Life on the High Plains

Last week we had a family commitment to attend in New Mexico.  Normally we would drive to Albuquerque and stay there.  However, this time we stayed in Santa Fe.  When your last parent passes away, it changes the whole dynamic of visits.  There's no longer a central location to hang out in and other relatives are busy so the only visiting that takes place is over a meal in a restaurant.  So we decided if we're going to be staying in a hotel we may as well stay in Santa Fe. In our 45 years of marriage if we were headed to New Mexico we would get in the car and make a beeline to Albuquerque.  I've always wanted to be a tourist in Santa Fe so it was nice to finally get that opportunity. Pictured above is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi (the patron saint of Santa Fe).  The Franciscan Friars built the first church on this site in 1610.  That original church was rebuilt and destroyed over the years.  The current cathedral was started...

So, last week I reconnected with one of my old painting buddies.  We decided to head to one of our regional parks for a plein air painting session.  We chose a park that has an abundance of trees and water features to keep us cool in the 100+ degree weather we've been having. My friend arrived about 40 minutes late and as soon as she got out of her car she said she had forgotten her pochade box.  A pochade box is what you attach to your tripod and it serves as a palette to hold your paint and an easel to hold your canvas. If you forget your box, painting isn't going to happen.  She said she could just draw while I painted so we wondered the many trails until we found a bubbling brook with lots of interesting rocks and greenery. We had a couple visitors who walked right past us. After sketching my desired scene I suggested that we quit for the day and then come back on a day where we could both paint. On the way back to the car we stopped at the Visitor Center and the...

Last night we made our way over to the Norris-Penrose Event Center for finals night of the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo. The Pikes Peak Rangerettes always start the fun.  They're a precision mounted drill team.  Jillian once thought about trying out for the team, but thank goodness that didn't really happen.  These girls and their horses travel all over to various rodeos and other events. We've been going to this rodeo for years.  It used to be a small time rodeo that let every cowboy around enter if they wanted and it would go on for hours and hours..  For a few years it moved it into the World Arena and tried to make it all flashy with fireworks, guest performers, and all that jazz.  Now it's a qualifying event for the National Finals Rodeo so it's more serious now and it's televised.  Not even the clown gets to come out and tell his jokes.  No more shenanigans. The rodeo also used to invite any rodeo queen who wanted to attend.  Now it's only ...

So what's been happening around here lately? Due to the rapid spread of the latest variant of Covid, Irv and decided to go ahead and get the 2nd booster.  We have some out of state and international travel planned in the next few months so it was time to get more antibodies going.  My doctor had told me it was okay to get it at anytime, but suggested I wait until this fall when I get my annual flu vaccine. It's been hot and not only hot by Colorado standards.  We Coloradans are pretty whimpy when it comes to anything over 75 degrees so to be in triple digits is too much.  I'm really missing the gorgeous summer weather in West Yellowstone . One morning while Irv was golfing I decided I wanted to go for a hike.  My big mistake was that I ran a bunch of errands beforehand and by the time I got to the trailhead and found a parking spot it was 87 degrees.  I thought about turning back and trying again on another day, but it had been a long time since I'd been on...