Marshall Fire

Trigger warning: This post contains descriptions and photos of the fire and the damage caused.

I've been pretty quiet here on the blog so far this year. 

In the lead up to the new year I had every intention to start 2022 out strong on the blogging front and play catch up on some posts I've been meaning to share for a very long time. I'm not one to set new year's resolutions or goals, but a new year does always feel like a good time to start afresh, and I'd decided I was going to bite the bullet and just get it done. 

And then 2021 decided to throw us one last blow... 

On December 30th 2021 our little city was hit by one of the worst fires in Colorado's history. Fueled by 110 mile an hour winds, what started out as a small grass fire on nearby farmland quickly spread to the neighboring town of Superior and then here to Louisville. Within hours entire housing subdivisions were gone. Entire neighborhoods wiped out. Tens of thousands of people hit the congested roads to evacuate, grabbing what ever they could in the little time they had to prepare. If you've been following along on Instagram you'll likely know that we were among those who evacuated. We grabbed our pets, important documents, back up drives and favorite toys and joined the traffic heading north and east, not knowing if we'd have a home to return to.

We're among the lucky ones. The wind changed direction before the fire reached our neighborhood. Our home is still standing. A little smoky at first, but completely undamaged. Unfortunately, around one thousand families in our community can not say the same. Their homes are gone. So too are their most cherished belongings, and unfortunately in many cases, their beloved pets. The fire moved so quickly that there was little time to grab anything before evacuating. Many families were away on vacation at the time with no one able to access their homes and save their pets. It's heartbreaking. As well as those who lost everything, there are many more families in our community whose homes have been rendered uninhabitable due to to smoke and ash damage (whether visible or not). 

I'm sure you've seen it all on the news, but today I'm going to share my story from experiencing the fire first hand. Our home was spared and for the most part we had the comfort of watching the fire from afar (through our Nest camera and Twitter) but I did find myself in the thick of it at one point and it was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. It is the only time I have honestly feared for my life.

Superior Prairie Dogs

If you've been following along for a while you'll know that I'm a big fan of scavenger hunts, especially when it involves public art. So when I learned about the painted prairie dog sculptures dotted around nearby Superior last year, I knew it was definitely something I needed to check out with the kids.

Like the hearts in San Francisco, and the bears in Boulder's Chautauqua Park, these prairie dog sculptures feature colorful designs by local artists and add a touch of whimsy to the area. 

The prairie dogs are all located within the town of Superior and can easily be found in just a few hours, but we spread our search out over quite a few months, finding one or two prairie dogs here and there while out. We've finally found them all, so today I'm sharing them here with you. If you're following along on Instagram you're likely seen a few of them over there already. If you're not following along on Instagram, click here to follow. I'm a little better at staying up to date over there!

So, without further ado, here are all the Superior prairie dogs. I've listed them in the same order they appear on the map, which you can download here.