Brenda Whitman, Realtor, Laramie, Wyoming

Recently I posted about the flowers all over the University campus that finally come full bloom in August and September. Here are a few more pictures from our walk around campus on that sunny, September Saturday:

. . . further evidence that summer does, indeed, pass through Laramie.

As you may have guessed, the University of Wyoming is an integral part of Laramie. Besides being impacted by all the students that come to study, the University employs a significant portion of Laramie's workforce. Nearly everybody knows somebody who teaches, works or attends school on campus.

Since the University's campus dominates the middle of town, it is impossible to miss. By August and September this is a good thing since that's when the hard work of the University's landscaping crews finally springs to life! All over campus the trees are trimmed, grass is green and the beautifully, maintained flower beds erupt into full bloom. It is a wonderful time to be in Laramie....

Though I sometimes wonder if people from out of the region aren't tricked into staying by this incredible time of year.... only to be surprised later by an equally engaging winter!

Over the short course of my blog, which I started in January - the heart of winter - much ado was being made over the harsh weather all over the U.S. My intentions back then were to make up for this during our perfect summer since, in my humble opinion, Laramie has the best summers on earth . . . once they finally get here!

Well, summer was busy and now here we are on the cusp of fall (we had our first hard freeze last night) and I barely made mention of the unique beauty of our little town on the high Wyoming plains! So without further ado... here is the first of a few pictures from our glorious days of summer....

I love how blue the skies are and all the shades of green....

Yesterday, I came across a fun website called The Imagination Prompt Generator via the blog of Donna Foerster.

After remembering all the prompts I was given as a student I was curious to see what this site could possibly have to offer. Curious, and a wee bit skeptical....

Ha! To my surprise the prompt of the day when I visited was "What is/was your favorite cereal?" Seems like an ordinary question . . . an ordinary question that will evokes a very personal and different response from every person who reads it!

So.... my favorite cereal? Why, Quisp, of course! Who wouldn't love those golden, little saucers that got ever so smooshy in milk?!

And even better, when I went searching the internet for a picture of my all-time-favorite sugary breakfast treat, I discovered that General Mills might still be making it and selling it. . . at Target!

And here I thought after all these years that Quisp was just a faded memory...

Since Laramie doesn't have a Target, I may find myself making a little trip this week in search of not just cereal, but childhood memories in a bright, blue box!

Quisp photo by Phil Plait, Rohnert Park, USA, found on Wikipedia and
licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Fortunately, watching the Laramie river rise over the last month and a half has been anti-climatic. After all the uncertainty and speculation, the spring run off came at a slower than expected pace. Now, it looks like the river may have peaked and be on its way to returning to it's usual low level. (remember here out west we really s-t-r-e-t-c-h the definition of what a river is!)

It is ironic that the town seemed way more prepared for the possibility of flooding this year. The river banks were reinforced with big dirt piles and at least one homeowner down by the river pre-emptively stacked sandbags around their home . . . Smart move, I think.

Last year, the river rose even higher with the water creeping into some city neighborhoods. Then it seemed like there was a huge last minute scramble to get those neighborhoods protected after the fact. Guess there's nothing like a brush with near calamity to remind us to be better prepared for the next time!