A Remote Western Christmas

Christmas here is a community deal. The Christmas party is a big event during the month of December. Santa visits, the stores stay open late (and serve food and beverage to entice shoppers), the Visitor's center throws a wine and cheese party (with beautiful cocktail shrimp!), the County Commissioners hold hands with local kids as they throw the light switch on the Christmas Tree at the County courthouse, and locals mingle on the streets as the Christmas parade comes through.

The air is filled with excitement as lit trucks, horse drawn wagons, walking teams and even goats with chicken riders march down the Pine Street. This year was extra special for us, as the temperatures were above 0, and it snowed lightly! We also got a treat as both kids were in the parade- one on the 4H float, and the other with the Wrestling Club.

At home, the quiet spread around us like the heavenly white blanket outside. As we approached the house, nearly all that was visible through the snow and darkness was the lit Christmas tree in the amazing place we call home. We wouldn't trade this Remote Western Christmas for anything in the world.

Oh Snap!

A cold spell has recently hit the US. Here, at 7400 feet elevation, we didn't get missed.

Don't you love digital evidence? It doesn't tell the time, nor the wind chill, nor if the sun was shining... and each of these factors does play in how cold it "feels". Regardless, understand that -12 feels COLD. Your nose hairs stick together, as do your eyelashes. You can't breathe too deeply without coughing. Your outdoor animals look like they're crusted in ice, but you've still got to remind your Remote Western children to bring a coat to school.

It's too cold to snow, though the snow that's already here isn't melting.

I worked cows with a friend one day, when the weather was this cold. Regardless of the temperatures, ranch chores must be done. As luck would have it, I fell in the (I believe, anyway) only non frozen solid stream and froze the lower half of my pants solid. We're talking about crunchy, flick-ice-off-with-your-cow-poker-stick, pants-can't-move-or-they-break solid kind of freeze. The upper portions steamed off some in the sun, but please believe me when I say "I FROZE MY @$$ OFF!!!" We worked cows some more, bringing in the heifers for vaccinations, getting them in the chutes and vaccinating them. It's a lot physical, hard, dirty work, but great when the sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing! (Helps if a person is also dry.)

The kids took the school bus out to the ranch, where we loaded up and drove off to hunt the elusive Christmas Tree! Success! We found one that would make Charlie Brown proud. Our settling was most likely spurred by the fact that the sun went down and all three of us had had enough of being cold (Remote Western Children didn't bring their snow boots, one was missing a coat, and neither had gloves. When will they learn???)

Another beautiful day in paradise.

Sabbatical over, I'm baaaaack!

Ever find yourself suddenly realizing that you're not nearly as funny or clever as you once thought you were? Did you then decide, with a heavy dose of humility to go crawl into a corner and assess the situation for a while? Maybe it's just me.

But thanks to the gentle goading of friends (love you Ken!), I'm back on line with my western wit and wisdom. For whatever that's worth. I'm happy to be back, and will keep whomever wants to know in the know on the "goings on" in our Remote Western Town.

Remote computer failure

So... when your computer dies, and you live an hour and a half away from the closest Staples, what do you do? Panic. Cry. Get angry. Talk to your townsfolk. It's sort of like the five stages of grief- complete with the anger, bargaining and acceptance... except I'm grieving the loss of something that was never alive to begin with.

After a month of back and forth visits from the local computer guy, I'm still without computer services with the exception of the unauthorized laptop. (Breakin' the law, breakin' the law...) Here's hoping I'm back up and running again soon because I have great horseback ride pictures to post (exquisite country!), as well as weather updates (we can finally plant our flowers now!), and fire season info. Wish me luck in getting back pronto.

Remote Western Dogs versus Remote Western Skunks

Skunks 1, Dogs 0

Here is our beloved border collie, shown with our beloved Frito-Bandito. This is her typical disposition, looks, smell, etc.

She came bounding in last night... and the stench hit me about a half a second later. Ugh! 

Being the sound scientific mind I am, I did a little bit of research. The nasty part of skunk smell is causes by compounds called "thiols". Thiols can be readily broken down by a process called "oxidation", where oxygen is added to the molecule and the molecule is changed. Stink is gone, dog can once again venture inside.

More research revealed that others have had luck with hydrogen peroxide (an oxidizer) combined with baking soda, a dash of Dawn to lather up, and a cap full of chlorox. This sounds reasonable to me, especially since I have these things on hand. So it's off to the outdoor bath with my concotion and my stinky dog. The sucker blows like a shaken beer, and the oxidizing process is going along smoothly. Dog is beginning to smell like dog, and I am pleased with my keen intellect.

She was so mad, she would barely make eye contact. And when she did, it was only to give 

me hateful, dog stink-eye looks. She also decided that rolling in horse poop would make her feel better, but hey... I would take horsepoop smell over skunk any day.

She eventually dried and forgave me. She even smells much better, though her face still stinks (I didn't want this chemistry near her eyes, so the nose and eye area were spared the bubbly wrath). She won't be allowed into the house until the rest of the stink is completely gone.

So this story is finished except for one small thing... the oxidizing. I sort of forgot that oxidizers and bleach... well... oxidize and bleach! My tri color border is now more of a four color border with her new frosted tips! Now it's time for her to freshen up that breath, lose some fur off that big booty and go out on the town in her swanky, hip new doggie "do"!  

One Stinking Line???

Ok, we're remote. I get that. What boggles my mind is that with one single misplaced dig spot, one little "uh-oh", and the ENTIRE area is without long distance, internet and cellular phone services for hours! For those of us without television, we're really disconnected!

But, it comes with the territory, and when these things happen (which they do with alarming frequency!), we remember to be grateful when the internet comes back up, and our link to the outside world is restored.

(Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online)

April Showers bring... April snowstorms?

It's the 29th of April, and we could sure use some springtime around these parts. These hellacious wind storms with snow wreck havoc on the newborn calves, and cause general hate and discontent to those of us without livestock. 

The wind was screaming most of the night and morning. It sounded and felt as if the roof would come off in one piece. By late morning, the wind had mostly died down, but a little bit of evidence was left blown and stuck to the side of the house and garage doors. Note the snow blown into the corners and frozen in place. Late April in Western Wyoming...