Tomorrow is our 40th Anniversay! I can't really believe it.
Dad wanted me to tell you that this weekend we'll be out partying!
To celebrate we are going to Billings and staying overnight in the Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown. And we are going to go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie and go out to dinner at The Olive Garden. And we'll probably do a bunch of other stuff on Saturday. Shopping and whatnot. And end it with a trip to our new favorite BBQ place--Famous Dave's! Should be fun.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Miss Tango
Pam gave me a cat! Evidently someone dropped the cat off some time during the winter months. Sadly that happens a lot. Pam gave her shelter beneath her house, but the cat really wants to live inside. She thought we could give her more attention and care, since she was apparently once a housecat. .
I named her Tango because she has dramatic coloring and Dad has taken to calling her Miss Tango. She is getting friendlier by the day, and enjoys all the scratching behind her ears and petting. I was able to catch her in this video. Unfortunately you can't tell from the video, but her coloring is spectacular--principally black, grey, and orange. The orange is much more noticeable in the sunlight. That makes her a tortoiseshell cat--a tortie. She has a half masked face--black.
I think she will adjust to us in time. She was pretty frightened when Pam put her in my car, and when we arrived here she ran off and hid. Several hours later, when there was still no sign of her, Dad told me he was sure that she must be half way home. But 2 days later I was startled when she climbed out of her hiding place under the workbench in the garage while I was moving boxes about. I guess she was just frightened of the new surroundings, and probably afraid of the boxer across the street. He has come over and marked his territory already.
So now we have a cat.
.
I named her Tango because she has dramatic coloring and Dad has taken to calling her Miss Tango. She is getting friendlier by the day, and enjoys all the scratching behind her ears and petting. I was able to catch her in this video. Unfortunately you can't tell from the video, but her coloring is spectacular--principally black, grey, and orange. The orange is much more noticeable in the sunlight. That makes her a tortoiseshell cat--a tortie. She has a half masked face--black.
I think she will adjust to us in time. She was pretty frightened when Pam put her in my car, and when we arrived here she ran off and hid. Several hours later, when there was still no sign of her, Dad told me he was sure that she must be half way home. But 2 days later I was startled when she climbed out of her hiding place under the workbench in the garage while I was moving boxes about. I guess she was just frightened of the new surroundings, and probably afraid of the boxer across the street. He has come over and marked his territory already.
So now we have a cat.
.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Go Forth to Serve
This commencement was the 6th one we had the privilege to attend. Our own in 1972, and Jess', Rachel's, Martha's, Will's and lastly, Emily's.
"Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve."
CONGRATULATIONS EMILY!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Getting zboost!!
Hey Everybody! Great news! We bought something in CA that boosts your cellphone signal and Tuesday Dad set it up. Every day he comes in and asks me if anyone has called and have we had any dropped calls. Is it working? So far, so good. Call us and test it out!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
So long, farewell....
We said goodbye to our RV and sent it on its way with new owners. We certainly got our money's worth...we bought it in 2005 for $6k on Ebay. We sold it for $2k and we lived in it all totalled, probably 500 plus days. If you amortize that loosely we spent $8 a day for housing.
Grover always wanted an RV so he could park along the beach on the Rincon above Ventura. I'm glad we had the chance to do that. We never suspected it would be temporary quarters for longer stays.
Here's where we spent most of our time....in our living room. One thing we did learn: the longer your stay, the smaller the space becomes. The walls close in on you. It's a little like living in the hallway of your house.
But we had some fun times in our RV. From the first day we picked it up and got sidelined into a Walmart Parking lot in San Bernardino for 3 days, to our beach campouts, our month-long stays at Lake Casitas, our extremely isolated 6 weeks in the desert, and our most recent year+ in Vista and Escondido, living in it has been an adventure. Bon Voyage!
So long, farewell....
We said goodbye to our RV and sent it on its way with new owners. We certainly got our money's worth...we bought it in 2005 for $6k on Ebay. We sold it for $2k and we lived in it all totalled, probably 500 plus days. If you amortize that loosely we spent $8 a day for housing.
Grover always wanted an RV so he could park along the beach on the Rincon above Ventura. I'm glad we had the chance to do that. We never suspected it would be temporary quarters for longer stays.
Here's where we spent most of our time....in our living room. One thing we did learn: the longer your stay, the smaller the space becomes. The walls close in on you. It's a little like living in the hallway of your house.
But we had some fun times in our RV. From the first day we picked it up and got sidelined into a Walmart Parking lot in San Bernardino for 3 days, our beach campouts, our month-long stays at Lake Casitas, our extremely isolated 6 weeks in the desert, to our most recent year+ in Vista and Escondido, living in it has been an adventure.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Benefits of Living Off the Grid
Back on the farm. The longer I live the better it looks to me, particularly after spending 14 months in a 300 sq foot RV! Loved California, loved access to my kids. But living in Wyoming is living large! Lots of space and very little interference.
Here are few of the benefits:
There's nobody around. You can run outside in your pjs to get something from the garage without a bit of concern about your non-existent or far distant neighbors.
Few stoplights. You can drive for miles without stopping for traffic lights or stop signs. We drive 30 miles to Powell probably 2-3 times a week, and encounter one stop sign, and one stoplight.
Cheap local entertainment. You can go to the movie theater for $5 on Fri/Sat nights, and $3 for Sat. matinees.
People wave at you when you drive past them on the road, whether you know them or not.
No lines. You rarely wait in line anywhere, whether it's the gas station, the grocery store, the feed store, or the post office.
Gas is cheaper. $3.50 a gallon. Plus there's really nowhere to go.
No more fast food. The only places that have fast food are gas stations. Not on my list.
Here are few of the benefits:
There's nobody around. You can run outside in your pjs to get something from the garage without a bit of concern about your non-existent or far distant neighbors.
Few stoplights. You can drive for miles without stopping for traffic lights or stop signs. We drive 30 miles to Powell probably 2-3 times a week, and encounter one stop sign, and one stoplight.
Cheap local entertainment. You can go to the movie theater for $5 on Fri/Sat nights, and $3 for Sat. matinees.
People wave at you when you drive past them on the road, whether you know them or not.
No lines. You rarely wait in line anywhere, whether it's the gas station, the grocery store, the feed store, or the post office.
Gas is cheaper. $3.50 a gallon. Plus there's really nowhere to go.
No more fast food. The only places that have fast food are gas stations. Not on my list.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Back to the Farm
Like boomerangs, we go back and forth in our lives. I think everyone knows by now that we are back in Wyoming. Most of you are wondering if this choice will make me happy or sad. What I have discovered is that there is no easy answer to that question. It's all about point of view.
I used to think that quote from Abraham Lincoln was ridiculous. You know the one that said a man is just about as happy as he makes up his mind to be. As if it was a choice. The older I get, the more I see that life is all about choices. In the midst of our worst experiences, we still have a choice. We may not be completely happy, or even mildly happy, but we have a choice of how to act, what to say, how much to complain.
I have to say I learned that from Rachel most recently, when she spent months on the couch grimly bearing a morning sickness that lasted all day. Was she happy? Maybe on some very existential level she was happy to be producing another child. But unable to eat, to smell smells, to go out of her house, to move about...no. I probably spent 14 or more days with her in total, and I saw her choose to be kind, to be strong, to be as pleasant as she could be in her sickness.
I also learned that from Grandma/Dora. You may not know how often she was "hurting" from the many kidney stones and pain she had. The most she would ever say was "I'm hurting." Then she would lie down for a while until it was time to fix dinner, or make bread, or work in her garden. I really don't how much of the time she wasn't "hurting." She managed to live around the pain somehow. She made a strong choice to be as happy as she could be.
I am sure I could go on and talk about each of your struggles and how you have chosen to be happy in spite of them. Who gets an easy path, really? Ultimately, all we can do is choose to be happy or sad. And, naturally, being human and having strong emotions, we are sad sometimes. But even that gets old. And the stories of our pain, our frustration, and our injustices get old. So old. And looking back and cursing our bad luck, or our poor choices, or our ignorance, or innocence is counterproductive.
So.....here's the short answer. I am happy to be back in Wyoming in May 2011. There isn't a better month to move to Wyoming. May is perfection. It has all that is good in Wyoming going for it. Temperate weather, freedom from insects, baby calves, daffodils growing on the side of my house!, and specific to us--a roof over our heads, lots of privacy, an enormous amount of free time, plus farm fresh eggs (from Ruth's chickens), and a side of beef (currently at the butcher's).
Lucky for me I also have access to each of you through cell phones, the internet's emails, blogs, and im chat. And periodically, via Allegiant airline's ridiculously low air fares, and the prospect of your annual visits. So, when I'm "hurting" because I miss you so, I can visit you, one way or the other. And the rest of the time I can live my life around it--getting on with making dinner, or bread, or working in the garden. Happy or sad? I'm going to choose happy.
I used to think that quote from Abraham Lincoln was ridiculous. You know the one that said a man is just about as happy as he makes up his mind to be. As if it was a choice. The older I get, the more I see that life is all about choices. In the midst of our worst experiences, we still have a choice. We may not be completely happy, or even mildly happy, but we have a choice of how to act, what to say, how much to complain.
I have to say I learned that from Rachel most recently, when she spent months on the couch grimly bearing a morning sickness that lasted all day. Was she happy? Maybe on some very existential level she was happy to be producing another child. But unable to eat, to smell smells, to go out of her house, to move about...no. I probably spent 14 or more days with her in total, and I saw her choose to be kind, to be strong, to be as pleasant as she could be in her sickness.
I also learned that from Grandma/Dora. You may not know how often she was "hurting" from the many kidney stones and pain she had. The most she would ever say was "I'm hurting." Then she would lie down for a while until it was time to fix dinner, or make bread, or work in her garden. I really don't how much of the time she wasn't "hurting." She managed to live around the pain somehow. She made a strong choice to be as happy as she could be.
I am sure I could go on and talk about each of your struggles and how you have chosen to be happy in spite of them. Who gets an easy path, really? Ultimately, all we can do is choose to be happy or sad. And, naturally, being human and having strong emotions, we are sad sometimes. But even that gets old. And the stories of our pain, our frustration, and our injustices get old. So old. And looking back and cursing our bad luck, or our poor choices, or our ignorance, or innocence is counterproductive.
So.....here's the short answer. I am happy to be back in Wyoming in May 2011. There isn't a better month to move to Wyoming. May is perfection. It has all that is good in Wyoming going for it. Temperate weather, freedom from insects, baby calves, daffodils growing on the side of my house!, and specific to us--a roof over our heads, lots of privacy, an enormous amount of free time, plus farm fresh eggs (from Ruth's chickens), and a side of beef (currently at the butcher's).
Lucky for me I also have access to each of you through cell phones, the internet's emails, blogs, and im chat. And periodically, via Allegiant airline's ridiculously low air fares, and the prospect of your annual visits. So, when I'm "hurting" because I miss you so, I can visit you, one way or the other. And the rest of the time I can live my life around it--getting on with making dinner, or bread, or working in the garden. Happy or sad? I'm going to choose happy.
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