Autumn in the Rockies

This is Spencer walking home from school earlier this week.

One day it was 80 degrees, the next we had 8 inches of snow.

Today it was 17 degrees when we woke up. Of course, this is not all that unsual. It’s not an annual occurrence, but it happens often enough for everyone to have their own story about 19sometime or other when….. The most heartbreaking thing is that this sort of snow, falling before the leaves have had a chance to, weighs so heavily on the branches of trees that they break. A neighbour had the most beautiful young oak tree. It was a perfect shape, and was only just beginning to turn from green to the brightest red imaginable. At least three of the main branches have split from the trunk.

October brings the annual round of cider making. This year was perfect autumnal activity, but had to be split into two weekends, as, after a few hours on the first Saturday, the motor for the press broke. My clever and capable brothers sorted it out, and we proceeded the following Saturday with a total pressing of some 230 gallons.

The cider press

The Barn with the washing tumbler and apple masher on the right.

Fort Collins hosts something called ‘The Sustainable Living Fair’ every year. I have taken it upon myself to volunteer at the fair, which enables me to spend half a day working amongst like-minded people, and the rest of the day wandering around the fair (and has nothing to do with the fact thats they provide volunteers with lunch and a draft [Colorado sports an admirable number of small independent brewers]). To be honest, the majority of the stuff is greenwashed consumerism, but there are bits and pieces that are worthwhile. I was working in the “Eat Local” tent, where one talk was about hunting. Not quite up my street, but to be fair, what more honest way to obtain sustainable and wholesome meat? A second talk was by the local chapter of the Weston A Price Foundation. Now I’ve known about the Weston A Price Foundation since Sally was small, and have a great deal of time for them. I had no idea they had local chapters, however, and was delighted to discover this one. I’m a fully paid member now and this will probably lead me further down my path of obsessive quality food procurement.

To that end, I have finally organized the purchase of a cow share, so that I can buy raw milk – that being the only way to do so in Colorado – each state has it’s own laws about whether or not and how citizens may buy and consume this dangerous substance.

What is most peculiar is that this milk does not sour quickly. When I drank raw milk obtained from Bore Place, it would sour after three or four days. Here, for some reason, the milk is fresh and drinkable for up to ten days. What could be the difference? Bacteria in the air? Altitude? Aridity? It bewilders me as much as the fact that I have difficulty in getting my clothes clean here, despite the fact that the water is so much softer. Spilled tea on my shirt: something I never thought twice about in Leigh, must be stain-treated prior to laundering, and even then it may not come clean.

Halloween is almost upon us, and I have some serious concerns about my son. He was asking me the other day whether he had to go Trick-or-Treating. I suspect the query had something to do with my refusal to buy him a $50 costume.