The author lives on the south side of the La Plata Mountains in southwestern Colorado. If you drive 7 miles west of Durango (or about 5.4 miles west as the crow flies and takes the elevator), you will find an area of mixed meadows and Ponderosa Pine Trees. You won’t need an air conditioner in the summertime, but sometimes “a little snow” can be expected in the winter.

   In addition to dabbling in recreational math and a little geology, I also take observations for the CoCoRaHS (http://www.cocorahs.org/) weather research program run by the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University.

   As can be seen in the photo, sometimes it snows in the mountains. Actually what happens is Mother Nature sets up the “Big Daddy” snow guns on the nearby ridges, loads “Ride of the Valkyrie” in the intra-mountain hi-fi system, and when everything is ready shouts the fateful command: “Fire at Will – and don’t forget his driveway either”.

In winter the local unofficial song is: (melody is the same as “Home on the Range”)

Oh give me a home
‘Tween Durango and Nome
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where there’s no place to go
Cause it’s covered with snow
From June to the following May

Home home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where there’s no place to go
Cause it’s covered with snow
From June to the following May

   Oh well, I guess it’s time to throw another log in the fireplace and mix up a batch of frozen Margaritas. It’s a rough life, but someone’s got to do it.







   If you live in Durango, it’s still possible to have an “Old Fashioned Christmas”. The picture above shows our Christmas tree shortly before December 25, 2006. (The amethyst geode cathedrals on top of the entertainment center are the same ones shown on the http://www.durangobill.com/Geodes.html page.)



   “Son of Granddad” is over 4 feet in diameter. It wouldn’t be Christmas without “The Christmas Cactus” doing its thing. Snow covered fields beyond the deck show that we were one of the few places that had a white Christmas. Currier & Ives scenes still survive in Durango.








   By summertime, the snow has melted and been replaced by a cluster of Columbines and Daisies. The Columbine is Colorado’s state flower.



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