Freedom

I think far to many people take our freedoms for granted. We are free to vote and choose our leaders, free to speak, free bear arms, and so on.  However, now our freedoms are slowly, and deceptively being eroded away. Slowly, the government raises taxes, and wildly spends money to the point we'll become obligated to pay for it through more taxes. Even property rights are at risk.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, "You only have power over people so long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power - - he's free again."

Maybe this is why Jesus told us to sell all we have and give to the poor. Here lies my real freedom.

Bergen Peak

We hiked up 4 miles to the summit of Bergen Peak with our friends on Monday. Afterwards, we drove over to Dan and Tammi's house for some grilling and smiling. We abused Dan about his tree that's falling over, or should have fallen over by now, but he has it tied up with a rope from across the lawn. The hope is that it will begin to grow differently if it's pulled in the opposite direction for long enough. I don't know, that didn't work too well with my kids!

Pot at school

We now have a University in the Denver area teaching all about pot. Yes it's the Marijuana University on the Auraria campus.  Click here and read the article.

I know a considerate pusher. He sells candy reefers to kids who are too young to smoke!  And now the latest angle, learn about it in college.

Snowing on May 12

I left my car out last night, because there was mostly rain yesterday mixed with a little snow. Now look at it! It's not a whole lot of snow, but on May 12? Well, maybe this is a lot of snow for May 12. Supposed to be sunny and 50 tomorrow.

Skiing Cooper

Cooper Mountain has nice groomed trails to go cross country skiing on. Nancy and I enjoyed the trails over the weekend after about 3 inches of new snow fell on the ground. We had a wonderful time. The temperature was about 16 degrees, the snow perfect, and the sun came out once in a while. There was a brisk breeze, but when we were in the trees, we hardly noticed it.

As we were going down Willa"s Trail, we stopped to take in the view of Mt. Massive in the distance. It was great to see so much snow in the mountains this year. Maybe we'll have plenty of water without rationing.

Of course, I had to show off and demonstrate that I could stand on one ski and scratch my nose. Nancy said I was on a "boast to boast" tour! I suppose I should listen to her more often.

It was pretty cold out. I saw this one guy snowshoeing up the hill and he had his toupee on upside down! Anyway, we had a great time over the weekend. We met Mark and Teena in Leadville for dinner. They were skiing "Copper," while we were skiing "Cooper."

Dogs

Nancy and I were in Leadville over the weekend. Below is a sign we saw in front of a public building on the way to breakfast. We had a good laugh because of our neighbors who call their dog "Day Worker." He does odd jobs around he house. I imagine that public officials feel the same way about dogs. The sign doesn't really work though. In the winter, dogs are like arctic explorers, they go from pole to pole!

North Ten Mile

Yesterday, we met Mark and Teena at the Butterhorn for breakfast and then snow shoed up the North Ten Mile trail. The trail was well used but it was terrific for shoeing, on and off the path.

As you can see the weather was spectacular. When we started hiking up the mountain it was 12 degrees. When we returned it was 48!

The creek was beautiful, the air quiet, and snow was perfect. Why wait for summer to come along when you've got this! How could it be so beautiful up here?

I will extol You, my God, O King,

And I will bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,

And His greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise Your works to another,

And shall declare Your mighty acts.

On the glorious splendor of your majesty

And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,

And I will tell of Your greatness.

They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness

And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

Psalm 145:1-7

Verse of the week

I went to my men's group this morning and the speaker was one of the guys in our group. His house burned down (to the ground) and everything in it last week. He shared this verse which has been on his heart.

Banff Mountain Film Festival

I went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival with some of my friends last night. It's held at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Denver. The films were really good and mostly about skiing, mountain biking, climbing,  surfing, etc. All the stuff I like. You know I made my first movie when I was a baby. They paddled my part. That was a good thing for the leading lady who was holding me at the time!  We saw three movies before the intermission, then seven afterwards. They had a raffle which I almost won (only seven numbers off). There were booths in the lobby from North Face, National Geographic, Cliff Bar, etc. etc. it was lots of fun.

One of the pictures was a short five minute film on nude skiing, in powder no less!! In the old days performers used to play parts. Now they reveal them! I think my favorite film was about these two guys that went surfing above the arctic circle, in winter! They built a house out of trash they found on the beach and trudged through the snow everyday to go surfing.

Shopping

My two granddaughters are learning how to shop. Daisy is learning how to push a cart and June is learning how to ride and eat cookies at the same time! They still need to learn how to pick up a tomato in a supermarket, squeeze it ten different ways, then ask the produce man, "How much do you want for this rotten tomato?"

The other thing they still have to learn is the cost of everything. Food is so expensive these days. I tried to explain that coffee is worth more a pound than I am! Unfortunately, they believed me!

Shoeing at Guanella Pass

Nancy and I went snow shoeing with Chris and Jim at Guanella Pass on Saturday. It was a little windy out in the open areas, but in the shelter of the trees, it was wonderful. Plus the temperatures were in the low 40"s at 11,669 feet!!

We've done quite a bit of hiking and biking over the years with Chris and Jim and consider them such wonderful friends. After the hike, we drove into Bailey and had a nice lunch at Rustic Station.

The trail follows Geneva Creek down from the pass. Then the creek makes it's way down the mountain into Grant and flows into the North Fork of the South Platte. We thought we'd pose for a photo but tried to stay away from the creek's edge. You can't tell where the creek ends and the snow starts. In many places, the creek runs completely under the snow and you can't even see the creek. Walk over that and you'd have a shocking surprise!

The wooded areas were best because we felt sheltered from the wind. You know it's windy when the chill factor exceeds the speed limit! In fact, it's still windy today. I drove by the zoo and saw a zebra gluing on his stripes!

Maybe we'll go back here this summer. I saw a few nice fishing spots and of course Nancy can't be resisted by any fish! She catches all of them. Although, good fishing for me is a matter of timing. You have to get there yesterday.

X-Country

Nancy and I went cross country skiing this morning. We drove up to the Audubon Center and skied around some of the lakes and then over to the S. Platte River.

The weather was beautiful, maybe 45 degrees, so the snow was melting quickly. Earlier this week we had a couple days of below zero weather. I think the high for those days was something like eight degrees and at night it would drop to -13. Brrrr.

There is something to be said for living in Colorado. We drove at most, about 5 minutes to this area and we were out in the wilderness within minutes. Guess what we're doing next weekend!

Youth!

Our good friends, Craig and Kathy sent us this photo the other day. We were living in Bowling Green, KY at the time and house sitting for one of my professors for the summer. I was in graduate school and Nancy was working at the police department. We'd been married maybe six months. Looking back, I have to say that youth is the first fifty years of your life, and the first nineteen of everybody else's!

For the life of me, I can't figure out what she saw in me. Look at those shorts! And yes, I was sucking in my stomach. At the time, I thought I was pretty cool. Youth is always ready to give maturity the benefit of its inexperience! Nevertheless, it was a fun time in our lives, and she still loves me after 37 years. That says a lot about her!

Government RFP for humor

Yes, it's true! The U.S. Treasury Department, The Bureau of Public Debt (BPD), posted an RFP for a contractor a few years ago to provide "Humor in the Workplace."  While the government sought humor, most of us no longer find amusing on the matter of public debt. Click on link below...

Government Humor

Carlsbad Caverns

Nancy and I visited Carlsbad Caverns on our way to Tucson. This is the way in, if you prefer not to take the 800 foot deep elevator. The cave was discovered by a cowboy in about 1889 who thought he saw a fire near his cattle. What he thought was smoke coming out of this entrance, was really millions of bats flying out to eat insects!

We went on a self guided tour in the cave in the morning, and then in the afternoon we hide a guide to show us through some private places, like the Kings palace below. This was the scene from a movie called Journey To The Center of the Earth. They camped out near here. Also, in the 1930's the local Chamber of Commerce used to meet here. It seemed pretty dark to me for a meeting.

Below is a small pool in one of the rooms estimated to be 14 football fields in size!! Whooo! That's big. The ceiling in that room was nearly 400 feet high.There is much less water in the cave now. The Park Service admits that the big parking lot positioned above the cave, has prevented water from seeping into the depths.

As a result, most of the "hangy-downies" and the "sticki-y-upies" aren't growing anymore. Another example of the "unintended consequences" of government interference. They did stop the Chamber Meetings and kept people from breaking off the stalactites and stalagmites. So some government involvement can be helpful. But do they really need the huge parking lot and 50,000 square foot gift shop, restaurant and movie theatre?  Just walk in the cave and see it yourself.

It's a wonderful place to visit and very interesting. I'm sure we'll go back. Take your own food though, the snack bar is not good.

Roswell

On our Christmas holiday, we stopped for the night in Roswell, NM to meet a few aliens. At the Holiday Inn Express we were greeted by this one in the elevator. It is everywhere in this town. We saw flying saucers and aliens galore.

Even on the way through Carlsbad, I met these two aliens at the gift shop. They wanted me to take them to my leader. I explained to them as politely as possible, we don't have any leaders right now. All we have is Chicago politics. They decided to go back home!

I love hiking

I enjoy hiking in the mountains, taking in all the beautiful vistas, and seeing new and different places. Sometimes when I hike, I get a little winded but that's only normal I suppose. I never complain. I merely think of the lifetime of enjoyment I've had in the great outdoors. Like I say, when a great trail shows up, give it a comfortable stroll, but don't look down.

"Incredible that God should unite with us."

It was Blaise Pascal who wrote "Incredible that God should unite with us." And incredible it is. Unfortunately, we are so preoccupied with ourselves, we've missed it. It's like we slept through it, along with His disciples.

While Jesus prayed in the final hour He asked His disciples to stay awake with Him while He learns the Father's will and His certain death. He simply asked His friends to stay awake with Him. As He returned to His disciples, He found them asleep. Nevertheless, He goes forward to meet death.

Jesus sought men but was not heard.

Jesus, while the disciples slept, brought them salvation. He brought it for all the righteous while they sleep, both in the nothingness before their birth and in their sinful state since their birth. He brought it for you and me while we slept.

Jesus prays only once that the cup should pass from Him, and even then with humble resignation; He prays twice that it should come if it must.

Jesus, seeing His friends asleep and His foes alert, commits Himself without reservation to His father.

"Incredible that God should unite with us."

What we did for Thanksgiving

No, we didn't eat Thanksgiving at home this year. We drove up to Tennessee Pass for Thanksgiving. On the way we checked into the Minturn Inn in Minturn, CO, so we would have a place to stay after dinner. Last year we had a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving. For the first two hours in the stove he enjoyed it!

We drove up to the pass and walked about a mile up to 10,800 feet where we had our Thanksgiving dinner. That's true. And, the turkeys weren't wild. They just went crazy when they found out what we planned to do with them.

Near the top of the pass is a yurt called the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse. Awesome name huh! Below is photo of Nancy standing in front of it. The temperature was about 21 degrees. Pretty warm for this time of year.

Inside, the yurt was warmed with a wood stove and filled with about 18 people enjoying Thanksgiving. We had a quaint little table by a window with candlelight.

I had Elk with a blueberry reduction sauce. Yummm. It was really good and I got really full. That's what you're supposed to do on Thanksgiving Day right? Gobble till you wobble.

Nancy had a traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey. Her's was really good too. After dinner it was dark and about 9:00p. We had to walk a mile down the mountain to our car (in the dark with headlamps), and then drive 24 miles to our B&B in Minturn. We had a great time and enjoyed our meals a great deal this year. There is so much to be thankful for. God's grace and love to us is magnificent, and we continue to be overwhelmed by His riches in Mercy.

Thanksgiving

I won't say it's been a trying year, but this is the first Thanksgiving we had a turkey volunteer. Nevertheless, I'm thankful for many things, including my family. They are scattered all over the place but manage to stay in touch for the most part and we all share our love on the phone or by email. Many blessings to you all.

Nancy and I have some interesting plans today in the mountains. We'll share some photos as they become available. Love you all.