Friday, May 29, 2020

Everything's Better with Bacon


Bacon has been the flavor of the past week in our home.
I dearly love bacon, but we rarely have it on hand.
During a year I buy one, maybe two, pounds of bacon.


One Slice of Fried Bacon 




But, under a stay-at-home order and hearing of possible meat shortages,
I spied a ridiculously good price for a pound of bacon at my grocery store.
I caved and bought a pound, even though I had almost a pound in the freezer.

Good thing, too, because this last week has been challenging,
and I have been forced to eat lots of bacon.  
It's been a comfort in a time of trial.


Flickr:  Kim Ahlström   Licence




A week ago, when Terry was long asleep and I was roaming in the wee hours,
I raided the freezer for one of my favorite treats, frozen cherries.
I was worried about my trip to my cataract surgeon early the next morning
and all the Covid-19 protocol I had to follow for my checkup.

As I dumped a cup of hard red balls into a Pyrex bowl,
it occurred to me that cherry juice followed them into the bowl.
But I was preoccupied, and I quickly escaped into a book,
forgetting the juice as I rolled the frozen, sweet treats around in my mouth.

I woke up the next morning coughing, congested,
with brutal body aches, and a very sore throat.
I cancelled my appointment and looked online for a Covid-19 testing site.

"We have more testing capacity than people showing up for a test,"
our governor had just said.
"If you think you have Coronavirus, go get a test."

I drove half an hour to a drive-up, no-appointment-needed site to get a test
and waited as two people heavily garbed in protective gear
tested someone in a car in front of me.





The car drove off, and I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally I got out of the car, decked out in bandana and gloves, and approached them.

"How can I help you?" the male asked.

"I'd like a Covid-19 test," I said.

They determined I had legitimate symptoms
and asked me if I was a first responder or an essential worker.

"No," I replied.  "I'm retired."

"Are you a member of our clinic?"

"No."

"Sorry, but we're only testing essential workers or clinic members here.
You have to go to another location in north Aurora."

WTF?  "But your website said ..."

"I don't know why it still says that," the guy said.
"But it's wrong.  You have to go to another site.
Here's a map with the address."

I left, parked around the corner, and called Terry,
furious and in tears, to let him know I had to drive
another twenty minutes or so to get to the testing site.

"Just come home, honey," he said.
"If you don't get better, I'll drive you to the other site.
Even if you don't think it's safe for us to be together in the car."

By then I was feeling really, really bad and floored it for home.
Before I threw myself down on the couch in a major crash,
I reached for some frozen cherries in the freezer to soothe my throat.
They were soggy and cherry juice was dripping out of the bag.

I reached for a small bag of bacon.  It was flabby.
I felt the other small bags that I had filled with the divided pound of bacon.
They were flabby, as was my previous stash of bags of bacon.
Our eighteen-year-old fridge had croaked.


One Long-lasting Fridge 
It served us well.
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



The next few days were not pretty.
As I languished on the couch with a bug,
Terry and I scoured the internet for kitchen appliances.
Our dishwasher had given up the ghost before Thanksgiving,
and our stove was limping along.
We had been holding off on replacing appliances until we moved to Las Vegas.

Since the move to Vegas is not likely to happen,
I was determined to buy what I wanted,
not something serviceable for potential buyers of our house.
I wanted black ~ a bold, sexy statement for our kitchen.

Terry made the rounds of appliance-selling stores
and repeatedly dragged bags of ice into the house
to keep our refrigerator and freezer cold.

Meanwhile I repeatedly unpacked the fridge, pulled out water-soaked towels,
sopped up water, lined the shelves with dry towels,
drained and rebagged partially melted ice, and stuffed it all back into the fridge.
A lot of towels rotated through the fridge, washer, and dryer, let me tell you.
Then I'd perform triage on our Covid stockpile of frozen goods.


One Giant Cooler
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




Meals were whatever had thawed.
Mushy peas, mangos, and cherries straight into the garbage,
limp bacon straight into the frying pan.

Finally Terry found the appliances and the deal,
but with a staggered delivery date.
Thankfully the new fridge came first,
and the rest will be coming soon.


Out with the Old #1
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Out with the Old #2
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Out with the Old #3
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







In with the New
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



My bug is gone today, along with the last of the bacon.
I'm now playing catch up ~ again.

The bacon was a great relief all week,
because of its mouthwatering smell and scrumptious taste.
That smell, that taste convinced me that I needn't bother with a Covid test.

Everything's better with bacon.  
Even chaos.


A Bold, Sexy Statement
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved









Till next time ~
Fundy Blue



On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




    







Friday, May 22, 2020

A Wild Run


When it's springtime in the Rockies, you are guaranteed a wild run of weather:
Thunder and hail storms, hot sunny days, spitting snow, whipping winds,
and late afternoons when cumulous clouds build into towering anvils.
It's a great, ever-changing show that I never tire of watching.

Here are some of photos of this year's show
near and along a stretch of Piney Creek in Aurora: 


Drenching Rain 
Aurora, Colorado
May 15, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Pounding Hail 
Aurora, Colorado
May 15, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Noisy Grackles 
Aurora, Colorado
April 9, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






A Strutting Grackle 
Aurora, Colorado
May 16, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Watching the plains cottonwood trees having a spring fling is always fascinating.




The trees are dioecious,
with male and female flowers
occurring on different trees.



Male Catkins 
(staminate flowers) 
Aurora, Colorado
May 8, 2013
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Pollen from male cottonwood trees is carried on the wind.
Plains Cottonwood Tree 
Aurora, Colorado
May 15, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Emerging Female Catkins
Plains Cottonwood Tree 
Aurora, Colorado
May 3 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Wind-born pollen pollenates female catkins (pistillate flowers).
Plains Cottonwood Tree 
Aurora, Colorado
May 15, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Cottonwood seed capsules develop after fertilization.
Plains Cottonwood Tree 
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Seed Capsules and New Leaves. 
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Bursting New Leaves 
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Snow in June
Cottonwood seeds are released on the breezes. 
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
June 25, 2013
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Harbinger of Spring
Male Robin 
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
April 26, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Our Local Fire Station
"Thank You First Responders!
You Are Loved!" 
Aurora, Colorado
April 25, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Local Heroes
"Thank You First Responders!
You Are Loved!" 
Aurora, Colorado
April 25, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Male House Finch 
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved



Earlier this month I spotted the first muskrat I have seen
since a flash flood scoured Piney Creek in our area almost eight years ago.
That doesn't mean muskrats disappeared after the flood.
It means I couldn't find them.

I've been trying to capture this pesky rodent
with my little point-and-shoot Canon ever since.
All I've captured are the ripples marking its dive
and a glimpse of its head in the reeds.



Muskrat Ripples
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





Muskrat Feeding on Reeds
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Squirrels Frolicking 
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
March 24, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Spring Equinox 
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
March 21, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Blue Jay 
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
April 9, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






More Happy Talk  
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Spring Butterfly 
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Spring Butterfly  
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Baby Green Leaves 
Bursting Out  #1
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Baby Green Leaves 
Bursting Out #2
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Comforting Rock Talk
for a Challenging Time  
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved







Cumulus Clouds 
Aurora, Colorado
May 20, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved






Male Plains Cottonwood
Flowers Gone, Baby Leaves Bursting 
Along Piney Creek
Aurora, Colorado
May 17, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved





If anyone had told me that I would spend well over a decade
snapping photos in all seasons along a small stretch of Piney Creek,
I wouldn't have believed it.  But I have.
Springtime is my favorite season,
until the next, and the following, even winter!


Towering Anvil
Aurora, Colorado
May 20, 2020
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved










Till next time ~
Fundy Blue



On the Bay of Fundy
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved




    








For Map Lovers Like Me:


Location of Aurora, Colorado, USA




Area Where I Took the Photographs
(by the asterisk in the lower middle)
Map Data © 2018 Google United States


Southern Aurora and Northern Parker
Map Data © 2019 Google United States





Adapted from a Sign in the Park
Red-Tailed Hawk Park
Aurora, Colorado, U.S.A.
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved


Friday, May 15, 2020

A Little Geologic Humor


It's been well over a year since I indulged in a little geologic humor.
If nobody gets these but me, at least I had a lot of laughs picking them out.






































































































































And last, one for my brother, the engineer, from his sister, the geologist: 









Future Geologist and Future Engineer
Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada
Summer, 1955
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved








Till next time ~
Fundy Blue.

 Bay of Fundy out of Westport
Summer 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved