Colorado! I’m settled into a rather thick copse of woods on the land of Jim and Stacy Rasmussen, our relatives. A range of mountains completely encircles me.

If I look to the north they are perhaps 10 miles away, to the south perhaps 50 miles away, to the east 10 miles, to the west 15 miles. These are the Rockies. And this is one of the famous mountain meadows of the Rockies. Jim lives in Denver, about 70 miles east of here, and this is his mountain Shangri-la, with a house trailer here for summer use.

I have hopes of seeing some birds or other wildlife, while I am here, but it will likely take an hour after I have disturbed the place with my arrival. Happily, I am already hearing some bird life at a distance, which is hopeful.

The skies, however, are giving me pause. Although it seemed a fairly clear, sunny day when I arrived, a huge nimbus cloud sails directly above me now, with thunder crackling in the nearby hills.

A blue sky follows the dark cloud, the sky surrounded by big fleecy white clouds. I am reminded from somewhere that mountain weather changes quickly. Stay tuned for the next thrilling episode in this weather report.

A word about this copse of trees: It seems to be entirely comprised of quaking aspen and balsam fir. At first I wondered why only these two. Now I see that this area makes up a small valley. And it seems, from what I can see from where I sit, that this valley is made up mostly of these two trees. Oh yes, and I do see the tall western pine scattered here and there about the valley.

My first visitor on the writing board is a fly. He looks like a house fly,  but he is only half the size. House fly moves aggressively across my page. I try to push him aside a bit, but he seems unperturbed by my pushing, and he doesn’t fly away.

Next yellow wasp lands on the back of my hand and starts to explore. His partner joins. I’m a little uncertain of their intentions, so I shoo them away.

Then house fly lands on my board and stares at me. He looks ordinary, except that he’s twice as big as any I’ve seen I guess he decides I don’t look delicious, so he goes.

And there’s mosquito. Ordinary mosquito. She looks hungry, and I’m not interested in a blood sample today, so I shoo her away.

One of the remarkable features of the Rocky Mountains is that a rock and forest mountainside may sweep down and level out into a grassy plain, an excellent pasture. Then it may rise up again into a steep mountain.

The land on which I am sitting now is one such pasture. And I am visiting it in one of its heavy blooming seasons. My wife, JoAnn, Jim Rasmussen’s sister, always helps me identify flowers, as she does today.

You are greeted with blue asters in the woods! These are followed by yellow potentillas on little bushes in those woods.

As you walk in those woods you are met by lavender harebells and yellow goldenrod. White bear root and clumps of yellow daisies greet you as you enter the meadows, along with a single Indian paintbrush, whose red is the remainder of the summer bloom. Finally the lavender skullcap is the tallest one of meadow’s lovely blooms. And there are several pin cushion cactus!

The Rockies have so many remarkable wonders to offer the visitor.

James Alger, who lives in Fargo, N.D., has been a summer resident of the Leech Lake area with his family for over 50 years. Over that time he has grown to love and appreciate the people and the woodlands of this area.

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