Better Late Than Never...

This is old news now, but we had an epic storm last week. I am late to the party, but it is better to be late than never. My cousins and my mom have already written about the storm that covered much of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is heartbreaking to lose so many trees. They are valuable to us, since we have to work so hard to get them to grow and thrive here. The loss of livestock is also terrible, with thousands of cattle and horses killed in the storm. I'm sure there were wild animals lost as well. So much devastation.

We had 17-18 inches of snow and stiff winds, but worst of all were all the downed trees. The leaves had just barely started to turn on a few trees, but most were still green. Too much snow and too much wind means lots and lots of broken branches. One tree in our neighborhood has not one single branch left! It was a mature tree, at least 30 years old. Now it is a 20 foot tall stump.

Thankfully, Chad had done a major trimming of the cottonwood tree behind our back fence in May. Check out some photos of that project here. He was concerned we'd get a snowstorm like the one we just did, and he was worried about branches taking out the neighbors' fences as well as damaging our property. We had a storm in  early October, 2009 that left about 6 inches of snow, and limbs from our tree took out our power and cable lines. Chad wanted to try and stop a repeat performance. It didn't quite stop all the limbs from coming down this time, but I'm sure the damage would have been much more extensive had he not had the foresight to get the tree trimming done.

I heard the first crash at 4:00 a.m. on Friday, October 4th. I got up and looked outside, groaned when I saw about 8-10 inches of snow on the ground, and that our neighbor's tree had just lost some large limbs. I also saw that our lines were covered with a lot of snow and sagging, so I was putting my coat and shoes on to go clean them off. I didn't even get to the door when there was a very loud crash and the entire house shook.

This is why:

See how hard it's snowing? Usually when I take pictures while it's snowing, the flakes barely show up. Here they just look like a lot of white streaks.

I have no idea how that branch managed to get hung up there and didn't bring the power lines down. It did bring our cable down, so no land line phone or internet for us, and pulled the line down that powers the streetlight in front of the house. A very long branch, it was dangling clear over the neighbor's fence, and a piece of it snagged on their cable line. Chad had to get out the chainsaw to remove this limb, and others around the neighborhood were already running theirs. It was a very rude and early morning for a lot of people!

While we were clearing that branch, another was sagging onto the main electrical line. It began to arc, and soon there were a lot of sparks and some flames. Fortunately, the city electrical crew was already in our alley working on another downed line, so they came over and cut down the burning branch.

Not exactly in focus, but you can see the bright flames with the power line running underneath.

Right after the crew took care of our burning limb, there was a crack, crash, bright flash, and very loud bang as a limb came down right on the transformer next door. And we were without power for rest of the day.

It was a long, cold day, with many, many more branches coming down all over town. As we got out to start cleaning up the next day, Megan said it best: "Who dropped the nuke?" It looked exactly like a bomb had gone off.

So, here are some pictures from around our yard and neighborhood on Saturday, October 5th.

Our windmill.

Neighbor's spruce tree.

Megan making a "snow starfish" in the front yard.

Limbs exactly as they fell in a neighbor's yard.

A bird landed in the deep snow of the front yard and left cool impressions. From the size of the marks, I think it must have been a dove.

Megan's snow angel in the back yard.

Spies Among Us

Ever have that feeling, that prickling down your spine, that you were being watched?

I had that feeling recently. I was in the back yard, minding my own business, and I just had the sense that I was being stalked. Not wanting to seem obvious that I was feeling creeped out, I tried to look casual as I whistled a nervous little tune and took a look around. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but I knew there were eyes on me. I took a couple of slow steps back toward the house, then stopped and pretended to be absorbed by looking at some potted flowers. I was listening for any sound, any movement, that would give away the location of the spy. I heard the breeze rustling leaves in the tree above me, but oddly enough, no chirping birds. They were quiet, as if they knew something was amiss.

Just as I was about to make a run for it and lock myself safely in the garage, I heard a sound, a signaling, and instantly knew my stalker. Or should I say stalkers. When I knew where to look, there were two of them.

Fortunately, I was able to snap a couple of pictures. They tried to look casual and non-stalkerish, but the jig was up and I was on to their tricks. Having heard their signal, I know they are working as a team and sharing information, so I will be careful to try and thwart their plans to take over the world.

Willow, our siamese cat.

Simba, the next-door neighbor's siamese cat. Notice how she's trying to act like she's not watching my every move.

I shudder when I think of the danger I wouldn't even know surrounded me had I not heard the meow, the signal between these kitties. Sure, they look purrrr-fectly harmless, but shortly after this incident, I intercepted a piece intel, so I know I'm not just imagining things. I am sharing this intel in an effort to save lives. If you have feline operatives in your own home or neighborhood, keep their strategies in mind, and keep yourself and your children safe!

Hehe, have a good day!

The Difference a Couple of Days Makes

Here in Wyoming, we have seasonal yo-yo action in spring and autumn. Our weather goes completely crazy, like mother nature has multiple personality disorder or something. One day we're wearing shorts and t-shirts with the A/C running. Then within a matter of a day or two, we're bundled up and running the furnace, only to swing back the other way and warm up again in another day or two. While we are accustomed to all kinds of wild and wacky weather in Wyoming, the autumn yo-yo is in full force a bit earlier than usual this year.

This was happening on Friday, September 27:

It snowed all day. We ended up with about five inches of snow, and had a high temperature of 35°F. The trees are still in full leaf and could not take the weight of that heavy, wet snow. There were very large limbs brought down all over town, and that is a heartbreaking sight to see in an area where trees are carefully nurtured to get them to survive. Trees do not naturally grow here on their own.

This maple tree is across the street from my house, but there were scenes like this all over town.

Fast forward a couple of days. This was happening on Monday, September 30:

Most of my flowers survived the insult of being buried under snow, just being a little bit flattened here and there, and are still blooming. I started out the day wearing bluejeans, but got too warm and changed into shorts. The sun was intense, and felt downright hot, even though the temperature only reached the upper 70°s F.

Today is much cooler than yesterday. Already the temperature is on its way down, and we are forecast to have more cold and snow by the end of the week. Welcome to the autumn yo-yo!

A Boy and His Bicycle

My husband, Chad, took up running about three years ago, but that came to a screeching halt almost exactly one year ago.  On one of his regular evening runs, there was an accident, and Chad's knee was wrecked.  Surgery was done, and the doctor was optimistic that the knee would be good as new. But...it wasn't, and Chad's running was over.

So, this past spring, he decided to take up bicycling and purchased a bike. It's sort of a hybrid mountain bike that's good for riding pretty much anywhere, which is exactly what he needed. Off he went on his rides, and he loved it so much, that he set some pretty tough goals for himself.

Goal #1: Ride 1,000 miles before the end of the summer. Check! That was accomplished by mid August.

This is the decal Megan designed and Chad had made when he hit 1,000 miles.

Goal #2: Ride the old highway to Buffalo. That's 96 miles, and has some pretty good hills. Check! He did that twice in June. Once by himself, and once with a friend that also wanted to make that ride.

Resting at the end of the ride to Buffalo. He was one tired guy!

Goal #3: Ride from his parents' house at the base of the Big Horn Mountains, to the summit of Powder River Pass. It's only about 30 miles from bottom to top, but it's nearly a 5,000 foot rise in elevation, with the first few miles being at a 7% grade (that's really steep!), and the last few at 4% grade (also nothing to sneeze at), with lots of big ups and downs in between. Crazy? Yep, but he was determined. He'd gotten to discussing this goal with brother-in-law, Jesús Rios, and they hatched a plot to try this together. Jesús was just getting into cycling, and figured he wouldn't be able to make the whole ride, but he wanted to give it a try. Plans were made and the date was set.

At 9:30 on the morning of September 7th, The guys took off on their adventure.

I had the very important job of being the "Support Crew". In other words, I had the car, which was loaded with supplies; first aid kit, extra water and gatorade, energy bars, and some sandwiches and chips for lunch. Making this more interesting, cell service ends just a very few miles up the road, so they wouldn't be able to call for help. I checked on them every so often, making sure they had everything they needed. Fortunately all that was really needed were gatorade refills and a tool to tighten a loose seat.

After about two hours and nine miles, Jesús decided to turn around and head back down. It was quite an accomplishment for him to make it that far considering he really hadn't trained at all, and he'd ridden the steepest miles of the entire route. So down he went. What had taken two hours to ride up, only took ten minutes to ride down!

Chad pedaled on, and when it was time for a lunch break, we stopped at a turnout along the highway, and had a little picnic. The only critters around were a couple of squirrels and a few cattle. One calf was watching us intently. I think he wanted a bite of sandwich. It was a pretty area, and high enough in elevation that the aspen leaves were already turning.

After lunch, Chad had about seven more miles to the top. But it was all uphill at a 4% grade, so we knew it would be slow going. I drove on ahead to the summit, where I read for a little while, then decided to climb up to the top of the hill above the parking lot. From there, I would be able to see Chad coming up the road. While I watched and waited, I explored some pretty neat rock formations, enjoyed watching clouds form, join, and then get blown apart by the strong winds aloft. It was sunny and perfect for hanging around at the top of a mountain.

Soon after I took this picture, the entire top of that cloud was sheared off and completely gone.

Finally, at 2:10 p.m., Chad made it to the top! He was a little tired, but feeling good. We snapped his picture at the summit sign, loaded up the bike, and headed back down. But after the hard work of riding up all day, Chad wanted to have some fun going back down. There is a brake check area just above where the 7% grade begins, so I dropped him off there, and he rode down those last, very fast, miles.

Check! Ride to the top of the mountain accomplished!

My Summer: August

August had a lot going on. I really had to whittle down the photos, or you'd be here all day...or you'd look at a few and then move on to other things! So here is a sampling of some things that we experienced.

An evening storm was catching and filtering the sunlight, giving us these beautiful golden clouds.

Everything was bathed in the golden light. The camera does not do it justice, but I think you can get the idea. It was pretty, but also eerie.

On another trip to the Big Horn Mountains, we took a road way back in and came upon this cave. It was narrow but long, with the entrance in the center.

If you went to the right in the cave and climbed up over some rocks, you'd find yourself on this little terrace, about 30 feet up the rock face.

If you went to the left and did a little climbing, you would find a crack in the rock just big enough to fit through, and climb back down to the ground. It was steeper coming down than this picture looks.

One weekend we took a little road trip to Sheridan, WY and visited the Field of Honor. People could sponsor flags for veterans, both past and present, or emergency first responders. This is the flag for Chad's father, Charles Birdie, sponsored by his sister and brother-in-law.  

There were a thousand flags there, I wish it would have been possible to take a photo showing all of them. It was beautiful and touching to see all those flags.

While in Sheridan, we also visited Chad's sister and her family. Youngest nephew, Tucker, really likes to "drive". He was planning on making a lot of turns. Way to use that signal, Tucker!

At the end of August, we celebrated Megan's 16th Birthday. She had requested a visit from Chris Evans, the actor portraying Captain America. Alas, he was busy that day, so she settled for a Captain America cake. Lots of fun was had by all with that dark blue icing!

The day after her birthday, Megan started her junior year of high school.

How was your August?

My Summer: July

July was beautiful, and unusually cool. We enjoyed the 4th of July fireworks from inside the truck because we were in the middle of a strong thunderstorm that brought a deluge. Even with the pouring rain, the show went on. Apparently, fireworks don't mind getting wet, and will still do their thing. The storm's wild lightning seemed to be in competition with the fireworks to see who could put on the best show. I think it was a tie for first place!

Just a couple of blocks from our house sits a lake and wildlife preserve area. Our town had a wonderful path built all the way around the lake, and we've taken some very enjoyable walks there. Ducks, Canada Geese, pelicans, and many other waterbirds are regular residents of the lake, and fun to watch. I could live without the mosquitoes though!

We took another trip to the Big horn Mountains, and investigated some things we had not before. Going to the tippy top of Sheep Mountain to visit the lookout was amazing. We saw breathtaking views from the up there, and it's a place I'd very much like to visit again, maybe with a picnic lunch.

East end of the lake.

A large group of pelicans with a goose guest. It was sunset, so they were probably getting ready to bed down for the night.

Sheep Mountain lookout. It is only in use when there are fires to watch, so the rest of the time, the windows are boarded up. The Forest Service is proposing renting it out to overnight guests when it's not in use. If that gets approved, I think that would be a fun adventure!

Just below the lookout, Megan is enjoying being at the top of the world. I think the elevation was just under 10,000 feet. The wind was really blowing up there, and it was cold! Next time we go, I'll take a warmer jacket.

Cloud bridge over the Big Horn Mountains.

We saw this weird cloud formation when we took a little road trip to pick our daughter up from church camp. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it was totally separate from any other clouds, and looked like a giant airplane wing. There were actually three of these fascinating formations, spread a few miles apart from each other.

July was a great month!

My Summer: June

Camping! We have a great little camper, just perfect for the three of us. Our first camping trip was in June in the Big Horn Mountains. It was beautiful!

Our front yard for a few days.

Our first morning, we were surprised to have a visitor. This young bull moose just nonchalantly sauntered through our campsite.

He stopped to munch here and there as he wandered through. Within about ten minutes, he had made his way back into the trees, and we quickly lost sight of him.

Toward early evening, we went for a drive down some of the back roads, and saw this little buck. He was sporting the latest popular deer hairstyle...spikey blonde fringe.

Our first night camping, the moon was bright and beautiful.

The next morning, we drove a very rough and narrow road for a few miles, down into a creek bottom. It opened up into this beautiful meadow, covered in mountain lupine. The scent in the air from the flowers was heavenly!

Megan looking at the grasshopper she just caught.

Chad taking it easy.

Our last morning camping, the fog rolled in. Soon after, rain, sleet and some hail followed. So we packed up and headed home. We had a great three days, even with the soggy ending.