Ranch Notes

A decade ago

July 4, 2005

Ten years ago today I wrote the first AmericaNet.Com website for a company in Colorado. It remains today as a shadow of its former self and most pages have lost the copyright notice I wrote for "Walter the bird" which read thus: "Now look, the boss worked hard to put all this stuff here. You are welcome to come visit often, and please tell your friends we are here, but don't be a bird brain and rip this stuff off. I am the only bird brain around here and I'd like to keep it that way so the boss doesn't fire me."

Obviously not great prose but a line I've always liked as the attitude matched that of the small black-and-white bird.

Aspen

June 26, 2005

Today was the day to replace the swamp cooler pads. The smell of fresh Aspen pads makes a aromatic signal of the beginning of summer.

Once again getting back to "normal"

June 26, 2005

Not long ago I wrote that things were getting settled down and back to normal. I'm now a bit more leery of saying such things, afraid to tempt fate and all. Of course not holding any belief in fate immediately takes this story down a strange course.

Wednesday evening we had dinner with family and then dallied to pursue the latest offerings at Borders bookstore. In the middle of looking at the latest books on CD the phone rang. A fellow Sandy Valley-an was calling to ask what I knew about the fire. Nothing. We wrapped up our browsing and headed for home. Along the way we passed through the valley north of Jean where Goodsprings sits. In the black of night the valley floor looked more like a cooling lava flow. Red embers formed long veins criss-crossing the valley. Turning to Sandy Valley road and heading towards Columbia Pass things looked bleak. The hillsides to the north of the road were red masses of magma. Across the pass, however, the fires were held at bay by a ridge of mountains that protected the road.

Entering the valley the first signs did not bring any encouragement. The yard lights and windows that normally double as beacons for the neighborhood failed to shine the way home. Through the evening the wind continued to drive from the direction of the fires towards Sandy Valley. Spot fires came within a couple of miles of town but never finished their journey down the hill. Nevada Power, the electric company supplying the southern part of Sandy Valley, estimates that 100-150 power poles were burned overnight on Wednesday. By late Thursday the utility company was operating each of the affected communities from generators.

Another anniversary post

May 30, 2005

I've posted several times over the past few months about how quickly the last year has disappeared. Sitting the the comfort of my home office, even though it is a bit cluttered, it is hard to imagine a full year has passed.

One year ago we were in the midst of unpacking. When we left Colorado it seemed we had gotten rid of a lot of unneeded things before the trip. When we started unpacking it became clear quickly that more pruning was necessary. We've done quite a bit over the past year and still have more to do. On the home front, things are looking much better than they did.

A couple of dozen more trees are getting their foothold and starting to really take off. The back yard has lawn in it and most of the property is covered by drip irrigation. The garden is doing quite well and the new round-pen sits in place of the junk pile that was once. Plenty of projects remain but it is nice to look back every once in a while and see just how far we've come.

Time flies

May 21, 2005

The cliche is time flies when you're having fun. With that measure my life has been living in Disneyland. It is hard to think that a year ago I was still commuting between Nevada and Colorado. In fact this weekend marks the year anniversary of the big move. The move concluded on Memorial Day last year. This year we'll need to have a get-together on our ranch.

Desert rain

February 19, 2005

Dawn was nearly clear. A few puffy clouds spotted the edges of the valley. By mid-morning the cloud cover had become pretty solid. Hours later, the density of the cloud cover convinced the dusk-dawn timer on the outside lights that dusk arrived at 2:00 pm.

When the rain comes it often is in waves. A few minutes of light sprinkle proceeds sheets coming in succession. As quickly as it began calm is once again restored until the next sprinkle begins the cycle again.

It's been a busy year. Exactly 366 days ago (leap-year and all) I took an early morning flight back to Colorado. I wrote "I've been out of the loop a bit this week." That was really code for I've been out of state interviewing and found the job I really want. Now, a year later I sit watching the sun set on the beautiful western skies. A handful of leaves hang on from last season, but the trees are about to replace them with this year's crop. In a few weeks the arena fence will no longer be visible from the office window - replaced by a sea of spring time green.

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