Cold and playing in the snow

All about reentry here. Goodness it's been cold. Deep in the minus for lows- 17-24 below. All the temp stations are different, so hard to be precise - really what difference does it make - just COLD! We have been cozy by the fire, going out for snowshoeing in the heat of the day and nice solar action. The coyote and fox have been in our tracks through the woods in the night, fun.

Had a rare badger sighting on the way to the mailbox (which is 2 miles from the house). They generally stay in tunnels underground, so must be quite hungry. Quite awkward lumbering down the road, hard to believe they're so ferocious.

busy up on Mt Crested Butte too

We went for a cross country ski lesson today. Thought we'd come out experts in the hour. Um, not so...  little matter of technique to be mastered. Great instructor, but it's quite different from downhill and even showshoeing. Think it will be great - just need to practice. The Nordic center in CB was crazy busy - it's got tons of groomed trails, ice rink, lessons on everything under the sun except downhill, and apparently lots of hockey going on. Exuberant group of quite young boys were gathering for the next game. Had lunch first at Ryce for energy, good thing, it was quite the workout.

"our " old miner's cabin - half of it anyway

Other news, my evolution and genetics online class has started. Very excited about it, and the initial lectures were fascinating and quite well done. Beware, I may be sharing new found knowledge with you down the road. Little nervous about the weekly problems (homework!) and the upcoming mid-term and final exams. Heavens, it's been a long bunch of years since I had any of this. 20,000 students ended up signing up for the class. Everyone had to sign an honor code and if you get on the discussion boards and talk about the exams, you're out.  Amazing isn't it, when there is no cost, and you do not get college credit for this, people will still try to find a way to cheat. WHY?

horses with their loafing shed ( new term I learned this past year)

Mark leaves Monday on a business trip (CES in Las Vegas) and I must report for possible jury duty. Could be weeks of trial if  I'm picked. I'll let you know...
And books read - Diane Keaton's memoir Then Again (really good) and The Richard Burton Diaries (really bad), and another one in the series The Accusers by Lindsey Davis (great as usual).

Happy New Year!

Another year done, and this one went by in a flash. Some good, some not so good things - normal I guess. We are back at Star Mt. after our whirlwind 7 weeks away. It's quite the shock after 80 degrees in Naples now to minus temps. I think it was -10 last night. Hurray for cozy fires in the fireplace, down comforters, and electric heat. Lots of animal tracks in the snow (we have about 2 feet everywhere) but no sightings yet.

Not unhappy just serious about the brie

The Plaza - thanks for the photo Lisa!

Our car trip was good, with stops at our destination restaurants (Original Oyster House - Mobile, and McBrides in Wichita Falls, TX). We added on a Santa Fe stop  to visit family. Didn't get to see everyone- Charles was down with a nasty stomach virus that had already blazed through other family members. Crossing fingers noone else will get it. We did have a wonderful dinner at Pasquals with Nancy, Lisa, and our newly engaged Chase and Heli. So nice to meet her!

deck before Mark's snowblowing

Blazing that trail

Busy at the house, unpacking those Florida clothes and stashing them high in the closet. We won't need those for many months. Mark blowing snow off the deck, bringing firewood up, and starting the snowshoeing trail through the woods. Lot of work this snowshoeing and massive calories burned (Mark looked it up -1,000 calories for a man for an hour exertion). Not fair, but my calorie burn is 775 for the same...

Had to include a photo of my fabulous Christmas present from Mark. Stopped at the gallery in Madrid (close to Santa Fe) to pick it out. Bronze ram sculpture by Jill Shwaiko. Love, love her work. I am a sucker for art above most other things, as it turns out...

sunrise

New adventure starting this Friday - I enrolled in a MOOC (massive open online course) that starts Friday, with my second in a couple weeks. They are free, done through highly acclaimed universities, and are promoting democratic learning. Sounds like fun to me, although if there's lots of homework, we'll see. First up is Genetics and Evolution from Duke University (17,000 people signed up) and then Philosophy from University of Edinburgh (70,000 people signed up!) I went through Coursera if anyone's interested. I'll keep you updated.
Happy New Year and peace and good wishes to all.

Christmas

Hurray for Christmas, and all that it is and we hope it will be. There is nothing like a small child around for the magic of it all. Princess Penny was of course the center of everything. And, she didn't even understand the whole Santa thing - doesn't matter.

not sure, list for Santa?

Oh silly Grandaddy (aka Dadoe)

Snowflakes on Christmas Eve - close enough to the day. Lots of yummy appetizer food, just missing Heather and Jay. (they came over Christmas morning). And for the record, do not under any circumstances double a recipe for coffee cake from a 6" spring form pan to a 10" one. There's math involved here, but basically the round volume does not work... In dismay, Tiffany read the recipe reader comments after it went in the oven. Cooked and cooked it, watched it overflow, and thought  it was one for the trash, when Tiffany realized it had cooked through except the middle. Christmas morn and it tasted great!

Now this was fun -Animated "Twas the night before Christmas" book downloaded to Ipad. Crazy world we live in. This generation of kids should be the smartest ever. Oh, and Penny decided to buy something with a quick push of the button before going to bed. Only .99cents. Hmmm.

First present of the day for Penny was a hoot. Her first experience with ripping wrapping paper. A right of passage I'd say.

Is this the greatest photo or what! Courtesy Tiffany

Family coming together - the most important thing. I'd say the first Christmas at Tiffany and Chris's house was a great success. Hope everyone had a great one too!

Alligators, birds,helicopter, and restaurants

Time is slipping through my hands like sand. We leave for Virginia Saturday - baby Penny!, and after Christmas we come back to Naples for only two days. The big drive back to Star Mt. is almost here! And lots of snow has dropped in the last 10 days. 4 feet on the ski mountain to be more accurate. Keep it up.

Made it down for our regular Everglades visit for the gators and birds. Lots of both this trip. Closeups of the gators courtesy of Mark. I would never get that close with my small lens. It's wild and crazy country there. Hunters with their gigantic swamp buggy rigs were out and about, as well as a water moccasin (alive ooh) in the road, and the only reason I point out these things is right in the middle of this, a woman with easel and paintbrush in hand was hard at work out in the dense bush. Talk about dedicated - or crazy, take your pick.

Santa at City Hall

oystering

Everglades City was destination on the way back for lunch. Florida funk is this little town. If you were staying there on vacation, it would to hang out, maybe fish and boat a little. Very slow pace there.

Lunch was at the famous Rod and Gun Restaurant founded in 1864, visited by endless famous people, including presidents, and Ernest Hemingway. We try to get down there once a year. Fresh, as you can get, fish and shrimp all dependent on the fishermen's success of the day. I actually ordered oysters, but none had come in yet.

One fun little extra was a small helicopter that was flying awfully close I thought, when it decided to land behind the restaurant. A group of guys just out for the day popped in for lunch. Hmm.

Angelina's wine cellar - two stories high

Lots of restaurant action still going on with a few still on the list. We'll see if we get to them all. A new one, Angelina's, was fantastic, gourmet Italian that's been here a few years. Equal to D.C. - really. Definitely will go back.