Climax Mine on a Snowy Gray Day

This is the Climax Mine atop a pass northeast of Leadville, Colorado. The mine is closed now due to the price of molybdenum, though there's a skeleton crew there. I came home that way a couple of weeks ago and saw this photo. I adjusted the color balance to leave it bluish, but not as much so as the camera made it look.

Lennie The Cat

Lennie is still outside, staying inside my shed at night. I put a box out there, on its side with a newspaper in it for greater warmth. I did this after dark last night, but I don't know whether he/she used it.

Lennie did allow zirself to be touched this morning, but that was probably a part of being fed. I'm not sure how I'll get this cat fed when I go away, as I will at some point.

I'm wondering whether this cat once lived somewhere and was not well treated. Seems shy of people, though probably is not feral. My own two cats went out when Lennie was nearby. Obligatory hisses were issued, but nobody sounded very serious about it.

A Stranger In the Night

I stay up late, as some of you may know. Several nights ago, at 1:38 in the morning, there was a knock at my door. The door toward my garage, for those of you who are familiar. There's a small entry porch there and the light was on.

The cats alerted, and I went to the door. There stood a man who was heavily dressed. He had boots, waterproof pants, a large coat, a cap, and a windbreaker over his head. I had him come inside. He had already slumped down on the porch, and he slumped again against my dryer which is just inside the door. This was hypothermia! He asked for a glass of water, which I wish I'd thought to warm up.

In the bitter cold, wind, and light snow, Joe had walked all the way from St. Elmo which is around a dozen miles up the canyon that emerges from the mountains nearby. He'd left in the dark at 6 pm, got out of the mountains, and had then slogged around in big circles out here on the valley floor. He'd been walking for seven and a half hours, and had reached my house by walking across the field. The snow was about two feet deep there, and I don't think Joe had much left in him.

Joe became more and more rational as he warmed back up. He called his girlfriend in Buena Vista, and Suzy drove out to get him at about 2:15 in the morning. She drove on by, missing the turn, but I chased her down in my Prius and she followed me back. It was a good ending.

A Change Is Forecast!

Our snowpack is still huge. The wind over the last couple of days drifted it badly--and closed my driveway again. Today I went out with an ordinary shovel and broke up the drifts, thinking that maybe much of it would sublime (solid turning directly to a gas, as happens to ice cubes in your freezer). I didn't think that any would be melting, and it hasn't for several weeks.

But after one more cold night, warmth is forecast for the rest of this week! A flow of air from the warmer south. Denver will be in the 40s and 50s, which should mean temperatures well above freezing up here. That's going to solve some problems, but will create another--mud.