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!