28 September 2008
Holy Baby Alpaca, Batman!
The weekend's on-call assignments included a few snaps at a nearby alpaca farm. I know, jealously is surging deep within your gullet, even this very instant! But if you can get your envious rage in check, perhaps you'll entertain a few pics of Fiona, a two-week old alpaca with her owner (the alpaca is the one on the right).
Some fun facts about alpaca wool:
-Hypo-allergenic
-No lanolin residue like sheep's wool
-Hollow wool fibers wick away moisture
-Clothing designers prefer it second only to cashmere
-It costs about as much as a lung/kidney combo
Lo, Fiona, the alpaca. (the one on the right, remember. well, not the black one in the background, that's her mom. the one just to the right of the humanoid)
I guess they're in the camel familia, hence the HUGENORMOUS necks. And yes, they can also spit like grammy with a pack of thin-cut Red Man.
I have to say though, their wool is quite remarkable. Quite pleasant chaps to pet, too. Except the grumpy-pants spitting ones. But they're probably just mad that their wool is part of a multi-million world-wide industry and they're not getting a cut of their wooly labors. Just a guess.
WHEN WILL THE ANIMAL POSTS END?!!!
only time will tell...
(in other news, i finally found a place to live, some two months after crash landing here. while it will be sad to leave my Wyoming host parents' basement, having my own batch pad will be kinda nice. no more toilet seat up v. down worries. more info/pics forthcoming)
26 September 2008
Baby Owl
To continue the animal theme. We found this lil' owl outside a co-worker's house where it had dropped from a tree. We did what any upstanding trio of twenty-something males would do, and took it under our wing(s). Thus, we fed it vienna sausage bits and water. It seemed like it was making a great comeback. Live, Hedwig! Live! But sadly it passed the next day. We blame the vienna sausages. It wasn't my idea. Services were held at the First United Backyard Cottonwood, with Rev. Spade presiding. The family of the deceased would like to encourage all to make a donation to an Anti-Processed Meat organization of their choice.
25 September 2008
Insecure
A look of pure uncertainty following the exit of Fido's owner from the running vehicle. I can almost see a tear dotting the helpless brown eyes. Insecurity indeed.
24 September 2008
Words to Live By
As seen on the back of a junker Chevy pickup that lives around the corner.
23 September 2008
Scenes from the Road
Being really bored in Kansas the day I moved out here and made the 16 hour solo venture. The Sunflower state almost killed me though. My brain very nearly exploded around Colby, Kansas. No joke. So I had to lighten things up...
Rain on I-70 west (near Colby, Kansas, incidentally).
Sunbeams on the front range near Ft. Collins (as seen from I-25 north)
First welcoming sundown in Wyoming.
21 September 2008
Dark Riders
20 September 2008
A home where the ANTELOPE roam
(In-town grazing. These dudes are everywhere. That's I-25 in the background)
If you were to visit here even briefly, you'd notice the abundance of antlered animal kingdom specimens trotting around within city limits. So it's no surprise to locals to see these fools grazing idly across the street when walking out of the supermarket. Or while out for an evening neighborhood stroll to find a mammoth buck grazing placidly in the neighbor's lawn. *yawn* Yep, there's ol' Bambi Senior...
And the antelope are especially numerous it seems. I've heard they taste like poo, and yet every Tom, Dick and Harry has got one mounted in his house. Many of which were shot in the front yard. Davy Crockett style. Nice.
But then I also do the police report every week for the paper. You know: "Joe Blow was arrested for DUI and being a loser." That kind of B.S...
However, there are always several reports of police officers responding to injured animals too. And who's at the top of the injured animal list? The antelope. And what do police most often report when finding these injured antelope in city limits? Arrows sticking out of their bodies. Yes, that's correct. Arrows.
So, if you should happen to visit Wyoming with your pet antelope, I'd keep a close eye on Fluffy. Even in town. This ain't no petting zoo, people. Keep a short leash. And watch for the arrows.
17 September 2008
Yiiiibble
I've always been one for animals. Not sure why. They are just uniquely enjoyable. As I've been here, I've found myself in contact with a host of new varieties, or at least getting more intimately acquainted with long-known types. So, this brings me to today's emphasis: goats.
So I'll simply say that I want some. I mean, not really of course, but in the teenage-girl-who-wants-a-pony-sense (no offense, teenage gals). But still, a few little billies hoofing around the back yard, munching on Grammy's azaleas while bleating contentedly would be quite enchanting, I think. Yibble.
They will eat...
anything...
The right spot.
Happy Birthday, Sis!
Chubby Dinah turned 30 on Sept. 9, so I wanted to give a shout out, despite being tardy on the draw. Happy late birthday, D! Love you! Your AARP subscription should be coming in the mail any time. OHH! Diss. (note: 3 year old nephews are prone to unhappiness immediately following nap time).
Tangled Poopises
On my walk home for lunch.
16 September 2008
Get Real - Wyoming Democrats hold line, keep state values at heart
"Well what's your stance on the second amendment," the question was dropped on the politician during a blustery, chilling Labor Day afternoon in Douglas, Wyoming.
The breeze whipped and the cutting rain made enemies as I looked about the informal forum of Douglas' Washington Park. The crowd, a contingent of Union Pacific's finest, bolstered the park benches and gazebo protection. The cook even finding his turtle shell under roof, running out to gingerly flip angus and brat amid sizzling raindrop-grill conflicts.
The man, politician, full of hope for his state, full of yearning for a US House hook to hang his hat, offered his party tack. I sat, among looser-acquaintances, regarding the invite I received off-hand from the open window of a running car, as I walked about my block earlier.
So the politician spoke of his ideas. He spoke of women's rights regarding babies and made a stop down Healthcare Lane before making a final rhetoric approach to Tax Regional. An eloquent orator. The goose-bump rain beaded his bald pate. Though his white shirt-in-rain combination proved perhaps an unfortunate wardrobe choice that afternoon.
He finished his commenting and opened himself for questions from his rail-line backers. And so the question was asked.
"Well what's your stance on the second amendment?"
He paused and wiped away the wetness in his brows, fully exposed out from under the park-side turtle shell. And he offered his simple affirmation.
"Oh, I'm pro-gun ownership for sure," he reassured.
The serum settled into the crowd, and I believe I saw the tension release in more than one pair of shoulders.
Pro-choice, pro-national health care, pro-sustainable energy — these notions are locked and loaded by many Wyomingites, be it a smaller contingent than the othering majority.
But barring the full-bore liberties of the Second Amendment? Get real. Not in this state. Not in 2008. You'll be prying weapons from fingers long frigid and deceased before you'll take them from a body warm with life.
So I was mildly amused at the love for firearms within this game-laden state, and wondered if perhaps even that gun-toting ideal would ever be overturned in company barbecues to come.
But regardless, I don't care what you say about Wyoming democrats, they grill a damn good bratwurst.
15 September 2008
Old Time Fiddlers
Glenrock, Wyoming's most charming ensemble. The little girl in front is five. Asian string-player virtuoso stereotypes aside, both of the girls were really good.
Fun Facts from the Wyo
Perhaps you are aware, or perhaps not. In either case, I'll enliven you with some refreshing tid bits from The Equality State, that is to say, Wyoming.
Total population: 522,830 (2007 est.) ranked 50th for least number o' peeps
Total land area: 97,818 sq. mi - ranked 9th largest
Population density: 5.4 people per square mile - ranked 49th for most lonely
by comparison:
Alaska
Total population: 683,478 - ranked 47th for least number of whacked out loners
Total land area: 656,424 sq mi - ranked 50th for behemothness, obviously
Population density: 1.2 people per square mile - 50th for most lonely
New Jersey
Total population: 8.6 million - ranked 11th highest
Total land area: 8,729 sq mi - ranked 47th smallest
Population density: 1,134 people per square mile - ranked No. 1 for least elbow room
Singapore
Total population: 4.59 million (about like Oklahoma)
Total land area: 270 sq mi (about like Norman, OK and Noble, OK combined)
Population density: 16, 392 people per square mile (though it didn't seem that crowded)
So, as we can see from figure No. 1, there aren't many peeps up in the Wyo house. I can confirm this sentiment in my town of 6,000 that is the state's 14th LARGEST "city". I guess in some ways you could say Wyoming is the antithesis of somewhere like Texas (i.e. "size always matters"). We do things small here. Though there are still a lot of F-350 Turbo Diesels...
Thus, I'll leave you with a parting fun fact paragraph about women's rights in Wyoming (from Wiki P):
In 1869, Wyoming territory gave women the right to vote. And in addition to being the first U.S. state to extend suffrage to women, Wyoming was also the home of many other firsts for U.S. women in politics. For the first time, women served on a jury in Wyoming (Laramie in 1870). Wyoming had the first female court bailiff (Mary Atkinson, Laramie, in 1870) and the first female justice of the peace in the country (Esther Hobart Morris, South Pass City , in 1870). Wyoming became the first state in the Union to elect a female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, who was elected in 1924 and took office in January 1925. Because of rights given to women, Wyoming earned the nickname of "The Equality State."
13 September 2008
Thursday Night Lights
Douglas Middle School Bearcats (8th grade) v. Glenrock Middle School Herders (Glenrock = town of 2,500 just west of Douglas). Go BEARCATS! Sadly we bowed to the Herders 12-8 (you always Go for Two around these parts). Fortunately, no one was at the game (as you can tell) to see the loss.
Last Friday the Douglas varsity team went down swinging to the Glenrock high school squad 27-14. If you're interested, the Herders whole game plan is to hand-off to one of three RBs and try to punch a hole. Somewhere. Anywhere. And march down field. The Herders had about 30 passing yds (of about 250+) against Douglas last week. And they won handily. You do whatcha can to win in smalltown America it seems, one-dimensional offense or no.
12 September 2008
Wyoming Rodeo
Seven snaps from a Douglas, Wyoming rodeo.
Awkward calf-tying.
Hat above the rest.
Wyoming style peanut gallery.
I want a horse.
Target lock.
"Hide riding." I would so do this. I wonder if I would have to wear jeans though...
Fifty bucks if you can explain what's going on here.
10 September 2008
Colorado Springs w/intense biking
As previously blogged about, last weekend's adventures brought me to The Springs to visit some of my lovely cousins (of which I have many). Going in to the weekend I was expecting plenty of two-wheeling. But, I wasn't expecting to mountain bike the most difficult terrain of my life alongside my cousin's husband (an expert downhill mtn. biker).
Brendon, my cuz's hubby. He works here. His job is pretty enviable at times. A part of me just wants to scrap it all, work at a bike shop and help people with their cycling needs for the rest of my life...
So the mountain biking started on Sunday morning with a jaunt around Palmer Park. Here my lovely tour guide points out majestic Pikes Peak.
Oooohhhhh....
We demo'd some Trek 2009 models that a sales rep had out at the park. I rode Brendon's $3,500 full suspension ride. Soo different than what I'm used to on the rode bike.
The cuz, Amanda, on the left w/her hub on right. It's cool to spend time around a couple that is so adventurous and open and hospitable to new people and non-everything-in-our-house-and-life-has-to-be-just-perfect-or-the-world-will-end. They're easy going and yet talk about real things in their lives and that matter in the world. They really care about serving others, AND, they love to go camping and biking and skiing, etc... That is a thing of beauty. I hope to spend more time down in The Springs in the future. And I will be (my sis is getting married there next month! Woohoo!)
And they obviously really love each other and aren't afraid of some new-school PDA, which I think can be endearing in the right package. I merely said "hey i want a picture of you two."
Ah, somewhat newly-weds...
Here we are at the Trek demo tent. Prolly about $30k in bikes sitting behind us. I'll probably never justify spending several thousand on one, but still, how impressive is a 23lb. total carbon-fiber, full suspension knobby tire machine (w/6 in. of rear travel)? Perhaps the novelty is lost on others...
And then we went down the scariest trails of my life (and at a sprint). Brendon, the former Junior National Expert downhiller, FLEW down these sections (about 15-20 mph or faster, no lie). He'd wait for me to catch up and then we'd blaze for a while longer till more technical sections.
As a side note, I've never been more impressed by someone's biking abilities. Seeing him catch 10 feet of air and navigate rocks and boulders was a thing of sincerest beauty for me. Clearly he was made to ride a bike. On a personal level, I'm somewhat of a pansy and was pretty scared (and thrilled) many times. But I'll be back, mountains. Round II is coming. (note: 20 seconds after this photo was taken i went over the handlebars and laid out on the trail. seems i'm not used to the power of pneumatic disc brakes or boulderous switchbacks at high speeds).
From facebook: Brendon at an international race in Italy a few years ago. Obviously he is hauling-A like a bad mamba-jamba.
He also does things like this on skis. I think this one was a 740° at Copper somewhere.
He said he picked up a "bad" habit a few months ago. A good smelling one at that.
I realize I'm getting repetitive with these scenics, but I'm still just enthralled to be living in a place with views such as these. Please friends, indulge me.
The end, for now.
08 September 2008
Into the Wild Blue Yonder
On the coattails of Labor Day weekend's quality time with mis amigos, I was hard pressed for something fractionally as stimulating on the menu this past weekend. So, I made some calls and invited myself over to my cousins' for the weekend (a key new-place survival skill: have no shame about needing/forcing friends and social interactions. and don't worry, if it doesn't come naturally, you can get better at it. people pick up on your desperation rather quickly...)
So there I was on Friday afternoon, shoving a few changes of clean underpants in a bag, scooping up my riding shoes and loading my two-wheel friend into the car for the cruise south to Colorado Springs. Now, four hours in the car by yourself can be pretty brutal in some places of our American nation (cough* Kansas!! *cough), but cruising down the front range through Denver to the Springs is a little like a Southern Comfort nightcap (smooth, refreshing but with a little stank on it too). So, a few mix CDs and sunflower seeds later and I hit the city limits like a station-wagon load of Huns.
My cousins had to work all day Saturday, so I did what any two-wheel enthusiast would do and made the nearby Air Force Academy campus my playground for the afternoon (though unfortunately I forgot the sunscreen behind. Eeyouch...)
So, I did a perdy good, approx. 30 mile ride over a few hours out there in the fortitude-sucking 6,500 feet elevation paddock of Air Force folklore. And I'll say when you're on a ride by yourself, it can get a little boring/lonely. So, I decided self-portraits were just the remedy. The spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down, M. Popps style.
Thus, I give you some self-portraits, courtesy the U.S. Air Force and my 10 second self-timer function (i want to chest-bump whoever invented this function).
Starting out. Somewhat hydrated. Not so sunburned yet.
Falcon stadium, though I can't cheer for them or my bro-in-law, TCU fanatic would think ill of my Mountain West honour.
Front range views.
Baldy Peak in the distance, I think.
very nice...but wishing i had more water...
Soccer field shot. Amazing grass. Go Chair Force!
Dorking about.
I didn't crash, just needed something else in the foreground.
Falcon, scratch his eyes out...
Hail...
"Prey" (def my fav of the series. haha. if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?)
50,000 cool points if you can identify this plane.
Then I ate some of these gems. Been eating A LOT of these bad boys lately, actually. What's the deal with working in an office and immediately getting bad candy eating habits? I blame the man...
The end, for now. More shots of biking and the cousins on the way...
07 September 2008
Feeling the Love
As promised, a sampling of the Labor Day weekend photographic bounty, wherein a Thoroughly Enjoyable Contingent (TEC or simply "posse") didst venture all the flipping way to Wyoming from Stately Norman, Okla., to visit a wide-eyed, getting-his-feet-wet-with-a-real-job city boy like me. Wow. That's just pretty awesome, no matter what side of the tracks you're from. Great amigos...how can you top that? Please, tell me. Needless to say I was (am) feeling the love.
So let us get on with our adventures. We went camping...
Name brand nylon lodgings. Tent Set-up 1113 in action, Molly officiating (Note Dan's rumpled undergarments rippling in the wind, still fully exposed after a smacking wedgie performed by the adolescent-like cameraman).
The bodacious campsite. It had it all - mountains, streams, a pond, trees, stars. (no man-eating bears - though admittedly i got a good bit concerned when the sun went down. this is bear country after all. sweet fancy moses!)
Flashlight experiments.
Sooo many stars! Wyoming is good for that.
Breakfast on the Coleman stove. Is there a better way, honestly?
Molls washes down a pre-breakfast Double-Stuf Oreo with style. Don't tell our moms we spoiled our breakfast on cookies.
Backrub w/random toilet paper cameo.
Natural beauty.
"Pensive." Or..."Recovering-from-tent-sleep-cholesterol-b-fast-overload-AM-hike-fatigue"
A shrubbery! w/stream.
Hmm. So innocent looking, that mystery fried food there...
In the end I have to say Rocky Mountain Oysters are quite palatable. Christina thought so too...
Power Pose.
Impromptu shoot.
Wouldn't you know it. Milt was on his way to Yellowstone and met up with us just when we were getting our cameras out. His timing is impeccable.
I'm afraid Milt is getting a little edgy these days. I apologize for his behavior, but he won't be thwarted.
AH IT'S SO FUN ANd...then we swing so much that we get sick and want to puke and die...
THE END!
...until more peeps come to visit...
Just a Taste
I was graced by a visit from some beloved Norman amigos (Danimal, Dina, Molls) last weekend, who popped up for some Wyoming style Labor Day good times. It was a great weekend. Thanks for coming ya'll! Makes a man feel sincerely loved.
We went camping one night at a sweet place an hour from Douglas. Here's a pano (Dina, featured) of the mountains overlooking our campsite (we were down by the pond). Great campsites to be had in Wyo it seems. Any and all are welcome to visit! The weather is PERFECT (60s daytime, 50s at night) for more camping and/or just general amusement. Think about it...
More Labor Day weekend pics on the way!
06 September 2008
Willie, will you marry me?
It's pretty remarkable the experiences you can have by putting yourself "out there." Living on the edge, riding life hard into the corners and seldom pitting, even when when there's 40 laps till the checker and Harvick is down three spots and getting tires (that's my first ever NASCAR metaphor/reference on this blog, I think. curious).
So sometimes life is lived on the cutting edge, amidst gulps of provocative high-risk cocktails.
And then, sometimes extraordinary adventures just come along and fall in your unexpecting lap. Like a wet herring.
Thus, I saw the best live concert performance of my life only weeks ago in my first ever visit to Casper, Wyoming (the state's 2nd largest metropolis w/50k. yeah! go rurality!).
So entered Mr. Nelson with his bag of magic. And I won't belabour the point, but just to say friends. Amigos. Compadres. Cohorts. Dudes. Dudettes. Musical patrons of the world — if you have the chance, you must see Willie in person. Just an all-around amazing performance by an old-school legend. I wanted to cry, I wanted to dance, I wanted to tap my foot till the cows came home, I wanted to drink cheap beer (oh, wait).
And magically, the tix were free through a friend who works at the Casper Star-Trib who wrote a piece about the concert for the paper. Choice.
So, you NASCAR folks can keep your haphazard cocktails to yourselves for now. I'll take the unexpected pleasures on this go-round.
p.s. Willie said he's not ready for that kind of relationship commitment yet...
The PICS!!!
can't quite remember what state he's from...
oh, the Lone Star hubris...
Good representation of the experience. Incidentally I sat beside a lady who went to OU and has a sister living in Norman. Random, but intriguing. 
GOODNIGHT, CASPER!
03 September 2008
Photo Fix
Alright ya'll, don't pretend like you want me to keep rambling about life and put off the photographic bounty even longer. I'm a blog READER too, as well as a writer. I'm no dummy. I know what we (I) generally want in a blog experience. We blog consumers will tolerate only so much text. Then we get bored and go watch Sesame Street.
So, here are a few snaps around town. Welcome to Douglas, Wyo, er'body. 
The office, where The Man lives (and where I work). Though through initial observations, the rural, Wyoming-based The Man is significantly less intimidating and all around more approachable, I've found. Go The (Rural) Man!
Nice house in town on the North Platte River. Ask my Okie compadres who just floated the waterway with me over the weekend. It's cold, even in August. *shiver*
Doubles calf-rope. 
Natural Bridge State Park. 
"Behind the Times."
Demolition Derby panoramic. 
Corgi contender. (i'm going to track this pooch down and steal it)
Wyoming State Fair delights on a setting sun. 
Hide Riding, old school.
more to come...
01 September 2008
Home Away from Home
If I'm honest, it's all a bit blurry.
The past month. The past summer. Three months. Half-year. Whole year.
All of the above.
If you'd told me in May '07 that by Aug. '08 I'd be living in eastern Wyoming and working for a weekly newspaper (Converse County's "leading" paper, no less), and living in the basement of complete strangers (who happen to be quite lovely folk), I would probably say you are a lying son-of-a-bee.
Thus, the curiousness of the situation is apparent, in that I am indeed living this very lifestyle in the above place in the above mentioned accommodations.
But fortunately, when you learn to sky dive, there's a bit of schooling beforehand. Royally Dismayed is the name of the man who finds himself suddenly at the yawning airplane portal with a chute on his back, not knowing how he arrived at that point in time, and awakening from an amnesiac stupor to the sound of whirring props and the imperative "JUMP, DUDE! JUMP!"
So, thankfully life comes in transitions, if only brief ones, that give us some heads-up context (and prevent us from wetting ourselves completely).
But that doesn't mean it's not an interesting or scary ride by any means.
Shoot.
So as I consider my new home of Douglas, Wyoming, perhaps the seeming randomness of my new place of residence is in keeping with my previous year's sundry wanderings.
For different reasons and at the behest of Adventure's beckoning, I've traveled to South East Asia and back (OH, the food!), lived in Costa Rica for some months (so much rain!) and seen the better half of 27 American states, from Florida to California to Maine. It's been a busy time, or a deliberately mobile one at least.
But each phase kind of led (fell, tripped, blundered) into another it seems, and here I find myself in the least populated state of the Union, living amongst a gathering of 6,000 other high-plains kinsmen, most of which have never met a stranger in their life. Or so it seems.
So here I am. Writing for a newspaper, living in the Equality State, and in a new way am more attentive to, and more trusting of the Placid Providence that carries real concern and compassion for every fiber of my being. (remarkably)
So it's good to be here, with the grab-bag of emotions it brings. Mostly positive. Some scary (lots of jeans out here!). But new and exciting and refreshing by definition.
And though I couldn't have penciled the plan on paper a year ago — or even two months ago — I have to think this is where I am meant to come, for a while at least. And it's what I needed at the time, certainly. I'm thankful for that.
So, all this to say clamp on your stirrups, friends. Grease your saddles and pat your palominos. Cinch your sixer and squint the horizon. The sun may not rise here, but it sets here. So I'll be here too, come what may. And that's pretty exciting, or worth a good blog post if nothing else.
And I always wanted to go sky diving. It seems I've finally gotten my chance.
Zane Grey, eat your heart out...