Boo.
This year we are enjoying record setting temperatures at the very time we’re shutting off our sprinklers. In my area it’s Denver Water who’s getting a jump on the season by playing Grinch with our liquid gold. Apparently we fell far (FAR!) short of our conservation goals over the summer and word has it that next spring will be just as dismal a growing season, at least for lawns, as this summer was. My water bill shows my wife and I actually used about a third less water than in the summer of 2025 and my lawn thanks me every time I walk across its crunchy-brown surface. I kid you not - the squirrels actually laugh at me when I pull out the lawn mower,
What amuses me to no end as I contemplate a future Denver with no green spaces is that Denver Water, at the same time its asking current customers to curtail their usage of this precious liquid, is adding water-tap permits for new home construction as if water, like, you know, actually fell from the sky. Within a five-mile radius of my home AI informs me that approximately 2,000 new living units are going up. Do a little research and you’ll quickly find that Denver Water can’t deny water to a landowner within its service area (if I had kids in college I’d tell them to study water law…) so the conundrum of restricting supply to current customers while adding additional users who will further stress an already perilously short supply will continue unabated. I’d say “HO, HO, HO!” but its not quite Christmas though I have already seen my first Walmart T.V. ad for the soon-to-be-upon-us holiday gift giving season. Only 70 shopping days until the big day!
In an effort to escape the desert-like conditions in Denver (they say Denver is the new Phoenix!) my wife and I head to the Colorado high country which depending on what you mean by ‘high’ could be anywhere west of Kansas. Our first jaunt was to float our boat, or at least our kayaks, in some of our mountain lakes. We were able to wet our hulls in Lake Dillon before it completely dries out but alas, our trip to what used to be Colorado’s largest reservoir - Blue Mesa - was too late. The water was literally gone. At the end of this blog is a video of what we found.
The drought that continues to impact the west, and is causing the aforementioned water crisis, has also curtailed Colorado’s leaf-peeping season. This year the leaves are still turning yellow but it’s often a brownish yellow because it has been so dry. Still, it’s beautiful to see and some of the small mountain towns are as welcoming as ever so I’ve also attached a short video of our toot to Crested Butte, Twin Lakes, and Leadville. Ironically, while in Crested Butte we were treated to an almost drought-busting downpour but it was ultimately too little, too late for Blue Mesa.
So wherever you may be, I hope the weather gods may smile on you and if you’re in the path of the latest hurricane - Isaias - please send a little of that rain our way. Until then, remember what Bob Dylan used to say: “The times, they are a-changin’”.
A Fall Snapshot:
