Barn Burner

Janet and Guy wanted to meet at Little Wind River Casino for supper Tuesday night-dining out on election night is a tradition for them-they vote after Janet gets off work. Then they called-things were sliding because their neighbor's barn caught fire. Mr Norwood does maintenance for the Fremont County Library system and he called Guy to go help his wife because he was at a far away library. So Guy took his tractor and went to haul equipment away from the barn and save what he could.  After waiting awhile I headed up there in time to take this crappy photograph. The smoke had just turned white because the first firetruck to arrive had just started pumping water.  We eventually made it to the Casino for a great meal-the place looks brand new-very clean. Had a nice visit.

Thursday was my birthday. It was a very pleasant day-low key. Rich was on his route and called from Lander and we had a pleasant visit and lunch at Archer's-formerly Golden Corral buffet. Matt was the first to call-he still had his morning voice and it is a great voice-he is still doing sidework-announcing, and commercials while his main job is also keeping things interesting. He put up 20 pounds of peaches-canning, drying, freezing. Facebook good wishes and emails, and calls from Lori and Jason and Audrey and Cheryl were welcome. Lori got the gardening bug in Pampa and they are continuing in Florida. Jason is feeling better- has some zip. I took the doggies for a walk in town which they like. Got a nap too. Great day.

My laptop has started to fade I am afraid. It just ups and shuts down sometimes. I did a rollback and it seems to have helped somewhat but not entirely.

Just because I ought to

I am alive and well, enjoying 40 degree mornings, snuggling with the dogs at night, doing some reading and continuing the sorting out and pitching away process.  The smoke etc. resulted in a nasty sinus inection which I made short business of with antibiotics and sleep-though a day and a half just disappeared on me and now my sleep cycles are disturbed.

Jason seems to have recovered somewhat-after four weeks of misery. He had a sinus infection that went rogue-he has an open ended antibiotic prescription. The infection went into every part of his body and sub-cellular.He was pretty mum about his health but he sounded chipper when he finally did call. And truth to tell I would have been even more worried had I known what was going on.  Matthew continues to delight me with his Facebook entries: some hysterical, some deep, some touching, but all Matt.

My Internet connection is now smoking-very fast. I wonder if the change in plan made some difference. Surely Verizon wouldn't have choked me down to increase their revenue. Surely banks wouldn't manipulate interest rates to increase their profits. You know we are well and truly scr***d.

The dogs are frisky in the mornings and evenings and highly entertaining. The cool really agrees with them.  It has also cleared out most of the flies and mosquitoes. The smoke creeps back but not as bad as it was. I have never welcomed wind quite as much as lately.

I was in twilight stage this a.m. and evidently hungry because I made a plan to go to the Olympian for breakfast. Too bad it is 2500 miles away.

Fair to partly smoky

The smoke from forest fires in the region settled into the valley and environs. I was pretty much confined to the house relying on the aspen pads in the swamp cooler to filter the air. Nonetheless, I was battling congestion and air intake issues. A trip to town made me feel pretty bad. Buddy was sniffing air from the air conditioner in the car, I've been having to remove "eye boogers" from both dogs and blowing my own nose frequently. Rich thinks the smoke is from the Ferris Mountain fire which is about 60 miles from here. It seemed like perpetual dusk all day long. We are having a  little rain and wind right now I hope it clears the air and the lightning doesn't start more fires. 

Rich went to Salt Lake from his business trip to Rock Springs. He went to see our last Mason  cuzaunt and uncle who are enjoying(?) longevity genes. I think it was an anniverary-75th? I became persona non grata during the last election. I decided, correctly I think, that mean, bigoted, or just plain ignorant emails, if left unanswered, made me an accepting accomplice. The merde hit the propeller. I tried to carry on but in our regular correspondence therafter, an undercurrent of vitriol became evident. So I did the math: Subtract a person from my life, what is the result?  Entirely affordable. In any case, Rich enjoyed the visit.

The nine dollar battery arrived and seems just fine. perked up the phone, too-it seems to have a better signal.

The bags of detritus are accumulating. I have unearthed a few treasures also.  Thursdays seem to be my catch up on sleep days. The dreams have been interesting-they seem to be backward looking but not unpleasant. I wonder if it is not some mechanism of aging.  I hope it is some method of refreshing memories rather than brain rot.

Jason has been fighting illness ever since he got back from Texas. He mentioned a doctor and more antibiotics. I  inquire but he is not very forthcoming.  I want him well! Matt seems to be reveling in his garden produce and a new deck in the backyard. He is quite the urban farmer. Three allowable chickens are providing cackleberries.

Cattle Drive!

My buddy Tye on Nellie

Camey on my buddy Duke

Thayne and Trooper

 

Daryne and Tye on the 4-wheeler, Kristi saddles up

 Twenty four owly heifers barely managed by eight cowboys were moved up to "Frankie's pasture." The cows were not used to this and young so they were prone to bolt and turn around and scatter but in the end, headed up the road. Honey tried to help put them back in the pasture-not helpful.

Two dog nights: With the night time temperatures hovering around 50 degrees it was necessary to add another dog on the bed. Honey starts out there but usually starts to pant and she heads for the porch. She has been sticking on these cool nights. I've been making her come in about 10:00 because she is very conscientious and will work all night if allowed. She is friskier with a good night's sleep as are we all. Her hair is starting to grow back over her mostly healed wounds. The dogs do enjoy the adventures here-something to chase, something to bark at, the ditch to wade in.

My main cell phone-due for an upgrade in October has a really dodgy battery-about one good call and it dies. I've been trying to get by as the original long-life battery was $65.00. But I checked out Amazon and found one for $9.00! I will spend that gladly. It should arrive momentarily. Will it be any good? Should be. .Amazon has been entertaining me. Five good mysteries of foreign extraction: Three featuring Kurt Wallendar, a Swedish detective, Two featuring DI Thorne in London and environs. and an ebook first novel set in the Il Centro area-funny and lots of action. It has since gone to paper. I think this is wonderful. People self publishing on Amazon and getting picked up based on success. 

I stopped for a visit with Delores and Don. back from their stay in West Virginia. It was an adventure this year and they loved it. When the power went out for nine days, the National Guard was right on top of it-brought them water and MRE's (meals ready to eat), and they cooked two hot meals  daily at the armory-breakfast and dinner which they attended. Couldn't say enough good about those boys. Her brother found a generator for them. A "Ho" moved into the neighborhood providing humor, speculation and a little tutting but mostly  entertainment for the neighbors. They had a good visit with Jayne and our other friends near Wingrove. I am glad I stopped there once upon a time because it provides a lot of context for the tales.