The Colonel Must Be Smiling

My Dad was an avid sportsman and loved to hunt and fish. He was also a man of modest means. Like any sportsman he drooled at the latest in rods, reels, lures and firearms but supporting a family of a wife and four boys didn’t leave him much in the way of discretionary cash.

In 1956, he was a Major in the Army and stationed in Livorno, Italy. I have mentioned before that this was a great time to be in Europe. Not only were Americans worshiped but the dollar was strong. For my Dad it must have been like getting a 100% raise. We all lived pretty well for the three years he was stationed there, and my Dad was able to treat himself to a Franchi over and under shotgun with a hand tooled Italian leather case. It was one of his prized possessions.

Shortly before my parents moved from their home of 30 years in Upatoi, GA to a retirement center in Columbus, GA, my brother, #1, gathered up all Dad’s guns for safe-keeping. About a year ago I expressed an interest in the shotgun. I gave up hunting after being discharged from the Army but I always admired the beauty of the gun so #1 sent it to me. It was my intention to hang it on the wall in my basement next to my Dad’s cavalry horse bridle.

I had to work on the “beauty” a little as my Dad had, in a fit of security consciousness, engraved his Social Security number across the receiver (the metal portion of the gun just above the trigger housing). To fix this I had a gunsmith file off the number and put two brass plaques over the area with my Dad’s name and life dates. You can see one of the plaques in the picture above.

Enter my daughter, Cajenn. A little over a year ago she married a wonderful guy, Cajon, and he also is an avid sportsman and hunts and fishes at every opportunity. The more I looked at the shotgun in the basement, the more I thought that The Colonel would be pleased if someone would use and enjoy the gun as he did….

This past summer The Bride and I visited with Cajenn and Cajon in California and I brought the shotgun to him as a gift. This past weekend he used it hunting for the first time and Cajenn went with him….and trusty Lab, Shylo, on a hunt. The picture above and below show him in action with the shotgun. The pictures, sent by my daughter, brought a tear to my eye.

Good hunting Cajon, and God Bless.

The Colonel must be smiling!

Thanks for visiting.

Cherry Creek Arts Festival & Molly Dog

Today was the beginning of the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. A three day exhibition of every conceivable type of art held in the “tony” shopping area of Cherry Creek. This is a big deal in the Denver Metro area. Close to 400,000 will visit the festival during the 3 days. About ten square blocks of this very upscale shopping area is cordoned off and the streets are lined with artist booths, public service booths and food vendors. While the area is closed to vehicle traffic, the stores continue to be open so you can not only see the artists but you can shop the regular stores as well. It’s a juried event and the artists have to be invited to participate. Art forms include painting, ceramics, fabrics, metal, wood, photography and a bunch of other stuff. There was even a custom/art guitar maker.

The Bride and I decided to visit this morning when the festival opened at 10 am. We spent about three hours wandering around and admiring a lot of thing we really liked but couldn’t afford. By 11 am the streets were packed and watching people was as much fun as looking at the artists wares.

One of my favorites was a guy by the name of Jerry Berta who did ceramic and neon sculpture. I don’t think you would classify this as “fine art” but I thought it was pretty cool.

By noon it was blistering hot so The Bride and I ducked into a little Italian panini shop for a bite to eat and a cold beer. After lunch we walked a little more and then beat it back home.

Tomorrow The Bride and The Emmer are going down town to watch a Rockies baseball game. The Emmer really gets a kick out of doing this every 4th of July. After the game there will be a fireworks display so she really gets her money’s worth out of the ticket price. I have opted to sit this one out.

Yesterday marked four full weeks that Molly Dog had been in her leg cast. Most of that time we have also had to keep a “cone” on her and that has been pretty rough for her. Finally yesterday the stitches, cast and cone came off. Her paw is still pretty tender so even with the cast off she still favors that leg a lot. Hopefully in a few days she will be able to use that leg more normally.

Thanks for visiting.

Pawnee Buttes, Lamb Springs and Molly Dog

Yesterday, Guitar and I did something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, hike around Pawnee Buttes. Pawnee Buttes are a series of geological formations in northeast Colorado. You really want to have to go there, to get there. To catch a phrase, it’s desolate there. The only sign of human habitation are a few scattered ranch houses and windmills, yes windmills. This area is pretty windy year round and the power companies have installed hundreds of windmills a few miles from the spot of our hike. If you enlarge the picture to the left you can see some on the ridge, center right in picture.

The trip from the Denver area is about 100 miles, but it’s light years away from the city crowds and madness. The hike itself was about 5 miles round trip and it wound over prairie and through some badlands. We saw only two other people there and they were about 1/2 mile away.

The wildflowers were spectacular. It’s amazing the number of different types of flowers we saw in an area that, in the heat of summer, you would think was barren of flowers. I brought my Rocky Mountain wildflower guide but it was no help at all….This terrain could not be classified as “Rocky Mountain” . On our way to Pawnee we passed miles of prairie that were covered with some type of white morning glory type of flower. When I first spotted a field of them, I said to Guitar that it must have just hailed. That’s what the flowers looked like at a distance. The white covered the ground between other plants and bushes and looked like hail. I tried to take a picture but it just doesn’t show the way the eye sees it.

On the way back home we passed through the “almost” ghost town of Keota, CO. There were maybe, five people living in this otherwise deserted town. This town had it’s heyday just before WWI. At that time it had about 150 town residents and served about a thousand other ranchers, dryland farmers and their families. It had a bank, a newspaper, numerous stores and….no saloons. Today only a few buildings, the water tower and fire hydrants survive.

It was a long and enjoyable day. Guitar and I got back a little after 6 pm and are already beginning to plan for our next hike.

To tide our adventure lust over for the weekend, The Circle, had made plans for an unusual short trip on Saturday morning. Several weeks ago I read an article in a local newspaper about an archaeological site called Lamb Springs. On a local ranch not 20 miles from my home, a rancher in 1960, discovered the bones of a Columbian mammoth, ancient camel and ground sloth. The site now belongs to Douglas County, Colorado and they hold seven tours a year of the site. The Circle will see what this is all about on Saturday. Stay tuned.

While Guitar and I were on our hike yesterday, Molly Dog had an accident. It seems that while chasing a squirrel along the fence in our back yard, she severely cut her foot and tendon on the metal edging around a flower garden. Luckily The Emmer was home at the time and called The Bride. The Bride had to rush home and get her to a vet, who operated immediately. She is now not a happy pooch. Her right front leg is bandaged and in a splint and she is under the effects of heavy sedation for a few days. Total recovery time will be 10 days to two weeks. In looking at the amount of blood on our deck, patio and garage floor, I’m thinking she could have easily bled to death. I will be nurse for that period of time so there will be a break in my adventures for a while.

Thanks for visiting.

I'm Not Makin' This Stuff Up

Are you concerned about the social life of your pooch? Naw, I don't mean just meetin' and greetin' fellow canines on the walk. I mean long term. Who is he/she going to plan the future with?...grow old with?...

If you're an owner of an even number (as in two, four, etc) of canines, are you going to let them live in sin for the rest of their lives or are you going to do the socially responsible thing and see to it that they have a "sanctioned" relationship?

Has Colorado finally out-weirded California?

You be the judge... Bow Wow Vows

Interesting to note that only spayed/neutered and leashed participants are allowed!

Thanks for visiting!