(For a complete list of all posts, more than 3,000, see Archives, Complete)

• Wild Basin webcam is my new favorite (6/14/2019) - I’ve long said Rocky Mountain National Park is my favorite place in the world. And it’s easy to assume that would mean a lot of time spent in and around Estes Park, gateway to the park. However, the majority of... Read More ›
• No collusion? (6/14/2019) - Apparently it depends on your definiton of the word.
• Because we could all use a feel-good moment (6/13/2019) - Eleven-year-old Tyler Butler-Figueroa was diagnosed with leukemia at age 4. He was bullied at school because of the hair loss caused by his treatment, and he was ostracized because of a rumor that his cancer was contagious. He got into... Read More ›
• D-Day: 75th Anniversary (6/6/2019) - Normandy by the Numbers The Normandy Invasion consisted of 5,333 Allied ships and landing craft embarking nearly 175,000 men. The British and Canadians put 75,215 troops ashore, and the Americans 57,500, for a total of 132,715, of whom about 3,400... Read More ›
• A cat tale (6/1/2019) - You might have noticed I haven’t been writing much lately. But I have reasons, or excuses, depending on how you feel about cats. Mousse, my beloved kitty for 16 years, died in early April. And as you might imagine, I... Read More ›
• Memorial Day 2019 (5/27/2019) - ~ Never Forget ~ All gave some. Some gave all.  
• Cookies in the cabinet (5/22/2019) - Yep, I saw the video yesterday. Dr. Ben Carson, US Secretary of Housing and Urban Renewal, did indeed think the congresswoman said “Oreo.” Wouldn’t it have been nice (and amazing) if Trump had appointed qualified people to cabinet posts instead... Read More ›
• George Carlin on abortion (5/20/2019) - Given the recent surge of extremism re Roe v. Wade, now seems a good time to reprint these insightful words from comedian George Carlin, first published here April 26, 2012. For those who prefer to hear it straight from the... Read More ›
• Back to the Stone Age (5/17/2019) - Supposedly Alabama’s restrictive new abortion law is intended to get the abortion issue before the now more conservative Supreme Court in an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade. But unless and until that happens, it’s an incredibly cruel, regressive law... Read More ›
• Trade wars bad, very bad (5/15/2019) -   Trump lost a billion dollars in ten years (ala “The Art of the Deal“!?), but at least it was his own money. Now he’s playing with your money and mine. Bad. Very bad. “If the world goes to hell... Read More ›
• My favorite webcams: Estes Park, Rocky Mountain NP, Pikes Peak, Denver/Boulder (5/14/2019) - Updated. Webcams are my favorite way to visit Colorado's Front Range, any time, in any weather.
• Beneath the cover-up (5/6/2019) - Although I agree that Attorney General Barr is nothing more than Trump’s lackey, that’s not why I laughed at this cartoon. I’d never thought about what Trump’s hair must look like right after it’s washed. With the length he needs... Read More ›
• Finally, my Shingrix vaccination (5/3/2019) - It required three or four months on a wait list, but I finally got my first of two Shingrix shots yesterday. Shingrix is the new vaccine for shingles that has been in short supply since its approval and introduction last... Read More ›
• Religious intolerance makes no sense (4/29/2019) - They all worship the same god -- Hate & Intolerance
• It’s Earth Day 2019 (4/22/2019) - Pogo (Walt Kelly) said it best.
• Today is Earth Day 2019 (4/22/2019) - Let's make every day Earth Day before it's too late
• Curiosity’s killing the cat (4/21/2019) - This is part of the Mueller Report released by the Justice Department. Looks almost like an abstract pattern for fabric. That’s some pretty intense redaction in some places. Why? What’s on those pages that are almost completely obscured? It certainly... Read More ›
• Words fail (4/16/2019) - Notre Dame Cathedral, one of the world's greatest treasures, is burning.
• Photographic evidence (4/12/2019) - Proving what we already knew about Trump
• Springtime in the Rockies (4/9/2019) - The high today in Denver was 78°. A blizzard warning has been posted for tomorrow.
• Release the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (4/4/2019) - The redacted Mueller report ...
• Timer Tip (4/4/2019) - Have you ever wished you had some kind of timer that you could set once and it would alert you every 30 minutes, 4 hours, or whatever interval you choose, to take your meds or stand up from your desk... Read More ›
• I am from … a while ago (4/2/2019) - Several recent conversations brought to mind this item I first published in 2009. I probably should have mentioned in the first few paragraphs that all this took place in Oklahoma City between the late ’40s and the end of the... Read More ›
• Joe Biden and the #MeToo conundrum (3/31/2019) - The #MeToo movement has raised a lot of perplexing issues, demonstrated most recently by Lucy Flores, a former member of the Nevada Legislature and 2014 candidate for lieutenant governor and U.S. Congress. Last Friday Flores accused former Vice President Joe... Read More ›
• Something is rotten in Chicago (3/31/2019) - Sixteen charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped
• ‘Short’ sighted (3/28/2019) - Seriously, NASA didn’t think to stock up on smaller spacesuits as soon as they let women into the program!?  
• Nobody asked me (3/27/2019) - Yesterday Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced the adoption of a new official logo for the state. Can’t say I’m thrilled with it. Yes, I appreciate that it’s more colorful than the old triangular logo (adopted in 2014) that I never... Read More ›
• What price oil? (3/22/2019) - Updated March 23, 1:30 pm If you were planning a move to Colorado, is this what you’d want to see? Would you buy a home where this picture was taken? That’s the issue that has been and still is dividing... Read More ›
• Gun culture (3/20/2019) - The recent mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, were terrible beyond words and yet, sadly, not at all unfamiliar to Americans. Mass shootings have become all too common here. It’s worth noting that in New Zealand the immediate reaction by... Read More ›
• If you want to play with others, follow the rules (3/19/2019) -   The rule should be, quite simply, “No admission to a public school (or to the US) without immunizations.” Period. There’s always home schooling, permissive private schools, or online education for those who can’t or won’t get immunized. The unimmunized... Read More ›
• Worried about Ronni Bennett (3/18/2019) - Update, Mar 19: As of 6 pm MDT yesterday, Time Goes By was back on line. I have a request for any of you who follow Ronni Bennett at her Time Goes By blog. For several days I’ve been unable... Read More ›
• Outrage (3/14/2019) - It’s outrageous no matter how you look at it. Wealthy parents buying, lying, bribing, cheating, etc. to get their kids into prestigious colleges. Or maybe into any college at all. It’s an outrage that kids who worked and studied hard... Read More ›
• Ulmer is here (3/13/2019) - In the past there’s been a lot of eye rolling when the local meteorologists get excited about an incoming storm. But this time they nailed it. Winter Storm Ulmer is here. As predicted, the wind and rain began early this... Read More ›
• Have a lanche (3/9/2019) - It seems logical that if any of the lower 48 states were to have avalanches, it would be Colorado. But a report yesterday that the state has seen at least 348 of them since the first of March (one week)... Read More ›
• Hickenlooper’s hat (3/5/2019) - It’s hard to guess how the large and growing Democratic field for president in 2020 is going to shake out. But here in Colorado we’d like to put in a good word for our former governor John Hickenlooper. He’s a... Read More ›
• Worrisome (3/5/2019) - Worry a lot.  
• Watchdog (3/2/2019) - My dog Annie likes to lie on the back deck and watch for birds, squirrels, and passersby beyond the fence.    
• Thinning the herd: Reparations (2/23/2019) - What do Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kamala Harris, former San Antonio mayor Julián Castro, and Marianne Williamson have in common? All are Democratic candidates for president in 2020. And all have indicated some support for reparations to the descendants of slaves... Read More ›
• Holy smoke, Smollett (2/22/2019) - Jussie Smollett. I know that name now, but until recently I’d never heard of him. And I’d never watched nor wanted to watch “Empire.” (Still don’t.) But in the last week it’s become impossible not to know the man’s name... Read More ›
• Hey Dems, I’m getting confused (2/20/2019) - Yep. Surprise. I’m getting (even more) confused … by all the Democrats running for president in 2020. I’ve already lost track of how many there are. And most of them are relatively unknown to me. I might have heard their... Read More ›
• This person does not exist (2/17/2019) - That’s right. This person does not exist. She’s a product of AI, artificial intelligence. Computers have analyzed millions, probably billions, of photos of people. All ages, races, skin tones, and accessories like earrings and glasses. All done for facial recognition programs,... Read More ›
• Oops, I almost forgot (2/14/2019) - Terrific.  
• The latest thing in product placement (2/13/2019) -
• When will we ever learn? (2/11/2019) - In A Measles Outbreak, Demand For Vaccine Spikes A quarter of all kindergartners in Washington county aren’t immunized. Now there’s a measles crisis Defying Parents, A Teen Decides To Get Vaccinated
• No, I didn’t watch the address last night (2/6/2019) - For the first time that I can remember, I didn’t watch the State of the Union address last night. I feel a little guilty, like I shirked my civic duty, but I simply cannot bear to watch that man. I... Read More ›
• Just another Denver sunset (1/31/2019) - Most of the orange clouds were directly overhead, so this webcam view from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science only caught an edge. But wow, what a show we had last night. “‘Tis a privilege to live in Colorado,”... Read More ›
• Beauty underfoot (1/29/2019) - It’s so easy in Colorado to turn one’s eyes to the mountains when seeking beauty. The grandeur of the peaks is undeniable, impossible to overlook. Others look to the sky shimmering with clouds and breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. Yet beauty... Read More ›
• Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall … (1/23/2019) -
• To my readers, with respect (1/22/2019) - I’d like to remind all my readers that Pied Type is an open forum where I encourage and try to respect all views. As I’ve noted in the past, the comments would be pretty boring if we all agreed on... Read More ›
• It’s about choice and respect (1/22/2019) - Every woman’s right to privacy and choice was guaranteed by the Roe v. Wade decision 46 years ago. Celebrate your right to choose for yourself. Respect the right of others to do the same.  
• Rotary phone baffles teens (1/20/2019) - If you’re of a certain age, you’re going to love this. Were rotary phones really that complicated? Am I really that old? The first push-button phones were introduced in 1963 but did not become common in the US until the... Read More ›
• Incoming storm? What storm? (1/17/2019) - (Screenshots from approximately 12:30 pm MST. Click pics for current views.) These and many more webcams are always available on “My favorite webcams: Estes Park, Rocky Mountain NP, Pikes Peak, Denver/Boulder.” Unless, of course, they get knocked out by a... Read More ›
• It’s National Nothing Day (1/16/2019) -
• Ten years since Miracle on the Hudson (1/15/2019) - It was ten years ago today — January 15, 2009 — that Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger safely ditched his US Airways Airbus A320 in the Hudson River after striking a flock of geese while taking off from New York City. All 155 people... Read More ›
• Do what you love, love what you do (1/14/2019) - A 🔟 isn't enough for this floor routine by @katelyn_ohashi. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pqUzl7AlUA — UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics) January 13, 2019 Joy personified by UCLA’s Katelyn Ohashi. Watch in full-screen mode.  
• Off the mat (1/14/2019) -
• More unusual cardinals (1/13/2019) - In the last few weeks there has been a significant surge in readership of my posts about Northern Cardinals, particularly the one entitled “World’s loneliest cardinals.” I’ve no explanation for this renewed interest a three-year-old post, but I welcome anyone... Read More ›
• One cool photo (1/8/2019) -
• Leave only footprints (1/8/2019) - By now we’ve all seen pictures of trash piling up in national parks and at national monuments and memorials. A symbol of what happens during a government shutdown? It shouldn’t be. Responsible tourists dispose of their trash responsibly; if trash... Read More ›
• Good point! (1/7/2019) -  
• This might be the year (1/6/2019) - Don’t laugh. It’s possible. It could happen. Not likely, but you never know. Hope springs, yada, yada.
• It was inevitable (1/3/2019) -
• Happy New Year!! (1/1/2019) - Wishing everyone peace, joy, and prosperity in the new year  
• 2018 is almost gone … (12/31/2018) - … tick, tick, tick  
• Coal industry may be bigger than you think (12/26/2018) - Throughout Colorado’s recent battle over new oil and gas drilling, I never saw coal mentioned. Wind and solar power were often mentioned as the desirable alternatives, but I don’t recall seeing anywhere that most of Colorado’s electricity generation is from... Read More ›
• Wishing everyone peace and joy for the holidays (12/24/2018) -  
• Walmart on parade (12/20/2018) - There are reasons why I very rarely shop at Walmart. And there are more where these came from. There are even explanations of each image, in case you need them. .
• Porch pirate payback (12/19/2018) - Porch pirates are running rampant around here (greater Denver) and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re also operating in your city. Even if you haven’t been a victim of these sleazy thieves, you’ll appreciate the glitter bomb revenge created by... Read More ›
• I know the feeling (12/15/2018) -
• Voila! Problem solved (12/14/2018) -
• Gaming Grandma’s happy place (12/12/2018) - In recent weeks, there’s been little news worth hearing and tv has devolved into holiday specials and reruns. The only channel I watch much anymore is the Weather Channel. As a result, since its release on October 26, I’ve been... Read More ›
• It’s Color of the Year time (12/10/2018) - Pantone has announced its Color of the Year for 2019 — “Living Coral.” Without having read  their usually overblown, hyperbolic description, I’d venture to call it bright, springy, happy. However, as soon as I think of it paired with turquoise,... Read More ›
• So ugly she’s cute (12/7/2018) - Meet Tonks, the Denver Zoo’s baby aye-aye. She was born August 8 and is just emerging from her nesting box. Her parents are Bellatrix and Smeagol (appropriate name!). Only 24 aye-ayes live in seven zoos in the US. They are extremely... Read More ›
• Man’s best friend (12/6/2018) - Nothing has touched me more in the last few days than this picture of Sully, Pres. George H.W. Bush’s service dog, lying beside his master’s casket. Sully, named after Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger of “Miracle on the Hudson” fame, joined... Read More ›
• Honor, dignity, humility (12/5/2018) -   R.I.P. George Herbert Walker Bush 1924 – 2018 41st President of the United States    
• ‘One Voice’ for the holidays (12/2/2018) - I received this video this morning from 1bl0gr3ad3r and wanted to share it with everyone. Turn up your volume, go to full screen mode, and enjoy. Wishing everyone a happy holiday season! _________________________________ Notes from YouTube: This holiday season The... Read More ›
• My visual Freudian slip (11/25/2018) - I was reading a news item this morning about Trump and the frightening new climate change report that he released in the wee hours of Black Friday night, hoping few would see it. The New York Times said the report’s findings... Read More ›
• Money and morality (11/23/2018) - From the New York Times newsletter this morning: • Quotation of the day “A country that can’t be trusted with a bone saw shouldn’t be trusted with nuclear weapons.” — Representative Brad Sherman, Democrat of California and a member of... Read More ›
• It’s Turkey Day in the USA (11/22/2018) - Wishing everyone a wonderful day filled with warmth, love, food, and fun. Cheers!    
• NRA: ‘This is our lane’ (11/21/2018) - If the NRA wants to claim that the issue of gun rights and gun ownership is theirs alone (“our lane”), that’s going to be a problem — because they aren’t willing to also accept the responsibility for fixing the problem... Read More ›
• And so it goes (11/19/2018) -    
• Solo dog sledding (11/17/2018) - Who needs humans when you have a nice hill and a perfectly good sled?  
• It’s a commercial, but who cares (11/15/2018) - Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
• An international embarrassment (11/13/2018) -
• Count every vote (11/13/2018) - There’s nothing illegal or wrong about a recount of the votes in Florida. And, according to the Florida Department of State: A 10-day extension exists for overseas voters. The overseas voter’s vote-by-mail ballot must be postmarked or dated by Election... Read More ›
• Thank you, veterans (11/11/2018) -
• Lookin’ good, ladies (11/9/2018) -
• Get well soon, RBG (11/8/2018) - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, suffered three broken ribs in a fall last night and was admitted to George Washington University Hospital this morning for observation and treatment. “The Notorious RBG” has said she plans to serve on... Read More ›
• The morning after the night before (11/7/2018) - I’d hoped for at least a few quiet days before the 2020 campaign began, but there were rumblings even before all the ballots were counted last night. Nevertheless, I’m breathing a bit easier this morning. The Democrats took back the... Read More ›
• If you haven’t yet — GO VOTE! (11/6/2018) -
• The more things change … (11/4/2018) -   (Reprinted from April 14, 2015)
• Demonstrating a proper catwalk (11/3/2018) -
• Sick and tired (11/1/2018) - There was an opinion piece in the Washington Post yesterday entitled “Vote against all Republicans. Every single one.” Author Max Boot began by quoting Joe Biden: “I am sick and tired of this administration. I’m sick and tired of what’s... Read More ›
• The sooner, the better (11/1/2018) -
• Wishing you a spooktacular Halloween (10/31/2018) -
• Wisdom, a rare trait these days (10/30/2018) - … Today, tragically, too many people in power are projecting the worst. Many are cowardly, complicit enablers, acting against the interests of the United States, our allies and democracy; encouraging extremists at home and emboldening our adversaries abroad; and threatening... Read More ›
• The art of pumpkin carving (10/29/2018) - This is my favorite of several beautifully carved pumpkins from Maniac Pumpkin Carvers in Brooklyn, NY. More of their work is featured in The Guardian.
• Dumbo the … octopus? (10/27/2018) - Ever heard of a dumbo octopus? I hadn’t until now. The dumbo octopus (Grimpoteuthis) gets its name from the fins that resemble the ears of Disney’s Dumbo the flying elephant. It is small, usually only about 8 inches long, but the longest on... Read More ›
• Explosive devices: What we know so far (10/25/2018) -
• No golfing today in Estes Park (10/24/2018) - This was the scene on the Estes Park, Colo., golf course today, but I don’t see many golfers. Apparently playing through was not an option. Fall is the rutting season for elk, and every year they gather like this in and... Read More ›