“When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.” – Bernard Bailey
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
TV and Staying in Touch
Up till a few years ago, when at the cabin we were totally out of touch with what was happening in the “real world”. I think we’ve both posted in the past about our 9/11 experience—not knowing about it for a while because we had no radio, no TV, no phones. Well, now we have satellite Internet and satellite TV, although we have not watched much TV.
Tonight I turned on the news to see what is going on and learned about the “controversy” about the President of the United States speaking to the children of our country about responsibility and the importance of an education. Controversy? Oh my god—who are these stoopid people who are so partisan, so right-of-right, that they would deny the children of this country the opportunity to be inspired by the most inspiring President since JFK? Inspired to take responsibility for their future? Inspired to stay in school and pursue an education?
I can’t say how ashamed and angry I am. Ashamed to be in a country with such shallowness. Angry about what the past few years of partisanship and right-wing driven politics has done to us. I think we have completely lost our values as a country when we can’t show respect for the President (okay, I bashed Bush, but there are limits), and actually be enthusiastic about a charismatic and inspiring President to motivate and challenge the youth of our country.
Chili and cheese biscuits for dinner. That should help!
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 09/08/2009 at 05:37 PM
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Monday
Monday was a beautiful day. They’ve all been beautiful so far. We walked to the “top”—a hill on our Southern property that is probably over 9000 feet high at its peak. The dogs ran around a lot and got good exercise. Later in the day we took a walk “around” and I’ll post a short movie of that soon. I took the saw and cut some of the logs that have fallen across the trail. I got about 1/2-way done. After a nice shower, it was time to read for a good part of the afternoon. The dogs were sure tired!
We had bran muffins for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and baked, rolled enchiladas for dinner. The enchiladas were a bit disappointing (I think it was the canned sauce), so we are not batting very well in the “scrumptious meals” category.
Took a drive around the area looking for wildlife. Lynne spotted one of the biggest elk I’ve ever seen. Lynne took a couple of photos, and one came out pretty good given he was about a 1/2-mile away. I’m sure she’ll post it to her blog later. Later, we sat on the porch with our dessert and a drink—but no sounds were to be heard. No coyote. No owl. Not even any ATVs—seems, the Labor Day crowd has all gone home. We watched a dumb movie on the Lifetime Movie Channel, and then went to bed. It was after 10:00! So, our clocks are finally adjusting.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/08/2009 at 07:21 AM
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Sunday, September 06, 2009
Sunday Night
Tonight we had a skillet lasagna recipe. It is a favorite of Lynne’s sister. It is an easy, one-skillet recipe that was pretty good. We’ll note it in our recipe collection as “quick and easy” and good for the “cabin”.
After dinner we took the dogs for a walk to the “bottom” (of the hill along the road). It is their late evening ritual. It started sprinkling on us as we walked back. And, by the time we got back and did the dishes it had turned into a nice shower. It rained for 15 minutes or so, cooling the air off significantly—enough to motivate a fire in the stove—and, the smell was wonderful.
We lit an oil lamp and sat on the porch, eating a lemon bar and sipping limoncello. It was so quiet. Lynne says it is so quiet “it hurts”. I agree. The silence is so profound that I can hear what is going on in my head—a subtle ringing and the pounding of blood through my veins. We did hear some coyotes sing for a while, and the great horned owl did a few minutes of his “hoo hoo” song. There were occasional drips of rain from the roof. (One airliner flew overhead.)
All in all, a very nice evening. It is now time for “final pees” for the dogs and then off to bed; read; and sleep.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 09/06/2009 at 08:42 PM
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The Dogs Remember
It is very clear that the animals remember the cabin. They immediately fall into old habits and behaviors. They remember the daily “routine”. (Except their internal clocks are still on Eastern time, so they wake us up at 4:00 a.m.) They remember where we set their food bowls. They remember that we take a long walk each morning after breakfast and a shorter walk in the evening before dinner—and they remind us if we forget. They remember the trails in the woods and all the places we normally stop to gather everyone together and give them a treat. (A way of keeping them close on walks that we train into them from pups.)
What about Bella? Well, she “owns” this place—at least in her mind. She shows no fear. She leads us down every trail. Today, she went swimming in the pond. She is really good at following the game trails—which we also use for our walks. She runs and jumps and swims—not having any problem with the adjustment. See Lynne’s blog for photos.
The cats have settled into their routine also and seem very much at home.
So, the animals are all well and happy. As are we!
Posted under: Cabin News • Dog Stuff • Cat Stuff • by Rick on 09/06/2009 at 05:19 PM
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Saturday, September 05, 2009
Day 1
Well, this is really a summary of the day we arrived (Friday) and the next day (Saturday). After an hour of shopping at Safeway in Laramie, we stopped at the local feed store to buy a Halti collar for Bella. She was so excited on the trip here that when we stopped at a rest stop for a pee break, she would pull so hard to get to the next smell that she would either slip her collar (not a good thing next to a busy Interstate) or pull Lynne or me behind, sometimes on slippery grass or mud. With hope, the Halti will make the trip home easier and safer.
After that a 40 minute drive over moderately washboarded dirt roads and we were here.
The first thing we notice are the dead trees. Colorado is in the midst of a pine beetle infestation unlike anything ever seen before. All the pine forests from West to East are being attacked. We knew it was coming from the condition of some of the trees last year, but we were surprised that probably 1/2 of the evergreen trees on the land are now an orange-rust color—dead with their needles still on them. It would be pretty if it were Fall color, but soon the needles will drop and all that will stand are dead trees. Luckily, we have a lot of Aspen to fill in the gaps.
I think I’ve gone through the stages of mourning—anger, denial, bargaining, finally acceptance. It is what it is. And, in a way it is interesting to see what will happen over the next many years. What trees will start to grow? What will happen to the dead ones? How will the scenery look in 5 years? 10 years?
For sure, we’ll have to deal with some of the dead trees as they are very close to the cabin and create a huge fire hazard.
The next thing I noticed was the altitude. At 8600 feet we are 8000 feet higher than our home in New Jersey. And, for the first time this trip, I really notice it. I huff and puff a little more than I’d like.
Other news? Bella is in season. We sort of figured it would happen. She started bleeding a little our last day on the road. So, now she is wearing her “pants” (with a pad inside). Alex knows what is going on, but is waiting for her peak period to start being the butthead he will become—probably about the time we start the drive home. That will be fun.
We had Sloppy Joes and boxed Macaroni and Cheese last night. Easy to make on our first night here. Tonight we had steaks, baked potatoes and sweet corn.
The furnace doesn’t work. Pretty much everything else at the cabin is in good shape. But, this morning, early—around 4:00 a.m.—the furnace which was set to come on at 65 degrees, kicked on. It has a startup cycle that begins with a small fan blowing. I’m not sure of the purpose, but I think it is to flush the system, build the right pressures of intake and outflow, etc. It kicked on and ran and ran and ran without the burner ever coming on along with the main fan. So, I got up to turn it off. There is a strong smell of dead mouse/rat (something that we are familiar with up here) and I’m suspecting a critter has crawled into the furnace somehow/somewhere and is clogging up the works. I took a look myself, but I can’t figure out the problem so we’ll bring in professional help next week.
Meantime, we still have the wood burning stove (which Lynne fired up nicely this morning)—and lots of dead wood.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/05/2009 at 07:49 PM
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