplies will be greatly compromized and that could eventually lead to water restrictions, increased wildfire risk, and challenges for agriculture later this year.



Colorado’s snowpack typically peaks in early April, as March and April are historically the snowiest months in our region. Weather patterns may shift as La Niña weakens toward neutral conditions in the coming weeks.


(A pillow on display in a nearby new construction model home)


We can only hope this will happen!












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Sunday, January 25, 2026

The Madden Gallery at the Museum of Outdoor Arts in Colorado




Our daughter works in an office building in the Greenwood Village area of Colorado and wanted to view an exhibit in a new gallery, part of the Museum of Outdoor Arts (MOA), which opened in the fall of 2025. We had a prior visit to the Marjorie Park Sculpture Park in July of last year, and we were also interested to see the indoor gallery.  We met our daughter at her office during her lunch hour to walk over to the Palazzo Verdi, a 15-story office building located at 66363 Fiddlers Green Circle. 



The Palazzo Verdi's building lobby space was recently renovated to include the 10,000 sq foot Madden Gallery, which will host three to four temporary art exhibitions each year.
Formerly known as The Madden Museum of Art, the gallery space was founded by MOA Co-Founders John and Marjorie Madden and first opened in October 2008 alongside the debut of the Palazzo Verdi office building. The Madden Gallery now offers regular hours, is open to the public, and is currently free of charge.



The first exhibit was "Metaphorming TIME" by Todd Siler.

Exhibition Dates: October 21st 2025 – February 13, 2026


According to the Madden Gallery's web site: 

This exhibition showcases a selection of Todd Siler’s paintings, sculptures, drawings, monotypes, and artist’s books—works he calls “Metaphorms.” Rooted in the creative processes of the human brain, Siler’s art fuses symbolic language, metaphor, and invention to explore time as the universal connector linking all aspects of life.

Through neural-inspired textures and thought-provoking imagery, Siler examines humanity’s past, present, and future: how we confront urgent global challenges, how civilizations rise and fall, and how creativity can shape a more sustainable future. His practice, grounded in the principles of ArtScience and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), invites viewers to engage as “Metaphormers”—lifelong learners, creators, and problem-solvers.

Metaphorming TIME is both a reflection on human ingenuity and a call to collective action, inspiring audiences to imagine and build a better world together.



Siler explains his predominantly mixed media art on his website:

"I’m a Cerebralist! I meld abstract and representational forms with sensual and conceptual elements, using all media and means of communicating. For the past three decades, I’ve explored the nature of the human mind and creative process: how we think, create, learn, invent, innovate, and communicate. My art shows how the mind is connected to all of its creations: from the words we use to describe our thoughts & feelings to the technologies we build to see everything in the world that words cannot fully describe...




...Cerebralism encompasses all forms and expressions of art. Through art, we can connect and transform everything (information, knowledge, ideas, experiences) to create new meanings and purposes for everything. Art makes life meaningful. It inspires wonder, while challenging the limits of our vision and imagination."



Please click on the photo above to read more about the exhibit and the artist's descriptions.





We all enjoyed getting a close-up look at all the elements incorporated in his artwork.



A small section of the Madden Gallery still had some of the former exhibits when the space was called the Madden Museum of Art before the renovation.



John W. Jr and Marjorie Madden were avid art collectors and together amassed an impressive and diverse collection. The Maddens' collecting philosophy centered around the places they were inspired by in their travels and the relationships they developed with artists.

In January 2016, the University of Denver was pleased to accept the Madden Collection as a permanent addition to the University’s holdings. John W. Madden, Jr., developer of the Fiddler's Green campus in Greenwood Village, CO., donated a collection of 133 artworks valued at $10 million to the University of Denver.




Please click on the photo above to enlarge it to read more about John Madden.



There was also a wonderful tribute to his wife, Marjorie Madden, and their family history.


There was some "rare to us this winter" snow on the ground when we left the Madden Gallery this past December...


...but our spirits were warm with the 
Joy of all the beauty we just saw inside!


The pretty snowy mountain view from our daughter's office's outdoor parking lot.

We enjoyed our visit to the Madden Gallery and agreed that their mission to "make art a part of everyday life" has certainly been accomplished through their generosity!

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