Writing

I've been wanting to sit down and write.  I've had musings going through my head for several days... but nothing cohesive.  Little bits of stories here and there... nothing much interesting.

Brutus, Lucy & Mindy

I've been having "Schultz" moments now and then.  I sure miss my beautiful boy.  But yesterday as I was leaving our driveway, Mindy and Lucy in the back excited about going for their daily walk, I decided to take my new friend, Brutus, with us.  Being a male German Shepherd, I immediately took to him.  Love those German Shepherd dogs.

I drove around the corner and into the little courtyard area in the middle of our block.  That's where the parking is for 10-15 homes on our block.  And that's also where Brutus lives.  The lady of the house was sitting on her back porch enjoying the beautiful spring morning.  I introduced myself and asked if I could take their dog for a run.  She called hubby who said, "Sure... no problem!"

Now here's a dog whom I had never seen off of his chain in the back yard.  He was frightening when I first met him.  Snarling and snapping with those huge teeth.  After I turned my back on him he finally calmed down.  And  it has taken much patience and many visits to get him to the point he is today.

So I unclipped his chain and led him to my car with my girls inside.  He hopped right in no problem at all.  But he stayed toward the back of the car not at all sure of what was going on.  He was so cute as I watched him in the rear-view mirror... sitting there against the back window of the car.  His head hit the slope of the roof which pushed his ears down at comical angles.

Brutus riding shotgun

The girls didn't pay to much attention to him.  They handled the situation perfectly.  Then when we reached the property, I opened the back of the car and everyone baled out for a frolic.

He enjoyed our walk so much.  He seemed a little aloof and unsure at first, but quickly got into the groove.  As we hiked up one of the trails, the girls naturally went far ahead of me.  They usually do that... they run ahead and come back, then leave, then come back.  Brutus followed them, but I was amazed to see him come back to see where I was, then he went off again.  He did that twice in less time that the girls ever did.  That was also a Schultz thing, he kept a close eye on me.

We all enjoyed the warm, spring weather.  Such a beautiful day.

When it was time to go our guest hopped into the car.  But this time he didn't want to sit in back.  He wanted to ride shotgun.  I tried my best to get him to go in the back, but he wasn't having it.  So I let him sit in front.

It was really hard putting him back on his chain.  There in the back yard... no companionship... no one to love him.  Of course, I love our girls.  But I have a special place in my heart for German Shepherds.

Mindy & Brutus behind the shooting range.

Politics

One thing that can probably be expected in a small town would be -- you guessed it -- small town politics.  Trinidad is such an old town -- relatively speaking.  And many of the people here are descendants from of the people who lived here before Colorado was even a state.

In the 1930's and 1940's Italians came to Trinidad.  Some had shady backgrounds -- if ya know what I mean. Then there were the cowboys and ranchers.  It's an eclectic mix.

Currently the City Council is in a total uproar over the City Manager.  The City Manager was hired only a little over a year ago.  He came with excellent credentials.  But now some on the City Council are trying to get rid of him.  The thing is... many of the residents of Trinidad really like the City Manager.  He's done a great job so far.  The City Council?  Not such a great job.

Les as Kenny -- December snow.

Some folks on the council just like things the way they were.  They're not too interested in improving Trinidad.  They don't want the boat rocked.  They don't want change.  So they've decided that after 1 short year, the City Manager must go.  But they didn't count on the support he's getting from the people.  The other day Les and I walked down to City Hall to sit in on the meeting.  We barely got into the front door of the building and that's as far as we could go.  Too many people had the same idea.

And the local newspaper is on fire with debate and rebuttal -- accusations and excuses.  Frankly, I think it's pretty funny to watch it all.  I'm thinking that the City Manager won't be going anywhere.  There's too much support for him.

So that's been the buzz this week.

Lucy and my new friend, Brutus.

In the meantime it snowed all day yesterday.  It was just gorgeous walking up on the property today.  The soft, fluffy snow splashed along as we walked up the road today.  It was in the mid 20's.  Les was bundled up and doing his best Kenny impression.  And I had my light hoodie on.  With the sun shining, the temperature was perfect.