The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 02: A Comma (is a Restful Pause)

[NotWise]

Public service announcement

I'm posting this for any who might be wondering what southeast Colorado looks like.

The picture taken through my windshield at 65 MPH, looking down Colorado highway 71 south of Limon. I took about 30 photos there and on US 350. They all look pretty much like that. Now you don't need to go, right?

 

[TxRad]

I'm posting this for any who might be wondering what southeast Colorado looks like.

The picture taken through my windshield at 65 MPH, looking down Colorado highway 71 south of Limon. I took about 30 photos there and on US 350. They all look pretty much like that. Now you don't need to go, right?

I rode that area on an 1800cc trike a number of years ago. The picture doesn't do the colors and textures justice. Not to mention the smells and wind on your face.

 

[NotWise]

I rode that area on an 1800cc trike a number of years ago. The picture doesn't do the colors and textures justice. Not to mention the smells and wind on your face.

I'm a little disappointed the color didn't come out quite right. It had just rained and snowed and the grass was wet. It was really a bright golden blond. That color was as much a reason for the photo as anything.

Some texture probably got lost in scaling the image and in the motion at 65 MPH.

EDIT: Don't get the impression I didn't like it. I was awed, and for hours.It's an ocean of grass, but it ain't for everyone.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm posting this for any who might be wondering what southeast Colorado looks like.

Looks like some of the country three hours away from me, except the grass is longer.

 

[NotWise]

Looks like some of the country three hours away from me, except the grass is longer.

I little farther south might produce the right look in the grass, but then it's not as flat. The mostly-flat part of the Texas panhandle has playa depressions, and the adjacent part of New Mexico has volcanoes in the middle of the plains.

I'm hoping to write a neo-western romance for the Summer Luvin' contest. The guy is easy. I've been having trouble imagining the woman. For her, the waitresses at Oscar's Bar and Grill in Limon may have been inspiring.

 

[_Lynn_]

I woke up in wet snow this morning and it's pleasant, calm and sunny now. Of course, my locations this morning and this afternoon are a few hundred miles apart.

Wouldn't it be better to wake up in a bed? Somewhere warm at least?

(Sorry. My brain must be starting to work again.)

 

[NotWise]

Wouldn't it be better to wake up in a bed? Somewhere warm at least?

I think you might be getting better!

Fortunately, I did have sheets and covers (and a whole building) wrapped about me when I woke up in the wet snow. I didn't actually have to experience all that until after breakfast. Desert rats don't respond well to wet.

 

[MagicaPractica]

I'm posting this for any who might be wondering what southeast Colorado looks like.

The picture taken through my windshield at 65 MPH, looking down Colorado highway 71 south of Limon. I took about 30 photos there and on US 350. They all look pretty much like that. Now you don't need to go, right?

Lovely! I still want to go though.




Flippin long day. Realized every time I saved a doc as rich text it seems to erase the story in it! So I resent a couple submissions tonight with apologies. Hopefully they won't hold it against me.

 

[ThatsTheGuy]

I could use a cup of java at this moment. Decaf please.

 

[ThatsTheGuy]

I woke up in wet snow this morning and it's pleasant, calm and sunny now. Of course, my locations this morning and this afternoon are a few hundred miles apart.

The pic of eastern Colorado you posted? It reminds me of eastern Washington state.

When I think of Colorado, I think of snow and mountains. I think that of Washington state too. Western Washington has the Puget Sound and Pacific Ocean. During my stay there was the only time I crossed over the Canadian border and stayed there a few days. Beautiful part of the world in the Northwest.

You should visit there some day. The people are great. I have a couple of lifelong friends somewhere around Whidbey Island and another in Seattle. I have fond memories of that part of the country.

 

[NotWise]

Lovely! I still want to go though.

Don't say i didn't warn you!

I actually took the pictures because I thought the terrain was awesome, but then the high plains are my turf as much as is the high desert. Some people love the forest-covered hills in the east. They make me feel claustrophobic. TexRad's east Texas forests would give me the heebie-jeebie's in a day or two.

I look at the vast scenes and think about the buffalo herds now gone, and the people who used to follow them, and I want them back. I think about the brutal dust storms of the thirties and the mistakes we've made. I think about the hard, quiet people who, like my grandparents, worked and raised their families in that ocean of grass.

 

[Handley_Page]

Good Morning all.
I should find a picture of my local landscape somewhere.
Coffee & Thinks beckon

 

[TxRad]

Fresh coffee for HP and the morning crew as I wander my way to bed.

Book one or story one, or whatever the hell they will call it is finished and I need some sleep.

<<<< Wanders off muttering to himself.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Don't say i didn't warn you!

I actually took the pictures because I thought the terrain was awesome, but then the high plains are my turf as much as is the high desert. Some people love the forest-covered hills in the east. They make me feel claustrophobic. TexRad's east Texas forests would give me the heebie-jeebie's in a day or two.

I look at the vast scenes and think about the buffalo herds now gone, and the people who used to follow them, and I want them back. I think about the brutal dust storms of the thirties and the mistakes we've made. I think about the hard, quiet people who, like my grandparents, worked and raised their families in that ocean of grass.

I am of those forest covered hills in the East, they make me feel enfolded and safe.

I've always been interested in all the different types of land and the people who live there. I've read books set everywhere in the U.S., historical and modern, and I want to visit those places.

Good morning, peoples.

 

[colddiesel]

A question for HP and maybe Og.

When making tea do you put hot water or cold in the kettle - and what is the scientific basis for your choice? It is a source of contention in our household, even though the cold water is luke warm for half the year in this climate.

 

[oggbashan]

A question for HP and maybe Og.

When making tea do you put hot water or cold in the kettle - and what is the scientific basis for your choice? It is a source of contention in our household, even though the cold water is luke warm for half the year in this climate.

https://www.itoen.com/preparing-tea

Always use freshly drawn, cold water to prepare tea. Purified and spring water are best because they are relatively free from pollutants and other substances that can dramatically alter tea's taste. On the other hand, it is preferable for the water to have some natural minerals content, as they may enhance the tea's flavor. For this reason, distilled water should be avoided since the lack of minerals will leave the tea tasting flat. Similarly, one should never use pre-heated water-as from the faucet, for instance. This kind of water has mostly likely been overheated, thereby losing oxygen content while picking up possibly harmful substances from the water pipes.

Traditionally, in Asia, water is always brought to gentle boil before one prepares tea. Boiling water eliminates many harmful germs and bacteria. Though water quality has improved vastly, boiling in the water in this fashion can help to bring out tea's flavor. The water should be heated until a steady stream of air bubbles gently rise to the surface. At this point, the water is sufficiently heated and also has a preferable oxygen content. In contrast, using water that has been held at a fierce, rolling boil can leave tea tasting dull and flat.

Go outside and pump that well!

 

[NotWise]

I am of those forest covered hills in the East, they make me feel enfolded and safe.

Have you been out west before? If you feel enfolded and safe in the forest-covered hills, then the expansive views in the west might trigger agoraphobia that you didn't know about.

A friend of mine from Michigan lived in Santa Fe for a few years before her parents visited her. She picked them up at the airport here and drove them home. They sat in the back seat and talked, but then fell quiet when the road emerged from the valley into the wide open expanse between the Jemez and Ortiz Mountains. She looked over her shoulder and found them huddled together. They were terrified.

I've always been interested in all the different types of land and the people who live there. I've read books set everywhere in the U.S., historical and modern, and I want to visit those places.

Have your read anything by Mari Sandoz? Her bio should be an interesting read for new writers.

Her stories are painfully authentic. She was born in western Nebraska within a couple years and a few miles of my maternal grandmother, and that's where many of her stories are placed. She is buried on a hill overlooking the town where my mother was raised and I was born. Her most widely read book (Old Jules) is a fictionalization of her father's life; her family and my mother's family were not related but are intertwined in the story.

One feature of terrains like the one I photographed is that there are very few people there to know. When you pull off I-76 at Brush, Colorado and head south on Co-71 there is a sign as you leave town that says "No gas, next 75 miles." In that 75 miles there are a few ranch homes visible from the road and two hamlets. There are large wind farms near the end of the 75-mile trip. South from Limon (where I took the picture) there's another 75 mile stretch with one hamlet (Punkin Center) before you reach Ordway in the Arkansas River valley. It's 150 miles of grasslands with one town in the middle.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Have you been out west before? If you feel enfolded and safe in the forest-covered hills, then the expansive views in the west might trigger agoraphobia that you didn't know about.

A friend of mine from Michigan lived in Santa Fe for a few years before her parents visited her. She picked them up at the airport here and drove them home. They sat in the back seat and talked, but then fell quiet when the road emerged from the valley into the wide open expanse between the Jemez and Ortiz Mountains. She looked over her shoulder and found them huddled together. They were terrified.



Have your read anything by Mari Sandoz? Her bio should be an interesting read for new writers.

Her stories are painfully authentic. She was born in western Nebraska within a couple years and a few miles of my maternal grandmother, and that's where many of her stories are placed. She is buried on a hill overlooking the town where my mother was raised and I was born. Her most widely read book (Old Jules) is a fictionalization of her father's life; her family and my mother's family were not related but are intertwined in the story.

One feature of terrains like the one I photographed is that there are very few people there to know. When you pull off I-76 at Brush, Colorado and head south on Co-71 there is a sign as you leave town that says "No gas, next 75 miles." In that 75 miles there are a few ranch homes visible from the road and two hamlets. There are large wind farms near the end of the 75-mile trip. South from Limon (where I took the picture) there's another 75 mile stretch with one hamlet (Punkin Center) before you reach Ordway in the Arkansas River valley. It's 150 miles of grasslands with one town in the middle.

I've only been as far west as Minnesota, and that was briefly, arriving by plane. I've never driven west beyond Ohio. Someday, I hope to.

I have heard of her but never read her work. I'll add her to my list.

 

[NotWise]

I took out last year's parsley, topped up one of my raised beds with new topsoil in preparation for planting next weekend, put in another flight of gladiola bulbs, and mowed the lawn with the mower sat a notch higher than last week

The gas grill has been uncovered for two or three weeks now. I'll clean it up this afternoon and cook on it tonight for the first time.

Spring is progressing.

 

[Handley_Page]

.
Spring is progressing.

A few days ago, the sprouting on my roses was only just observable.
There's been a real spurt lately, and we got couple of inches of young leaf to be seen.

A cup of tea , I think.

 

[TxRad]

Since it was close to five AM when I got to bed, I was late getting up. Yes, folks, I got served breakfast at nine whether i wanted it or not.

Some writing and several naps later, I'm fixing coffee for the evening crew. My, how time flies when you are sleepy.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Since it was close to five AM when I got to bed, I was late getting up. Yes, folks, I got served breakfast at nine whether i wanted it or not.

Some writing and several naps later, I'm fixing coffee for the evening crew. My, how time flies when you are sleepy.

I want coffee. *sigh* Just did a math sheet with the munchkin - 45 minutes! It was NOT hard, but she did NOT want to do it. Strained my whole encouraging Mom bit to the limit.

 

[TxRad]

I want coffee. *sigh* Just did a math sheet with the munchkin - 45 minutes! It was NOT hard, but she did NOT want to do it. Strained my whole encouraging Mom bit to the limit.

I remember those days. Hang in there, it don't get no easier. But then it's over and they are gone. You'll look back on the math paper and smile.

Mom will always be Mom.

 

[Handley_Page]

"Now look 'ere, Munchkin, there are things in life that are done and things which ain't. This Maths paper is one of those things that have to be done, so buckle up and bloody DO IT ! Then you can go out and play. "

 

[TxRad]

Hp, you are either up way too late or up way too early.

In either case, I'll make fresh coffee.

Ya'll have a good night. I'm going to bed.