Very sad news

This photo is of John Breaux from the "Faces of Louisville" exhibit created by Erin Cox, www.elcphoto.com. The exhibit was posted last year in an effort to raise money for Heritage House in Louisville.

John was a fixture in our community. I first met John several years ago when he stopped by my yard sale to say hello, introduce himself and enjoy some chocolate chip cookies and lemonade Trax had made. Ever since then he'd stop by when he saw me outside or I'd see him at the grocery store or bike shop and very often in the summer at Dairy Queen. He'd always ask me how I was doing. We'd talk about the weather (we were often both on our bikes) and he'd inform me of local Louisville and Lafayette events and happenings. I received news of his death at about 5:15 yesterday while I was riding my bike home. I feel extremely fortunate to have known John. His infectious smile and amazing spirit will be missed by all who knew him.

LAFAYETTE, Colo. — While police were still investigating the tragic death of a pedestrian on U.S. 287 — and hours before the name of the victim was officially released to the public — a small crowd of bystanders had already gathered at the scene, sure they knew who had been killed but hopeful they were wrong.

By late Friday, their fears were confirmed by the coroner. John Breaux, whose warm smile and gentle heart were famous throughout eastern Boulder County, was dead.

It was the bike that gave it away. Breaux was never without his bike, friends said, which on Friday afternoon stood alone, propped on its kickstand at the edge of U.S. 287 near the scene of the accident. Two white trash bags — probably filled with recycling and litter — hung from the handle bars.

“That bike always has the bags on it,” said Mindy Bentley, a longtime Louisville resident who stopped at the accident when she saw the bike. “He’s always picking stuff up whether it’s trash or cans, helping in some way, shape or form.”

Breaux, 57, was on the shoulder of U.S. 287 just north of South Boulder Road when a white PT Cruiser heading north veered off the road and struck him, according to police. The driver, a 62-year-old Boulder woman, was arrested Friday evening, but police have not yet released her name or the reason for the arrest.

They said they are still determining whether drugs or alcohol were involved.

News of Breaux’s death spread quickly throughout eastern Boulder County on Friday. The Camera’s Web site was flooded with stories of Breaux’s generosity: “Always a smile, a wave, a kind word. Everywhere he went he brightened someone’s day,” said one poster. “Thank you for sharing your gigantic heart with us John, you’ll never be forgotten,” wrote another.

Louisville Mayor Chuck Sisk said he knew Breaux and that he was “well-known and well-loved” in the community.

“I’m just stunned,” Sisk said. “It just caught me off guard. I’ve lost a friend.”

Sisk also said that the helmet Breaux wore while riding his bike was given to him by the city of Louisville several years ago because people were concerned that he was riding without a helmet.

“The smile — the appreciation that he received — I’ve got the smile fixed in my mind,” Sisk said.

The city also presented Breaux with a “mayoral proclamation” and a gift certificate to the Louisville Cyclery in 2005 “in appreciation for his efforts to keep Louisville a clean city.”

“He was the real treasure of Louisville,” said Scott Adlfinger, owner of the cyclery, which took care of Breaux’s bike. “It’s going to be a completely different place without him.”

My first silk painting

I enjoy being creative! I always have. As a child while I was in school I would spend all my time on the project part of an assignment. The written composition didn't interest me the least. This holds true even today. In fact, just a couple years ago while I was taking an anatomy and physiology class, I made the most beautiful life-size display of the entire digestive system from variously colored homemade papers. In order to learn the muscle groups I used different colored clays and placed them on a skeleton. I even bought an anatomy coloring book and spent hours coloring cells and tissue and all the sytems that compose the human body. Nowadays I'd be called a visual spatial learner, but as a child I was seen as doodling and day dreaming all the time.

Today, art sadly sometimes gets squeezed into my life, even though it's one of the things that brings me the most joy. It's during this creative time that I truly experience that given moment. My mind is only thinking about the shapes, colors and textures before me. Not the endless list of errands that lie ahead or the meeting I had earlier in the day.

So each year I make a promise to myself to try something new artistically. The photo above is the result of a silk painting class I just finished. It's a simple painting, I didn't want to take on too much for my first attempt. What I discovered during the last two weeks working on this painting is I love: the process this medium provides; the vibrancy of the colors; the fact that you really don't have control of the outcome with the colors because boundaries are crossed and colors blend; there's no turning back once the color is applied; and what I found especially important during this new learning experience is that all the "mistakes" really aren't mistakes after all, they are a part of the picture. My goal: create the space in my life and in my home to make a 48"x48" silk painting.

Nell's Diner

Sharing meals with Emme and Mango is a regular occurrence at my house.

Emme busy asking Mango: "What cha doing?"

Remembering Moab

Alex M. finished this beautiful painting today. As I took in the amazing detail of the red rock formations, I immediately found myself back in Moab. I could feel the hot, desert sun on my body, and the heat radiating from the rocks warming the backs of my legs as I ate my snack. A crow soared by, caught in the wind, and the familiar "caaw, caaw" echoed off the walls around us. A Moab trip is around the corner...I can sense that.

Lots to See

Sadie, will you get the ball from the creek?

January Full Moon: Cold Moon
Thanks for sharing photo's Alex! http://coloradoviaalex.blogspot.com/

Bald Eagle above Walker Ranch

Hanging with Milo

A view down Eldorado Canyon of a fire on the plains.

Rock Creek

Great temps and blue skies made for a perfect Friday snowday!



The Rock Creek Road follows Rock Creek, eventually passing through an old ski area. It becomes increasingly steep and makes a very fast run down. The main road climbs up the south side of the valley and ends a little way below treeline on the ridge between Rock Creek and the Middle Saint Vrain valley. There are several spur roads, but they do not continue for any great distance. Even in summer, the trail is difficult to find, so expect to bushwhack the three-quarters of a mile up to intersect the Saint Vrain Mountain Trail. Snowmobiles are permitted on the Rock Creek Road up to the Indian Peaks Wilderness Boundary~but we walked up and it felt great!

North Boulder Fire Aftermath

Driving north on 36 from Boulder today.

As of 11:15 Wed. p.m.

Fire jumps mountain road, sparks new evacuations

Three people hurt; 11,000 homes evacuated; 1,000 acres and five structures burned

http://www.coloradodaily.com/news/2009/jan/07/Boulder-inferno/

North Boulder Fire

I received this email this afternoon at work and learned there was a fire burning in North Boulder. The winds were horrendous all day so I could only imagine.
BVSD Has Two School Bus Routes Affected by Fire North of Boulder City Limits

BOULDER– UPDATED 3:44 PM (1-7-2009) Boulder police are reporting a fire on North Foothills Parkway north of Boulder city limits impacting two BVSD bus routes.


My (very blurry) image from a mesa in Louisville, approximately 12 miles east as the crow flies.

From Rocky Mountain News: Ferocious Chinook winds fed a wildfire that ripped across a 6,400-acre swath of Boulder County on Wednesday — threatening the city's northern outskirts, destroying at least three structures and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents as well as horses, llamas and other animals.

The winds, which in recent days have sucked the moisture from grass and brush along the Foothills, whipped choking smoke across hundreds of charred acres, and nightfall brought the eerie sight of burning fires dancing just north of the Boulder city limits.

No injuries were reported Wednesday evening.
Downed power lines apparently started both blazes.
More than 11,000 people were told to leave their homes, and they were not expected to be allowed back until this morning, said Boulder County sheriff's Capt. Phil West.

"The wind has been picking up and then it'll die," said Linda Gutekunst, 50, who lives near Niwot Road and North 63rd Street in unincorporated Boulder County. "But then it just picks up again."
Scores of people holed up at Niwot High School, and others took refuge at Centennial Middle School.
The biggest concern Wednesday night was the Dakota Ridge neighborhood, which is tucked just inside the Boulder city limits near the intersection of Broadway and U.S. 36.

The first fire erupted a little before 1 p.m., not far from the intersection of Neva Road and North 45th Street, which is located about 1 1/2 miles northwest of Boulder Reservoir. That blaze quickly claimed a home and grew to more than 30 acres, but firefighters were able to contain it later in the afternoon.

Less than an hour later, a second fire broke out in the 7200 block of Olde Stage Road — in the same area as a devastating wildfire in 1990 that destroyed more than 10 homes. Winds drove that blaze south and east, and by early evening it was threatening homes in the Dakota Ridge area.

"The winds are still pushing it, raging pretty hard," said Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley.
That fire quickly spread, and by Wednesday evening, it could be seen throughout the area.
The blazes, which burned through rural areas dotted with small ranches, sent people with animals scrambling.
Among them was Pamela Taylor, 52, of Louisville, who stood anxiously and tearfully at Niwot Road and North 63rd Street, trying to find out if her thoroughbred horse, Zorro, had been safely evacuated from the Green Tree stables.
Her cell phone rang. It was her trainer calling.
"Oh that's awesome," Taylor said. "That's wonderful news."
The trainer told her that Zorro had been evacuated to an area called Meadow Creek.

Huntley said emergency officials began the evacuation using reverse 911 calls, which went to 10,841 homes initially.

The flames destroyed at least one home and two other structures.

The area has been stripped in recent days by warm Chinook winds, which ripped along the Front Range, drawing moisture out of grass and brush.
Gusts as high as 65 mph were recorded Wednesday.

The areas evacuated several neighborhoods — Lake Valley Estates, Crestview Estates, Dakota Ridge and Lake of the Pines. Also threatened were homes along U.S. 36 from Longhorn and Nelson Roads, along Olde Stage Road, and in the Jordan Ranch area.
Scores of horses, llamas and other animals were rushed by their owners to the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont and to the Sombrero Ranch.Gutekunst, 50, started to smell smoke sometime in the middle of the day. Soon, sheriff's deputies and police officers arrived and went door-to-door to tell residents to evacuate.

Later, however, a firefighter came by and told residents they could stay.
Gutekunst spoke with a woman who operates a nearby llama ranch. The woman said her home had burned down.
The woman also said most of her llamas had been evacuated except for one.
Gutekunst said she saw about 10 trucks hauling llamas out of the area.
"The wind has been really really bad here," she said.

Calendar Collection

Each year I create a calendar to send to my family to show them what we've been up to. This is this years calendar.

Grand Lake, CO New Year's '09

Decided to drive up to Grand Lake, CO with the sleds and some friends on New Year's Day to ring in 2009. Grand lake is a small mountain town just west of Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park about a two hour drive from Louisville. It's made for sledding! Instead of bike lanes,like they have here in Boulder, they actually have sled lanes! People ride around on their sleds instead of drive cars. There's seemingly hundreds of miles of trails that lead to amazingly beautiful expansive bowls.

Isolation watercolor by Alex Mendoza
http://coloradoviaalex.blogspot.com/

Trax in the sled tracks.

Dawn, Trax and Alex checking out Berthoud Pass.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!