Air Changings

It seemed to be coming...the hints have been in the air and...as I rounded the bend south of Nederland last night...there they were...furiously flurrying flakes...just passing through...for now...harbingers of what awaits us as time continues its journey. This morning...the frost on my porch and the air's chill let me know that winter is indeed pushing autumn to leave...even though the colours are still cresting in parts of the high country and the falling leaves are just beginning to layer the roads. The white of the Divide's peaks and Barker Reservoir's rough and choppy waves rippling and bashing against the waiting shore, the rocks and the dam wall reinforced the knowing that...this is...not...summer...behaviour. The weather in Colorado shifts and shapes rapidly and can be drastically different from one elevation to the other...making simple decisions like...what to wear...painstakingly complicated. There have been times when the snow is howling and blowing itself into a whiteout at 10,000 feet...and one cautious 4,000 foot ride down the canyon later...the sun's heat makes the long sleeves and warm gear one is wearing totally inappropriate. Conversely...once in a while...it's been warm as heck up high...and blizzarding in Boulder. There really is no rhyme or reason to it...and one soon learns not to depend on the weather forecasters...whose labeling of weather patterns "in the mountains" or "in the flats" usually describes what's happening in only one minute and isolated portion of the referenced territory....and you can never be sure which one... Temperature changes of 30 to 40 degrees...within the day...are not abnormal during the fall and winter months...but the good news is that...in the flats at least...winter days can be as balmy as 70-75 degrees (Fahrenheit) ...and the sun's radiance as hot as in the summer...melting the snow down below rapidly from one day to the next...and leading one to often think that what we have here are "weather fronts" and not necessarily seasons. In the higher elevations...although the winter temperature may be merciful and relatively warm from day to day...the ground's snow comes to stay in November and doesn't leave till April...and sometimes May. Still...I'd rather brave a dry Colorado winter...with its everpresent sun...than an east coast winter...with its bone penetrating dampness....and a cold which drags on and on for weeks on end... The worst part about the coming months...for me...is the dark descending so early...bringing a sense of gloom and rush to even the best of days...especially as I travel up the mountain not ever knowing for sure...what awaits me...in...or past...the canyon..........