And Now...Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

My WIPs (works in progress) are whipping my behind.

Can we take a little break to talk about projects for a moment?

Creative projects such as home- or self-improvement.

Why does starting one project lead to another and another and another until you have revolving projects chasing you around the house, pulling on your hem, tapping on your shoulder, competing for your attention in a way that makes you want to say, "Hey! I was having some fun here, but if all of you don't settle down right now I will be forced to put you in another room and leave you there until I can figure how to manage all of this chaos"?

*sigh*

I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of the Linear Thinking Party. And I am apparently genetically incapable of doing one creative thing at a time.

It's exhilarating.

And exhausting.

But I'm feeling better now that we've had this little chat. Thanks. Gotta go now. WIPs await.

Public Service Announcement

It's obvious what happened to this vehicle and I heartily approve of the owner opting to use their vehicle as an object lesson before, or instead of, getting repairs completed.

Be careful out there, everyone. No distracted driving, please.

Honoring Ancestors

This is my friend Fae at a little pioneer cemetery in Piedmont, Wyoming. I love the hat she is wearing. I was told it is a special gift from a thoughtful friend:

Fae tends the cemetery faithfully. There are 28 lives remembered here and most of them are Fae's ancestors. A couple are her descendants. Fae grew up in Piedmont in one of the little houses you can see far in the background of the picture above.

The railroad line used to run right past and Piedmont was a busy little town until the railroad line was moved in 1901. It is now grazing range for cattle.

Fae and her sisters in Piedmont. Fae is the big sister on the right.

Fae has always looked especially beautiful wearing a hat.

John P. Byrne was Fae's grandfather

Moses Byrne was Fae's great grandfather and she is tending his memorial stone below. Moses was an original founder of the town that was established largely because he built the charcoal kilns that look like big beehives in the background. I love that the memorial stone echoes the shape of the kilns.

Although Piedmont is now a ghost town, the State is taking care to preserve the kilns as a historical landmark.

I will long treasure the hours spent with Fae at her old hometown hearing her stories of life in Piedmont.

Many cultures honor The Ancestors with great care. The Ancestors are our links in the Great Chain of Humanity. I am grateful to people like Fae who organize and care for family histories. I look forward to a joyful hobby of genealogy in my golden years.

So in a while you'll find me wandering around cemeteries talking with The Ancestors. I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing a beautiful hat.

I Once Lived by a Lake in Montana

Yes. I did.

For three days.

Three beautiful days.












I communed with the beasts of the field:

I flitted with the birds of the air:

I had a pet moose.

Yes. I did.

He came when I whistled. See.

I loved living in Montana. It was spacious and beautiful. 
But you wouldn't wanna live there. Nah. Boring.
The antelope and the birds and my moose are just about the highlights of Montana, and you've seen them now, so...
there's really nothing left to see. Try Idaho. It's next door to Montana and Idaho has some interesting sights. I hear Hollywood stars think Idaho is pretty awesome.

Downtown Robertson

Wyoming is such a thoughtful place. Take Robertson for instance. All 59 people in town were worried that visitors might miss what they had to offer so they put up a sign:

If you need to mail a postcard, well, head downtown. But if you need gas or groceries just keep on driving. Folks in Downtown Urie or Downtown Fort Bridger will be happy to help you with services other than postal.

The Tomato Goodness of Summer

July is a good food month. Those seeds Mr. Last planted back in February grew up to make these:

To which I added a few choice ingredients:

to make a couple quarts of salsa:

That used up two of the giant beefsteak tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes were added to a pasta salad tossed with olive oil and garlic and fresh basil and black olives and shaved parmesan cheese. Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm!

Another night we enjoyed this Simple But Spectacular recipe from Tiffany (thanks for sharing,Tiffany!):

We are lovin' the tomato goodness of summer.

Like a Circle in a Spiral...

This is Wyoming. Do you see what I see?

Yes. Raindrops on the windshield. And...

Windmills! with a rainbow!

I love to watch them turn. Let's watch them together 

for a minute, shall we?

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

The Windmills of Your Mind by Michel Legrand, is an exquisite piece of music originally released in 1969. A version was more recently recorded by Sting that gets some radio play.

My parents often played an 8-track tape recording of Michel Legrand in rotation with Jim Croce and John Denver and Neil Diamond when I was a girl, so I absorbed some beautiful melodies that tend to rise to the surface unbidden sometimes. 

I often hear Windmills of Your Mind in my head when I spot the wind turbines on Tehachapi, or Altamont Pass, or behind the Suisun marsh, or in Spanish Fork Canyon, and now on the sagebrush prairie of Wyoming. 

Why is this man smiling?

Because he is at Teton Pass on his way to a Grand Adventure. Rafting on the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. GTNP, in my opinion, is dramatically beautiful in a way that cannot be matched by Yellowstone National Park which adjoins to the north.

The view of Jackson Hole from Teton Pass is breathtaking.

Jenny Lake puts a big smile on my face every time.

It was a happy day indeed.

Eat. Play. Sleep. Repeat.

4th of July @ the Little Yellow House

Happy Birthday America!

She's Been Practicing for This Day for Years

The Modem is in the Mail

AT & T tells us it's not the wireless router that is kaput, it's the modem, and a fresh one is in the mail. No photos until next week since I'm limited to brief Internet sessions at the public library. But hey! thank goodness for the public library or I would be suffering from serious blog-stalking withdrawals. It's good to know I can always head downtown to get my fix.

Intermountain West

We recently returned from Springville, Logan, Rexburg, Grand Teton National Park, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Meeks Cabin Campground, Piedmont & Robertson, Pine Valley, and all points in between.

Glorious family visits and memories made.

Loads of photos to come.