A Magnificent Fall in Colorado!

I have to declare that this has been the most lovely of all fall seasons that I have experienced living on the Colorado Front Range for the last 9 years!  We had a wet spring which allowed for the trees to grow healthy leaves and a warm fall with minor frost that has enabled them to keep their leaves for a long time.  The Emerald Ash tree growing in front of my house is a kaleidoscope of yellow, green, orange, and red leaves!  My oldest granddaughter is standing under it. and behind her is a neighbor's house.

Every time I look out my front window this season I see the glow of leaves from my tree and it makes my spirits soar.  One morning, as I raised my shades, I was treated to a group of deer sitting outside on my lawn.

As always, the deer were interested in what they could eat and enjoyed a salad of the "Snow on the Mountain" perennial plants growing under my tree.

The aspens have been lovely...

...and the cottonwood trees in our neighborhood also turned beautiful shades of yellow and orange.

It has been a colorful joy to walk on our trails and enjoy this autumn season.  Usually, by now we'd have had a hard frost or a snowfall, but this year flowers were still blooming and the wild prickly pear cacti actually grew fruit.

Early one morning we drove over to the nearby town of Golden, Colorado.

There we took a long stroll on paths along Clear Creek. 

Many interesting sculptures line the paths along the creek, and there was also a weekend Farmers' Market in town to enjoy and an outdoor history museum.

One of the foothills above Golden is 7,062-foot (2,152 m) Mount Zion, which is famous for its letter "M."  If you click on the collage above --click twice for full enlargement--you can read a placard that explains that the M is the symbol for the prestigious engineering Colorado School of Mines that is located in Golden. All freshmen attending the school climb the mountain and each adds a rock on the "M" which they can take with them when they graduate. This is a tradition that has been going on since 1908 when the M was first created. The "M" has been permanently lighted since 1932.  Can you spot the paraglides flying above Mount Zion?  That is a popular activity in good weather!

This is a photo taken from our moving car, as my husband and I were on our way to the airport to pick up our daughter from a business trip, but I wanted to show how the high Rocky Mountains in the distance behind the foothills have already had a few snowfalls. A few extra thousands of feet makes a big difference in weather, and some of the ski resorts are actually opening next week. 

I hope fall (or spring if you are in the southern hemisphere) is a beautiful season for you too!

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Sharing the Hope

"In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope?"

That is one of the poignant questions that the author Douglas Abrams, of the internationally bestselling co-author of The Book of Joy, asked Jane Goodall, the world's most famous living naturalist. In a world facing a climate crisis, growing political upheaval, a global pandemic, terrorist attacks, and hate crimes it would be easy to become depressed and lose hope, but in The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times Jane Goodall, while acknowledging these challenges, instead chooses to focus on all the amazing stories she has heard of and experienced the courage, steadfastness, and determination of those who are fighting the "forces of evil" in the world.  

Through many interview questions and answer sessions with Abrams, Goodall focuses on her “Four Reasons for Hope”: The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, and The Indomitable Human Spirit.  She has hope that people realize that their actions, however small they may seem, will truly make a difference. That the cumulative effect of thousands of ethical actions can help to save and improve our world for future generations.  

In the Book of Hope, she shares her own personal stories and photos from her amazing life; She shares her early years of living through World War II, her many years studying chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in Africa, and realizing she had to leave the forest to travel in the world as an advocate for environmental justice.  She was influential in beginning a worldwide youth movement called Roots and Shoots to encourage children and young adults to take action in their own community to make effective change where they see discord or a need, be it environmental, social injustice, pollution, and so on.   She feels that through these actions, these youth will gain confidence and strength and become the compassionate global leaders of tomorrow.

I found this book very inspirational.  Reading it filled me with the hope that we all can change the world for the better, that we can keep hope alive--first in our own lives and then in our community.  We can each make a difference; we just have to become proactive and do whatever we can to improve the lives of those around us. Change begins with each of us. I'm sure you will find it will also fill you with hope for the future.

 Many thanks to @CeladonBooks and @JaneGoodallInst for an Advance Readers Copy (ARC) of #TheBookofHope

Today, October 16th, 2021, is a day of "Sharing the Hope."  Celadon Books and Jane Goodall sent us an additional copy of her book and asked us to share it, along with a food donation, for a Little Free Pantry in our community.  I found a pantry in the nearby town of Littleton, Colorado, and I added more fresh food to fill the box, along with a copy of the book.  Donating to a Little Food Pantry is a small and easy gesture to help someone who has food insecurity, and a way to share Jane's message of hope with them. Find a Little Free Pantry in your area --search this link. Make a food donation and share hope!

#LittleFreePantry #SharingtheHope #CeladonBooks #JaneGoodallInst

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