Life on the High Plains

Thanksgiving is finished.  I'm all ready for the craft fair this weekend.  Christmas is right around the corner and the weather is about to get colder. This morning it was a perfect 48 degrees and sunny, Irv had worked the night before and was sleeping so I decided to load up and drive across town to the Garden of the Gods. This is one of my favorite hikes.  I left Yellowstone on September 26th and I haven't been on a trail since so a hike was long overdue.  Yes, it was a little snowy in spots that the sun doesn't hit, but I have good traction with my hiking boots. I'm trying to learn the names of all the rock formations.  Above is the Tower of Babel. Once again, I'm thankful to the trail crew for maintaining the trails and preventing erosion. I don't know the name of this formation yet. People probably thought I was crazy, but I was prepared with bear spray.  Our weather hasn't been that cold yet so I can't assume th...

While in Albuquerque last week we visited Dragon Lights at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds. Artisans from China come over and construct these beautiful and larger than life lanterns.  We started by going through the blue shark. Above is a Phoenix. A side view of the Phoenix. Of course there were lots of dragons. No event is complete without an attempt at a selfie. Nemo was there! This giant white three was spectacular. The elephant was really cool too! Look our above:  more dragons! The gate was beautiful too! Here's a photo with the whole group.  Lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins. A fun night with family and a great way to start the holiday season!

Our tradition is to start Thanksgiving Day with a 5K Turkey Trot and we were lucky to find one in Albuquerque this year when we were down there visiting family. It was cold and I mean really cold--35 degrees at race time.  Normally I wouldn't be so cold, but I did not come prepared for a race in this temperature.  I expected it to be warmer, after all it is Albuquerque. Little Miss G just wanted to stay in her stroller.  The Phoenicians were suffering in this frigid weather.  We took turns running her up and down the sidewalk to keep warm. A very cool sculpture outside the International Balloon Fiesta Museum. Turkey Man was there! Even the dogs were decked out in their turkey hats. Off we go.  We purposely started at the back of the pack.  This was going to be a fitness walk for some of us. Irv and his shorts.  I think he was frozen. Mile 2--look at that pace.  At least we aren't last. ...

I've been slacking with my blogging lately.  Life is pretty humdrum when you don't live in Yellowstone so I don't have photos of amazing waterfalls or wildlife to share anymore. Sad, I know.  I really miss that place! What I have been doing in my spare time is working for my former employer helping them out with a few projects and.... in my spare time I've been crafting because it's craft fair season.  We're only doing two shows this year and the first was a couple weeks ago. We've built up quite an inventory and this year the "hot" items were the pallet signs that I hand paint.  We did absolutely fantastic at the show with our highest sales yet, but it left our inventory depleted.  With a two day show coming up December 1-2 I've been devoting every spare moment to replenish our stock.  Some nights Irv has even come and told me to stop and come to bed. This past weekend we had a cold snap with freezing drizzle. Eve...