The Colorado State Open Thread is for all those who are interested in what is going on in our state of Colorful Colorado. Please stop by, take a look at my story and then please add your own story, thoughts, comments, blurbs or whatever you’d like in the comments section. As a reminder, I would appreciate guest diaries, guest donations of royalty-free pictures for our quiz of all manner of things Colorado (places, people, things, ideas and whatnot) — you can send the pictures to colotim2010 @ gmail.com and I’ll put them in as soon as I get a chance.
Last week’s photo was identified by several people. I don’t know if they had to look it up, but I had to when I first saw the critter’s relative hiding in a hole under the AstroTurf in the dog run about three years ago.
www.ereferencedesk.com/…
Colorado House Bill 12-1147
According to State Representative Angela Williams, sponsor of 2012's House Bill No. 12-1147. The governor signed this measure on March 16, 2012.
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Tiger Salamanders in Colorado are primarily associated with prairie or agricultural habitats. They breed in ponds, lakes, springs, intermittent streams, and stock ponds, usually those without fish present. Adults go to the breeding ponds soon after snowmelt; after breeding, adults may remain in the ponds or move to upland areas and live in burrows. Eggs hatch in 2 to 5 weeks and metamorphosis takes 2 to 24 months. In some locations larval salamanders never transform, but rather become sexually mature and breed while retaining external gills (referred to as neotony). These salamanders are often called "axolotls" or "water dogs". Are benthic in ponds but may enter upper water column at night. At high elevation, tend to select warmest water in ponds (rarely above 25 C). Shallows during day, deep water at night.
Other Colorado state symbols can be found at archives.colorado.gov/...
For this week’s picture, I have brought multiple friends and relatives to this restaurant so they can see what a typical Colorado restaurant looks like on the inside. No, I have not brought vegetarians or vegans here, but others, I have. The last time, my cousins were very nervous about consuming the oysters you can find roaming around the pastures and rangeland of Colorado (well, at least for a short while) and I treated them to a new taste sensation, though I think I prefer the ones to be found at Bruce’s in Severance, though the atmosphere is a little different. The distance to drive is also a little different, depending upon where you start, because Severance is out in the middle of nowhere (which is actually appropriate as a place to harvest the oysters).
I will be distracted this evening so I won’t be immediately answering your posts. My hometown KU Jayhawks are playing for the national championship in men’s college basketball. I’ve never been anything but horrible at actual basketball, but I do enjoy tossing balls, wadded up pieces of paper or balls of tape at wastebaskets or other round hoop-like objects to see if I can get them through. I just can’t run or jump (I am a white man, after all, if you remember the movie) and I constantly get stuffed or have the ball stolen from me in an actual contest. I can appreciate the athleticism of the players, their accuracy, their skill with plays, the honest emotions of the players and their fans, plus the knowledge that these guys are, for the most part, playing for the love of the game though now some are going to be earning money from endorsements, autographs, and similar promotions. This is, however, a very special day that only comes around every few years so when it does, my attention cannot be anywhere but on the game.
I have three teams I root for — my hometown Jayhawks, my alma mater University of Michigan Wolverines and my other alma mater, Colorado State University Rams. The first two have been lifelong passions, as not only did I grow up with the Jayhawks, but both parents, a grandparent and an uncle went to Michigan. CSU came along later, so they’re not quite as ingrained. Still, I am a fan of, and generally prefer college sports over professional sports.
Back to politics for the rest of the Open Thread:
I did run across an article I think you might be interested in. www.chieftain.com/… It is about a public meeting yesterday with multiple county clerks from both parties at the Capitol in Denver, basically telling election conspiracists to either show proof of problems with the election of 2020 or shut the F up because they’re undermining the confidence people have in elections in Colorado. I put it and related material in the diary published earlier today www.dailykos.com/… You and I both realize that’s one of the major points of these funded groups — to drive down confidence, drive down turnout and hopefully get their slimeball candidates elected by a tiny fraction of the people in the districts where the elections are taking place.
Sorry, but it’s about time for basketball. I’ll see you in the comments later on. Please don’t forget to send story ideas and quiz pictures to me either through the Kos messaging app or to colotim2010 @ gmail.com. As always, the floor is open.