A Visit From Cajon

My son in law Cajon arrived in the Denver area last night. He will be staying with us for a couple of days while he looks for an apartment in the Denver area. Oh, my you say? What’s up with that?

Very good news.

Cajon is originally from Colorado and has always wanted to return here. The fact that he and my daughter, Cajenn, have lived in California for the past few years has made Colorado an even sweeter prospect and he has convinced his employer that he can do his job just as well from here as he can in California. To make things even sweeter, my daughter’s employer also has an office in the Denver area and she has been able to transfer her job location here as well. Their plan is to move to an apartment sometime in August and begin a search for a house…at their leisure.

The Bride and I are both excited. My work a day career took me to seven different locations and the closest we ever were to family was about a three hour drive for a few years. For most of my 35 year career we were five hours or much more from family. To have family in the same town, at this stage in our lives will be a real treat.

The Bride had previously scheduled a girls night with Pic-E and K. so tonight after Cajon finishes his search for the day I’m going to take him to Bud’s Bar for a good ‘ole greasy cheeseburger. He has heard me talk about Bud’s for some time now but has never had the opportunity to visit. I’ll fix that tonight. Guitar and Too Tall-Two Timing will meet us there and we’ll have a high old time, I’m sure.

Hmmm, the Ca part of Cajon and Cajenn refer to their residence in California. I guess I’ll have to give them new monikers. Not sure Cojon and Cojenn will work? Any suggestions?

Thanks for visiting.

Home Alone – Almost

The Bride left home at about 4am on Monday morning for a visit with her mother, Ladder Lady, in NC leaving The Emmer and I to fend for ourselves until Sunday. Fortunately over the last few years I have done enough cooking so that The Emmer and I will not starve. My repertoire is not anywhere close to as extensive as The Bride’s but it is enough to keep the two of us from wasting away.

I have received a report from The Bride that she arrived without incident and is enjoying the visit with her mother, brothers and their families. She also reports that she timed her trip perfectly to coincide with a potentially major snow storm in the area! This is what Weather Underground is forecasting for Saturday, when the storm finally moves out…

Saturday

Cloudy. Snow likely...mainly in the morning. Total snow accumulation of 10 to 14 inches possible. Ice accumulation around a trace. Cold with highs in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.

From having lived in the area for many years I can tell you that this is going to be a big deal. Even though she is in the western part of the state where they are a little more accustomed to snow, they still do not have the equipment to keep the roads clear for a storm of this magnitude. Add to that, the fact that most of the electricity is delivered by above ground lines and there is a distinct chance that they could lose power for a couple of days as well. The Brides visit may be a little longer than she anticipated.

On the RV front, my new trailer should be delivered to the dealer either today of tomorrow and the dealer says that they will have it ready for me by Tuesday. That however presents a scheduling problem related to another project I have been working on.

Over the last year or so I have become interested in becoming a member of the Elks fraternal organization. A few weeks ago I went to the local Elks Lodge and enquired about membership. Long story short, this Tuesday I will be going to the Lodge for an interview and indoctrination so I will have to postpone getting my new rig until after Christmas. It’s just a good thing that I’m retired because I don’t think I could manage my schedule and squeeze in some “working” as well.

Thanks for visiting.

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.

Mojitos To Mountains

“Ten days on the road and I’m gonna’ make it home tonight…” I can hear the lyrics in my mind but for the life of me I can’t remember the title of the song? Even Google didn’t help with this one. Anyway, it was ten days on the road and we did make it home. We had a great time and it was good for The Bride and her mother Ladder Lady to spend quality time together.

Disembarkation in San Juan on Sunday was a little dicey because our “servants”, our “employees”…the ICE…Immigration & Customs Enforcement decided to send a total of three….count em’ 3…officers to screen about 3,000 passengers that were trying to get to their land hotels or flights back to the mainland. In the end they pretty much let everyone through by just flashing an ID card of some type and not inspecting any baggage….Feel safe now America?

Fortunately I had built in time at both the beginning and the end of the trip. After disembarkation we went to the fabulous resort hotel, El San Juan for a night of de-pressurization before making the last leg of the journey. I had stayed at the El San Juan on business, many years ago and always fantasized that it would be great to show this place to The Bride. It took about 20 years but I did make the fantasy come true.  The ladies were suitably impressed and even commented that they would have considered spending ten days there rather than on the cruise. Little did they know that it was about three times more expensive per day that to “cruise”.

The trip back was “payback” and the only way to survive is to put yourself into a catatonic state…which I did for the day of waiting, lines, and inconsiderate people. We arrived home at about 8 pm on Monday evening. Just in time to watch the Bronco’s lose the Monday night football game…..just more payback for having a great 10 days.

The remaining part of this week will be filled with all the inglorious details of coming home…laundry, restocking the fridge, paying bills, etc. Fortunately, the weather is not a total shock, with temps in the 60’s for a few more days until colder weather sets in.

Now I have to reset my mental latitude and get back to thinking of the new trailer, getting a fifth wheel hitch, doing all the small details so that in about 30 days I can start on the next adventure.

Thanks for visiting.

Happy Anniversary

On this day 32 years ago, The Bride and I did say “I do”. Over those years a lot has happened. Two children were born and raised. We have lived in five different places. Careers started and one finished. Parents and friends have passed away. Lots of good things and some bad have come down the road and we have handled them all. We are a team and I love my team-mate.

Happy Anniversary, hon.

A Visit To California

…And a great visit it was! The Bride and I arrived in Oakland just before noon on Thursday and was met by our daughter CaJenn. For the next three days CaJenn and her new hubby, CaJon, showed us some of the sights of the San Francisco area. Both The Bride and I had been to San Francisco before but we never really explored the area outside the city and that’s what was planned for this trip.

Friday morning we headed for Napa Valley and day of exploring the most famous wine region in the United States. The weather couldn’t have been better. Temps in the 70’s with a nice cool breeze. During the day we visited four different tasting rooms; Clos Du Val, Groth, Miner and Mumms. All I can say is that I’m glad CaJon was driving!

Napa has established a system that ensures that they profit even from the tasters. The deal is that it costs between $10-$15/person to taste from 3-5 different wines. If a taster then purchases some wine, the tasting fee is credited to the purchase. We ended up doing a little of both. We purchased several bottles at two of the wineries and none at the others. At lunch time we stopped at a great little general store/deli called the Oakville Grocery and got gourmet sandwiches. These we took to one of the wineries and ate them while looking at the endless rows of grape vines….life is pretty darned good!

Saturday we drove north through Bodega and Bodega Bay and then took Hwy 101 along the coast back to San Francisco. The Bride is a big Alfred Hitchcock fan and The Birds is one of her favorite movies. It just so happens that the school house used in the filming of The Birds is in Bodega. We couldn’t miss the opportunity so we drove into town and spent some time looking through the gift shop that now occupies part of the old school. In addition to the old school, the Catholic church next door was also used in the movie. Adding to the fame of Bodega, that same church was the subject of a great photograph by Ansel Adams. My photo is not in the same class as his but it was fun to try to get a similar shot...Mine on left, his on right.

The drive along the coast was breath taking. The wildflowers were all in bloom and that was just so much more eye candy. It was hard to process everything as every turn of the road gave us another great panorama. Then to add to the overload we drove back into San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge….see picture at top!

It was a long day but very much worth it. We ended the day with a great meal at a restaurant pretty close to where the kids live.

Our flight didn’t depart Oakland until the late afternoon so we had time for more adventure on Sunday. In late morning we drove down to Jack London Square in Oakland to visit the farmers market there. If I am jealous of California about anything, one would be their bountiful supply of beautiful vegetables all year around. I was entranced by every sort of vegetable including several I had never heard of before. The tomatoes in particular caught my eye. There is nothing better than a tomato sandwich on white bread slathered with mayonnaise on a hot summer afternoon and I saw lots of tomatoes that looked like they were destined for that.

To console myself at not being able to have a tomato sandwich, I decided that a shrimp salad sandwich at a nice restaurant right on the water was the next best thing. I was in luck! There just happened to be a very nice restaurant right there with outdoor seating right on the water. We ate a great lunch while watching the boats go by. In the distance was the skyline of San Francisco. Life is really good!

The trip ended all too soon and we arrived back in the Denver area about 8 pm. I’ve got about a week of “down” time before more adventures start, but more about that in the next post. CaJenn and CaJon, when you read this I want to thank you for you’re hospitality on our visit. We’ll be back to see more of your area. Your Mom and I are proud of you.

Here’s a few more pictures from the trip.

Thanks for visiting.

62, And On The Dole

Happy Birthday to me! Yesterday I achieved the venerable age of 62 and I am now a consumer rather than a producer of our nations resources. In a couple of weeks I will start receiving a retirement pension from the company I worked for for 35 years. In September I will begin receiving a Social Security check as well.

All in all, I feel terrific and have no major infirmities. For this I am grateful. I wish the best for our country and the young people in the workforce today. I hope both succeed beyond their wildest dreams because without their success, my future will not be secure.

Today would have been my Dad’s 91st birthday. He died last August and not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and wish that I could ask him just one more question. The picture of he and I, above, was taken last June. It’s one of my favorites of the two of us together. We’re both smiling because I had just smuggled in a little white wine into his apartment so that we could have a sip or two together.

The day after tomorrow would have been my paternal grandfather’s 110th birthday. As you can see July is a busy month in my family. My grandfather has been gone for 45 years now but I would give anything to be able to talk with him again.

Finally, my paternal grandmother would have been 111 years old on July 10th. Neither my Dad nor I ever had the opportunity to know her but I would have loved to have had that privilege.

I had an absolutely wonderful birthday in California visiting my daughter CaJenn and her husband CaJon which I’ll tell you about in the next post.

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.

Indian Market & Powwow

  Yesterday was the day that Guitar and I volunteered to work at the Tesoro Foundation Indian Market & Powwow. This will be the third year that I have volunteered for this event and I enjoyed myself more this time than at any of the other times.

My assignment for this event was “Artist Ambassador” which as I mentioned in a previous post is a fancy name for a “gofer”. It was however, a blast. I spent four hours walking among the artist booths, talking with the artists and helping them in any way I could. This is a juried show and the artists represented all sorts of talents. Jewelry was probably the most prominent talent but there was also pottery, painting, leather work and a lot more. The picture to the left is the artist Pahponee and her first place winning vase/urn. She really had some nice ceramic ware and seemed to be selling quite a number of items.

Another artist, Venus Brightstar was selling her leather creations which the ladies seemed to love. She had a second place ribbon for the item you see in the picture. I asked her if she did “guy” stuff and she said she did but had sold everything at her last show. When I told her I might be interested in a vest, she took my name and address and promised to send me some pictures of what she could do. That should be interesting. I told her not garish but a bit understated….? We’ll see.

At 1 pm they had the opening ceremony for the powwow portion of the event. There were about 75 Native American dancers and  they all made a grand entrance which was pretty impressive. I’m sure Native Americans of 100 years ago did not have costumes with all the brilliant colors I saw yesterday but I guess even Native American costumes have to keep up with “fashion”. Here are some pictures of the dancers…young and old.

I brought the RV to the house this morning and am beginning to pack it for our trip to Moab. I have got the proverbial “hitch itch” and the sooner I can get on the road, the better. It seems the weather will be pretty warm there, high 80’s with a chance of thunder showers every day but I’m oh, so ready regardless of what the weather is.

In just a little while we’ll be leaving for the airport to pick up Ladder Lady. I know The Bride is anxious to see her Mom. She’s excited that she will be able to show her a part of the country she has never seen before.

This will probably be my last post for a number of days. Thursday I’ll be in a campground with WiFi but I’m guessing I won’t get a chance to do a post until I get back.

Thanks for visiting.

Airplanes, Taxes and Super Sunday

Nothing of great importance happening here right now. The Circle got together at Guitar and Pic-E's place yesterday to watch the Super Bowl. Guitar bought a brand new flat screen TV and I do believe we saw the game better than most that attended in person. I was rooting for Arizona so I was a little disappointed with the outcome. It was such a good game though, it was hard to be really disappointed regardless of the outcome.

If you remember the saga of trying to get to The Bride's, great aunt's funeral, I said I was not real hopeful about getting a refund for the airline tickets. After my first call to Northwest Airlines they did refund half the cost of the ticket but said since we did fly to Minneapolis and back they wouldn't refund the full fare. I appealed the case and submitted a request for a full refund through the Northwest web site as I was instructed to do by their call center. The next day I got an email saying that Northwest was experiencing a high volume of emails and I would have a response in 5-7 days.

Today marked two weeks since I received that email so I called the refund desk again. As much as I wanted to be ugly about the whole thing, I refrained. It is true that honey will catch more flies that you know what. I simply stated my case and told them this wasn't like a business trip that I could work around. Since it was a funeral it was....do or die...pun intended. It would not have done us any good to get to North Carolina the day after the funeral. I also mentioned how "distraught" my wife was to kept from a family members last earthly ceremony. I guess I lucked out because they decided that they would make a "policy" adjustment and give me a full refund.

I could use a little more of that luck on my taxes for 2008. I started doing those with TaxCut software a couple of days ago and things are not looking too good. Maybe I should apply for one of those presidential Cabinet jobs...then I wouldn't have to pay taxes!

My great road trip to Tucson and back starts in two weeks! I've got road trip fever so bad right now I can hardly stand it. On Saturday I went down to the RV lot just to putter around and see if I could reduce the fever a bit. It didn't work. As a matter of fact I think it made things worse. I know I'll survive but I won't be cured until Sunday the15th gets here.

Thanks for visiting.

We All Move Up In The Line Of Life

The Bride and I will be travelling to North Carolina tomorrow to attend the funeral of her Great Aunt.

Aunt Elaine was a unique individual. She was a "spinster"...a word probably either not understood or very much misunderstood in society today. A vibrant personality and very strong willed. Born in 1916, she grew up in pivotal times in America. She rode to school on a horse with her brother and sister in Nebraska before her family moved back to their familial roots in North Carolina.

She was a school teacher. A graduate of Appalachian Teachers College, Class of 1937, she taught school for her livelihood. I didn't know her in those years but I have no doubt that she could have given the Catholic nuns of my later school years, a good run for their money!

She was tough and ornery and strong willed and probably never married because of that. Her family was her brother and sister's family and she became an icon to the extended family. We will miss her greatly.

As to the title of the post, I think I have mentioned in earlier posts that I have this perception of life that we are all waiting in a line, the line of life. As our relatives pass on we move up towards the front of that line. I am now at the front of the line and The Bride is not too far behind me.The good news is that this line does not move at any pre-determined speed and judging from my parents time in line, I have many more years to wait.

Sorry for the melancholy but.....it happens.

So, today was pretty chaotic. Not only did we have to find airline flights at the last minute for tomorrow but we also needed to take down the Christmas tree and put away all of the Christmas decorations.

We'll be back on Thursday and there won't be any further posts till then.....

Thanks for visiting.

O Christmas Tree!

Christmas 2008 was a fine Christmas by any standard. The only negative is that CaJenn and CaJon were not here to share it with us. This is the first Christmas that CaJenn has not made it home for the holiday and we missed her but understand the progress of life.

Rather than go through the activities of the day, I thought you might like to see some of the ornaments that hang on our tree. The ornaments represent different aspects of our lives and it's fun to look at them all and remember their significance.









This one is from my parents tree. It probably dates to the late 1940's and it's the earliest ornament I can remember as a child.












Then there are these two that are also my parents. They were bought when we were stationed in Italy in the mid 1950's.









Gotta have a fishing ornament!












Cowboy stuff too.












A new one this year in honor of The Bride's graduations.









Favorite places.









And don't forget the RV!

These are just a few. Every year it's like a walk down memory lane when we look at the tree.

Tomorrow, The Bride and I, and Guitar and Pic-E are going to see the musical Jersey Boys at a theater in downtown Denver. We're all looking forward to it as we can all remember the music of Franki Valli and The Four Seasons. Before the show we'll grab a bite to eat at one of the many restaurants in the area.................Life is good.

Thanks for visiting.

Graduation and Low Country Shrimp Boil

The Bride is now officially the holder of a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting! It took many years of night school but she stayed the course and completed her degree requirements in October. This past Saturday was the winter graduation for Regis College, and family and friends were there to cheer for her. Not only did she graduate but she graduated Cum Laude. That's WAY better than I managed some forty years ago.

Ladder Lady flew in from North Carolina for the event and CaJenn and CaJon came from the left coast. The Emmer and the entire Circle was present as well.

After the ceremonies we all returned to our house for a Low Country Shrimp Boil in celebration of the event. This is for sure one of my favorite meals. It's kind of hard to beat shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, onions and sausage. Then to top it all off, desert was Pig Pickin Cake! I'm pretty sure that no one left hungry.

Sunday morning The Bride and I took Ladder Lady, CaJenn and CaJon to the airport for their flights home. The cold front that now grips a large part of the country had just moved through Colorado. The temperature at the airport at mid-morning was 0 degrees! Ladder Lady was glad to be going back to North Carolina where the temperature was a bit more to her liking.

It looks like the cold weather will hang around for a while. Yesterday they set a new record low temperature for the day at the airport....-19 degrees. As nasty as that is we could benefit from an extended cold snap. Colorado has been plagued by mountain pine beetles for several years now. Literally millions of trees have been killed by these beetles and in some areas whole mountain sides are brown with dead trees. It's going to have to get even colder still to help though. At least five days of -30 degrees is needed to kill the beetles. I would gladly endure the weather if it would put a stop to this current infestation.

Thanks for visiting.

Ladder Lady, Felice Navidad and More Celebrations

The Bride's mother, Ladder Lady, arrived from North Carolina on Saturday afternoon and the weather was mild enough (mid 60's) so that it did not bruise her sensibilities. That however, may change tomorrow as we are now forecast to start getting snow this evening with a total of 4"-8" by tomorrow morning. Wednesday the temps will bounce back into the 50's so the snow will probably be all gone by Thursday.

We're hoping for good weather late in the week as CaJenn and CaJon will be arriving from the left coast to help celebrate The Bride's graduation on Saturday. CaJon is a Colorado native so the snow is fine with him. My daughter CaJenn spent the majority of her life in the South so she is NOT a fan of snow and enjoys her home in California because of the moderate weather there.

Last night we had a Circle "+" event. The Circle met at K and Too Tall - Two Timing's place for a Mexican themed start to the holiday season. Ladder Lady and The Emmer came along with The Bride and I. K and Too Tall - Two Timing's son and daughter were also there. The star of the show was Too Tall - Two Timing's new grandson. I never really considered Too Tall to be "grandfatherly" but he seems to be a very quick study.

I'm not sure I can describe all the food other than to say it was delicious and Mexican. Guitar was in charge of the Margaritas and even though I did not have one, it was apparent that his concoction met with the approval of the rest of The Circle.

After dinner we exchanged Christmas Tree ornaments. This is something that K cooked up and I'm thinking that it will become a yearly event. This way we will enjoy each other's company for many years and remember the fun times every Christmas season. Now the race is on for the cleverest...yet tasteful tree ornaments.

As I mentioned, The Bride has her graduation ceremony this coming Saturday. After the ceremony The Circle will gather at our house for a Low Country Shrimp Boil. This was an entertainment staple for us when we lived in Savannah and is a sure fire crowd pleaser. To make things even better, it's easy to prepare and very easy to clean up afterwards.

We plan a very casual evening with friends and relatives. We will probably inject a little more fun by having some contests on our WiiFit. We did a little of this a week or so ago with K and Too Tall - Two Timing and had a blast. Just to be on the safe side I have already moved a lot of the furniture out of the way in our basement so that if the participants get a little "zealous" they won't hurt themselves. Stay tuned for a report on this.

Thanks for visiting.