This week, the sky is putting on a show — a fleeting spectacle that’s easy to miss if you don’t pause and look up.

Though I wish we could witness every celestial wonder, one of the headlining events will skip over us this time; but, there’s still so much magic waiting overhead. Stay with me, and I’ll share what you can see if you give the sky a little of your attention.

Meanwhile, down here on Earth, August is the moment when gardens get a second wind, bears get very serious about dinner, and a little bookstore in Windsor is preparing for a day devoted entirely to romance.

So, look up… maybe look around… Then go outside.

Let’s dig in!

– Megan

No, you don’t get the eclipse. But you do get the Perseid. Let’s get this out of the way first.

Northern Colorado will not see Wednesday’s total solar eclipse. The path of totality crosses Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, Spain and a small corner of Portugal. In the United States, even a partial eclipse is limited to a band stretching roughly from Alaska across the northern part of the country toward North Carolina.

So if you’ve been planning to stand in your backyard at noon and watch the Sun disappear, don’t. ‘Cause we don’t get to see this one. Whomp.

But Wednesday night is another story.

The Perseid meteor shower peaks the night of Aug. 12 into the early hours of Aug. 13, and this is about as good a year as you could ask for. The Moon reaches its new phase on Aug. 12, so there’ll be almost no moonlight competing with the meteors. Under genuinely dark skies, you could see dozens of meteors per hour, with theoretical rates approaching 100 under ideal conditions. The Perseid shower is debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle burning through Earth’s atmosphere.

You don’t need a telescope. You don’t really need anything.

Find the darkest spot you can. Get comfortable. Give your eyes about 30 minutes to adjust. NASA recommends looking generally toward the northeast once it’s fully dark, but don’t stare at one particular point. Meteors can streak across almost any part of the sky.

And then there’s Venus.

On Aug. 15, Venus reaches its greatest eastern elongation, meaning it’ll appear at its widest separation from the Sun in our evening sky. Look low in the western sky shortly after sunset. Venus will be unmistakably bright, outshining everything around it.

Then mark Aug. 27.

This night brings a celestial event we actually get to watch.

A partial lunar eclipse will begin after moonrise, with the partial phase starting around 8:33 p.m. in Fort Collins. Maximum eclipse arrives around 10:12 p.m., when about 93% of the Moon’s diameter will be inside Earth’s dark central shadow. The Moon will take on the coppery, reddish look that makes lunar eclipses so good. The partial phase ends around 11:51 p.m.

And unlike a solar eclipse, you can watch a lunar eclipse with your bare eyes.

Estes Park isn’t a certified DarkSky International community yet, but it’s working toward it. Visit Estes Park says its sky-brightness measurement program is ongoing, along with development of a lighting management plan and policy framework.

The next public measurement event is listed for Monday, Sept. 7. Volunteers learn to use Sky Quality Meters and take readings around the Estes Valley.

You don’t have to be an astronomer. You just have to be curious about how dark your corner of the valley really is.

And that seems like a pretty good reason to go stand outside after dark.

If your garden is starting to look a little tired, don’t pull everything out yet. Unless you’ve just had enough. I understand; it's been a tough year for NOCO Gardens!

But if you’re ready for another round, August brings another planting window for cool-season vegetables, and some of the things you plant now will actually taste better once the weather turns cool. CSU Extension recommends a second round of cool-season crops across the Colorado Front Range and eastern plains, with many of them going in during July and August for fall harvest.

The trick is knowing what still has enough time.

For Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor and the surrounding plains, don’t plan around one magical first-frost date. As you probably know, Colorado’s first freezes vary wildly from year to year. The Colorado Climate Center’s 1991–2020 data (most recent data we have) puts the typical first freeze in much of the eastern plains in the first half of October, but an early freeze can absolutely arrive in September.

So think short season, and give yourself some insurance.

A useful rule is to take the days-to-maturity number on the seed packet, add about 7–10 days for germination, then add another 10 days because plants slow down as daylight gets shorter.

The soil is hot.

Lettuce and spinach don’t love that. CSU lists an optimal germination temperature around 70°F for both, while temperatures around 80°F and above can make establishment much harder.

So shade the seed bed. A piece of shade cloth works. So does temporarily covering the row with a board, as long as you remember to remove it once seedlings emerge. Keep the top layer of soil consistently moist while the seeds are trying to germinate.

And if you’re wondering about peas, I’d skip them this time around. CSU says fall peas can work, but yields can suffer, and the vines are prone to powdery mildew in the fall. There’s simply more reliable food to grow with the calendar we have left.

Garlic is coming in October.
That’s a story for another day!

Every contribution keeps us out in the field, digging into local history, and showing up for the towns we cover. We're grateful for every bit of support. Thanks for being part of this.

— Megan & David

👉 MAKE A CONTRIBUTION

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has already received more than 1,700 bear reports in 2026, with wildlife officials pointing to dry conditions and reduced natural food availability as factors behind the unusually high activity.

August is when things start getting serious.

Bears are entering hyperphagia, the fall feeding period when they spend much of their waking time looking for food and can consume around 20,000 calories a day to build the reserves they’ll need for winter. CPW puts it pretty simply: bears look for the highest calorie return with the least amount of work. Once they find a reliable food source, they remember it.

Unfortunately, your garbage is an excellent calorie-per-effort proposition. Trash has consistently been the leading source of human-bear conflict in Colorado. Bird feeders, pet food, open garages, vehicles and fallen fruit all make the list too.

So, this is your August checklist:

CPW encourages people to haze bears using safe methods they can handle, such as making noise or using a hose. The goal is to keep a bear from learning that someone’s backyard is an easy place to eat.

And here’s the part I wish more people knew. Some people don’t report bears because they’re afraid a report means the bear will be killed. That isn’t what the numbers show. In 2024, CPW received 5,022 bear reports. Fewer than 2% resulted in euthanasia. Sixty-eight bears were relocated.

Reporting a bear early gives wildlife officers a chance to respond while the situation is still manageable. A bear that’s been repeatedly rewarded with human food is a much harder problem to solve.

So, report it!

During business hours, contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife. After hours, Colorado State Patrol Dispatch can be reached at 303-239-4501.

And if you’re headed into Rocky Mountain National Park, remember that black bears live there too. The park’s current estimate is just 20–24 bears, and NPS recommends staying at least 120 feet away from bears, moose and mountain lions.

They’re not looking for trouble. They’re looking for dinner.

Don’t make your house the easiest one on the block.

This space is usually reserved for the local outfits that make our community tick. We keep things simple: No cookie-cutter ads here. Just local businesses doing good work. If you’re a local owner who wants to get in front of the most engaged, curious readers in Northern Colorado, we’d love to feature you.

Drop a reply and say hello — let's see if we’re a fit.