New Year's Eve

So tonight is the 32nd anniversary of our first date.  For those who may not know the story, here it goes.

When I was 25 I worked the drive-up window at Lloyd's Bank in Camarillo.  Les was one of my customers.    I had been working there about a month when he pulled up in his white '54 Ford Panel truck.  He had this gorgeous doberman riding shotgun.  I always had dog treats at my window so I handed him a treat along with the receipt for his deposit.  I saw him hand the dog (Louie) the biscuit.  You know how dogs do this thing with their eyebrows?  Well, Louie did just that.  First one eyebrow went up, then when that one went down the other went up.  Then he stuck his head out of the window and literally spit out the biscuit.  Huh!

Les had a goofy, embarrassed grin on his face when he got out of his truck, went around and picked up the discarded treat.

A few days later, on New Year's Eve, he came into the bank.  I went over to talk to him and he invited me to the pub 2 doors down, meet him there.  I said OK.

When I got to the pub, I saw not only him, but some of his friends -- and his GIRLFRIEND!  He looked up and saw me and talk about deer in the headlights.  Later he said that he didn't think I'd come.  Ya, right.  I could see right away that he was "with" someone.  I had gone with my friend, Janice.  So we casually said hi on our way by and went to the other side of the room.

Even though this was really an awkward situation, we kept making googly eyes at each other across the crowded bar.  Later, as Janice and I were leaving, he followed me out.  We planned to meet up later that night at Janice and Kevin's house.  And he actually showed up.  ALONE!  We played pool with several of my friends and had a good time ringing in the New Year.

The rest is history.  I just adore this man.

Glasses

So yesterday, my wonderful husband took out a yogurt cup before our morning walk.  As he ate it, he noticed that it didn't taste like his favorite flavor... vanilla.  It was lemon.  It was one of the store brands that didn't have the vanilla bean or the yellow lemon on the label, so he just grabbed what was in the vanilla vicinity and went on his way.

I told him that would teach him a lesson because he's too stubborn to wear his glasses.

Today, he came into my office with 1/2 of a bagel.  He said that it tasted horrible and would I like the remaining half.  Well... I guess it was nice of him to offer -- even though it was "horrible."  I looked at it and noticed that the cream cheese on it looked whiter than it should.  I took a tiny piece of "cream cheese," hoping that wasn't bad since I had just eaten a bagel an hour earlier.  When I tasted it, he was right... it was horrible.  Greasy, glassy and no taste at all.  Something wasn't right here.

I asked Les to show me what he used for cream cheese.  Right in the front of the top shelf was the cream cheese in a Tillamook container clearly labeled cream cheese.  Next to it was an oblong, clear plastic case of Crisco!  Sure enough, he spread Crisco on his bagel.

Serves him right for being too stubborn to wear his reading glasses.  My hubby...  Gotta love him!

DJ's Excellent Adventure

New Work Truck

Early Halloween morning, DJ checked out of Fort Carson for the last time and left for Utah.  While he's technically in the Reserves until May 2014, he's pretty much done with the Army.

He drove to Roosevelt Utah that day.  Checked himself into a motel and went exploring.  Two days later, he had found himself a nice little house to rent.  It's 3 bedrooms, living room, big dining room and a family room.  Pretty cool for a single guy living by himself.

Then, the exciting thing -- SHOPPING!  DJ just loves to shop.  I guess he gets that from dear old Mom.  Although I do a lot of looking, I just don't buy much.  DJ also likes to buy.  But with prodding and prompting from me, he didn't go too crazy and wound up buying a few used things, too.  He and Savannah went into Salt Lake City to Ikea to buy a few things to deck out his new house.

Front of the House

He started work yesterday.  MORE SHOPPING!  They gave him a brand new Dodge 2500 Ram with 30 miles on the odometer as his work truck.  They took him to the store to buy him a few thousand dollars worth of tools.  They're getting him some winter work boots, too.  I understand that the winters in that part of Utah are really harsh, so he's getting prepared.  California kid and all.

He's really excited to get on with this next part of his life.  He met up with a guy who got out of Fort Carson a few months ago and is also now working for Berry Petroleum.  So they have much in common.  This guy lives 2 doors down from him.

I know he will be really good for Berry Petroleum.  They are thrilled to have him.   Les and I are so happy for him.  And we're just so proud of him.

His personal diesel Ram just barely fits in the garage.

From the back yard

Kitchen

Basement

Front Room

Kitchen with his stuff

October

First snowfall 2012

Les has been gone to California on business for about 2 weeks now.  Andy left for California on the 19th and is returning tomorrow.  I will be driving up to Colorado Springs tomorrow to get him at the airport.  And DJ is leaving for Utah on Wednesday.

People are traveling and moving all around me.  Me?  I've been sitting in my chair all weekend due to a sprained back.

I rented out our apartment again.  The mild-mannered-man-shorter-than-me moved out after only 3 months.  He lost his job and moved to Missouri.  He was a good tenant.  The rent was always on the 1st and he was so quiet we never knew he was there.  Now I rented it to a young mother and her 6 year old son.  She's a CPA so I'm expecting her to be right up front with her rent, too.  I told her that all I care about is that the rent is on time and that she is a good neighbor.  I think she will be.  She has a little dog whom I hope Mindy and Lucy don't eat.

It snowed the other night.  I came outside to find brilliant blue skies and a couple of inches of snow on the ground.  That's Trinidad for you.

North Lake

I've been voted onto the Board of Directors for the local animal shelter.  They want me to be the Treasurer once the term is up for the current Treasurer.  I don't mind.  I hate going out at night but it's only once a month.  Then last week we had a booth at the local "Taste of Trinidad" festival.  The booth was a fundraiser for the shelter.  I helped out in the morning, then cleaned the house in the afternoon.  We raised a whopping $118.  Whhoooo hooo!  Small town... what can I say?

Wolf Creek Pass

I'm so happy that winter is coming.  The summer heat was horrible.  We received no rain... even though the late summer is our wettest time of the year.  Nothing.  The trees are dying.  Today I saw a small buck in town.  He was so skinny it was pathetic.  I hope he makes it through the winter.

Our hotel in Durango

Les and I took an overnight trip a few weeks ago and drove to Durango.  We took the Cucharas Pass that was absolutely stunning with the golden aspens.  We spent the night in an historic hotel in downtown Durango.  Didn't have a very good night's sleep, but the hotel was charming.  Then we drove home via the Wolf Creek Pass... also stunning.  Oddly enough, on the crest of the pass we stopped at an overlook.  The view was spectacular.  And I saw some chipmunks running around so I went into the car to grab an apple and when I turned around -- WOW -- I ran into Tozi Rubin from Newbury Park.  She and her hubby moved to Colorado, but I sure didn't expect to see them there.  Small world.  It was fun catching up.

Garage Sale-ing

After the fun we had at the auction in Raton, (and the parts bin debacle) we decided to go garage sailing on Saturday mornings.  (Now, is it Garage Sale-ing?  Or Garage Sailing?)  Les has been lamenting the loss of his parts bin for the past 2 months.  (See my 7/29/12 blog. )  I told him that the only place he'd find another one was at a garage sale.  So off we went!

I have been trying to get Les to go to garage sales with me for years.  Ever since my friend, Fred, found an antique cloisonne smoking tray for a few dollars at a garage sale, I've been wanting to find treasures at them. But I would always have to go by myself, and where's the fun in that?

Finally, Les decided to go with me and we've gone every Saturday ever since.

We've discovered that the sales in town are generally clothes, kids' things, kitchen items, knick-knacks, etc.  But if you go even just a little bit out of town, we've found some real treasures.

This is similar to what our new bed looks like.

Two weeks ago, I found a king size head & foot board bed frame for a cedar post bed.  It had been hand made by the Mennonites on the other side of the Rockies.  It was a nice, comfortable king size and it was only $100.  When I asked the owner how much it was and she said $100, another woman standing next to me said, "$100??"  I told her I'd take it because these beds can go for over $1500.  What a find!  It's beautiful.  It will need a little cleaning and some wood oil, but will be absolutely gorgeous in our new home.  Of course, we will outfit it with a new mattress and box spring.  I'd never even consider buying a mattress at a garage sale... yuck!

Then, last Saturday, we went out to a little town called Cokedale.  It's about 7 miles west of Trinidad and was home to the miners working in the coal mines in the early 1900's.  Now, it's an eclectic little community with a town hall and a post office and a church.

But we arrived first at a garage sale held by an older couple.  He was obviously a woodworker and just seemed like he was ready to hang up his tools and move to Florida someplace.  She was a crafter, but was selling all of her craft materials because her eyesight had diminished to the point where she could no longer see to create the things she loved.  They were a really kind, old couple and we took to them immediately.

I saw an aluminum step stool and made a nice deal on it.  It's wider and higher than usual so when we start working on our house, it will come in handy.  While I went back to the car to get my money, Les went into his parts bin story, which we have a lot of fun telling.  But when I got back into the garage, Les was looking at an old, green parts bin.  It didn't have a sale sticker on it, but when we asked, we were given a price of $15.  What a steal!

Look at the grin on his face.

 So, Les is finally the proud owner of a parts bin.  Yesterday he sanded it and re-painted it and it now sits safely on a shelf in his shop.  No chance of a forklift driving over the top of this one!

DJ

Daniel is getting out of the Army this year.  He re-enlisted once, and now he's ready to move onto the next phase of his life.  I'm glad, too.  2 of his friends were killed in Afghanistan within the past week.  They were in his unit.  He would have been there with them except for the fact that he had already decided to leave the Army and was given the choice to deploy.  He wisely opted to stay on US soil.

He applied for a job with an oil company.  He interviewed yesterday in Denver and called me this morning to let me know that he got the job!  I'm so excited for him.

He sent me a copy of the offer letter.  Holy smoke!  What a compensation package this kid will have!  He'll have a company truck.  The company will give him $4000 in order to move to Utah.  They will give him a free paycheck in advance and will pay all of his travel expenses.  Then, he'll be paid huge money as a base salary plus over-time.  The kid will be almost making more than I do!  They will match up to 8% of his salary for his 401k.  You just can't beat this deal.

The downside... he has to move to Roosevelt, Utah.  Or nearby Vernal Utah.  He won't know a soul, and will be 500 miles from home.

But he'll be working on his own maintaining the pumps and equipment on the pipeline.  They'll give him all of the schooling he needs for this.  They really want him to join their team, and he's excited to do so.  He's thrilled about the money.  I just hope he's happy.  That's all I've ever cared about.

Critters

We've had a fun time with our "critter count."  All of the little woodland creatures are out and about.

We've seen the baby bear a few more times.  He's always crossing the road.  We never see Momma, just the butt-end of baby as he hurries into the forest.

Today I saw 2 grey foxes.  They crossed the road ahead of me.  When I saw the first one I didn't know what it was because he got into the trees so quickly.  Then just a few feet further down the road was an exact duplicate of the first creature, and it turned out to be a fox.  Must have been a breeding pair as they were identical in size from what I could see.

Yesterday as we walked on one of our trails, I spotted a deer on the ridge just to the west of us.  She was going at a pretty good clip... both running and trotting.  We watched her as she climbed up the hill and casually bounced over scrub oak.  She really was covering a lot of distance and we watched until she got into this little meadow quite a ways away.  She crossed the meadow in no time and disappeared back into the trees.  I assumed that because she was moving so fast that maybe a predator was behind her, but I didn't see anyone.  And she wasn't moving in terror or fear, she was probably just enjoying her young, bouncy life in the wilds of Colorado.

And there was an absolutely gorgeous buck down on the county road.  Must have been an 8 pointer.  Magnificent!

And the roadrunner!  Yesterday a roadrunner popped out of the scrub oak next to the road and crossed just in front of the car.  He climbed up the bank next to the road and posed while I stopped the car to try to get a picture.  Lucy (the huntress) saw the beautiful bird, too.  She stood on the window button and it went all of the way down.  Then she bolted out of the stopped car and flew after that bird.  They both ran into the pinons and I thought for sure I wouldn't see Lucy for a while.  But she came back right away.  I don't know how you can possibly get that chase instinct out of a dog.  I would if I could, but she came to me that way.

It's too bad that I can't get any pictures of these creatures.  It's always a surprise when we see them and they're gone in an instant.

The weather has finally eased a little bit.  Our wet season is the monsoon season, July and August.  The clouds would come, the thunder would roar and the lightning started fires.  But what little rain we had was due to the cloud sneering at us after it past.  Once in a while the cloud would spit in our direction... and that's about all we had.

But the 100 degree weather has passed.  We had 90 degrees last week, but the nights get down to the 50's, so it's not so bad.  If you play the doors and windows right, it's comfortable in the house.

Big Bear!

Angela took this pic of this bear cruising in front of her house.

The other day Les and the girls and I were driving up to our property.  We came around a corner in time to see a baby bear running from one side of the road to the other.  He had dark brown, silky looking fur that glistened in the sun.  It also flopped as he ran so he had pretty long fur... odd for this time of the year.  We didn't see Momma, but we're pretty sure that she was close.

Then last night, at home, at about 2:30 in the morning, Brutus started barking like crazy.  The Rottweiler across the street was barking.  All the dogs in the neighborhood were barking.  The girls went to our wide-open windows and woofed ever so slightly -- still quiet but very alert.  Then all hell broke loose.

The girls started going crazy.  I jumped out of bed and threw open the blinds.  There, standing just 8 feet away was a huge bear.  I mean HUGE!  Really BIG bear!  And I felt pretty vulnerable with just a screen in between us.  His shoulder was easily up to the windshield of my car.  I saw him sniff the garbage can and then he turned and went into the back yard.

From there, he could either deal with Brutus, or he could go down the driveway and deal with the Rottie, or he chose to turn around and go down the walkway from the back to the front of our house.  This of course brought him to within 5 feet of my screen shield and he looked at me as he walked past.  Oddly enough, for such a massive creature, once he passed me and the girls he started walking really fast as though he was afraid we'd bite him in the butt.

The girls tore down the hallway and into the living room.  I heard crashing and barking as I got dressed enough to appear before Andy.  The bear had passed the house and gone down the front stairs, but the crashing had to do with Andy hurriedly closing all of the windows and doors to the house... knocking over some CDs on his way.  He didn't want to have anything to do with the notion that that bear could have easily come into the house.

I think I'll close the windows a little bit more tonight.  If the bear wanted to come in, he certainly could.  But I'll try to make it just a little harder for him.  He's not really interested in any confrontation... he's just scrounging for food.

With the horrible heat we've had all summer, we pretty much have the house wide open at night.  Today it got up to the mid-90's.  We've certainly had worse, but that's still way too hot for me.  And there's not even the slightest hint of a breeze.  That's really unusual for Trinidad.  I'm hoping it will rain tonight.  That will get the air moving.

Auction

One of my EBay items

Les has been saving pennies for as long as I've known him.  He saves all pennies, but gets especially excited when he finds a wheat penny or an indian head penny.

In the last couple of months, he has gone through all of his pennies.  He sorted them out by decade and style.  And has saved everything prior to 1982.  He now has them in various jars around the house.  Everything after 1982 we brought back to the bank on Friday afternoon.  (They just loved to see us with all of those pennies on a Friday afternoon.)

Another EBay item.

We split them up into 7 different easier to carry -- but still very heavy -- boxes.  As the teller fed them into her machine for counting, I asked Les how many he thought we had.  I think he was joking when he said $15.  I guessed $157.

It took about 1/2 hour for the teller to count all of our pennies.  And she picked out probably $2 worth because they were all scummy and gummy and she said they might jam up her machine.  Final total -- $154.95.  I guess I won that bet.

So, being $150 richer, we went to an action in Raton yesterday morning.  I figured we would be there for a couple of hours or so.  They had everything there.  Dump trucks, horse trailers, kitchen gadgets, shop stuff, Bobcats, coins, cars, ranch gates, tractors, gloves, trailers, indian rugs, jewelry.... you name it... they had it.

I first bid on a package of really nice work gloves for Les.  I won that bid.  We watched as the auctioneer and the crowd went up and down the aisles auctioning off everything... and some things twice.  We were interested in the coins, and there were a few rustic tidbits that I was interested in.  I pointed out this parts bin cabinet to Les.  At first he didn't want it, but the more he looked at it, the more excited he was about it.  We tried all 15 of the drawers.  All worked.  The whole piece was about 3' x 18" x 24" deep.  It appeared to be 1930's vintage, but I could be way off on that.  I'm only guessing based upon the items that were still left in the drawers.  He found in one of the drawers a record player stylus that played 78's.  Haven't seen a 78 in ages.

Finally, after several hours, the crowd came slowly around to all of the tools and then the parts bin.  Les, for the first time ever, bid on the item and he won the bid at $25.  He was so happy.  Then after another 1/2 hour or so they got around to the rustic tidbit trailer.  By that time you could tell the auctioneer was really tired because he seemed to be rushing the bids.  I wanted to bid on the indian rug, but before I knew it, another woman won that bid for $25.  Couldn't believe it.  They had Navajo pottery (which I love) and I bid on two of those, but didn't win.  It's hard to justify spending $30 on a gorgeous piece of art when you're trying to save for a house.  Oh well.

Les's squashed parts bin.

I won minor bids on some things that I thought I would EBay.  I think I paid $5 for them.  But as we were watching, suddenly I looked to my right and saw a forklift drive over Les's parts bin.  There were probably 2,000 items in that auction.  There was stuff all over the place.  And the one thing that gets destroyed was Les's.  Les walked over to the driver with his arms outstretched and I can only imagine his mouth open.  Of all the luck!

We won some of the coins, and a really cute towel bar with bears that will go into the new house.  We won 2 rusty, old looking coat hooks and a ring of old jail keys -- also to go into the new house.   I paid about $100 for all of it. 

We came home hours later with sunburn and sore feet; some nick-nacks and no parts bin.  But still had a really good time.

July

Well.... it's been an eventful July.

First, there was the Pre-Op Shindig.  That went off without a hitch.  We had probably 30 guests.  I prepared burgers in advance and marinated some chicken breast in some lemon pepper.  Then I grilled the burgers, some bratwurst and the chicken.  It didn't take too long and it sure was good.  I pretty much left everything else to everyone else.  The people around here bring the best stuff!

We had plenty of beer and wine, lots of soda and water bottles; and so much food.  Once everyone was done eating we sat around the fire pit and talked.  We didn't build a fire because there has been a fire ban in the whole state -- it's been so dry.  We had many, many comments about our 3 sided outhouse and the marvelous view it affords.  Good thing folks aren't shy around here.

We took the telescope out and that was a big hit.  We turned on our little LED lights Les strung through the trees... that brought ooh's and ah's.  A good time was had by all.

Les had his back surgery 2 days later.  They took out 2 discs and replaced them with these wire cage things.  Then they used screws and clips and fused 3 of the vertebrae in his lower back.  He was in the hospital for 3 days.  But they got him up walking the day after surgery.

I stayed in the Springs at a hotel.  It was nice that DJ was right there in town.

Les had a few really rough days when he got home... almost thought he should have stayed in the hospital.  But he is recovering more each day.  Getting stronger.  He's looking forward to another 2-1/2 weeks when he can take the brace off.   He's feeling so much better he'd like to ditch that now... but it's best to wait.

July is always a busy month for me.  This July was no exception.  End of the quarter payroll and sales tax returns keep me busy.  I have a few clients whom I only tend to quarterly.  So it's been busy.  Then with Les out of commission, I've had to pick up some of that slack, but now that he's feeling better he's taking over those chores again, so I'm thankful.

I've had to leave Brutus home for our walks.  What a bummer.  But he's been getting so comfortable that he's causing chaos on our drive to and from our property.  He barks at people and dogs walking along the street.  Our neighbor, Terry, has 2 big dogs that like to chase the car.  When it's just us and the girls, I can stop at the end of their driveway and we scold them and they don't chase us.  But when Brutus is there, he goes nuts.  He's been tearing up the interior of our Subaru.  As much as I love him... he's not my dog.  I've been projecting my loss of Schultz onto Brutus and that's not fair to him or to me.

So we must be content with hanging out in the yard now and then.  I feel very badly when I see him watch us leave in the mornings.  Maybe I'll still take him now and then.  But I just can't take him every day as we were.

One good thing that has come out of all of my attention toward Brutus is that Ben is paying more attention to him, too.  He actually took him to the vet the other day when he developed a big, angry hot spot.  I didn't say a word to him.  And he's making a new place for him to hang out during the days that has lots of shade from the trees.  I still think he does a terrible job being a dog-dad, but it's just ignorance.  And I think he's taking a little more interest now.  I'm really happy about that.

So... newsy blog today.  I've been wanting to write, but sometimes it's yet one more thing to do.  But I always feel better after I've written.

Heat

It's been pretty common knowledge that it's been hot enough around here to fry eggs on the sidewalk.  They stated on the morning news today that Colorado Springs has seen 5 - 100 degree days in its recorded history... until this week.  They've had 3 100+ degree days just this week.  I don't know what's been going on.  But it's been HOT.

Then there are the fires.  Some crazy is running around setting fires.  The worst one devoured 350 homes and killed at least one person in the Springs this week.  They're not used to fires like that.  This fire came right into town.  Over 36,000 people evacuated.  What a crying shame.  The area burned was just so pretty.

But nature finds a way to heal itself.

The other day Les and I were walking up our road.  Lucy, Mindy and Brutus were doing doggy stuff about 50 yards ahead of us.  Suddenly I look up and there's a deer standing between us and the dogs.  She looked at us, she looked at the dogs, said, "Oh, crap," and scampered back down the side of the hill.  Lucy... ever the huntress... saw the deer and took off running after it.  We didn't see her for a few minutes, but then she returned quite winded.  She obviously didn't catch the deer, but she sure had fun trying.

With the heat, we decided to try shaving the girls.  Mindy is like me... the cooler the better.  Lucy doesn't seem to mind what the temperature is.  As long as she has food and someone to scratch her ears, she's content.

Mindy ready to take a bite out of an unsuspecting ear.

Mindy after her haircut.

I knew Mindy would look different because her undercoat is so light.  But take a look at the before and after pictures!  She turned white!  That whole afternoon she pouted... like she had been violated.  But I do think she's more comfortable now, though.

Tomorrow night we're hosting a "Pre-Op Shindig," for our friends.  It started out being just a couple of friends, then we just kept inviting more and more.  So it should be fun.  We have so many more good friends here than we ever did in California.  I'm not sure why that is, but I'm not complaining.  The people here are genuine.

Les's surgery is on Monday.  Please say a prayer that all will go well for him.

Tenants

Our last tenants moved out of our duplex early May.  Then we had to have it cleaned and the paint touched up.  That took about a week.  And we've been advertising it on Craigslist ever since.  We've shown it several times.  Always the same response, "Oh, it's so cute!"  Or, "It has so much character."

Finally, last Friday I got a call from a man who wanted to see it right away.  After staying on the phone with him so that I could walk him through, turn-by-turn, on how to get here, he arrived 5 minutes later.  (It's a good thing Trinidad is such a small town.)

He walked through the apartment and then asked, "OK, where do I sign?"  I explained that I would need an application first, and we worked out the security deposit and rent.

He sat at Les's desk to fill out the application since he wanted to move in that day.  When he was done, I entered his info into a landlord's website where I can pull his credit history and for $6 more, I can also pull any criminal history.

I waited and waited for the report, then discovered that they had sent an email to him for confirmation that it was OK to give me his reports.  So he gave the OK, again on Les's computer.  He gave me the deposit and the rent and I handed him the keys.  I told him that I would get the lease together shortly.  He went next door to check out his new home.

A couple of minutes later, I finally got his report.  Lots of credit.  One collection, no big deal.  But then I got to pages 3, 4 and 5... the criminal background part.  OH MY GOD!!!!

Rape, rape, failure to resister as a sex offender, more rape, rape of a child, in states all across the country.  I started shaking.

I called Les who was at the shop.  I told him that I needed him home NOW.  Do not chat with neighbors, do not stop to take the trash out... HOME NOW!!!  Then I asked Andy to come with me because I needed to address this monster in the guise of a mind-mannered man shorter than me.

I showed him the credit portion, pointed out the collection from Chase.  Then I got to page 3, 4 and 5.  I was speechless as he went back to page 1 to explain the collection from Chase!  What?????!!!!!

"At this point, I couldn't care less about that!  What about this??!!" I exclaimed.  He said, "Well, that's not me.  I've never been to Virginia.  Never been to Washington State."  

If it were me being accused of such things, you'd have to pry me off the ceiling with a shovel.  

I told him that there was no way I would rent my place to someone like that, and if it truly wasn't him, that I'd need him to march right down to the Sheriff's department and I wouldn't give him the OK until I got clearance from the Sheriff.  And, "Oh, by the way... I need my keys back."

He said fine.

He left, and I had a hunch that I'd never see him again, so I took his deposit check down to my bank to see if they could verify funds and make sure that the account wasn't closed, or stolen, or something stupid like that.  The check was good.

Then I got a call from the sheriff saying it was the wrong person and that my guy didn't have any record.  I decided to drive down to the station, though, because I wanted to see a badge and a uniform before I'd believe it.  It was true... common name.

So we now have a mild-mannered, shorter than me, man living in our duplex next door.  So far... no trouble at all.

Spinach

So I went over to Brutus's house to put him back on his chain after our walk the other day.  (Sniff.)  Ben was there in the yard and said that Brutus (Aries) waits for me by the tree where I come around for him.  He gets so excited because he loves his walks.  We take him probably 5 times per week.  He sure has fun.

Anyway, I asked Ben how his garden was doing and he said, "Oh, it's great!"  I asked him if I could see it and he showed it to me.  He said that he has tomatoes, onions, spinach, cilantro, chilies, and squash.  I looked -- I could see everything but the spinach and I could see this big patch of weeds in the middle.  I asked him where the spinach was and he pointed to the patch of weeds and said, "Right there.  Oh it's so good!"

I didn't have the heart to tell him.  And since he's obviously still standing, I guess they're not poisonous.

Oh well... what you can do?

Life has been rather stressful around here lately.  June has certainly sucked so far.  Les was out of commission for about 3 weeks after working on the road up in the canyon.  He was on his feet for 2 days straight while the grader went up and down the road, digging up rocks, then directing the gravel truck on where to dump the gravel.

He came home stiff from a motorcycle ride a week or so prior to that, then with the road work, it knocked him on his butt.  He couldn't stand, he couldn't sit, sleep, lay down -- poor guy.  He was miserable.  So we made an appointment with the spine center and went up to see them a couple of days ago.  He'll have back surgery as soon as we can get his paperwork in order.  He has recovered from this bout of sciatica, but since it comes back every 3-4 months, it's best to get it taken care of.

Then I was having problems and wound up in the ER a week ago Monday.  After a bunch of tests, I got the results and don't have cancer... huge relief.  But I will still need to have a hysterectomy.  Not sure when that will happen.  It depends on Les's back surgery.  I'm ever so slightly irritated that this couldn't have happened in my late 30's after I was done having kids, but again, what you can do?

That's a favorite saying of my friend Ruza Zivkov as she speaks to me in her thick Bosnian accent -- What you can do?

Summer

Summer is upon us.  The cicadas are clicking away at their monotone love song.  They shake and rattle and click away loudly.  Sometimes, as I'm hiking along the trails, they scurry away when I brush past a tree near the trail.  They startle me a bit with their rattling like a hollow rattle at the end of some serpents' tail.   Mmmmmm.

The lobby of our hotel.

Last weekend Les and I went to Santa Fe.  I love Santa Fe.  We stayed at the El Dorado just off of the plaza.  Then we walked everywhere.  We strolled the plaza numerous times.  We walked to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Rio Chama. 

Santa Fe is magical.  We strolled leisurely down streets that are literally centuries old.   Felt plaster walls that had seen Spaniards and rebelling Indians and wars and now peace.  Unfortunately, there are many, many tourists.  But it still has such a feel of peace and harmony.

After dinner we were lead back to the Plaza by beautiful music.  There was a marimba band, of all things!  A group of young people playing hand-made marimbas of all sizes was rocking out to African inspired melodies.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQgXHJ1Nek We sat and listened and watched all of the beautiful people.  We looked in the shops with all of the exquisite Southwestern Jewelry. 

We stayed Friday and Saturday nights, then headed north on Sunday.  We stopped in Taos and walked the plaza there.  Then headed east.  We considered spending an extra night out, but decided against it.  We drove through the mountains toward home, stopping in Cimmaron New Mexico on the way.  There's an old hotel there... the Saint James.  It was built in the 1800's and was host to many people passing through.  Outlaws, cowboys and lawmen stayed at the St. James.  They had pictures of some of their guests and stories.  I liked the story about the cowboy that was being obnoxious.  Some other cowboys challenged him by betting him that he couldn't ride his horse along a 6 foot wall.  He somehow got his horse up there but then someone fired his gun, spooking the horse.  Both fell off the wall and both died. 

After the undertaker went through the cowboy's pockets, he reported back to the judge.  He found a pearl handled pistol that the judge gave to the sheriff.  His clothes and boots were given to the undertaker and the $40 in his pocket the judge confiscated for himself.  (For his trouble.)  Then, he was buried at the town's expense.

Old west...

I love it here.

A storm on the road home from Cimarron.

Santuario Guadalupe - Santa Fe

Marimba Band --  "Polyphony Marimba"

Santa Fe

Dogs

So... one thing I never thought I'd hear myself say, I said this morning.

"Lucy, get down from that tree!"  She chased a squirrel up a tree.  Can you believe it????

Brutus enjoying our walk.

This morning as we were preparing for our usual morning walk, I decided to go get Brutus.  He now comes with us 3-4 times a week.  He has blossomed into this happy, frolicking kid on our walks.  He loves the girls.  And I even saw him initiating play this morning.  He still doesn't have a clue what his name is -- no matter which name I call him.  His given name from his family, "Aries," or my name for him... "Brutus."  Every once in a while he humors me by coming to me when he knows I'm calling him.  But if he's out of sight, he will usually come when I whistle.  And he's no trouble at all getting in and out of the car. 

I ran into the woman of the house at Safeway the other day.  She said to me that she wishes Ben, her hubby, would just give the dog to me.  They never had a dog before.  Then their son brought home this German Shepherd and now guess who's saddled with the dog.  I believe that they mean no harm, they just don't know any better.

I talked to Ben last week about the fact that Brutus has lost so much weight.  They had no idea that he was getting skinny.  So I suggested that they take him to the vet.  To my surprise, they actually did!  I was amazed.  So maybe my interest in this beautiful creature has piqued their interest in him, too.  I don't know what the vet said, yet, as I haven't seen Ben.

Last week my mother came to visit.  We had such a good visit.  She flew to Denver and my brother, Larry, picked her up at the airport.  The next day they stopped in Colorado Springs to see DJ, then they came down here.  She had never seen our place before. 

We visited for a few days, then we drove to Wichita, Kansas to meet my sisters, Linda and Janet.  They took Mom back to Iowa where she has another apartment.  She gave up her apartment in California and will now live in Iowa.  Her lease on her apartment is up in July and she will then move in with my sister, Linda.  Linda just bought a house and has spent much time fixing preparing it for her family.  Mom will have a room that will have enough room for a bed, a chair, her dresser and her TV.  She should be very comfortable.

Mom enjoying our sitting area

 It was really nice to see my family.





Brutus and the girls frolicking

Trinidad Standoff

So one of the things that our friends warned us about prior to our moving to this little hamlet was the Trinidad Standoff.  Of course, he didn't call it that... that's just my name for it.

One will notice upon arriving here in Trinidad that things tend to slow down a little bit.  People drive slower.  People talk slower.  The lines at Safeway move at a casual pace because the checkers always ask about ones' cousin or brother or some such relative.

The Trinidad Standoff is a phenomena that takes some getting used to... if you ever get used to it.  It happens when two or more cars reach the stop sign at more-or-less the same time.  Even if someone was at the sign way before you get there, they may still wait and just let you go ahead.

This morning as the girls and I were driving up to the property, there were 2 cars ahead of me at the stop sign.  They did their obligatory, "You first," to be answered by, "No, you first."  They sorted it out and we all went on our way down the street.  But then the lead car stopped where there was no stop sign, to allow someone in oncoming traffic to turn left in front of him.

So even when you clearly have the right-of-way, politeness takes precedence over safety and traffic laws.  I guess a move like this would have been scary in California, but here in Trinidad, most drivers move so slowly that accidents don't happen all that often.  (Knock on wood.)

There have been a few times when I've become frustrated with the Trinidad Standoff.  I've come up to stop signs with 3 cars coming from various directions that are already stopped at the sign.  They do the "You first" thing and then no one moves!  NO ONE MOVES!  So I decide, "OK, if you won't go, I will."  And I pull out into the intersection because as my wonderful hubby has said, "Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way."  Someone has to make a decision and it may as well be me.

Maybe in a few more years I'll be a willing participant to the Trinidad Standoff.  But for now... I just don't have the time.

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.

Hoarfrost

Have you ever heard that term?  Hoarfrost?  My friends Luton and Carole told me about hoarfrost -- what I had referred to as a freezing fog.  Both terms are correct.

Last week we had a freezing fog -- a hoarfrost -- all day long.  It was an unusual, but very interesting and gorgeous day.  It was foggy all day.  And since the temperature never got out of the 20's, the moisture in the air froze on everything.  This put a beautiful layer of pure crystal white on everything. 

Driving up to our property that day, we were unable to see the tops of the hills right above us.  The fog was thick and slow moving.  A thick fog like that always reminds me of that old Twilight Zone episode where the residents of a neighborhood suddenly found themselves surrounded by a thick, impenetrable fog. 

But our fog wasn't impenetrable.  It was just beautiful. 

And earlier this week was Valentine's Day.  I picked out some flowers at the market the other day when Les suggested that I buy some for Valentine's Day.  I love having roses in the house.  But then I thought that was pretty much it -- you know how couples who have been married a long time become complacent about things like this. 

While I worked that day here in my office, Les went out to do his thing.  He either putters around up at the property or visits with neighbors.  But he came home that day and handed me a Valentine's Day card.  My first thought was, "Oh No!  I didn't get one for you."  So he said, "That's OK.  I know you didn't have time to get me one.  So I bought one for you.  All you have to do is sign it." 

What a guy!  What a character!  And the card he picked out for me to give to him had the perfect sentiment in it.  One that I would have clearly picked out myself.