Gorgeous skyline

We may not have a view of tall buildings, include one that looks like a cash register. We may not have a large green QWEST lighting up the night, but the city cannot top our skyline at sunset! These photos are from April 1st - yes, yes, a little slow getting them up here! And this is no belated April Fools...

This one is the following evening. I wish I had the mind of Oren or Marty when it comes to cameras, so that I might do justice to the images I see. April 2nd - a rather cloudy haze hung over the mountains, save for a thin spot on the horizon.

Wow, right?!?! I love it out here!

Oh give me a home....

Yep, you guessed it! I saw buffalo roaming this morning. The deer and antelope playing is somewhat common, but this is my first sighting of (Philmont) buffalo. There is a herd between Cimarron and Raton that I have seen a few times, but I don't often drive that way. In the pasture to the north of base camp and west of the highway a herd of buffalo roams, but usually out of sight from the road. Thanks to a car stopped in the middle of the highway this morning, I saw five buffalo just wandering around...pretty cool! The subject of this post could also have to do with our plans to build a home - something that won't flex in the strong winds we have had lately. I can't tell you how many versions there are, but we think we've settled on one. We have capital for materials, but not for labor, so this will be a labor of love for the two of us. It won't go up fast, but it will go up. We start by going down. The 2011 phase of our plans include digging a basement. Thomas needed some dirt to build up the diversion for the acequias (our flood irrigation system), so he bit into the earth where our home will go. It was a groundbreaking of sorts, but nothing has been done since then. The tractor is in demand these days with getting ditches and fields and water barrels in place, as is our time in getting ready for planting, receiving water, and work.

Thomas coming up the drive with the tractor.

The first little scoop...more to come!

Photos of the day...

Thursday, April 7th - Go to fire hall....take the minutes because Suzy isn't there. Try on my new fire helmet. Woo woo! From fire hall go to Mom & Pop's house for birthday cake. I pretended we were having a cake in honor of my mom's birthday on Monday, but we all knew that is was really a belated birthday cake for Daniel's birthday the week before. He got his wish - to be left alone for his birthday while Julie was in Tennessee for Spring Break. But then we still had to celebrate! He asked for a moist cake, so I tried to channel Niffer's dessert-abilities and make one of Gail Thayer's recipes: Padre's Favorite Dark Chocolate Cake (a birthday special). It was delicious! A layered cake with whipping cream in between layers and a chocolaty buttercream frosting....

Thwarted

Oh Mondays!

 

This morning as I lazily got myself ready to leave for work, I realized that school is back in session.  Yes, there would be a bus, and if I didn't leave immediately, I was sure to be stuck behind it.  Even if it had already left, the sooner I got moving, the better chance I had of being able to pass it before it began making stops to pick up kids again. 

 

As if the animal kingdom knew what was up, my expeditious leaving was thwarted repeatedly. 

 

The steer taking residence again at the Vallejo Polo Ranch must all be brothers the way they were butting heads this morning.  Very literally as I slowed down for the herd hovering on and around the highway, pairs of steer were butting heads and jumping about like they were going to stand up and start wrestling.  A couple stood in the middle of the road and a few even came charging towards the road as I pulled up.  Clearly these beasts were taken from their mamas too soon, who surely would have taught their young'uns not to play in the street.  What a bother!  I came to a full stop before I was able to inch my way through, hesitant that they might want to butt heads with me.

 

Next, not more than two miles down the highway, four young does couldn't decide whether they were running away from the highway, whether the one separated was joining her girlfriends, or whether they were completely helpless to the desire to keep me from advancing on my journey past the bus stop.  Aargh!

 

Lo & behold, the bus got away.  It wasn't far ahead, and I knew I could pass it before the next stop.  The bus was going particularly slow because it snowed in the night, and there were shaded places where it was unclear if the road was slick or not.  It dropped into the teens at night, so there really is no telling.  Gratefully, we rounded a corner into a passing lane.  As soon as I pulled in front of a bus, I noticed a herd of large elk near the edge of the road.  Gratefully, they turned away into the pasture, aware, maybe, that I had already gotten ahead of the bus and there was no more use in trying to slow me up. 

 

A gauntlet of stop lights, school crossings and slow zones, four way stops, and crossing oncoming traffic used to slow me down on my way to work.  Now it's the wild kingdom. 

Happy Birthday, Dear Momma!

There are times in a daughter's life when she wants to be with her momma, and celebrating a big birthday is one of them!  Not my birthday of course, but my momma is celebrating a lot of years of learning and teaching, loving and living, working and playing, taking and giving!  She is an amazing being of light and love, and she has done so much to make the world a better place during her lifetime!

 

I was so lucky to have gotten to spend some really quality time with my momma at a conference in March, and I will be lucky to see her again on Mother's Day!  So today, some 1400+ miles away, I am sending big hugs and kisses up and over the Rockies and the Cascades and down into the Willamette Valley to my momma!  I love you!

 

Boys are back in town!

When I hear the expression "boys are back in town," I am taken back to watching Navy Seals with my older brother.  I believe there is a seen where they are driving around in golf carts being rowdy.  A throw back to the early 90s, to be sure, but a memory of fun times with my brother.

 

This expression, if not the song, is what I thought about driving home from work last week when, to my surprise, the Vallejo Polo Ranch, which is open range bordered by cattle gates, had a whole lot of steers strewn about grazing.  Yes, in fact, the boys are back in town, and I best not forget it! 

March Travels Quickly...

Yes, while the month of March seemed to fly by, this is really a quick reference to the travels I had in March. The month seemed to move quickly through the first couple weeks, though not as quickly as I could handle. Why? Well, my mom and dad "sponsored" me to attend the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, a professional development opportunity for me. The bonus was that I would be meeting my mom in CA for the congress and spending time with her, too! I headed off on St. Patty's Day, flying out of Denver. I saw friends and former colleagues briefly before my departure, but as I am want to do, I packed it in and raced from place to place. My book was too interesting to rest, though I needed it. It was hard to leave Thomas still asleep in bed that morning because I wouldn't get to see him until the following Tuesday! The congress was awesome, overwhelming, and refreshing. Time with Mom was sublime! The icing on the cake: staying with Bob & Joyce Armen, long time family friends of my parents who I only seem to see once a decade. We had a lot of fun catching up, eating, talking, eating, and so on. I got to see all but one of their kids and all but one of the grandkids. It was great fun, especially seeing the little girls playing dress-up with feather boas torn apart like confetti and thrown all around! We also met my cousin Peter and my aunt Janelle out for dinner, whose son Wyatt just happened to be in town for Spring Break. What a blast to see all of them, too! Despite my best intentions, my camera was left out of most of the fun, but I do have a picture of the youngest grandchild - Charlie. He was such a cutie!

Charlie's Dad and Mom (Bob & Joyce's youngest daughter) and Joyce and Bob

Upon my return to Denver, one might imagine the running around that I did since I didn't have to drag Thomas along and make him suffer my social bug. First stop was some Thai cuisine for lunch with Britta. Then I headed back across town to Nikki's for a walk with her, her cousin Amy who happened to be in town, and Nikki's son Henry. He wasn't so sure about me or my camera.

Then I headed to see my friend Minerva, but I missed her - bummer! I made a few stops before picking up Jennifer, heading to Mary's, and then riding down with them to Castle Rock for a family dinner. Unfortunately, my camera stayed in my bag until it was go-time, and then Hafner had already left. But here we are: Char, Mary, Jennifer, Ahna, and I! What a treat that we could all get together!

Only because I knew I wouldn't have another quiet weekend for several weeks, Thomas and I snuck off a few days later and headed to "town" for shopping and the like. We stayed in Taos and stayed away all weekend. It was nice to have him all to myself. We drove to Chimayo, so I could see the Santuario - magnificent! We went in to Santa Fe for a little shopping and an early sushi dinner. We ate ice cream and wandered around the plaza. And we even watched Back to the Future in our room. The hotel has a rare collection of DH Lawrence that we got to check out, and we otherwise lazed our way through the weekend.

Now it is April, and I am quickly catching up!