Saturday's climb

Nancy and I climbed South Boulder Peak yesterday with Bruce and Sharon. We left the parking lot near Eldorado Canyon at 8:00a and started hiking up Towhee trail to Shadow canyon and then up to the summit. We arrived about 11:30a. After a nice lunch on top we headed back down to the car. The weather was beautiful. More photos of this trip on the way.

Early morning in Littleton

I went out for a walk early this morning up Two Brands Trail and was rewarded with seeing a nice big cow elk. Earlier I noticed fresh footprints in the soft soil along the trail, but they seemed a little too large for the deer we so often see. A little later as I came up toward the highest point on the trail, there was movement in the scrub oak and out walked an elk no more than 50 yards from me. Nice sunrise too!

The baby fix

I got my baby fix recently in Tucson. If I keep going there so often the flight attendants on Southwest will know me on a first name basis. In this photo, "little Andy" is summoning me to get in the pool with him. Not a chance pal. That water is a lot warmer than I'm comfortable with.

Every baby born in America is endowed with life, liberty, and owes about a quarter of a billion toward the national debt! Yawning just doesn't seem like the appropriate response. Anyway, she's pretty cute if you ask me.

Here is Andy enjoying his new sandbox and Daisy is in her new swimsuit. My daughter Noelle is still concerned about hiring a baby sitter to watch the kids. After all she said, "Daisy is only a month old. She needs to be fed at twelve, two, and four." I told her that's okay, a baby-sitter is somebody who feeds at one, three, and five.

120 to 101

I was a little put off at the criticism of Dahntay Jones by the Lakers coach Phil Jackson today for tripping Kobe Bryant. He called Jones "unsportsmanlike." Perhaps Phil should try to remember his star player Kobe shooting the ball and then deliberately hitting opposing players with his elbow immediately after the shot. Hey Phil, let the refs worry about it. You take care of your players! The final score... 120 to 101 Denver wins!

The riches of God

Everything is coming to life and waking up in Colorado. It's been a long winter with plenty of snow. Now, hiking through the woods brings new, simple joys, written on the forest floor. Nature has randomly scattered beauty, its purpose throughout. Nature quietly shows the untold riches of God. Open eyes are dazzled by His simple majesty while mankind rages against corruption, strife, and fraud.

Contemplate this

We are uneasy at the thought of the ending of life. It should be no surprise to many of you that this has been on my mind due to my father's serious illness. Fortunately, he is recovering. It was the Solon of Athens who left this precept to future ages: "Keep thine eye fixed upon the end of life." According to Epictetus the things which "disturbed our happiness in this world and our desires, our griefs, and our fears is mortality." The person who considers how soon he must close his life, will find nothing of more importance than to close it well. My father's main concern is finishing well and doing what he believes God wants him to finish. God has the ultimate answer for him though. And, he has the ultimate answer for you and me. The thing for all of us to bear in mind is, and I don't want to be trite but, art is long, and life is short.

Let those weak minds, who live in doubt and fear,
To juggling priests for oracles repair;
One certain hour of death to each decreed,
My fixt, my certain soul from doubt has freed.
Rowe.

Nuggets take care of business

My Denver Nuggets took care of business in LA last night. Once again Carmelo showed he can play defense against the best. Tapping Kobe on the head was somewhat amusing. Hey, anybody in there? The Nuggets certainly have every one's attention now.

More on Mt. Vernon

On our tour of Mt. Vernon we saw these people sheering sheep and then washing the yarn over a campfire and getting it ready to spin. They're weren't just reenacting something they were doing it. Mt. Vernon has a number of these live displays and learning centers.

Here is the view from the back of Washington's house looking out over the Potomac River. I suppose real estate values were a little different 200 years ago than they are today. The view is stunning. If you want something to last forever these days, you have to take out a mortgage!

My last trip

This last week I was in Alexandria, VA for some meetings. Nancy came with me and we stayed over the weekend with some friends. We decided to tour Mt. Vernon and see George Washington's home. It was a very nice tour.

Here is a nice photo of a colonial kitchen where they made all of George's food. It wasn't very modern, to say the least. In my house we have things like dehydrated food and Mylanta on tap. And Oh boy! A grease fire in this place would've been a disaster. We have three settings for that, starting out with toast. That's Nickie on the left, then Nancy, Ed, and Tom.

Animals

Last year on our raft trip in the Grand Canyon, I took this photo of a Desert Big Horn, from the raft. It was really nice of him to stand still for me. For some reason we ascribe to humans many of the characteristics of animals: a person has memory like an elephant, eats like a horse, is as fat as a pig, and can be as sly as a fox. For some reason though, I only pick up on the odd ones. A woman in Pennsylvania looked at her shadow on Groundhog Day and predicted six weeks of dieting!

Elk sausage

One of the franchise owners I work with gave me some elk sausage last year. Nancy and I really enjoyed cooking it right over the grill on a camp out. Food is a great thing and it's really underrated. But, I have a couple of questions. 1) How did the inventor of cottage cheese know when he was finished? And, 2) Why do waiters in restaurants wear gloves? What's in the food that they're afraid to come into contact with?

Nice morning for a walk

I went for a walk early this morning up on the hogback (the mountain behind our house). This old photo was taken in the winter. Everything is green and lush now and I can walk at 6:00a with just shorts and a t-shirt. I think I took this picture in January. You know it's winter when you see a Dalmatian with thermal spots!

Mavericks not content

I watched the Nuggets game the other night and was, well... aghast. Here, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, unhappy with the outcome of game 3, stomped around the arena, swearing, and then yelled at Kenyon Martin's mother, "your son is a punk." The nice little old lady just smiled at him. I saw it all on TV. It reminded me of the words of William Shakespeare, "My crown is called content, a crown that seldom kings enjoy."

Golf in Gresham

Last week I held my quarterly franchise meeting at Persimmon Golf Club in Gresham, OR. Yes, we did in fact have a meeting. Golf was planned but it rained. I was disappointed because I like to play golf. I get to hit the ball more than anybody! In fact, I've got more ways to slice than a delicatessen counterman!

Mother's Day for Nancy

Mothers Day was very nice. We had a nice breakfast out in the morning after a long phone conversation with Tyler in Korea. Nancy got to do what she likes to do. She played in the dirt and planted flowers. I was the water boy. Later she talked with Noelle and life was complete.

Dallas Mavericks choke on their own game!

The NBA admits it made a mistake in not calling Antoine Wright's intentional foul on Carmelo. Serves them right if you ask me! Basketball is a game of skill not a game of manipulating the rules in order to win. You didn't get your whistle Dallas, too bad! There were 61 fouls called in this game. Nearly every possession with each team ended in a foul call. If you ask me, that ruins the game.

The other thing I noticed is how poorly Wright fouled him. Immediately afterwards, HE THREW his arms up as though to say, "I didn't do it." Obviously, this habit of pretending "I didn't do it" payed off at the wrong time and for the wrong team! If you're going to foul someone, do it with authority Antoine. Haven't you learned anything?

A good car!

Remember those ancient days when a backseat driver had room to sit there? There's lots of room here! I was talking with the Navajo who owned this car. He said the best way to stop the noise in it is to let her drive!

Blooming cactus

I took this photo near Bluff, UT last year. I think it was at Coyote Canyon. Bluff is one of our favorite places to visit. We get to see rock art, petroglyphs (rock carvings), and ruins everywhere, not to mention the beautiful desert scenery.

Supply and demand

Taxation is based on supply and demand. We supply when the government demands! I was so upset about it the other day I walked into the tax office and said to the supervisor, "What did you do with the money I gave you last year?"

Sparky's

Last week I drove back to Denver through New Mexico. On the way I stopped in Hatch, NM to eat lunch at this place. They have a "world famous" green chili burger! It's now only famous to my stomach, but it kept me awake on the rest of the drive! It was very tasty and the fries were especially good.

According to dieticians, there are four basic food groups - fresh, frozen, fast, and junk! This was definitely the latter.

Granddaughter photos

Here are the latest photos of my granddaughter Daisy. Click Here.

Mine That Bird

Mine That Bird wins the Derby. A 50 to 1 long shot pays out big to normal losers. Luck always seems to favor the guy who doesn't need it! Ordinarily I wouldn't believe in luck, but how else can you explain other people doing well?

Kentucky Derby

Today is the Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs, wagering for your favorite horse, and enjoying the beauty of Springtime in Kentucky. It's a fun, exciting time for many people. And don't forget, a horse is an animal that can take thousands of people for a ride! Last year, my horse would've won the race, but he kept looking back for his plow!

A couple of times I went to the harness races. These tracks have changed a lot in recent years. Now they've started putting slot machines inside, so in order to increase the number of bets on racing they've had to increase the number of cards up to 15! Now the purses are higher and there are more horses to run in the "racino." Nevertheless, my luck at harness racing isn't any better than horse racing. I like to follow horses - which follow other horses. You see my problem is I'm an optimist. A pessimist is an optimist on the way home from the track!

IRS selling gift certificates?

I have only one question: If the government isn't a dependent, what is it? Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit isn't quite working. They want it back!! Read this! The government is like a bad laundry. You keep losing your shirt!!

The new tax tables will cause Americans to get far more money than they're entitled to ($400 for an individual and $800 for a couple, whatever that is these days) and they'll have to pay it back. Okay, so they give you a tax break, get lots of votes, and then take it away. Next year the IRS is going to start selling gift certificates!