Last of Summer

Sitting on the porch early this morning, I'm sensing a touch of autumn in the air ... cooler temperatures, a hint of gold in the aspens, migrating birds. It has been a perfect few days for entertaining Wayne's sister and husband from Iowa.

Yesterday we drove up Old Fall River Road to the Alpine Visitors Center. We took sandwiches and stopped along the way at one of our favorite picturesque spots for a picnic lunch. Last night we joined several hiking and camping friends for dinner at a local restaurant.

Wayne and Doug are playing a round of golf this morning while Jan and I plan to do a bit of shopping in the village. We're enjoying lots of good conversation on topics including politics, travel, and family. I'll finish this post then head into the kitchen to scramble some eggs for breakfast.

Three Pines ~ Little Porch Library

This basket of books sits on our porch for the reading pleasure of friends and family visitors. We've had lots of beautiful days for porch sitting this summer.

My summer reading has included:

Beautiful letters - beautiful illustrations

For all those who love walking in the mountains

For lovers of language and nature

  

Strange and lovely words from around the world

I found recommendations for these book on an inspirational website:
https://www.brainpickings.org

Brain Pickings has a free Sunday digest of the week's most interesting and inspiring articles across art, science, philosophy, creativity, children's books, and other strands of our search for truth, beauty, and meaning. Here's an example. Like? Claim yours. Check it out.

Three Pines

This book may change the way you
think about trees.

After reading this fascinating book earlier in the summer I began wondering about the ages of the three majestic Ponderosa Pines in our yard. With a bit of Internet research I found a formula for estimating their ages. My son-in-law, who has math skills far beyond mine, did the measuring and calculating while visiting. The biggest tree (on the far left) is the oldest at about 240 years old. It was "born" in 1779, when the Revolutionary War was in full swing and the area that would become Colorado was home to Utes, Arapaho, Comanche, and Shoshone.

We've named our home "Three Pines"
in honor of these trees.

Back to Blogging

Rocky Mountain Columbine

I've been away from my blog for too long, and I hardly know where to begin. It's been an
eventful summer with lots of visitors and more to come. We've taken two camping trips -
one to Steamboat Lake State Park and the other to Golden Gate Canyon State Park, both
in Colorado. We hit the columbine jackpot on one of our hikes where we saw hundreds
in bloom. Rocky Mountain Columbine is Colorado's state flower.

Our porch is my favorite place to read, work on the computer, eat, and chat with friends
and family. A pair of house finches are raising a family of five in one of the hanging
geranium baskets. We enjoy watching their comings and goings. The babies are well hidden
beneath the geranium leaves.