It has been a dry summer in Colorado, but that has all changed this week. I hope the August rain we are having extends the wildflower season a bit, and keeps us green longer into the fall. The Columbine (shown above) like it a bit wetter. It was downright gloomy out this yesterday and again this morning. It was raining nicely though, and that feels good after the dry we have had.
The new unemployment reports are out, and are showing the economy, while weak, is not completely tanked, with unemployment for the state of Colorado at 5.2%, but locally in Colorado Springs up to 6.1%. There have been a couple of bright spots, and ironically they center around energy. The western slope (Grand Junction being the landmark) is gearing up for more oil drilling and oil shale extraction. A Danish company (Vestas) has announced a new facility north of Denver to make wind generators, hopefully to be installed on the eastern plains. I'm sure at least some of the "Pickens Plan" gets done here, it makes a lot of sense, and doesn't really affect the wheat farmers on the eastern plains very much.
As the Iraq war winds down and housing picks back, I think we'll be fine here in the Springs. We have a lot of people still deployed from here, and Fort Carson and the City of Colorado Springs is ready for them to come home!
This will be an interesting next couple of weeks in the Denver area. The Democratic National Convention is a pretty big deal, and they've already decided to close I25 through downtown on the 28th of August, during Obama's acceptance speech. While logistically it makes some sense, that will be a frustrating experience for those who did not get the word. We use that road a lot getting to Ft Collins and back to see our daughter, and it is always pretty packed.