Two Warmer than One

When you're cold, find a friend!

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Snow Queen

Daisy loves bounding through six inches of snow.  With rabbit tracks everywhere, her nose is in overdrive.  A blue sky and sun makes the day fun for humans, too.

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Foggy Skies, Warm Hearts

Last week we had foggy weather in our town of Roosevelt (Frozevelt, as our kids like to call it, making fun of our cold Uinta Basin weather). 

We made a short trip to Salt Lake City, only to find that it was foggy there, too, but not as cold. 

The bright eyes of our newest granddaughter made up for the lack of sun, and warmed our hearts, as well.

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Booties and Bliss

B is for Babies.
The birth of a baby brings parents and grandparents bliss.
Who would fail to bustle to answer the cry of a blameless baby boy?
Maybe she is bald or bawling, but few could resist bouncing her and feeling buoyed by her butterfly touch and her beautiful blue eyes.
Will she someday wear bows and dance ballet?  Will she read lots of books?  Will she grow up to be a brilliant brain surgeon or businesswoman?  Will she birth a baby of her own?
The boy baby begins to build blocks. Maybe someday he will play the bugle in a band.  Will he grow up to be brash and brawny?  Will he be brigadier general, a broadcaster of news, or perhaps a baker of bread?
Babies keep us busy, but without them, life would be, frankly, boring.
(These are photos of my babies, now grown.  I do get to play with the grandbabies sometimes, though.)

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Calving Season

Our neighbor raises Black Angus cattle and today we went over to meet the first calves of 2010.
Since snow is on the ground and daytime highs are below freezing, the new little ones wear blankets for the first 2 weeks and, along with their mothers, are kept separated from the other cattle until they're strong enough to rejoin the herd.
Mama allows her one day old baby to be handled, but her concern shows.  After a brief separation, she smells the little one to make sure it's really her calf.
Isn't this a pretty little girl?  At 24 hours after birth, she weighs about 100 pounds, and will weigh over 1000 pounds as an adult cow.  A mature bull will weigh over 2000 pounds. 

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Is it Spring Yet?

I have always thought of robins as harbingers of spring, so I was surprised to notice that the robins are still here, even in the snow.  Apparently, robins are year round residents in Utah. 
This female is lucky to have a big supply of crabapples to keep her well-fed.

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A Gallop in the Snow

Even when the sky is gray, horses find something to be excited about - the sound of the neighbor's tractor, or a new herd of cows in the next pasture.
They frolick and play, kick up their heels and snort a bit.
Warmed by the exercise, they return to pawing the snow to reach the grass beneath.  They have plenty of hay, but their instinct to forage is strong.

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Abodes through the Ages

A is for Abode.
As a child, I lived at many addresses, since my father was in the Air Force and moves were abundant.

Above is my first abode.  I admit that I was much admired and acclaimed by the adults around me.

My next address was across the sea, on an island called Guam.  (I am the over-active littlest kid awaiting a swimming adventure.)

And here I am in another location with my amiable brother Art. He must have agreed to pause the sled as I ate snow. 

At last, a few abodes later, I appear with my tall(er) little sister.  From there, I met my amour and ambled off and acclimated to our own address, anticipating an ambitious and amusing adulthood.

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I'm also using this post to play Remember Whensday.

Ancient Bones

We were hiking in the vicinity of Vernal, Utah, a few years ago, exploring the canyon walls for petroglyphs, when we came across some scattered bones.

We gathered the skeletal remains to examine them.  Steve often stops to glance at cow or elk bones for a quick I.D., but this time, the shape of the hip and ankle sockets held his interest.  The bones appeared to be human.

Though the bones looked quite old, we called the police department to report them, just in case.  A reporter, two policemen, and an archeologist all showed up and we led them to the scene.  Everyone eventually concurred that they were Fremont Indian remains that must have washed down from a cliff crevice. (This culture not uncommonly buried their dead in crevices.)
The Ute tribe was notified, and they said they would gather the remains and hold a ceremony.  

The event captured the interest of the reporter, and both local newspapers ran stories about it.  (News was probably slow that week.  In fact, news is pretty much always slow in the Uintah Basin...)

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Urban(ized) Cowboy

(This cartoon by J. N. Devin first appeared in 1972.  O.S.H.A. stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration) - Click to enlarge.

We have been on rides when some of this stuff would have come in handy! 
And what does Boss think about getting rigged up like the cartoon horse?
I don't think he likes the idea. He's breathing fire!
[A serious word on safety: We're very much in favor of riding helmets, but they don't provide much sun protection.  At our age, and on our usually calm horses, we figure we're in more danger of dying from skin cancer from long hours of high altitude sun exposure than from suffering permanent damage from a knock on our noggins.] 

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Sunset Seasons

One of the biggest perks of our country living are the sunsets, and we have beauties all year long.
This one was taken in late December.
Here's one from late summer.  The flash illuminates alfalfa blooms.  Click to enlarge, and you may be able to distinguish Boss and Mischief in the pasture. (Boss's ears are silhouettes on the horizon.)

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Sub-Zero

Z is for the Zero Zone.
Zounds, would you look at that temperature?  At the day's zenith, it might zing up to 10, but at 8AM it is definitely sub-zero. 

We live in the zip code with the dark blue shading, the coldest area in the state.  That's because cold air sinks to the lowest point, and that's us, the Uinta Basin, where the brave but zany settlers dwell.  Alas, for all of our travails, we barely rate a mention on the Salt Lake City weather news.  That's because we're a rural area, and our frigid temperatures get no respect! 

In our well-heated home, the air is dry, so we use a room humidifier to keep static electricity from zapping the computer, and we work on a zillion projects - perhaps planning a trip to Zion National Park next summer, or replacing a zipper, or cooking zucchini - to maintain our indoor zeal.
By evening, Daisy is feeling lazy, zonked and zombie-like.  Gadzooks,  she can barely keep her eyes open....     Zzzzz.

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Touring in Tabby

During the Christmas holidays, we had several nice ski tours.  One was in the Tabby Mountain Wilderness Management Area, where we often ride in spring and fall.
Our son and Daisy were ready to go. We saw plenty of elk and deer tracks, so Daisy's nose was in high gear right away.
The fresh, powdery snow made a swishing sound as we skied.  We followed the outline of a two-track, and much of it was untouched,
with lovely views of mountains and sky.

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