http://denver.yourhub.comThe latest story posts in The Denver Newspaper Agency YourHub.comen-usnews@yourhub.com(c) 2009, YourHub.com5Here is a photograph I took this past December looking north over Castle Rock. Looking closely and you can see the "star", and Mt. Evans in the distance.http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~62136.aspx3/13/2006 8:41:06 AMMichael Rule To the editor, Regarding the blog posted by Mike Bates titled "Drivingcarefully, so why the warning?" I would like to make the followingcomments. First, the speed limit is 75, not 78, and if traffic wasaccelerating away from him, why was he in the left lane? Obviouslyhe knew he was ex...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Letter-to-the-Editor/Story~72696.aspx4/8/2006 5:40:28 AMMichael Rule Thanks for all the great feedback on my photos! Here are a few more pictures of wildflowers taken recently from around the property.........http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~78030.aspx4/24/2006 8:47:23 AMMichael Rule The Pasque flower (Pulsatilla patens hirsutissma) is one ofmy favorite wildflowers, and one of the earliest wildflowers tobloom in Douglas County. A member of the Buttercup family, to methey resemble small tulips. An interesting footnote about theseflowers is the bloom appears before the ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~78037.aspx4/24/2006 9:08:48 AMMichael Rule He was known as the guy who wouldn't trade a thick penny for a thin one. Aye, and if ye want to call him cheap, then ye can do that. If ye want to laugh, as the townspeople of Monument once did, then laugh, and when ye is finished with yer chucklin', why sit back, and let me tell ye why ol' Jerem...http://denver.yourhub.com/Denver/Stories/Archive/Promotions/Finish-the-Story/He-was-known-as-the-guy-who/Story~86102.aspx5/16/2006 9:45:58 PMMichael Rule Here is a photograph I shot a week or two ago of the Greenland Ranch, south of Castle Rock and near where we live. Looking past the ranch towards Pike's Peak you can see part of the Greenland Open Spacehttp://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~86106.aspx5/16/2006 10:18:21 PMMichael Rule "And for the first time she knew all the legends and stories passed on to her about her people were true". That is what Grammy told me about the day she rode that painted pony into that village of Indians, trailing 'er papa and starin' straight ahead as he 'ad told 'er to do. Ye see, she was just...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Promotions/Finish-the-Story/And-for-the-first-time-she/Story~89540.aspx5/27/2006 8:09:24 AMMichael Rule Thursday evening we got hit with a "micro-burst" of hail here at our place near Monument Hill. It was quite a show, as A LOT fell in a short period of time. Goodbye garden, you were doing so well.....woke up the next morning and took this picture as the sun rose thru the ground fog..................http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~91472.aspx6/3/2006 12:13:04 PMMichael Rule I was inspired by both the recent weather and the calendar to get up early Saturday morning and take a photograph as the sun rose on the first day of autumn. This is what I came home with. Both Pikes Peak and the foothills were lit up with fresh snow, and as the sun continued to rise the prairie ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~128772.aspx9/23/2006 12:37:58 PMMichael Rule We have had the great pleasure recently to work with Douglas County on a Forest Management project on top of Spruce Mountain near Larkspur. If you haven't been up there yet it really is a gem of a spot. These are some photos I have taken from the Open Space over the past week or so. To reach the ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~134737.aspx10/8/2006 6:47:24 AMMichael Rule The stories of Mack McCrusty, including his "Stories from the Road" and "The Legend of Jeremiah McGilley" started out a couple of years ago as a way to relate my travel and wandering experiences in such a way as to entertain and amuse my friends and family. In the best tradition of, and my hum...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Travel/Share-Stories-and-Photos-of/Story~135082.aspx10/9/2006 10:34:10 AMMichael Rule I hope you all had the chance to read the excellent article about the Denver North High School Cross -country team and their coach a few weeks ago in the Sunday paper. As you might recall, they finished first in the Wild West Relay, a distance running event for teams of six to twelve runners over...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Recreational/Story~139024.aspx10/18/2006 9:19:17 AMMichael Rule The stories of Mack McCrusty, including his "Stories from the Road" and The Legend of Jeremiah McGilley" started out a couple of years ago as a way to relate my travel and wandering experiences in such a way as to entertain and amuse my friends and family. This story is from a number of years ago...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Travel/Share-Stories-and-Photos-of/Story~144141.aspx10/31/2006 7:00:51 AMMichael Rule Yesterday evening I hiked up a local butte overlooking Monument Hill. I have been wanting to capture a sunset from this spot for quite some time. This is a 30 second exposure. The lights are the I-25 corridor. What a beautiful evening!http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Travel/General-Travel/Story~146281.aspx11/4/2006 6:37:59 AMMichael Rule Susan and I just got back from a week in San Francisco. A special treat to ourselves was two nights in the Hotel Vitale, across from the ferry building and the waterfront. Susan's nephew Chad is well-known in the Bay Area Hotel industry, and he lined us up some fancy digs! For two days we explore...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Travel/General-Travel/Story~155750.aspx11/29/2006 8:15:46 PMMichael Rule Yesterday afternoon the winter storm that is hitting us hard today was pushing clouds up the south side of Monument Pass. The clouds pushing over True Mountain were very dramatic as I made my way home. I stopped and took these photos as the wind blew and the sun began to set. As I write this ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Photos/Story~162980.aspx12/20/2006 9:11:32 AMMichael Rule While driving the back roads out of Douglas County heading to my son's wrestling tournament in Simla yesterday morning I came across this interesting weather. The light shining through the blowing snow had created a rainbow. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. No, that is not a lens refracti...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Photos/Story~170220.aspx1/14/2007 7:33:35 AMMichael Rule Susan and I recently returned from a 10-day vacation in Zihautenejo, Mexico. I hadn't been there in a number of years, and with Frontier now offering direct flights out of DIA, it seemed to be time for a return visit. Every year we take our company managers (and their significant others) on...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Travel/Share-Stories-and-Photos-of/Story~170227.aspx1/14/2007 9:41:29 AMMichael Rule Aye, so ye want a story of me adventures, do ye? Not some drivel what ye might find in the weekly rag for 50 cents down at the corner, but somethin' to bring the salt o' the sweat in yer eyes to life, somethin so ye can taste the odor of the back streets of that town we visited in Mexico, where t...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Travel/Share-Stories-and-Photos-of/Story~170353.aspx1/14/2007 6:36:02 PMMichael Rule Last night Susan and Lucky and I hiked up to the top of the Castle Rock for the sunset. Lucky's size (or lack thereof) came in handy as we were able to pass him up to each other while scrambling through the rocks near the top. It was both Susan and Lucky's first time to the top o' The Rock. ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Photos/Story~172572.aspx1/19/2007 8:17:45 AMMichael Rule "You stuck?" "Yup" "That's funny!" "You think it's funny that I'm stuck?" That's how the conversation started with the lady in the black SUV that pulled up to me Saturday afternoon in Castle Pines. I had just finished clearing out the driveway of one of my clients with my Bobcat lo...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~178896.aspx2/5/2007 9:09:00 AMMichael Rule Getting a little cabin feverish? How many of you have taken the easy road trip to the South Platte River and the Deckers area? The South Platte forms the western border of Douglas County. Susan and I went down there the other day and it was spectacular. We had the road pretty much to ours...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Travel/General-Travel/Story~179984.aspx2/7/2007 8:05:30 AMMichael Rule I was driving to Franktown yesterday on Hwy 83, near Jones Road heading north. Patches of heavy fog alternated with clearer moments. As I drove along I kept an eye out for the bison on the Buffalo Ranch near my home. Suddenly, there they were, appearing out of the mist. I stopped and took...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Photos/Story~184142.aspx2/16/2007 7:36:53 AMMichael Rule As those glaciers slowly recede in our backyards, many of us are seeing "tunnels" appear all over our lawns. What's causing these trails running all over the place, going helter skelter and hither and yon? Welcome to life with the common vole. The vole is another example of wildlife lovin...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~280670.aspx3/19/2007 6:51:52 AMMichael Rule Early season wildflowers of Douglas County. This is one of my favorite times of the year. The early season wildflowers are beginning to bloom all over our county! Since I was in High School one of my favorite hobbies has been searching out, identifying and photographing wildflowers. We ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~288545.aspx4/3/2007 7:29:07 PMMichael Rule The savvy gardener's guide to Gardening in Douglas County Gardening in Douglas County can be, well, challenging. Our soil is a long way from the rich loam of the Midwest. Warm spring days can give way to snow in the blink of an eye. Hot days can finish with cold nights. Hail can pound plants ...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Home-Garden/Story~290167.aspx4/6/2007 11:10:41 AMMichael Rule There are a lot of new houses around here. That equates to a lot of new homeowners with a lot of new lawns and new landscapes. If you have recently spent money on landscape work, how can you know if you are getting the quality workmanship you paid for? I own a small tree and landscape care comp...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~299086.aspx4/24/2007 11:47:12 AMMichael Rule Larkspur was hammered by the recent snowstorm; we had well over a foot of snow on our deck! It did make for some beautiful scenery, as everything here was covered in a layer of white. Wet, heavy white....... Damage to trees was extensive, especially in the Sageport and Perry Park areas. Susan...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Photos/Story~300019.aspx4/26/2007 6:26:57 AMMichael Rule As more and more houses are built in the native forests of our county, we see more and more problems associated with integrating homes with trees. Nobody wants to remove more trees than they have to, least of all me. However, the desire to save as many as possible can often bring on more prob...http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Archive/Home-Garden/Story~303966.aspx5/4/2007 9:58:54 AMMichael Rule We woke up this morning to another 6"-8" of snow down here in Greenland. Shortly after I took these pictures the fog moved in, hiding the snow covered forest around us. A few hours later and the sun came out. As I write this the snow is already melting off the trees, dropping in huge clumps....http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Sports/Story~304995.aspx5/7/2007 7:02:12 AMMichael Rule