Life on the High Plains

 Our horses are spending the winter at a boarding stable while we snowbird in Arizona. Yesterday morning we got them ready for the short journey to the stables.  Of course they needed to arrive looking beautiful to impress their new friends so they got a good grooming. Surprisingly, they were both quite clean so all that really needed to be done was to comb their tangled manes and tails.  Then it was time to load them up. Loading horses in the trailer can sometimes be quite an ordeal.  When Jillian was showing Doc he could be quite a pill when trying to get him into the trailer.  Since neither of them had been in the trailer for a few years we prepared for the worst.  I suggested loading Jasper first and guess what...he hopped right in.  We never had two horses in the trailer at the same time before, especially two big boys, and luckily there was enough space for both. Then came the real test...loading Doc.  Again, he walked right in probably beca...

 Anyone who knows me very well knows that my favorite artist is Vincent van Gogh.  He is an impressionist artist whose works can be recognized from across the room thanks to his distinct brush stokes. Was I ever excited when my daughter got me tickets to the Immersive van Gogh Experience in Denver.  Although my birthday was in March our tickets weren't until October.  And then we were affected by Covid so the tickets got moved to early December. I loved this quote of van Gogh's that was on the wall when we entered the venue.  "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?"  Vincent certainly had courage to try painting techniques that were outside the box for his time. When you enter the exhibit it is two large rooms that are showing the exact same scenes.  There are a few benches, but most everyone sits on the floor in socially distant circles. A video that is about 45 minutes long displays Vincent's work all around you.. I was in heave...

Last week our church sent out an email asking for help laying wreaths for the Wreaths Across America event that took place on December 18th. The Pikes Peak National Cemetery is located just down the road from us on the high plains of Colorado. This is a new national cemetery that only opened in 2018.  It is 374 acres that will eventually provide the final resting place  for 95,000 eligible veterans and their spouses over the next 100 years.  As you can see from the above picture, there aren't a lot of plots in use yet. The community turnout was fabulous even though it was a balmy 22 degrees.  There was probably one volunteer for every two or three graves.  We picked up our wreaths and located an empty row. The veteran's name is engraved on the front of the stone along with his or her rank and places they served in combat.  (Service member and spouse are buried together, one on top of the other whether is ashes or caskets.)  What I thought was really co...

 Have y'all noticed the moon lately?  I know nothing about the phases of the moon, but I took the time to research what this moon is called. This full moon is called the Cold Moon or Long Night Moon or the Moon Before Yule.  It will be here from December 18th through 25th and then it changes to the Third Quarter Moon which is a half moon.   Now I know more about the moon then ever before. I think the Cold Moon is here to welcome the start of winter tomorrow (December 21st) which is also my mom's birthday. Happy birthday, Mom!  I've missed you each and every day for the last 18 years.  Thank you for being such a kind and loving mother throughout my entire life.  And thank you for making me into such a good Democrat!  (kidding, not kidding)

Six months ago Irv and I decided it would be a great idea to book a trip to Disney World in December.  Covid numbers were going down and the world was beginning to open back up again.  Who knew that the Omicron variant would decide to make an appearance just days before our trip was set to begin? We were vaccinated and boosted just like all intelligent people are so we decided to take our chances and get on the plane.  After all the trip was booked and paid for and our Disney tickets were set to expire on December 17th. Months ago Disney said they were instituting a reservation system to control the amount of people who came into the parks each day.  We were under the assumption that the crowd size would be controlled.  Boy, were we wrong.  Since we were staying at a Disney resort we took full advantage of the early opening hours for resort guests.  (We didn't go on vacation to sleep in, did we?) Christmas decorations at Disney are always magical altho...

There's something magical about having a young child around for the holidays.  Their wonder and excitement are contagious even for the small things like baking Christmas cookies. The girls were decked out in the Cookie Baking Crew shirts.  The boys had Cookie Tasting Crew shirts, but I didn't get a shot of them. Miss G loves baking cookies and loves decorating them even more. This is very serious work! Finished! We also had a chance to visit the Winter Wonderland drive through lights at the New Mexico State Fair Grounds. Perfect setting for getting into the Christmas spirit. Miss G got to get out of her booster seat and sit on her Grammy's lap for the drive through which she thought was pretty cool.  This girl is so much fun! Santa Claus was waiting at the end, but Miss G didn't feel like visiting him that night. All she wanted was some hot chocolate to warm up. No trip to NM is complete without some New Mexican food.  I found this local beer that was very yummy. Yes...