Life on the High Plains

First of all let me just say that this post was made with the subject's permission--never mind the fact that she was on a narcotic cocktail at the time she gave her permission. Mary hasn't publicized that she has been experiencing some medical issues the last couple weeks.  She was diagnosed with a golf ball size tumor on her thyroid.  A needle biopsy came back benign for cancer, but the tumor was so large that it had to be removed and the surgeon was a little concerned that the needle biopsy might have missed some cancer cells. Yesterday was the big day.  I brought her to the hospital and all she did was complain how thirsty and hungry she was.  I told her to just hang on because in a couple hours she would fell all better. Here she is a couple hours later and well, not feeling any better.  It's hard to see your kid in pain even if they are 35 years old. The incision on her neck is smaller than anticipated.  The surgeon did not think the ...

We've lived in Colorado for 17 years and every year we say we're going to the Renaissance Festival which is held just north of Colorado Springs.  It only lasts six weeks and every year we miss it...until this year.   I must admit that I thought it was a traveling Renaissance Festival.  I imagined that it was more like a carnival with portable buildings that was easily moved.  Much to my surprise the festival has a permanent facility...a very large facility. He's 14 now and readily admits that he knows everything about everything--but I think even Mr. or Sir Beans had a good time.   Mary had to get in the groove with a flower headband.   No renaissance festival is complete without jousting and... royalty.   Of course Irv had to hunt down a turkey leg (yuck!).   There was some knife throwing and...   ale drinking...but not at the same time. Sir Beans did a little archery too. It w...

Yes, if you stopped by our house last night you would have thought we were the Beverly Hillbillies. You see, it was time to clean out the shed.  You know, that place you put everything that you "might" need in the future. Step 1 - pull everything out of the shed. Step 2 - go through every single box/container. Step 3 - make an immediate decision...keep, toss, or donate.   Before anything can go back in the shed it had to be swept.  Our shed seems to be the favorite resting spot of literally hundreds of thousands of Miller moths.  Gross!   Final step - but everything that you're keeping back in the shed and hope that it looks as good as this because you've made good decisions about tossing and donating.  An extra large load of "stuff" will be hauled to Goodwill tomorrow. It feels so good to free yourself of the amount of stuff that accumulates over the years.  Here's our shed after we got everything sorted out and put ...

A view from the Seven Bridges trail in Cheyenne Canyon near Colorado Springs. Beautiful.  Serene.  Peaceful.  Incredible.  Can't wait to go back! Where do you go to find your happy place? Happy Skywatch Friday!

Guess what time it is! It's 4-H State Conference Horse Bowl Contest time!  I've been the superintendent of this contest for about 10 years.  I plan to retire after this contest.  (Who thinks this will really happen?)  I'm the only volunteer superintendent--all the others are paid CSU Extension Agents.   The questions are written (thank you Jillian).  The resources are packed.  Sophie doesn't understand why we don't have cat bowl.     The buzzer board has been checked out and certified ready by our 4-H electrician (thank you Pam).   Most importantly, the volunteer snack bags are packed.  It takes a team of nine volunteers to put on this contest.  I do my best to keep their sugar levels high so they can sustain a day of horse bowl questions--up to thirteen rounds are expected this year. Of course my favorite volunteers are Jillian and Irv.  Jillian writes all the questions for me and Irv runs th...

This past weekend I was finally able to get out on a trail.  After almost three weeks of my house being torn apart while the painters finished painting the inside, I was happy when they finished on Saturday so I could join Mary for a hike on Sunday morning. Mary and I headed over to Cheyenne Canyon in search of the Seven Bridges Trail.  This is an easy 4.75 mile in and out hike with a 1,600 foot elevation gain.    Luckily we had good written instructions with us because we were warned that the trail wasn't well marked.  See how someone scratched "7 Bridges" into this trail marker?  This is the only way we knew we were on the right trail.   As the name implies, the trail has seven bridges that cross back and forth across the creek.  Mary and I actually found an eighth bridge that wasn't on the trail.     In addition to the bridges, there was beautiful and serene sections of the trail covered by forest. ...

Another trying week this week.  Lots to think about, lots to worry about. The realization that my youngest baby will be leaving in less than three weeks. So glad my baby is going to start exploring the world...new adventures, new friends, new places to visit. So glad her 4-H family loves her almost as much as I do.  They sent her off with Farewell party #1 this week.  Now I'm going to go in my room and cry for the rest of the night.

It's been raining in the high desert of Colorado.  A lot.  Lots of clouds.  Lots of dramatic skies. Guess who's enjoying it more than anyone? My boys get to eat green grass this year rather than the brown, crunchy grass that has filled our pastures for the last 10 years. They are lookin' good and we're not having to spend huge amounts of money buying hay...not yet anyway. Keeping our fingers crossed that the rain continues...although an occasional sunny day would be appreciated too. Happy Skywatch Friday!

I can't believe what I've done. See this paper and FedEx envelope?  It's my application for a small works art contest up in Golden.  I've done it.  I've entered three of my 5x7" paintings in a competition.  I didn't decide to do it until the day before the applications were due--that's why it's being sent via overnight shipping. It's my hummingbird trio. Fairy Duster Desire Agastache Ava Attraction Petunia Paradise This last one isn't even finished yet.  I'm pretty excited about the translucent wings on this one.  See the yellow on he flower and the green leaf behind the left wing?  This is to show motion because I hummingbird flaps it's winds so rapidly that the wings appear translucent.  I was quite proud of myself for figuring out how to do that; however,  I can't believe I'm crazy enough to enter a painting that isn't even finished yet.  It must be finished by tomorrow so that it has time to dr...

A view of Pikes Peak from my hike last Saturday. As you can see there's still lots of snow up there.  The Pikes Peak Hill Climb takes place in a couple weeks and the road crews are crazily trying to clear the snow from the roadway.  There's 4-5 feet of snow with 10-15 foot drifts. I'm sure they'll get it done though so that all the competitors and race fans will be safe and have a great time. Happy Skywatch Friday!

Technology is a great thing! Why?  Because we get to Facetime with this little angel on the weekends. She watches, and listens, coos, and smiles.  I think she kind of likes her grammy and pappy. It makes being grandparents who live hundreds a little more bearable.  Isn't she adorable? I think she's going to need an iPad for Christmas.

My dad and brother became famous last week and we would never have known if it weren't for my son-in-law who shared it on Facebook. Smokey the Bear has a Facebook page and how surprising it was to see this favorite family photo pop up there last week.  I have always loved this photo!  There were a lot of great things about being a Forest Service kid.  Two of my favorite memories are riding in the green pickup during parades and the teletype machine in his office in Price, Utah.  Dad used to spend a lot of time away from home during the summers because he would travel all over to assist with forest fires.  I remember him as always being so tired when he got home plus he'd bring really cool things home like paper sleeping bags. Dad, you're famous and you probably don't even know it. Remember people...only you can prevent forest fires. 

For two days in a row I tried to get out on the trail.  Friday was my first flex day of the summer.  Woohoo!  I left work and headed over to the Garden of the Gods, but by the time I got there the raindrops were falling. On Saturday after my painting class I decided to try again.  The skies were threatening, but I decided to give it a try any how. Due to all the rain and stormy weather that we've had the last few weeks, time on the trails has been non-existent.  Now I'm not complaining about the weather, but I need my sunshine back--at least every now and then.  This trail that I normally take adds about a mile to my normal route, but I obeyed the signs and skipped it. This normally dry creek bed had a pretty good amount of water flowing through it. Around here you pay attention to the weather.  The park sits alongside the Waldo Canyon fire burn scar and when it rains, it floods...quickly. The trails were in a better than expect...