This picture makes me laugh every time I see it.

A Bus or Nada Bus?

The reason I was here is because my daughter and son-in-law bought tickets to a Steely Dan concert to take place at Red Rocks. My ex had told them they were one of my favorite groups. I liked them, but they were hardly my favorite. I also am not a big fan of concerts. That is not because I don’t like live music. I don’t like how rude and thoughtless other concert-goers are. And, it had been rainy for a few weeks in the afternoon.

We left from Rifle and were headed out of town when we came upon this vehicle. Obviously very much a bus, but doesn’t it say it is not?

The company was fun, the venue was incredible, but it rained torrents at the concert — and just breathing there exposed me to employment-nullifying levels of marijuana. While I wasn’t the most eager participant, I was the one most prepared. I’d gotten myself a big poncho and some leggings and was relatively dry and warm. That was my revenge when the original instigators started blaming me for them being at that concert to begin with. 🙂

Upon looking at this picture later, I also remembered the joke about the blond and the tree. Here it is:

A blonde had just totaled her car in a horrific accident. Miraculously, she managed to pry herself from the wreckage without a scratch and was applying fresh lipstick when the state trooper arrived.
“My God!” the trooper gasped. “Your car looks like an accordion that was stomped on by an elephant. Are you OK ma’am?”
“Yes, officer, I’m just fine” the blonde chirped.
“Well, how in the world did this happen?” the officer asked as he surveyed the wrecked car.
“Officer, it was the strangest thing!” the blonde began. I was driving along this road when from out of nowhere this TREE pops up in front of me. So I swerved to the right, and there was another tree! I swerved to the left and there was ANOTHER tree! I served to the right and there was another tree! I swerved to the left and there was ….”
“Uh, ma’am”, the officer said, cutting her off, “There isn’t a tree on this road for 30 miles. That was your air freshener swinging back and forth.”

We swerved and missed that tree the whole way without incident. And, we did not follow a bus for awhile.

It’s been over two years since I’ve posted anything here. It has been a busy two years.

I’m posting today because I’m researching FASO.com for my boss who is a fine artist. I thought it said I could link to an outside blog, but so far it hasn’t worked. Perhaps a new post has to be made, and to that end, I’m posting here.

The picture I’m including is a picture I took of one of the tulip plants my daughter gave to all the members of Uncle Garry’s family when he died in March of 2009. We all love him and miss him and every time I run across this photograph, which I used on cards to his immediate family, I think of him and miss him again.

Over the past few years, I’ve gone to school for an Office Admin degree. I’ve learned a lot, not the least of which is that I don’t have a really good head for numbers (as used by a bookkeeper). But I do have the gift of gab. This year I’m in a class about the Internet and Social Media Marketing and I’m finding that very interesting. I learn something every day. And that has prompted me to look again at this blog and consider continuing with it.

As my fellow Grand Valley residents know, yesterday (May 29, 2011) was a windy day. Utah began to move in around 3:00 p.m. and it stuck around into the night. It’s windy today, too, but nothing like it was yesterday. AND, it’s chilly again!

For those of you familiar with my view of Mt. Garfield, this shows how much dirt was in the air.

This shot was taken later when even more dust was in the air. Even later, I couldn’t see St. Mary’s Hospital, which you can see in the distance here.

What I’d planned to be a relaxing and photo-centric weekend turned into something of a bust for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is my inability to plan well and a well-honed ability to get completely distracted.

The highlight of the weekend was the realization that the ladder-in-the-wind noise I had been listening to was not my ladder (left in the entryway for a good day to run water to the swamp cooler). It was instead a section of rain gutter wildly fluttering in the wind above my house. This was cause for much concern. The wind had detached the rain gutter at one end, ripping out a small section of the facing on that eave, had bent up and over the roof, and was hanging on by a few more nails at the other end of the gutter. I could see those remaining nails weren’t likely to hold the rest of the day if the wind continued or intensified. The rolling dirt cloud to the west suggested this wind was going to hang a bit longer. With each irritating gust of wind, it appeared more likely this section of rain gutter was going to detach completely and become a missile of neighborhood destruction (and eventual hostility toward me).

I got on the roof to check it out and realized that there wasn’t much I’d be able to do from there. The wind was blowing that section around in such a manner that I was afraid it’d eventually whack me in the head or rip a chunk out of me if I didn’t get off the roof. I won’t even mention the foolhardiness of being up there in the first place, the wind gusting as it was. But I did lay low when it blew the hardest and moved only when it was calmer.

Once off the roof and assessing the rest of the situation, I thought I’d pull the “free” section toward me and off the roof, then take the nails out of the rest of the gutter and in that way guarantee the neighborhood wouldn’t be in danger of flying house parts—my house parts. It wasn’t long before I realized I didn’t have the strength, or even a sense of safety, to drag that thing toward me and off the roof. Besides, there are windows and a fence I could also destroy in the process of decapitating myself.

So I did what any woman would do in  a similar situation. I cussed, I cried, I bitched vehemently at the wind, and then called my dad. 🙂 He got here pretty quickly. I never call for help, so I think he thought I might need help.

Between the time I lost it and called Dad, and his arrival, I settled down a bit and remembered WHERE “that” rope was, got it, got back on the roof, and tied the rope to the end of that gutter. It had to be done in spurts, coinciding with wind gusts that required I simply hold on tightly to the that twisted hunk of metal so as not to acquire an unwanted piercing.

Dad got here, assessed the situation as it then was, and declared the problem “handled for now.” We visited awhile longer as he continued to talked me further from the “ledge.” Sometimes I guess a gal just needs her dad. He and my brother will help me yank the rain-gutter weapon off the side of my house and off my roof, and I’ll go from there. We have to wait until the wind calms a little further. Does anyone want to hazard a guess when that might be?!

When Dad left, I made a few more adjustments to my knotty work on the roof and in the entry way. I submit these photographs to amuse. The rain gutter went NO further in the wind, but this rope work cracks me up. (Incidentally, that red “rope” on the park bench is a bathrobe tie!)

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As the wind continued to blow items, big and small, across the valley, I amused myself suggesting that if anyone happened to see a length of bent and brown rain gutter fly by, it was mine.

Thanks, this day, goes to the many veterans who gave of themselves in the name of freedom. Happy Memorial Day.

Sitting in the sun in San Diego (when the sun is visible) has provided me a nice break. I’ve done little or nothing, and I guess that’s fine. I’ll start a temporary job on Monday and I probably better take advantage of the structureless time while I have it.

I’ve taken a few pictures, and will take more.

Geraniums:

Aeonium decorum variegata: I had to look this one up — a LOT. There are many varieties of aeonium. Who knew?! I like this one because it’s green and trimmed in red/pink/purple.

I want some of this in my entry way. It looks like it’s good at 28°, but not much less than that for extended periods of time. Perhaps it would be better inside the house.

On with vacation. Happy Monday!

I’m planning a trip to San Diego. This time I will drive. I like how quickly a plane can get me from one place to another, but that process eliminates a lot of adventure. And I believe that’s what I need more than being plucked from one location and deposited to another.

Each time I’ve told anyone of my plan, with few exceptions, I am questioned, “Why don’t you fly?!” Dad appears to be one of the few who understand the need for time rather than simple relocation. Even so, the Interstate between here and there doesn’t offer a lot of visual stimulation to make it a worthwhile trade for time, but I do love that stretch around the NV/CA state line. The terrain turns into something I well remember from childhood. I always want to turn toward Death Valley and up toward Bishop and Mt. Whitney. When I was a child, we went to Death Valley and Mt. Whitney many times during summers. If I had a couple weeks, I might try it. I’m not up to taking off-paths to my destination this time.

Here’s a picture I took in 2003. I love the color in these hills:

Life has taken such a turn, and it appears to still be in something of a spin. I’m restless and feel the need to run. I’ll have to drag me along, so the therapeutic value of this journey will be somewhat limited. But when I get back, I believe this time I’ll feel as though I’d been somewhere and done something, even if I do next to nothing when I get there.

Better get busy!