Colorado snow plow on the Colorado Midland R.R., Hagerman Pass ,1899. William Henry Jackson, Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Whenever the white stuff starts falling, we grab those phones and cameras and start snapping those awesome snow shots. If we can get our dogs or kiddos in there, well, all the better. There's just something we have to capture forever about a Colorado landscape covered in snow.

Turns out, this is nothing new for the people of Colorado. Though they may not have had social media to share the snaps on, Coloradans have been taking pictures of the snow (and their dogs!) for over 100 years. Check out some of these really awesome historical pictures we found of Colorado's snowy past!

16th Street in winter, Denver, Colorado.Image credit Clark Blickensderfer, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Snow Cut on Pike's Peak, May 17, 1900Image credit DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University from the album titled 'Tourist Album: Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado and Utah.'

Courtesy of the Colorado State University Historic Photograph Collection, Fort Collins (Facebook)

The Colorado Snowsports Museum has shared several other amazing photos of people enjoying the snow in Colorado throughout the years:

And it's not just people who love the Colorado snow in these historic photos, even the doggos are getting in on the fun!

British Antarctic Expedition, image credit Herbert G. Ponting.Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Three boys with pullcarts and a dog on a retaining wall, Charles S. Lillybridge, 1849-1935Courtesy of History Colorado Online Collection

Comment below with your favorite snow photofrom Colorado's storied past!

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Historic Colorado: 100-Plus Years of Photographers Capturing Images of Snow, Dogs, and the Human Spirit - Our Community Now at Maryland

It may have been a while since youve been far past your house and neighborhood. But in March, just as the coronavirus spread began shutting things down, a couple of new, brightly-colored murals popped up see in downtown Austin.

The murals, both keyed to this years centenary celebration of 19th Amendment and womens right to vote, are a part of the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundations new Writing on The Walls program, an annual series of public art installations and events. And its a tale of three artists and two walls: internationally renowned street artist Shepard Fairey and Canadian artist Shandra Chevrier collaborated on the large-scale mural on the west side of the LINE Hotel downtown, while local artist Sad Lawson was chosen to transform the wall under the Lamar Boulevard underpass.

On the west side of the LINE Hotel, a new 12-story mural by famed street artist Shepard Fairey and Canadian pop painter Shandra Chevrier, is now the largest mural in Austin. Photo by Cody Bjornson

Molly Alexander, executive director of the foundation, a newly-formed offshoot of the Downtown Austin Alliance, says the focus of the Writing on the Walls program is to turn more of Austins public spaces, sidewalks and parks, which make up half of the land downtown, from transient places to conversation topics.

We spend so much time thinking about the transformation of the landscape in our city around tall buildings and density and I think sometimes we miss the opportunity to think about what the rest of our land looks like, to really make them special to people and meaningful, Alexander says.

They quickly found that finding walls could be a complicated process, Alexander says, balancing the wants and needs of the city with that of property owners and downtown residents while keeping in mind the wall as a potential canvas. A conversation with Susan Lambe, who leads the citys Art In Public Places Program, resulted in securing the Lamar wall for the project, where they wanted to help amplify a local artist due to the heavy-traffic of the spot.

[Susan said] if you could do one thing, get me that wall on Lamar because we cant seem to get it. I dont think anybody really knew who owned it or had the license for it. Its kind of complicated, Alexander says.

In short, they were able to find out that while the Union Pacific Railroad owned the wall, Gables Residential had a license agreement with the city that was created during the construction of the adjacent apartment complex in order to keep the retaining wall in tact. The Gables company loved the idea of a mural and gave approval readily.

Sad Lawsons mural now joins Data Tells A Story, an mural-based installation by Laurie Frick along the Lamar Blvd. underpass. Photo by Cody Bjornson

The new Lamar underpass mural greets Northbound drivers just before artist Laurie Fricks Data Tells A Story, offering an atypical sense of permanence compared to the lackluster tagging that for so long defined the wall. The images depicts three women of color the same figure in primary colors of red, blue and yellow surrounded by water lilies. Called Its Okay to Not Be Okay, the mural is by Austin artist Sad Lawson, who imagined a mural that touched on the overarching theme of the program womens empowerment and a topic she incorporates frequently in her work, mental health.

How can I illustrate somebody being empowered by all of their motions, not just the ones that are deemed okay or accepted? Lawson says.

After being approached by Carlos DeLuca of Station 16 Gallery in Quebec, Canada, who was working in a curatorial role with Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation, Lawson came up with a plan in ten days. Her mural was painted in early March and took around a week to complete.

Lawson has been living and making art in Austin for seven years and says while she still deals with social anxiety, connecting with local artist communities such as the Cherry Cola Dog collective at their weekly Art Will Save Us events helped her find her niche.

I was pushed by people asking When are you going to come out and live paint? because live painting really was the thing to do, Lawson says. It was a really easy and cool way for the people, not just artists, but the community, to come in and see how you work, who you are, what your style is and see you as a person.

She started participating in live art battles with the Cherry Cola Dog folks and performed at one of street art group sprATXs summer bashes, happening which helped her get used to painting quickly with an audience of curious strangers. Lawson says she was initially intimidated by the size of the Lamar wall having previously painted mostly small-scale murals, but she was confident in her abilities to paint and her support of the community.

I think when you have something very important to say or a message that you feel is really close to your heart, being able to put them in a public space, thats just fantastic, Lawson says.

While painting the mural, Lawson reports that passersby in cars honked, waved, and some even stopped to see what was going on. Regular Lamar commuters, myself included, were happy to see some TLC on such a historically misused site.

Feedback from strangers was very overwhelming, people I didnt even know were thanking me for bringing some brightness to that area, Lawson says. Its a wall that was heavily tagged up and just didnt have consistent type of work. People would paint over the walls with a bunch of different colors, which is crazy, because when we were painting on the walls, the wall would give and, its kind of gross, but water would leak out of the wall. Paint was just packed on there.

The whole mural was completed in a week with the help of an assistant hired by Station 16 Gallery and some skilled female brush painters Lawson brought on. Lawson also participated in some programs at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.

The companion mural to Lawsons is a twelve-story monument featuring Wonder Woman breaking the chains of inequality. It towers over Congress Avenue on the west side of the LINE Hotel. Co-created by famed street artists Shepard Fairey and Canadian pop painter Shandra Chevrier, it is now the largest mural in Austin.

The new 12-story mural on the LINE Hotel in Austin is themed to the centenary celebration of the 19th Amendment and womens right to vote. Photo by Cody Bjornson

Negotiations between the LINE Hotel and Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation lasted about a year, Alexander said, adding that the LINE had a desire to connect its Austin property with its hotel in Los Angeles, which also features a large-scale mural by Fairey.

Partnering Fairey with Chevrier, who had never met, took some intentionality on the part project organizers. Both Fairey and Chevrier work heavily with multimedia and portraits. Chevrier headed up the design and Fairey worked with her to bring it to life.

Shepard was all in and recognized that we have to be careful with a white man taking center stage on something around women, Alexander says. But recognizing that if were to do this, we need to create an allyship because women and all voices have to be lifted up together.

While the longevity of street arts can be unpredictable, Alexander hopes the two new murals will last between five to ten years. The Writing On The Walls program will continue in the future and the team is actively searching for new walls downtown. But, like the rest of the world, they are on hold until COVID_19 subsides.

Lawson continues to make things during quarantine, including paintings and stickers, and tries to stay in touch with her audience. While she gained some of the public limelight with this project, she hopes leverage that to keep producing work and engaging with the community.

(My mural) is changing peoples daily routines, she says They have something different to look at and can see their space in a good way.

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New Downtown Austin Murals Nod to the 19th Amendment - Sightlines

Construction on the CrosstownLRT will stop for nothing not a pandemic, and certainly not a ravine filled with trees.

Over the past week, scores of trees lining Eglinton Avenue East have been cut down, to the dismay of Leaside residents.

When the clearing is complete sometime next week, 274 trees between Brentcliffe Avenue and Leslie Street will have been removed to make way for a retaining wall that will sit on the north side of Eglinton Avenue after it's been widened.

According to Leaside Residents Assocation(LRA) co-president Geoff Kettel, work first started on March 24, but "horrified neighbours" of Thursfield Crescent, whose properties line the ravine, intervened.

Before and after photos of the ravine after tree removal along Eglinton Avenue East. Photo via LRA.

"The LRA was contacted by Thursfield neighbours, who in addition to the epidemic-related stress that all of us are dealing with right now, were losing (and have now lost) the treed skyline, a big part of the 'peace and enjoyment'of their property," said Kettel.

Over a three-week break, Metrolinx and the LRA arranged a teleconference meetingand compiled a Q&A document for residents.

But Kettelsays the questions were only "partially answered", without proper explanation of the tree removal plan.

Nearly 300 trees are being cleared to make way for a retaining wall lining Eglinton Ave. Photo via City of Toronto.

The number of trees, which are being removed all the way up to residents' property lines, is "the minimum amount required to safely construct the retaining wall and perform associated grading works," said the City.

A Leaside resident named Susan, who lives in a condo on the other side of the street and has direct view of the construction site, calls the tree removal "a sad day".

"...I am going to miss the view I had from my balcony especially in the summer/fall," she said."It used to be beautiful trees and now it will be a huge retaining wall."

via Leaside resident Susan

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Almost 300 trees are being cut down in a Toronto neighbourhood and residents aren't happy - blogTO

A library in Sheffield is set to get a 50,000 repair job on an external retaining wall, only months after a previous repair.

Broomhill Library, in Taptonville Road, Sheffield, had a structural inspection on one of it's external walls in 2017 and a 20m section was repaired a year later.

But only eight months after the repair, parts of the wall collapsed into the library garden and it will now require a repair totalling 54,000.

Sheffield City Council will stump the bill for the repairs, as Broomhill Library is a co-delivered centre - provided in partnership between the Council and local volunteers.

The "probable cause" of the collapse was identified when structural engineers undertook investigations and a CCTV drainage survey of both the library and adjacent nursing home.

In a report, officers said: "We need to rebuild the collapsed section of the library garden wall, increase the structural integrity of the rebuilt section with new foundations and protect the historical stone features attached to the wall.

"Rebuilding it will improve the stability of the wall. Broomhill Library garden is of local historical significance and an active Friends Group is bidding for money to renovate the garden. The bids are likely to be negatively affected if the wall is not rebuilt."

The volunteer-led library had been hoping to restore it's historic garden, which has now been delayed by the collapse of the wall.

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More than 50,000 to be spent on repairing Sheffield library wall - ExaminerLive

Author Lorrie Moore once said, A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage. With Sunday Shorts, OprahMag.com invites you to join our own love affair with short fiction by reading original stories from some of our favorite writers.

Kristen Arnett's stories reside in the sweet spot between the morbid and the mordantly funny.

Her New York Times bestselling debut novel, last year's Mostly Dead Things (out next week in paperback via Tin House Books), centers on the daughter of a taxidermist who inherits her father's business when he dies by suicide. Bereavement is surreal, and Arnett's fiction offsets profound loss with moments of levity. (Her gin-dry humor is no surprise for those who follow her on Twitter)

"Birds Surrendered and Rehomed," her story for OprahMag.com, tells the story of two relationshipsone past, one presentthrough the protagonist's relationship with her pet parrot, which she adopted with a former lover. It's a story that's queer in all the senses of that word, a compellingly peculiar tale of what we hold on to when loved ones leave us.

They hadn't planned to leave the bedroom window open, not all night, but the humidity in the house was like being smothered under a wet wool blanket. There were only a few inches from the bottom of the pane to the painted sill, barely enough room for a stale breeze to leak inside. Into the bedroom spilled neighborhood sounds and a plague of mosquitoes. The bugs landed and left raised red welts on their skin.

Idling car engines and cicada buzz riled the parrot, an African grey that passably mimicked human voice. The bird, Paloma, got irritable when their routine was disrupted and especially didnt like hearing noises at bedtime.

Fuck me, Miranda! it squawked. Please fuck me!

Shut up, Paloma. It was the fourth time Sidney said it that night and shed likely have to say it again. Ill put the blanket over your cage, I swear to God.

The AC broke that afternoon, buzzing loudly and perfuming the air with a thick, burnt aroma. Something about a cracked belt, according to the repairman, who said hed have to order replacement parts.

Sidney rolled to her side, her back toward the wall. She watched Eliana fan herself with her shirt. Can you imagine living here fifty years ago? People must have sweat off half their body weight. Florida. Its miserable.

I cant sleep, Eliana said. My feet are actually boiling. She whipped her legs out from under the thin sheet, the motion like kicking through a wave. It billowed and settled, hanging half off the bed and dragging on the floor. She stood up abruptly. We should have stayed at a hotel.

Please, dont open the window any wider. Itll only make it worse. Sidney drank from a sweaty glass of water that left a coppery taste at the back of her tongue. When she looked at it under the light, there were flakes suspended in the liquid, floating around like sea monkeys. We need to buy a new filter thingy for the water jug.

Eliana leaned into the opening of the window, lifting her shirt and fanning herself again. I gotta open it more. Just for a little while. She pushed at the pane, cranked it a couple inches higher. Im roasting.

Youll have to get back up and close it in a minute. I dont wanna get robbed tonight because you needed stagnant cholera air.

Fine. Its not like Im gonna sleep anyway.

Sidney sighed and closed her eyes.

I don't care, Im too hot, Eliana said. If anything touches me, Ill scream. She switched off the light and climbed back into bed. She yanked at the sheet, gripping wads of it in her fists and twisting. I feel like I want to hit something.

Well, dont.

I didnt say I was going to, just that I feel like it.

Overhead the ancient fan spun on the second highest speed, slow enough it wouldnt rattle the blades. Paloma scraped twice at the bars of her cage, and then jangled the bell rope that hung in its corner.

Please fuck me, Miranda! Please fuck me!

Paloma! Ill get the blanket. Sidney knew she wouldnt. It was too hot to put something over the parrots cage, even if the bird was being a pain in the ass.

Its disgusting in here. And the fans still too loud. Eliana opened her nightstand drawer and dug around inside. Im putting in ear plugs.

Get me some, too.

They lay parallel to each other, limbs radiating damp heat that forced them to opposite sides of the mattress. Sidney curled over toward the wall, pressing her cheek to the plaster. It was marginally cooler than her body. She fell asleep like that, neck kinked like she was hugging a boulder. The window stayed as it was.

Thered been problems with the parrot from the beginning. It groomed itself obsessively, plucking feathers until crusty patches dotted its wings. It hid rotted hunks of fruit under the furniture, attracting ants and roaches. Often the bird got angry and threw its seeds on the floor. If you walked through the bedroom in bare feet, you might wind up with a sunflower seed lodged between your toes.

The bird wasnt her idea. Sidney acquired him with her former partner, a woman named Miranda who was sixteen years her senior. Miranda had a short, gray bob and wore oversized sunglasses. Her wardrobe looked like a funeral service worker, so much black that she never had to worry about anything matching. She taught Humanities at the University and wrote a book about Pompeii that made it to the very bottom of the bestseller list.

Theirs was an unconventional relationship, but it worked. Sidney liked the stability of it, the domesticity of their routines. They bought a house together in an up-and-coming neighborhood, spent six months traveling Portugal, and then acquired the parrot.

It was a natural progression, according to Miranda, whod never been married and didnt want kids. Sidney wasnt so sure. Shed only ever owned a beta fish, a tiny scarlet-colored thing named Mister Charlie. Hed lived his short existence in algae and muck, trapped in a bowl stuffed in the corner of her childhood bedroom. Half the time she forgot he existed.

Youll like a parrot, Miranda had said, theyre very intelligent. She flipped open the newspaper to show Sidney the ad, circled in green pen, cattycorner to the crossword puzzle they always did together over scrambled eggs. Baby African Greys, a grand apiece. Certified. Ill take care of it. You wont have to do a thing.

Only if we get a boy, said Sidney. She had read an article in the New York Times that said female birds were more aggressive than males. I dont want it biting my finger off because it gets pissy.

Miranda agreed. They went together to get the bird, a forty-minute drive during which Sidney pondered the logistics of buying a pet that would likely outlive them.

There'd been problems with the parrot from the beginning.

The breeders house was a glorified mobile home scented with mildew and cedar chips. Its shaggy yellow carpet held feather fragments and bits of birdseed. Cages sat on every available surface, stuffed with a variety of chattering, skittish birds. Rainbow-colored wings lit loose animals from perch to perch. Surplus bags of pellets lay stacked up in front of the bathroom.

Miranda held a parrot up for inspection. Though a baby, it appeared wizened and ancient, eyes cloudy and dripping clear liquid.

It looks like an old man, Sidney said. She poked at the birds neck which was wrinkled as a crone. One foot in the grave.

The grave, the bird repeated, and Sidney hurriedly drew back her finger.

Hes taken with you, the breeder said, nodding solemnly. She was wearing a cream-colored turtleneck and a greenish-gold patterned vest. Sidney thought she looked like a kindergarten teacher.

Isnt he a darling? Miranda asked. Im calling him Palomo. She let the baby sit close to her, holding him tenderly against her chest. Inevitably he shit, and pale liquid dripped down the fabric of her blouse.

Itll wash out with cold water. The breeder gestured to herself, pointing to some bleached out spots over her breasts. Ive been pooped on so many times that I hardly even notice it anymore.

Thats comforting. Sidney dug a wet wipe out of her purse. She dabbed at the spot while Miranda pulled out her checkbook. The breeder fetched a small shoebox for them to take the bird home in.

Though Sidney objected, theyd installed the parrot in their bedroom. Miranda claimed it was the best place to keep a bird, and Sidney felt weird arguing over it when she knew absolutely nothing about their care. The cage was vintage, bought at an estate sale a wrought iron monstrosity that Miranda painted creamy white. They installed perches on the walls in the living room and in the kitchen; there was even a peg over the stove top. This gave Sidney visions of the bird shitting in all of their food; shed had a recurring fantasy that the parrot fell into their deep fryer and finally died, boiling up golden-brown like a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Despite their problems with the bird, theyd been happy. Theyd filed for a domestic partnership and evenly split their bills. They hadnt needed children because theyd had the bird, which Miranda treated like a spoiled infant. Then Miranda keeled over during her morning run. Two blocks away from their house; fifty-six and dead of a massive heart attack. The mortgage and the parrot became Sidneys responsibility.

After Miranda died, the bird wouldnt shut up. She heard Palomo-as-Miranda calling for her day and night. In the middle of doing laundry, she heard her dead partners voice calling for her from the other room and shed followed it, looking for a ghost.

Baby, can you please pick up your shoes? You always leave them in the middle of the floor and I trip over them.

It was Mirandas voice, but it wasnt her. The bird stared at her impassively from its cage. Sidney sat down on the rug with her basket of dirty clothes and wept.

But it wasnt all bad. There was the parrot, murmuring sweetheart in that 1940s detective voice Miranda had always used when they were joking around. It sometimes stung, to hear the voice and no longer see the face, but it was still strangely comforting. Even if her partner was gone, the echo of her remained.

Yet, the worst was that the bird could perfectly imitate the sounds that Sidney made when she and Miranda made love. Grunts, groans. Streams of outrageous obscenities; jesus and god and sucks and fucks and deeper and wet. Long, lust-filled moans that made the hair on Sidneys neck stand up.

Just like that, the bird crooned, staring hard at Sidney with his beady black and yellow eyes. Ooh, right there. Put your fingers there. Oh baby. Oh yes.

The more upset Sidney got at the sex sounds, the louder and more frequent they became. The shrieks of pleasure were mortifyingly loud. Terrified the neighbors might overhear and think she was a nymphomaniac, she confined the bird to the bedroom. Palomo cooed and begged, made wet, sloppy sounds that sounded like someone plunging their fingers into a watermelon. She contemplated giving the bird away. Thought about it a lot. Even placed an ad in the paper, but she became paranoid that whoever bought him would hear her most intimate secrets. That someone else would know how she sounded when Miranda had her fingers in her, or the grunts she made when bent over the back of the couch. Strangers would hear the weird, high-pitched animal squeak she made when Mirandas tongue touched her at the perfect angle.

It sometimes stung, to hear the voice and no longer see the face, but it was still strangely comforting.

It went on like that for months. Then one morning, after the bird turned ten and shed been without her partner for almost a year, shed gone to clean out his cage and found a small, object the size of a ping pong ball lodged in the shredded newspaper that lined the bottom of the tray.

Sidney let it roll around in the cup of her palm a fragile, tiny thing that weighed less than a packing peanut. Their bird had laid an egg. Their male bird had laid an egg. Palomo had suddenly become Paloma, crossing the gender border without any consideration for Sidneys feelings on the matter.

She called the breeder, enraged. How can you do this to people? Why didnt you know?

Jesus Christ, it was ten years ago. The woman sounded bored, but also entertained. Also, its very hard to tell with birds when theyre that young. Their genitals are pea-sized. What does matter? Its not like shell get pregnant.

You have to take it back, Sidney said, staring at the egg, perfectly formed and improbable. I cant do this.

The woman laughed. I dont even keep those things any more. I breed Weimaraners.

Sidney hung up and set the egg down on the desk beside the cage. She poked it; let it roll back and forth. The parrot reached forward through the cage door and nipped her. Sidney screamed and yanked her hand away, a bloody chunk missing from her pointer finger. The bird darted past, flying wildly around the house while she ran to the bathroom and poured peroxide over her injured hand. She prayed she wouldnt get an infection.

Oh fuck me, Miranda! Please fuck me!

Go fuck yourself, she yelled. She came back with a towel wrapped around her fist and smashed the egg with one of the shoes shed left out on the rug. It left little bits of enameled yolk on the heel.

Sidney met Eliana at a local yoga studio. She wasnt trying to get healthy the problem was her gut. Always tidily packed beneath her clothes, increasing age and a lot of pumpkin cheesecake had made it swell. The bulge popped over the lip of her pants and wouldnt go away. Then a coupon for the studio arrived in her email, offering one free introductory session. It was only a few blocks from her house, walking distance.

She bought the standard startup kit: mat, tight pants, and a little black top that hugged her breasts. She put her hair up in a tiny ponytail that flicked around her face when she rolled her neck. Eliana placed her mat to Sidneys right. Their eyes met in the mirror. They stared hard at each other and didnt look away.

Eliana was eight years younger than Sidney and had more muscle mass in one arm than Sidney had in her whole body. Eliana liked listening to folk music and drove an aqua blue scooter. Her dark hair was cut very short, and bleached white at the temples, which reminded Sidney a little of a horned owl. After the first and only yoga class Sidney ever attended, Eliana offered to come over and make dinner. They ate smoked salmon and lemon risotto in the eat-in kitchen and then had sex on the terrazzo floor next to the table.

Im really glad I decided to mop yesterday, Sidney said, staring under the fridge. I think I see some Cheetos down there.

Grab me a few.

They lay there in a jumbled heap, sweaty skin cooling off into discomfort, and thats when Sidney heard it. The parrot, grunting and screaming. High pitched squeals banging off the ten-foot ceiling in the bedroom. Sidneys own voice, moaning at porn-star levels.

What the hell? Is someone else here? Eliana sat up and reached under the table for her shirt. She held it to her chest in an attempt to cover herself. Are you married?

Its my parrot.

Im not an idiot. Thats a person.

Sidney put her hand over her eyes and tried to ignore Paloma, who was plaintively calling for Miranda imitating a tone that Sidney truly hated; one where she sounded breathy enough to need a respirator. Seriously. I can show you.

The noises got louder as they walked through the house. Sidneys pulse was beating in her ears.

That sounds like you. Eliana stopped in the doorway and turned to look at Sidney. It sounds exactly like you.

Sidney turned on the bedroom lights and walked to the cage, still covered with its bright blue velvet sheet. She yanked it off as the orgasmic noises reached their crescendo, a long wail of ecstasy that plateaued into Mirandas name.

See? Just a bird.

Orgasm over, Paloma hopped back onto her perch and gnawed at her seed bowl. Eliana held her hand out toward the cage.

I wouldnt. Shes a little temperamental.

Oh. Eliana peered between the bars. Kinda cute, but loud.

Sidney pulled on some shorts from her dresser. Not really that cute.

Not for you, I guess.

Eliana picked up some jewelry left out on the vanity, then sniffed at a bottle of open perfume. Sidney saw the space with new eyes: dust coating the fan blades and the screen of the television, mounds of used tissues crumpled on the nightstand. An empty Chips Ahoy container sat next to the door, half opened, discarded carelessly once shed wolfed down the last cookie. Shed been alone for so long that shed stopped seeing the space as anything other than a place to wallow every night.

Eliana picked up a nightgown, an old one with a high, lacy neck made out of very sturdy cotton. Angela Lansbury live here?

It was my exs. Sometimes I wear it.

Huh. Flopping backward, Eliana rolled until she lay diagonally across the mattress. This a craftmatic adjustable bed?

Shut up.

Im serious. Could be fun. Reaching for Sidney, she grabbed at the hem of her sleep shorts.

Behind them, Paloma squawked and dug at her seed bowl, throwing a mouthful onto the floor. The seeds rained down, spraying everywhere.

Touch me, the parrot crooned. Please fuck me.

Let me cover the bird. Sidney held up the blue velvet sheet. Shell calm down a little.

Eliana tugged at the shorts again, and they slipped further down Sidneys waist. Leave it off. Its kind of hot, dont you think? All the moaning.

They left the lights on. Pressed together on the bed, Sidney couldnt tell which parts were her and which were Eliana. It felt different, but good. They sweat and they kicked, the sheets wrapping around their legs, the bird howling and panting and muttering oh my god, oh my god. Sidney kept her eyes on Paloma, who had climbed to the top of her cage to bang at the bars. Hearing herself wasnt embarrassing; it was suddenly intensely erotic.

Sidney shook and swore, climaxing, it seemed, at the same time as Paloma. The voice in the room, echoed over Sidneys own, was like an aria. She had never heard such beautiful music.

Eliana moved in and they shared everything, just like it had been with Miranda. Just like before, except it wasnt. Eliana was young. She wanted to go out to crummy bars and drink whole bottles of five-dollar wine. She and her yoga friends camped in a tent and consumed hallucinogenic mushrooms, writing down the experiences in their journaling workshop. When Eliana cleaned the house, she put lemon Pledge on the furniture instead of Murphys Oil Soap. This is the only good way to clean wood, Miranda always said, rubbing her special cloth across the spotless surfaces of all the antiques. Shed been so careful, so precise. In comparison, Eliana was a ball of frantic energy. The differences were hard to ignore.

Paloma tolerated the changes in her usual fashion: she shit on all the furniture, ruining the fabric. They had to buy slipcovers, washable ones made out of cotton. There were places in the house where the parrot wouldnt let Eliana trespass the nook where Miranda had paid their bills, a window seat where Sidney and Miranda liked to cuddle on the weekends and drink coffee. If Paloma found her there, shed swoop down and snatch bits of Elianas hair. There were tiny bald patches on Eliana scalp. She started wearing a hat inside.

Sidney left Paloma in the cage for longer stretches of time. This further aggravated the bird, which led to more outbursts: boxes of cereal dumped from the top of the fridge, throw pillows gouged open and destroyed. Birdseed scattered all over the house. Sidney found it in the washing machine and even inside her shoes.

Gone were the sweet words of Miranda, the niceties theyd shared with each other over breakfast or in front of the television. There was only Sidneys voice calling from Palomas beak. Always begging, a kind of hurt in the tone, like an ache that couldnt be dulled.

Cant we get rid of it? Eliana bought a white noise machine to drown out the worst of the yelling, but that barely covered it most days. Wouldnt a friend take it?

I dont know anyone whod want her.

What about a bird sanctuary? Theres the Audubon Society. They take all kinds of birds, right? Even freakshows like Paloma.

Oh sure, let me give my climaxing parrot to a place frequented by elementary school children. Thatll go over real well.

They stood in the kitchen, the furthest place from the bedroom. Sidney was eating cereal over the sink, staring out the window at the crepe myrtle tree that Miranda had planted. It was suddenly in bloom and there were white bits falling all over the yard, like snowy dandruff.

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Read this Original Short Story About Living with the World's Most Intrusive Parrot - Oprah Mag

Reducing soil erosion, turning steep slopes into terraced backdrops, creating focal points in the landscaperetaining walls serve many purposes. Indeed, they are some of the most common ways to correct problems caused by hilly areas! Well-built retaining walls transform unworkable inclines into usable outdoor space for the garden.

Despite their simple appearance, though, these walls require a good deal of planningsometimes professional engineeringto keep their shape. Soil is heavy, especially when soaking wet from a recent rainstorm, so a basic retaining wall (four feet tall and 15 feet long) potentially has to support up to 20 tons of soil pressure. With every additional foot of height, the pressure of the soil increases substantially. Miscalculate your construction plans, and you could end up with a weak wall that risks bulging or, worse, collapsing altogether. For just this reason, retaining walls taller than four feet should be designed and constructed by the pros.

Shorter retaining walls, however, can be constructed by enthusiastic do-it-yourselfers equipped with some basic construction knowledge. Does that sound like you? If youre looking to get your hands dirty and enhance your landscape with a retaining wall, these guidelines for building a retaining wall will help you get off to a good start.

A retaining walls effect on the natural flow of water could impact your neighbors, so some communities require homeowners to obtain a permit before construction commences. You may have to submit plans for your wall and schedule a property inspection to ensure that building a retaining wall wont create drainage problems.

While youre at it, do also place a call DigSafe (811), a nationwide service that will notify local utility companies that you plan to dig. These can determine whether their buried lines will be in the way and mark their exact locations.

Retaining walls can be constructed using a variety of materials, from poured concrete and large timbers to natural stones, even bricks. For DIY purposes, opt for manufactured blocks that are designed specifically for building retaining walls; a locking flange along the bottom edge creates a secure attachment between rows. These blocks (available in gray and earthy tones in smooth or textured faces, like these at The Home Depot) can be found at virtually any home improvement store and many garden centers as well.

Your retaining wall will only be as strong its support system. For a stacked-block retaining wall thats no higher than four feet, a trench filled with three inches of crushed rock will help keep the wall from shifting and settling. The exact depth of the trench depends on the proposed height of the wall, but follow this rule of thumb: Dig a trench to be an eighth of the wall plus three inches. For example, if you want the finished height of your retaining wall to be three feet (36 inches) tall, youd need to dig the trench eight inches deep to accommodate three inches of crushed rock and about five inches (or an eighth of the visible retaining wall) to start the wall below grade.

The first course (or row of blocks) sets the stage for the rest of the wall, so its vital that you make it perfectly level. If it isnt, subsequent rows wont be level either, resulting in a retaining wall thats lopsided and unattractive. Use a four-footcarpenters level to ensure that the gravel layer below the first course of blocks is level before you start setting the blocks. Any discrepancies here will show up higher in the wall.

A wall that leans into the soil it retains is less likely to be pushed outward by soil pressure than a plain-old vertical wall. Design and build your retaining wall to slope at a minimum rate of one inch for every one-foot of rise (height). Fortunately, working with retaining wall blocks makes it incredibly easy to achieve this step-back construction! The locking flange on the bottom edge of every block guides it to click into position slightly behind the lower block, preventing the top blocks from being pushed outward.

Groundwater is the natural enemy of retaining walls. When it saturates clay-type soils, they swell and put excessive pressure on the backside of the wall. To avoid failure, make drainage provisions at the same time as you go about building the retaining wall. Backfilling the space behind the blocks with crushed stone and then installing a flexible perforated drainpipe (available at The Home Depot), also called drain tile, at the base of the wall could create the necessary escape route for groundwater. The perforated pipe will carry groundwater to each end of the wall where it can drain harmlessly away. The ends of the drainpipe should then exit on each end of the wall, and you may cover them with crushed stone to camouflage their appearance.

RELATED: The 10 Best Things You Can Do for Your Soil

After your drainpipe is in place, you should backfill the rest of the space behind the blocks with either sand or pea graveleither will allow water to filter through to the drainpipe at the base of the wall. For the best results, backfill with a few inches of the material after laying each course of blocks, and use a hand tamper to compact the material. By tamping the backfill every six inches or so, youll ensure that it is packed tightly, which will provide additional support from the pressure of the soil behind the wall.

While retaining walls taller than four feet should be engineered by professionals, you may be able to DIY a solution for a tall slope by creating two or more shorter tiered retaining walls as opposed to a single tall wall. A series of short walls adds visual texture, and each individual wall will support less soil weight, ensuring that theyre less likely to fail. When building a tiered set of retaining walls, position the higher wall behind the lower wall at twice the distance as the height of the lower wall. For example, if the lower wall is three-feet high, the higher wall should be set back at least six feet from the lower one. This keeps the higher one from creating pressure on the lower one.

Link:
Building a Retaining Wall: 8 Dos and Don'ts | Bob Vila

NASCAR driver and Capitals fan Ryan Ellis tried to drive his RMNB eFord into NASCARs nationally-broadcast race on FOX at 1 PM. Instead, the Ashburn, Virginia native got caught up in a wreck on lap five during the qualifying race.

Yes, he broke the Russian machine (again).

Before the race, Ellis said how important it was to qualify well so he could avoid any craziness in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, he started in 18th and in row 9.

The @russianmachine car looked good coming off pit lane, @ryanellisracing pic.twitter.com/FmQ8SfHbID

Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 29, 2020

The race started inauspiciously enough, but on lap five things got crazy. Kyle Weatherman got into Justin Allgaier and both went into the infield retaining wall. Myatt Snider was sent airborne as other cars collected and wrecked behind those two. Trevor Bayne and Justin Haley were also involved.

Almost won it today . If they took the top-25 out of 30 Id have a chance.

For real though, had good speed but got caught up in a big ol crash lap 5.

Well get em next week, @russianmachine @AVSpecialists_ @TheTireStore! pic.twitter.com/RECBY9RJVW

Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020

Got put top of 3 lap one, and lost a bunch of spots but overall it was fun. Think we wouldve ended up like 6-10th.

Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020

I feel really bad for all the eGuys back at the eShop, Ellis said. We had a really good Russian Machine Ford until we got caught up in a massive crash on the back straightaway. I thought I was going to get through it but my dogs Andy and Barry told me to go low/middle through the crash and they guessed wrong.

FS1 replayed the wreck before the start of the NASCAR race.

Another look at the wreck pic.twitter.com/03hnyng4Wh

Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 29, 2020

For approximately a half second, the @russianmachine logo was on national TV so @ryanellisracing were still winners pic.twitter.com/f0NX7ACayO

Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 29, 2020

Only four of the 34 drivers who participated advanced into the big race. Those drivers were Ruben Garcia Jr., Ty Majewski, Anthony Alfredo, and the race winner Alex Labbe.

Before the qualifying race began, Ellis got a lot of attention on social media after he posted a video of himself driving through a crazy wreck during practice. He didnt even lift as he drove through flipping cars and smoke. Im so proud.

lolololol if this is any indication of whats to come pic.twitter.com/vRBJyJQMdt

Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020

Ellis also had some fun as well, ending his practice session by flipping into the fence.

Glad you took time to inspect the fence and make sure its safe during practice @ryanellisracing pic.twitter.com/s21H7wsrie

Ian Oland (@ianoland) March 29, 2020

Despite wrecking during the race, Ellis showed speed all week and believed he was fast enough to challenge for one of the top four spots.

He hopes that NASCAR considers adding a second race for XFINITY and Truck drivers on Friday nights.

Constructive criticism of LCQ. We really need to try to open it up to all @NASCAR licensed drivers no reason @TommyJoeMartins and a bunch of others couldn't get in there.

Really should be a 100 lap race or so with cautions. Allow 5 to transfer into the other race.

Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020

I think we all understand the big race needs to have guys like Dale JR, Biffle, etc. That's cool. But a lot of the other guys have sponsors that need to be represented and I think with the world struggling for live content, we could host our own race for everyone else on Fri/Sat.

Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020

That way even if people don't transfer in, they still get their sponsors exposure which is really important in this time. Also, 100 laps (and cautions!!!) would really help calm people down and make it seem like a legit race.

Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020

And guess what! Were already working on another session that we can live stream for those smaller guys/teams. We want to include everyone in the sport. I think @iracing and @iRacingMyers are doing a great job with getting all this done and we all appreciate it.

Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020

We cant wait to see whats next and thank you again to Ryan for letting us go along for the ride. This is the most exciting Sunday weve had in a while.

eRaceday at eTexas with the eRMNB eKansasland eAudioVideoSpecialists eFord!

Tune to https://t.co/maqsVpTUQI at 11am. @russianmachine @AVSpecialists_ @TheTireStore pic.twitter.com/fiwC0FjMrP

Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) March 29, 2020

Headline photo courtesy of FS1

See the rest here:
Ryan Ellis, RMNB car gets caught up in 'the big one' at virtual Texas Motor Speedway - Russian Machine Never Breaks

Contractors are reporting faster-than-normal processing of permits from the EGLE and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for shoreline excavation and construction of rock-and-steel structures to protect homes and marine property.

The state environmental agency is typically issuing permits within 14 days and within two days for "really critical" requests, EGLE Director Liesl Eichler Clark said.

"We're working to make sure we're turning those suckers around as fast as possible," Clark told Crain's.

Grobbel, who worked for the state environmental agency earlier in his career, said he's witnessed a different approach to processing permit applications, which he handles for clients.

"It used to take six months to get a permit," Grobbel said. "They're speeding things up dramatically."

State regulators also have been triaging the situation at times, Clark said.

"Every week I'm hearing a different tweak to the policy where now (using) sand bags on an emergency basis is allowed without a permit," Grobbel said. "That was never the case prior."

Clark said the agency hasn't thrown out its regulations book.

But they've become more nimble as dunes make more dramatic shifts after big storms, sometimes leaving cottages on the verge of tumbling over Lake Michigan bluffs, she said.

"If a challenge is imminent, obviously we want them to reach out and communicate," Clark said.

Clark and some professionals in the shoreline construction engineering industry are pushing back on a legislative effort to suspend the permit process during periods of high water on the Great Lakes.

Senate Bill 714 would allow property owners to make emergency repairs to their shorelines if Lakes Michigan and Huron exceed 581.5 feet above sea level. For lakes St. Clair and Erie, permits would not be required under the bill if water levels exceeded 576.7 feet and 573.8 feet, respectively.

Those water levels were the existing mean levels measured on lakes Erie, St. Clair, Huron and Michigan in February, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Office of Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology.

Water levels in February were up 38 inches on Lakes Michigan, Huron and St. Clair compared with February 2019 and up 36 inches on Lake Erie, according to the Army Corps' Feb. 21 forecast.

Vanquishing the permitting process during periods of high water could lead to myriad legal disputes between lakeshore neighbors, said Mark Hurley, director of engineering for Gosling Czubak Engineering Sciences Inc. in Traverse City.

"Nothing's standardized then, so there's really no review process to go along with what's my neighbor doing and how could that affect me," Hurley said. "That would be a difficult one to get on board with."

No one erosion-control project is the same; every slope or lakefront property has its own unique challenges.

The permit process is not nearly as challenging as the logistics of excavating alongside highly developed shorelines with limited access points for heavy equipment to navigate around landscaping and existing retaining walls, Walton said.

"Many of these properties have compromised access," Walton said.

Grobbel said suspending the permitting process during periods of high water is "a recipe for disaster."

"Stuff will get built that shouldn't be built," he said.

Contact: [emailprotected]; (313) 446-1654; @ChadLivengood

Originally posted here:
Racing to stop erosion: Contractors inundated with shoreline construction work - Crain's Detroit Business

Warren Everts estimates hes taught about 1,500 students in his 60 years of teaching drivers ed. Lorri Sughroue/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. After teaching drivers ed classes in McCook for 60 years, Warren Everts found there were basically two types of students.

One group were the students who had never gotten behind the wheel before. That was fairly common, Everts said. Every year, Id have students get in and say, what does that pedal do? What does this pedal do? he said.

The other kind were those who had already been driving a couple years on the farm and thought they knew it all. So Id ask them, then why are you taking the class? And theyd said, my dad says I have to, Everts said.

Everts, 83, retired in January and estimated hes taught close to 1,500 students through the years. I didnt like teaching the classroom but I preferred being out on the road with kids. I liked the face to face contact.

He started in 1960 when he was teaching world history. Back then, the State of Nebraska reimbursed high schools for teaching the class and drivers ed was a requirement for graduation, Everts said. At one point, during the oil boon in the 1970s, the students would number over 100 each semester and even more in summer, requiring three teachers.

That meant Saturdays, after school and 10-hour days, he recalled.

There were only a few close calls during the years, he said. One time, a driver jumped the curb and hit a retaining wall. And I had just praised her for doing a beautiful job on parking, Everts said.

In fact, focusing on what students did right was a big part of his instruction, he said. Most times, if a kid did something wrong, I didnt have to tell them, they already knew it.

Everts said he had only one really bad accident while teaching and in that one, it wasnt even the students fault. A student driver had just completed parallel parking and was carefully pulling out, when a speeding vehicle from behind ran into them. The vehicle driven by the student was rammed into another vehicle and the windshield broke, spraying glass.

He and the student were pretty shook up, he said. She looked at me and said, does this mean I didnt pass, Evert chuckled. Afterwards, it was discovered that the driver of the other vehicle was talking on his cell phone, he said.

Everts wanted to make sure students had control of their vehicle and to do so, had them practice on rural roads in the county. Hed have the students drive just past a sharp curve, then have the students put the car in reverse and back up around the curve. For many, it wasnt easy and the car would sometimes come perilously close to ending up in a ditch.

You could see the exhaustion on some of their faces when we were done, he remembered. Other students navigated the challenge with ease, some commenting afterward, That was easy, usually I have a cattle trailer behind me, too.

His students werent only teens but adults as well. After he retired in 1997 from McCook High School teaching world history, he taught drivers ed at McCook Community College. There, his students included foreign wives of returning service men or older women who never had to drive before.

Another group of students he taught were grandkids visiting their grandparents in McCook during the summer. Drivers ed at the college was less expensive than in other places and for inexperienced drivers, McCook was a great way to begin, Everts said, with streets, highways, cross walks and traffic just not all at once.

More than half a century later from when he first started, Everts maintained kids didnt really change much through the years. Yet, he did see something occur year after year without fail when it came to teenage drivers.

There were always a group of kids who just liked to tear around, he said.

He and his wife, Ladonna, who was also a teacher at McCook Public Schools have three sons, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Original post:
Putting it in 'Park': Driver's Ed teacher retires after 60 years - McCook Daily Gazette

John Penney jpenney@norwichbulletin.com, (860) 857-6965 @jpenneynb

WednesdayMar25,2020at1:05PMMar25,2020at1:05PM

PLAINFIELD It was a busy Tuesday night for Plainfield police officers, with a stop-sign running, vehicle-hopping suspect tracked down and a flaming car crash being blamed on road-crossing deer.

At approximately 8:06 p.m., Plainfield Police Department officers attempted to conduct a motor vehicle stop on 31-year-old Chaz St. George, of Moosup, for allegedly running a stop sign. Police said St. George left the scene but was seen pulling into a private driveway on North Main Street.

Police said St. George fled his vehicle on foot and officers deployed department K9 Warin, who tracked the suspect to an area several streets away. Police said St. George was picked up by another vehicle, but was later found.

St. George was charged with interfering with an officer, driving with a suspended license and a stop sign violation. He was releasedon a $2,500 cash bond and is due to be arraigned on April 13 in Danielson Superior Court.

Hours later at 10:02 p.m., police and members of the Atwood Hose Fire Department and American Legion Ambulance were called to the area of 557 Putnam Road in the Wauregan section of town for a report of a car vs tree collision.

Police said a 2009 Nissan Rouge driven by a 31-year-old Plainfield man was traveling north on Putnam Road when several deer crossed in front of his vehicle, forcing him to swerve across the southbound land, off the road and through a patch of woods. Police said the mans vehicle struck a tree and retaining wall in a yard before it was engulfed in flames, according to a police press release.

The driver managed to get out of the vehicle and refused treatment for possible minor injuries. The crash remains under investigation.

See the article here:
Uncooperative deer and a vehicle-hopping suspect in Plainfield - Norwich Bulletin