RIP Major Brian Michael Mescall '97

Major Brian Mescall was the 14th Citadel graduate to pay the ultimate price in the War on Terror. He wore The Ring.....

A Musical Weekend

Saturday nite The Circle gathered at Guitar and Pic-E's place for a pizza dinner before heading to Swallow Hill for a concert. The main attraction was Chuck Pyle. Swallow Hill puts on basic concerts in an old church building. Nothing fancy at all and we were surprised to find that there was an "opening act" before Chuck performed. An unexpected twofer. Bill Hearne was the opening act and as we learned he is a star in his own right.

In the last year we've attended a number of concerts featuring regional artists and I'm beginning to see something I was totally unaware of. Regional around here includes Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and sometimes Texas and Arizona. The music style can best be described as country/western. This is not the "country" you hear on the radio. This is much more basic and acoustic. The artists are a lot less Hollywood....and actually a lot more interesting. The western part of the music includes a lot of influence from 1940's swing music which is my favorite part of the whole thing.

Anyway, there appears to be a group of regional artists that perform all over the area and are like a musical family. They all are artists by themselves but they also perform with others of the group from time to time. Their talent is equal to or surpasses many of the nationally known artists but they have remained local out of choice or circumstance. Check out this link and see how the likes of Nanci Griffith, Lyle Lovett and Jerry Jeff Walker considered Bill Hearn to be an inspiration.

I enjoyed the "opening" act immensely and at intermission bought one of Bill's CDs. He sat at the table autographing the CD covers during intermission.When was the last time you went to any type of concert where the artist mingled with the audience during the intermission?

Chuck Pyle struggled for the night. It seems he was in the midst of a full blown chest cold but he cowboyed through. He even joked about it. He said he had had the cold long enough to really get to know it and he named it in honor of a cold woman he once knew...Francine. Even with the handicap of a cold it's evident that he is a very talented guy and he provided an entertaining evening.

To continue the musical theme...if you follow this blog you'll remember that I bought a Native American flute a while ago and have taken one lesson so far in my effort to be able to play it. I've also searched the internet and found numerous sites that have provided me with useful information on the flutes themselves and how to play them.

One of the things I discovered on the internet is that there are groups called "flute circles" all over the country. A flute circle is just a group of people that have an interest in playing the Native American flute and who get together on a periodic basis to play and learn from one another. It just so happens that there is one in the Denver area and last night I attended a monthly meeting of the group. I had no expectations whatsoever. I just wanted to learn a little more about flutes, playing flutes and the resources that were available. I certainly got all that and more.

I brought my little internet purchased beginners model with me but had already determined that there was no way in hell that I would try to play it in public at this point. When I walked through the door of the house the gathering was held at it was clear that I was way over my head in terms of proficiency and quickly hid my flute under my jacket.

It was a great experience. There were between 12-15 people there. Everyone had at least three or four different flutes and if nothing else I got to see some serious flutes of all different designs, woods and keys. The participants were most gracious towards me and helped me understand a lot more about flutes and how to play them. Several members of the group also teach lessons so now I have several more instructors that I can choose from.

I listened in awe to a number of them as they took turns playing and it really reinforced in me the idea that I can and want to continue to learn to play this relatively simple instrument. I also became convinced that if I want to continue I need to get a more "serious" flute and this group can help me do that.

In addition to getting together to talk and play, members bring flutes to sell and/or trade. The flutes they sell or trade are very nice flutes, it's just that they are constantly trying new flutes and most people only feel comfortable owning a certain number at one time. Good for me because I'll know if I buy one that it's from someone in this group that it's good flute by a good maker....which brings up another point.

This type of flute is not mass produced. This is a cottage industry with a maker or artisan that makes these things one at a time by hand. There are a lot of people who profess to be flute makers but there is a relatively small group of quality artisans. I have now tapped into a knowledge base that will allow me to be sure that whatever I buy is something that's worth the price.

A musical weekend to be sure....today's high is going to be around 15 degrees so I believe I'll practice my flute a bit..........

Thanks for visiting.

Major Road Trip Plans

Guitar and I have roughed out plans for a major road trip at the end of February. I just wish it was next week instead of three weeks off. We've been wanting to do this for awhile and it seems as if everything is now coming together.

Here's the highlights. Guitar and I will leave in my RV on a Sunday morning and head south through Trinadad CO, Raton NM, Las Vegas NM on I-25. We will then get off the interstate and work our way through central New Mexico as far south as Las Cruces. At Las Cruces we'll pick up I-10 and head west to Tucson AZ. On Wednesday of that week, The Bride and Guitar's wife, Pic-E, will fly into Tucson and we will all explore the Tucson area until Sunday afternoon when the ladies will fly back to the Denver area. Guitar and I will then work our way back north through central Arizona and cut back into New Mexico at Gallup and then on back to the Denver area. We will get back home around Friday or Saturday of the second week.

Tucson was picked as the southern terminus for several reasons. First of all it should be warm there...as in the 70's or 80's. It will be a refreshing break for February in Colorado. Secondly, Guitar's cousin has been wintering down there for a number of years and is staying at an RV park on the south side of town. He has lined up the sights for us to see while we are there. I met him about six months ago when he passed through town towing his vintage 1971 Avion trailer...a very cool trailer. He also writes a blog, Sandcreek Travel so if you want to see what we are getting into, give him a visit. Finally, I spent about 6 weeks at Ft. Huachuca, just south of Tucson, when I was in the Army and always wanted to go back and explore the area further Now I will be able to do just that.

Those are the highlights. The in between stuff we're still working on but you can bet that Guitar and I will find some interesting and probably weird stuff along the way. I'll keep you updated as the plans progress.

Closer to home, The Circle is going to meet tonight at Bud's Bar for our kinda regular weekly burger and then on Saturday we will be going to the Chuck Pyle concert that I mentioned in the last post.

Thanks for visiting.

Still Alive and Well

It's been over a week since my last post. I don't go that far between posts too often but I just didn't have the inspiration during the last week. There just wasn't a whole lot going on and I was pursuing quiet past times like reading. One thing I did that hopefully will bring some adventure to my life in a few months was to volunteer for two more Passport In Time projects.

If you will remember, this past September, Guitar and I spent a week volunteering with the US Forest Service, helping them do an archaeological survey in a remote canyon in SE Colorado. The first project I volunteered for will "curate" artifacts collected during this and other surveys in the past few years. The Forest Service description of the project is as follows:

"The Pike-San Isabel National Forest will host a curation project at the Monument Fire Center (historically known as Monument Nursery), established May 1, 1907, and summer home of the Pike Hot Shots. It is located in beautiful central Colorado at the interface of the Great Plains and the eastern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Over the years, FS archaeologists on the Pike-San Isabel National Forest and Comanche-Cimarron National Grassland (PSICC) have accumulated materials while recording and evaluating historic and prehistoric sites. We need your help to properly curate these artifacts. Participants will help clean, identify, analyze, and package some of Colorado's most important cultural resources. We encourage both those with archaeological curation experience and the interested neophyte to apply. In addition, if the weather permits, there may be an opportunity to conduct ground surveys or site and feature relocation activities associated with the nursery."

It's basically an "office" job but it will be fun to see the process of "curating" and to see what becomes of the artifacts I helped collect this past September. Besides that this project takes place at the end of March and by that time my cabin fever should be at a maximum.

The second project I volunteered for is in June. It will be a full week of the same type of archaeological survey activity that I did on my first project. It will also be in a remote canyon in SE Colorado. Picketwire Canyon is a lot better known than the canyon we went to in September. They have been doing surveys there for 15 years but are still finding important stuff. In addition to what the Native Americans left behind, Picketwire Canyon contains over 1300 dinosaur tracks frozen in the rock that was once a muddy lakeshore or swamp. Here's how the Forest Service describes the project.

"Join us for another year of adventure on the Picketwire Canyonlands Survey - a project that itself is becoming a heritage resource! The Canyonlands is a spectacular and rugged venue containing a great wealth of prehistoric and historic resources - and it offers wilderness without the crowds. We are recruiting volunteers to help us continue efforts to record and understand the human past of the Picketwire. Among the prehistoric resources are complex architectural sites, camp locations used by the antecedents of modern tribes, and a variety of rock art dating to all periods. We also anticipate Hispanic pioneering homesteads of the 19th century and the remnants of historic cattle ranches. PIT volunteers will help us thoroughly explore the canyon and its branches to record sites and features using specialized tasks including photography, botany, orienteering, site mapping, and artifact identification. We look forward to having you join us for our 15th year in the canyon!"

I said I volunteered but that is no guarantee that I will be accepted for the project. I'm thinking that my chances for the "office" job are pretty good but there will be a lot of people volunteering for the Picketwire project and there are only 8 openings. Hopefully my experience on the project in September will give an edge.

In the meantime, The Bride and I, the rest of The Circle and a whole bunch of our Moab on the Rocks friends are going to a concert to see one of our own perform in a local band. Next weekend the full Circle will be going to another concert by Chuck Pyle. I first became acquainted with Chuck Pyle last year when I attended the Cowboy Poetry Gathering across town and really enjoyed his music. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Finally, Guitar and I are beginning to plan a road trip to Tucson next month. The early plans are for he and I to drive one of our RVs on the scenic route to Tucson in late February. The Bride and Pic-E will fly down to Tucson to meet us for a long weekend and then Guitar and I will drive back, taking as much time as he can manage to get off from work. Much more to follow on this.

Thanks for visiting.

An Afternoon Knap

One of the things that fascinated me when Guitar and I helped the Forest Service with an archaeological survey this past fall was how the Indians made stone tools. Intricate tools like arrowheads and knives were made by banging on rocks with stones or antlers. When you look at some of the tools up close you begin to realize how difficult it must have been to create them....Or was it? I decided to find out by investigating the art of flintknapping.

There are any number of books devoted to this subject and I bought a couple. There are also DVD and online videos that illustrate how the process works. There is, however, no substitute for having a real live person explain and show you how to do this. I had tried a little bit by myself, after watching the videos and reading some books but it's a difficult thing to do without a "teacher"....so I started looking for a teacher. Much to my surprise I found a very highly regarded instructor right here in the Denver area so I emailed him to see if he might be able to teach me.

Bob Patten is nationally if not internationally known in the field of lithics. He is the author of at least two books on the subject and is an expert craftsman in making stone tools. He also was willing to teach me so yesterday afternoon I had my first "knap".

It was fun and there is a lot to learn but it's not so difficult that a clutzy old guy like me can't do it. The picture above shows some of the native tools and some of the modern tools that I am using. The two items on the top of the picture are modern tools. The solid heavy brass rod is called a billet and it's used to do the heavy work of breaking down large pieces of stone. The tool with the black handle is called a pressure flaker and is used to flake off medium size pieces of rock.

The Native Americans did not have access to some of the tools we use today. They were limited to stones and antlers. The large stones are used as hammers to pound off larger pieces of rocks. Smaller stones caused smaller flakes and the antlers were used as pressure flakers to make the finest of flakes.

The black rock in the middle of the picture is a piece of chert that I found while on a hike last week. Chert is an excellent rock to use in flintknapping so I have something I can work with for now.

During the lesson we used some chert that Bob had gotten in Texas and we started by taking a big flake off of an even larger rock. The picture to the right is what I accomplished in about 45 minutes of knapping. It's just a rough form, about four inches tall and three inches wide. It's still too thick to be really useful and needs a lot more refinement. Like most things the roughing out is way easier than the finish work but I was thrilled that I was able to do this much.

So, it seems as if I have yet another hobby. This one also lends itself to RV trips to the mountains. Pretty soon I'm going to have to use a calendar to apportion time to my hobbies to every one gets equal time.....Life is good.

Thanks for visiting.

We Almost Made It

Before retiring last year my job required that I travel about 50% of the time so travel for me was not exciting. It was in fact a pain. I didn't mind being somewhere out of town, it was the getting there part that I really hated. Yesterday I found out that things haven't changed much and traveling is still a major pain.

The Bride and I left the house at a little after 10 am yesterday on our way to her Great Aunt's funeral in North Carolina. Timing was tight and we bought the best tickets we could on Friday. Those tickets required us to fly through Minneapolis to North Carolina on Northwest Airlines. That would not have been my choice....but we didn't have a choice.

To start things off, since we bought last minute tickets, we were marked for the complete security screening. This included the puffer bomb detector and an intense baggage search. I made it through the puffer ok but the baggage search turned up an unopened toothpaste tube I had bought the day before that was 1 ounce over the limit and was confiscated. Also, since they were last minute tickets both of our seats were center seats and the plane was packed.....I had almost forgotten the joy of feeling like a sardine with a big shouldered stranger on either side of me reducing my seat space to about half of the actual seat.

Even though it was a balmy 3...read three...degrees when we reached Minneapolis we were glad to be able to get out of the sardine can. At least it was clear and not snowing. We were almost looking forward to our 3....read three....hour layover so we could allow our bodies to recover from the first two hour leg.

So, The Bride and I ate a "gourmet" dinner at one of the airport restaurants and watched the Minnesota Viking football game. For my dinner I had the local specialty....Walleye Fingers? I've fished for many years but have never seen fingers on a fish. The Bride stuck to a less adventurous soup. After "dinner" we went to the gate to wait on our next flight which was scheduled for 7:15 pm.

At 7 pm the flight was posted as Cancelled. The Northwest agents couldn't give us a reason although one said something about "weather". Well, we knew the weather in Minneapolis was good enough to fly because we watched about 100 planes take of or land while we were waiting. As I was walking down the concourse just before the flight was cancelled I looked at the Northwest weather map on the TV screen and it showed no severe weather between us and the east coast. We had also talked to The Brides mother who was less than 40 miles from the airport we were supposed to fly into and she said the weather was gorgeous. I suspect the "weather" comment was just a device for them to cancel what was probably an unprofitable flight for them as there were only about 15 people in the gate area.

The agent told us that the earliest flight they could provide for us was the next day (today) at 7:15 pm. The funeral was today at 3 pm. There really wasn't any purpose in spending the night in Minneapolis and getting to North Carolina after the funeral so we asked to be flown back to Denver.

We were lucky that there was one last flight at 10 pm back to Denver and they squeezed us on. Squeezed is appropriate because every seat was full again and again we sat in center seats. This flight was really bad because everyone was carrying on luggage (including myself) and about half way through the loading process they had to start checking baggage because the overheads were full. It was horrendous. The crew offered no help at first and just allowed people to continue to go to the back of the plane with their luggage. That caused a massive jam when everyone tried to bring their bags back forward to check. Then the crew allowed people to put their bags on the jetway for checking and reboard without claim checks......Another jam when people had to come forward, identify their luggage and get a claim check.

We arrived back in Denver a little after 11 pm. I felt like a piece of paper that had been wadded into a spit ball. The Bride had checked her bag so we had to wait on that and wait and wait. Finally a Northwest representative made an announcement that they were understaffed and things were taking a little longer than usual....and oh, by the way, they can't get the cargo door of the plane open to get to the bags.

We made it home a little after 1 am this morning and just went to bed without even unpacking.

This morning I called Northwest to see about getting a refund for the $900 we spent to travel to a funeral and never made it to. I had a lengthy discussion with the agent about the weather. She said the flight was cancelled because of weather but couldn't tell me where the bad weather was. Finally after talking with a supervisor I was told they had requested a refund for me.......they couldn't guarantee that I would get it but I would know in a couple of days.

I'm not holding my breath and I'm trying to figure out what my options are if I don't get the refund.

I feel sorry for those road warriors that have to travel a lot for their jobs. It's a nasty part of today's business.

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.

Oh What A Night and Flute Lessons?

That post title ought to confuse a little, but there is a simple explanation.

First, on Saturday night Guitar, Pic-E, The Bride and myself went to see "Jersey Boys" at the Buell Theater in downtown Denver. That's the Oh What A Night part of the title and it was. This was a high powered musical with lots of great music that took me back to my high school days.

The show is the story of Franki Valli and The Four Seasons. I have enjoyed their music since they "made it big" but never really knew the story of the group. The stage show only hit the highlights and included plenty of great music so there was not brain overload in trying to follow the plot. One particularly interesting tidbit was that actor Joe Pesci was a boyhood friend of Franki Valli, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi, three of the four Four Seasons. It was Joe Pesci who introduced them to Bob Gaudi who became the fourth Four Seasons and was the creative song writer for the group.

The show won a Tony Award in 2006 and has been touring the country ever since. All I can say is Oh What A Night! We had great fun, tapped our feet all evening and left the theater with a smile on our faces.

Before the show we stopped at the restaurant 1515 for dinner. The Bride and I had been to this restaurant several times before and always enjoyed it. Guitar and Pic-E had never been there before and from their reaction I think it will go on their "recommend" list.

A great meal and great entertainment....life is good. If Jersey Boys comes to your city don't miss it.

OK, so what's the deal with flute lessons?

Some time ago I reported that on my way back from New Mexico I stopped in Taos and bought a Native American Flute. I had been thinking about learning to play one for a while and finally pulled the trigger.

This is a very simple instrument that even a clutz like me is supposed to be able to play with just a little practice. It's the perfect instrument to take on my RV trips as it's small, requires no electricity and sounds great outdoors.

After a series of events that I won't detail, I ended up with a flute made by High Spirits Flutes in Arizona. The picture above is the model flute that I bought. I have been playing it for about a month on my own and decided that maybe I should take a lesson or two just to get me started.

It just so happens that there is a pretty well known Native American Flute artist by the name of Eric Herrera that lives in the Denver area and he teaches lessons. I contacted him and had my first lesson yesterday. It was just an introductory lesson but I learned enough to know that I want to continue the lessons for a while. I don't think I will threaten any professional musician's career but it is a fun thing to do and it keeps me off the streets.

As a final note, the weather here has been wonderful for the last few days. Clear, dry and temps in the upper 50's. It was so nice today that I rolled out the Ruckus scooter and took it for a drive. This is the kind of weather that makes me get out the maps and start planning trips.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year........

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.

A Sad Story That Makes Me Proud - Conclusion

I think it's appropriate that the conclusion to this story comes around Christmastime. This is a period of hope and well wishes for billions of people around the world. In my small world this ending gives me that warm contented feeling that only occurs a few times in one's life. To read the initial story click here.

You will note a comment to this original story from my classmate "Mike". Mike is the one who alerted us to the sale of a Class of 1969 Citadel ring on eBay. He physically bought the ring from the seller. The rest of us contributed money and comments but he was the "brains" of the operation.

After we secured the ring and found out that it belonged to "Joe", we searched for any living relatives and discovered that "Joes" parents were still alive and living in South Carolina. It was a no brainer that the ring should be returned to them.

I won't try to describe the rest because "Mike's" posts on our Yahoo Groups site does better than I could ever do. The following has been edited from several of "Mike's" emails to make it suitable for this blog.

I spoke with "Joe's" Mom this afternoon, she couldn't talk about the ring so she put "Joe's" father on the line. It was really a tough conversation because you could feel his pain that is still there after almost 40 years. When I told him I had "Joe's" ring and that I would drive down and give it to him tomorrow , he said he didn't think he could handle it, but then composed himself. I guess that's the military still in him. I spoke with "Joe's" sister later and asked her if she thought it would be okay for me to come down and she said yes, and that she would be there as well

Joe died on Jun 15, 1970. One year later his father, also an army officer and airborne veteran of WW II (wounded at Anzio in 1944), Korea and Vietnam, suffered a heart attack after going through an old trunk with pictures and keepsakes of "Joe" and his sister when they were kids. He survived three wars but after the heart attack he was discharged from the service.

"Joe's" ring was stolen in 1992. The thief entered their home and hauled off a large safe that included "Joe's" sword, ring and other Citadel belongings.

Before visiting the parents I went over to the Lawtonville Cemetery where "Joe'" is buried. I placed the ring on his grave marker, somewhat symbolic of what his fiancee did with the wedding ring at "Joe's" funeral. Lawtonville Cemetery is a historic landmark. Many Civil War soldiers are buried there including some from The Citadel. This is the deep south that some folks only read about.

"Joe's" Dad tried to pay me for the ring several times. I told him it was our gift to his family and if he paid for the ring it would diminish our joy in returning it to them.

To my brothers of The Citadel Class of 1969.....

WE wear The Ring!

Thanks for visiting.

Recent Read

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan is a National Book Award winner and it deserves it.

Imagine you are a farmer in the Oklahoma panhandle in 1918. You have lived the American dream. You started out in a sod dug out, broke the soil with a mule, planted crops, sweated and prospered. With the help of your wife and children you have carved out a decent life in this remote area. You have been able to move from the dugout to a modest frame house. Things are looking up. The world-wide demands for wheat during World War I present an opportunity to make you rich if you plant enough...and you do. By the mid 20's you have mechanical farm equipment, electric lights, a car and a piano. This is like printing money. Plow more land, plant more wheat, get more money.

The stock market crash in 1929 can't hurt the relatively self sufficient farmer. That stuff is for city slickers. Even when prices for wheat tank all you have to do is plant more to make up for low prices.

Then Nature turns on you. In the period of just two years your life has turned to hell. The worst ecological disaster ever to hit the United States is your life. Hurricanes of dirt happen on a monthly, no weekly basis. Temperatures soar and plunge to extremes. The only way to live inside your house is to seal all the windows and doors with tape and then cover the openings with sheets. Still the dust penetrates everything and requires you to “dig out” the insides of the house several times a day. Tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes, black widow spiders all seeking shelter from nature gone crazy, invade you home making it a dangerous place. Your children die of “dust pneumonia”, a form of silicosis from breathing dust laden air.

Your once lush farm now looks like the Sahara desert. You lose all your equipment to the bank. Most of your farm animals die from malnutrition or because they ingest so much dirt in the storms that it kills them. The horses resort to chewing on fence posts to try and survive.

Maybe the lucky ones are the ones that lose their land too and are forced to move out. Those that remain endure this for ten long years.

This is their story. This is the story of thousands of farmers and town dwellers alike in Southeastern Colorado, Southwestern Kansas and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas. This is the story of the Dust Bowl. This is the incredible story of a natural disaster on top of the man made disaster of The Great Depression.

Timothy Egan does a magnificent job in telling the story of individuals and families that struggle during this period. The book reads more like a novel than history. It's a dark novel but it's particularly apropos today.

For me it was on one hand depressing. It's a tough story. On the other hand, I marveled at what the human flesh and spirit can endure. I wake up this morning thankful that I live the plush life that I do and wonder if I could match the deeds of these intrepid people. It also stirs caution in me. Man's quest for financial gain can be a ruinous thing. The old adage is still true. “It can always get worse.”

This book is a worthy read. It will make you feel both bad and good. I heartily recommend it.

Thanks for visiting.

Bits and Pieces

Trying to get back to normal after the celebrations of this past weekend but the cold weather is definitely throwing "cold water" on things.

I didn't report that several weeks ago I had the carpeting replaced in my RV. I replaced the original carpet which was about 17 years old. Even though carpeting in an RV doesn't get the constant use that carpet in a home gets, 17 years is more than enough to have made it pretty nasty. The transformation is fantastic....looks like a completely new RV in some ways.

Yesterday the temps were above freezing for most of the day so I went down to the RV lot and ran the engine and gasoline generator for a while. Gasoline generators are supposed to be "exercised" at least once a month to keep the carburetor from gumming up. The previous owner did not do that and the generator shows it by surging pretty badly for a minute or two after starting up. If my exercising it doesn't clean it out by spring I guess I'll have to have it cleaned out by my mechanic.

Tomorrow and for a few days after that it is supposed to turn bitterly cold again. High tomorrow will be 15 degrees. The Bride and The Emmer have said that they're going to go shopping?....It's a woman thing I guess. First off, you won't find me anywhere near a store between now and Christmas, especially during the weekend. Secondly, to add obnoxious crowds on top of bitter cold is just too much for a retired guy!

So, with the weather heading south....no that's not right, if it were heading south wouldn't you think it would be getting warmer? Let me rephrase, with the weather taking a dive...taking a plunge...that doesn't sound right either. That makes me think of diving into warm water. Maybe I should skip the literary stuff....

Seeing as how the weather will be crappy tomorrow, maybe I should make some pasta puttanesca? This is perhaps my favorite pasta dish. I think I first tasted it many years ago on a business trip to Chicago. Over the years I made it a point to have it at least once every time I was in Chicago. When I retired I decided to learn to cook it so I wouldn't have to go to Chicago to get my "fix". I found that it is very easy to make and that says a lot coming from me. Be sure you read the description of the term puttanesca in the link above!

I also hope that I'll be able to tell you the conclusion to my earlier post "A Sad Story That Makes Me Proud" in a day or two so stay tuned.

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.

DAM Art

Don't get upset at the title...DAM is the acronym for Denver Art Museum. The Bride, Ladder Lady and myself took a trip there yesterday. The "cultural complex consists of several buildings but the new art museum is pictured above. The building, designed by Daniel Libeskind was completed in 2006 to rave architectural reviews. Personally I think it's a bit over the top and I wonder how well it will age.

The reason for our visit was to see an exhibit of paintings by E.L. Blumenschein the famous member of the Taos Society of Artists. Blumenschein was an incredibly gifted artist and most of his works have been described as "post-impressionist" and "modernist". I would lean towards the modernist description but his style was realist enough that his pictures clearly portray the image. No guessing needed. That probably is a result of his early illustrator career. Most of his subjects were related to the Southwest. Indians, frontiersmen and New Mexico landscape and the like.

It was great. I was fascinated not only with the subject matter but the coloration and lighting of the paintings as well. The exhibit consisted of 66 of his most famous paintings and we studied them for a couple of hours before we headed off to lunch at the museum restaurant "Palettes". This is quite the "tony" spot for lunch and Ladder Lady was suitably impressed.....the food was good too.

After lunch we went across the street for a tour of the historic Byers/Evans House. The house dates to 1883 and was home to two different prominent Colorado families: William Byers, the founder of the Rocky Mountain News and William Evans, son of Colorado's first governor. The house was occupied by the Evans family until 1981 when it was given to the Colorado Historical Society so unlike many historical houses, this house and it's contents are 99% authentic. Everything in the house was actually owned and used by the families.

We managed to finish our little expedition just before the afternoon rush hour so it was a very good day.

Today the rush is on to make final preparations for the arrival of CaJenn and CaJon tomorrow and to lay in supplies for the party on Saturday evening to celebrate The Brides college graduation. It will be a memorable event and I plan to take lots of pictures so stay tuned.

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.