March Weirdness

This month may be almost over but everyone in Denver and/or Colorado will probably heave a sigh of relief when it is officially history. Most of last year was dry with few rain or snow storms and this year is proving no different- up until very recently. I made a trip to Home Depot on Tuesday afternoon after a fairly good overnight snow and among the items on my list I decided to once again buy some cement to finish up some work I did two years ago in summer. I had saved my Russian Olive tree early in the morning with a cleverly quick trim on an overhanging branch and I was feeling lucky- just like I should.

     At this point I should remind everybody of my rule of thumb for March: In like a lion, out like a lamb. In like a lamb, out like a lion. In Colorado this can be taken quite literally with almost no exceptions.

     As soon as I got home with new window well covers, et al the forecasts were suddenly imminent. “The weather is changing…the weather is changing…” clucked Chicken Little, the weather forecaster. I looked at the dry-as-a-bone and powdery dirt around the window wells, and what I thought was pourable concrete and laughed my head off and decided to put it off until yesterday. Big mistake.

     When I started out everything had melted off and it was difficult to tell that it had snowed the previous night. The air was chilly but that isn’t unusual for Denver. Our nights are cold in the middle of summer- which, by the way, make summer mornings very pleasant. Ahem!

     I had already prepped the window well for installation and while doing so, found that I was suddenly swimming in mud. Rain! I had put my fashionable galoshes on but decided to hold off on the second one and go in until the rain went away. It did.

     I dried out the spot that I wanted to fill in with pourable concrete. A neighbor helped me pry open the easy open container and discovered that it wasn’t pourable or even concrete putty. It was completely powder with NO ROCKS ! The latter was the good part but the former meant that I had dried out what I could’ve used and quite quickly to finish the job I had started. (It’s just a matter of getting it completely level and completely smooth!)

     The skies started graying up again which may or may not mean rain, especially in Denver. My neighbor said something accidentally ominous. “It’s supposed to rain for days you know.” I laughed and said, “In Denver anything can happen. You know how dry it’s been.” Then we both laughed. I decided to go ahead and try some of the powder with some leftover rainwater to level the area and perhaps later make more to smooth it completely over.

      I patched up all the little potholes and unevenness and went inside to clean up and get to home and hearth. In less than an hour we suddenly had one of our rarest occurrences. Il fait pluie/neige! We’ve had combined snow and rain in Denver before but this was a bona fide sludge storm. I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere! Ever. Until yesterday.

     I ran out as fast as I could and covered the area with a plastic wheelbarrow but I don’t know if it prevented anything. It was supposed to set within 30 minutes so I can only hope my patches survived. I’ll let you know, of course. I’m basically recuperating from a fiasco so this could take awhile. March madness is no match for March weirdness! 

The Castle Lady

   

Singing in the Rain

For more than a week Denver has experienced continual downpours accompanied by brief periods of sunny weather. Yesterday I looked outside after a ten minute cloudburst and as I basked in the sun for about ten minutes I noticed that heavy steam was coming off every rooftop in my neighborhood. This monsoon may be the only one Denver has ever had because I certainly don't remember any and I've lived here most of my life!

     When I lived in San Diego I remember one monsoon which lasted about a week but those are constant downpours which never quit. It's pouring when you run to your car in the morning. You go to lunch and it's still raining cats and dogs. Back to work you get drenched and then on the way home you hydroplane on the highway and swim from your car to your apartment or house. By then you're just glad to be in a place where it's dry and you can stay there for awhile.

    Since Denver always must be contrary, the rain has been ten minutes pouring then a little bit of sunshine for another ten. Today it has been overcast without any sunshine with dry spells accompanied by brief downpours. This has gone on all day long and when I've looked out didn't know what I was going to see but with the knowledge that it's only going to change again whether standing outside or inside. Every time I look out now I stand there and sigh for five minutes. I've never seen such schizophrenic weather in my life ! Anywhere. Sheesh.

     

     My lawn is now up to my knees and I can't have it mowed because it's too wet even when it's sunny. You should see the weeds ! They're twice as high and look abominable. I am literally going to have to take a machete to it before I even attempt to mow. I'm not making this up. I'll take photos to prove it if I have to and then you'll know this is for real. I always thought that people living in Seattle had a great deal with a mostly drizzling climate but in retrospect I'm glad I decided against moving there about a decade ago and I'm now checking properties in Arizona and certain parts of New Mexico.

     Isn't it funny that it really doesn't affect my mood ? Everyone else seems to find this kind of weather depressing but mostly I enjoy rain in Denver because moisture is so rare and unusual. After living in San Diego I took to keeping an umbrella in my car but the one I have in my twenty-five year old car usually has to have the dust brushed off of it before use ! That's how dry it normally is here in Denver. Well, one has to take the good with the bad so I'll sign off by saying that Denver has never looked so green and lush in May. There. (Sigh !)

 and dancing...

The Castle Lady