That's Life Here in the West

Things you don't see every day, if ever:

A perfect blend of tradition and modernity- Cowboy Style. A saddle seat on a dirt bike. Gas versus Oats. YeeHaw!

Memorial Day-as in Remeberance of Things Past. I remeberated something from yestiddy.

In case you were wondering where llamas come from. No rest for the ladies as usual. The little guy on the left is her week old baby. Pregnancy lasts 11 months for a llama. According to Freud the kids are now scarred for life. Let the therapy begin.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is today, Monday, and so far it has been contemplative-our family has given to the Revolutionary, Civil, WWI, WWII and Korean Wars but has managed to avoid the dubious Wars. I, like the Native Americans, expand the day to include my fond memories of all my significant others, who have lost their spark. The Native American cemeteries are spruced up and colorful after this weekend.

I may go on a photo safari this afternoon. The weekend has been full. Yesterday Thomas came down as scheduled and we made good progress with his full-size, long-bed pickup and the two of us, hauling fallen branches, and other detritus, 3 loads, to the dump. Long way to go but the stoppers are cleared away. Late afternoon, Janet was tired of her labors and called to see if I would enjoy a glass of wine. I would, sliced some cheese, grabbed my Fritos, and headed to their new and unique log home. Then their relatives showed up-I know them and had not seen them for awhile but my meager snacks were a joke with the eventual 6 other guests. The wine was plentiful-we are talking large tumblers here. I grew quite chatty before I excused myself and found my way home. Always better to leave at the "in vino eloqui" stage than the "in vino veritas," stage, which has resulted in my having to walk into a pub backwards so I could pretend I was just leaving in decades past. I go months without alcohol and then there is Memorial Day weekend.

Later realized I was getting critical on the nicotine supply so found myself in town and buying India Chicken at ten to nine. Not routine, and an enjoyable weekend.

Partying Down in my Hometown

Yesterday I was cruising the shelves in Wal-Mart when the cell phone rang with an invitation to dinner at Sue and Rasty's. She said she didn't need anything from the store but I bought a cake anyway and drove up the road for roast beef, and gravy, and potatoes and homemade gravy, and green salad and gravy. Love that gravy. Ate well and joked and smoked and visited. Had a fine time. Sue had found some of the sports drink I was looking for bless her! Forgot to take a single picture. Did get stopped by the reservation cop on the way home-driving too slow and I crossed the yellow line- hard not to on this road. No ticket.

Had a date at Halls in town Saturday, Memorial Day weekend, so they had friends up from Casper. I have known them for years, too. Chicken Lasagna, two salads, one with Dessie's (Svilar) homemade dressing. Yowzah! Butter cake. Yowsah. I was running a little late and called-did they need anything? The Corona was running low so that was my contribution. Greg's friend (24 years old and a driller in the oil patch!) tooled up on a little motorcycle he had won and Judge Hall decided he needed to sit on it. Ruby came by. We listened to tunes and chatted. First tunes were from Denis' new $35,000 boombox (below) later from my iPod. Greg and his daughter and her brother Nicholas kept it from being an old fogey party. One needs a few tattoos and a motorcycle or two and a dodgeball game to keep perspective. Kids laughing is a tonic. Buster emerged for awhile and went back to the van. He is good and it is easier to take him than to leave him. Goody made a brief appearance. She still rides shotgun. She was such a gift in my life-makes me smile still.

Denis Blogs here: http://nospare.blogspot.com/

Having a neighbor teen come by with his pickup to help me haul stuff to the dump tomorrow. If it works out he will have a steady customer. Life is good!

You Know You Are Back in Wyoming When...(part 2)

You know you are back in Wyoming when you pull up behind an aging Toyota sedan at a stoplight and you notice two kids in the back seat...only one kid is a GOAT. Tried desperately to get a camera for a picture. Of course this is something I would probably do myself but it was a jaw-dropping, knee-slapping surprise to see.

You have to start the furnace on May 22, layering up isn't cutting it anymore.

Something walks across your roof each night loudly and with big enough steps that you are not going out to look no matter what. If it is a cat it is a BIG cat.

Of course it is crazy elsewhere too: Driving across Nevada on I-80 the little towns have made white rock signs on the hills; A big white C, for Carlin, E, for Elko, W, for Wells, nothing at all for Battle Mountain . Cowards.

Beautiful Visit to Oregon

What a great visit! Had a wonderful time with family. Although I spend longer time in Florida, the family visits there are about one a week. More intense in Oregon because the motorhome is in Florida! We did something every day. Got Eve's computer updated, spoiled the granddaughter a little-how did she know Grampie in Toys-R-Us was a slam-dunk? There is a feminine gene or six in that little critter-she was hauling a pink chair and a matching purse behind the shopping cart.

Ate well...a little too well.

Spring is a great time to travel in the west because greenery has a limited life span in some arid areas. I think I hit it just right this time and had a great time playing at photographer. Google is offering a new feature which embeds a slideshow link in the Blog. I am testing it out. Hope you enjoy the pictures (you have to click to go there):

Oregon Nevada and Wyoming Springtime 2007

Mona Vie, Joie de Vivre

Matt blow dries his Harley, prepping to take it to Grant's Pass to review a venue for his security business. He hadn't had it on the road for awhile so he was looking forward to the ride. Given the price of gas he might want to use it more.

The week was interspersed with Mona Vie meetings and parties. This health juice is marketed by Matt and his crew- one new recruit is Eve's neighbor Ben who is a go-getter with lots of contacts due to his main line of work. Ben had a party and we had them for an impromptu party. Ben and Tina have toddlers: Anna and Noah who are cute company for Audrey. The testimonials for Mona Vie are pretty impressive. One of their clients has Multiple Sclerosis and swears by it. It sells itself when people try it. Ben's party featured some Mona Vie and vodka which is not exactly the form the company pushes but was popular.

Audrey and Anna share grapes.

Lush Life

This place is so friendly to living things. The peak of the spring blooms is passing but people plant wisely and something is being a knockout nearly all the time. These taken in Bear Creek park. I have my eye on some roses here at the motel for tomorrow pictures. We have been passing time pleasantly. Good meals mostly cooked and eaten outside. I babysat Audrey solo today but she was so desolate at being left by Namee that I cheated and took her to play with the neighbor kids until Anna didn't want to share anymore. So we came home and Audrey ate well and Namee returned and saved us both before potty time! Yay!

I have been working on migrating Eve's programs to a new computer. Always a bigger chore than one anticipates but so far nothing insurmountable. The local folks are busy. Matt's business is doing the security for an Ultimate Cage Fight this weekend- I don't know if he is announcing for this event or not. I may sneak off to the coast for a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. Buster is being so good but I think he is a little bored. We need to do something to get his motor running.

Oregon!

Had a hectic day or two before the departure. Sue kindly baked me some brownies and loaned me some audiobooks. The Jack Higgins is finished but surprisingly, the brownies have lasted, going, going...
We saw Winnemucca about 10 last night, slept there in the Motel 6 handicapped room (we like it) and got an early start for Oregon which allowed time for a little noodling around on the way. Great Mexican food in Lakeview for lunch-my Christian deli owners were in church on Sunday. Buster and I had a walk in the woods. We also stopped to take pictures and I stopped and stopped because I had to catch up on the diuretic. I-80 through downtown Salt Lake is no place to be taking pit-stops so I skipped yesterday. I saw a Bald Eagle in a meadow and the eagle saw a bald bird too. Saw my first bobcat in the wild near Klamath Falls.

Matt and Cheryl fixed a gorgeous meal- steak on the barby, sweet potatoes dressed to order, and salad from Matt's garden (save for the avocado, almonds and mozarella), a pale ale, and a berry tart for dessert. Played with the kid and dogs-I even got to carry Audrey-she is a sturdy little girl.Eve had contracted to babysit while Matt and Cheryl had a little together time so we went to Eve's, returned Jason's call to his mother, and the old guy eventually left the girls and headed to the motel to unpack and have a little quiet time-sort of- the karaoke bar next door is doing a booming business. One more time of "Down in the West Texas Town of Laredo" and there might be a bar brawl. Big days, kind of tired. Should sleep well.

More pictures and words at the web album. Click the Link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sroberts.wyoming/

OnTheOregonTrailMay2007

Delayed

The package I have been expecting finally showed up in the FedEx site, will need to be signed for, and needs to go to Oregon. It is scheduled to arrive on the 11th, though it was ordered on the 2nd. So I will wait until Saturday to depart. I don't do Salt Lake City on a Friday afternoon-anymore. I hope Saturday will be all right-not too much traffic. Experience is the great teacher. So I will dawdle toward departure and still get frantic the day before.

I am loving the green. My friend Guy has a group of "natural food" scientists and he has sworn by calcium as a weed preventative/soil builder. I made a slurry of some of his product and sprayed it around last fall in a test patch that had some of everything including thistle. It seems to be working. I may do the rest in the next couple of days. The grass is sure looking healthy.

I keep looking for a spot to shoot the Wind River Mountains while there is still some snow in the foothills. Nature photography, according to the rules, is supposed to have as little man-made evidence as possible. Finding a vantage point that takes in the panorama without power lines and poles is tough duty.

Getting Ready for Oregon

If it all comes together, including a package that is overdue, Thursday will see us heading to Oregon to see that part of the family. Wyoming is already greening from the moisture and it should be a beautiful trip. I have been re-configuring the green Ford van for this trip-in fact I considered the Dodge Van because of better gas mileage but I will bite the bullet on the gas and take all my stuff. I have checked the roads according to my bookmarks and road cams and it looks like smooth sailing. Each state has linked their highway department sites to contiguous states so it is pretty easy to check.

I felt sad because the bunny that was so happy eating my clover appeared to be roadkill down by the corrals. Of course where there is one bunny there are more bunnies, so unless there was a resurrection, the bunny in the yard this afternoon was alive and well. In fact, there may be a family of them. Buster is partial to bunny meat, whether roadkill or fresh. He is learning though- one sharp "No!" and he gave up on taking the flat rabbit to my bed where he could consume it at his leisure. It disappeared overnight and he was bummed this morning. It's a dog's life, somedays.

I spent some time looking for a sports drink today with no luck. I found an approximation. Some friends had given me Advantage by Power Ade for Christmas but I set it aside because the Van was packed to the gills. That was probably a mistake. I tried it Sunday and immediately felt better. So I checked the ingredients. Taurine was the only new substance I could see. This was a new one on me. I researched it and it is supposed to expand the blood vessels and other innards. Very beneficial for the blood pressure. When I return I will order Taurine from Swanson's because me and a sports drink is like Paris Hilton and a book by Proust- incongruous to the point of being ridiculous.

Weathered a Million Dollar Storm

Lush green is showing once again. We had nearly an inch and a quarter of moisture-snow and rain, which is a rarity in the semi-arid high plains. The moisture is life-saving this year. This storm is the western edge of the slow-moving system that wiped Greensburg, Kansas off the map. My neighbors apparently got their feed truck stuck in the pasture in the wet clay soil. I would have helped but I was busy going back to bed to beat the chill in the house. I tried yesterday to take the chill off the house with a camp heater but the house had lost its ambient warmth during the power outage so there was nothing to do but dig for dry logs and fire up the Franklin Stove. Then we were on the verge of having a sweat lodge because it never did drop below 30 degrees outside. Still, a fire in the fireplace is always nice and it restored warmth to the house and allowed the electric furnace to recharge itself. New hours for off-peak storage are very chintzy so it was still a little cool this morning. The electricity is still ebbing and flowing- I don't know what to think of that.

The woodpecker created a sizeable hole in my house and wasn't done. I went out several times to shoo him off-he was a ruby throated handsome devil but he was abusing my hospitality. I thought of the .410 shotgun as a remedy but he was just being a woodpecker and I did not fancy shooting my house. So I went and fetched my fake owl out of a Russian Olive tree and perched him on a fence post. Problem solved. I need to remember to move the owl from time to time and eventually remove him because I maintain a bird-friendly habitat garden but he is handy. Also keeps the real owls hanging around- "love is in the air."

A bunny is munching clover in the yard and scratching his ear. I think he came up the irrigation ditch. Buster is very capable of catching a rabbit so I hope the rabbit keeps to his sector below the garden. That is where I leave ageing heads of lettuce and the like for him. He may be too tame for his own good.

Wyoming Spring

At about 10:30 this morning the power went out. As the wet snow was collecting in the leafing trees and dropping on the roof in clumps like mortar shells, it seemed a good idea to go to town for a few supplies and a leisurely lunch. Buster did not need a second invitation. Town was busy everywhere. I decided to take snow pictures at St. Stephen's Mission and on the way home.

St. Francis was looking pretty chilly:

Got home and still no power at 2:00 in the afternoon. So I began to assemble the elements of survival, which I still may need. Had the generator I carry in the van all fired up and came in the house to find the electricity on. Some bumps in the current from time to time. A woodpecker is trying to make a house in my house, snow clumps still falling. If the lights go out I am now prepared for heat and lights at the drop of a hat. Battery powered/crank radio is plying me with Joni Mitchell tunes. Boxed up the rest of my lunch so cooking is not necessary. Life is good.

Today is my dear departed mother's birthday. She has been popping into my thoughts a lot lately. Fond memories but with a frequency that makes me wonder if she is trying to tell me something. Happy Birthday mom.

I will head to Oregon, weather and all other factors permitting on the 10th. All this wetness will relieve the watering worry for awhile.