A rare 'tumblin' mapleweed' spotted in Niwot

A weather curiosity made its way to Niwot last week, and, fortunately, reader Jim Thomas and his faithful companion Archie were there to see it. Even more fortunately, Thomas snapped a photo and sent it in, along with this charming explanation:

"Mother nature regularly conjures up Wind Witches (Salsola tragus) and transports them across the plains to various places, albeit briefly. But rarely does one take up residence under a Maple tree in full foliage at precisely the time when its leaves make their annual trip to earth. This makes for a truly wonderful work of Nature's art.

"Every hundred years or so, this phenomenon happens, and even though you must be in the right place at the right instant to see and experience it, this week it happened, in our little hamlet, and I was there."