Too Cute to Not Post

Copper Mountain 2009

S-C, Brian, J and D. It's Wonderful to have cousins to play with!

Daddy and J tried sledding outside the house. J was a little young for skiing, but we loved watching from the house which was right on the slopes.

B is our ski wonder. She loves moguls and trees!

H tried snowboarding and absolutely loved it.

We laughed on this trip at how much has changed since we started this annual trek. The colors are much more muted. B's brown coat is the new style. We used to all have wild hats, but now we wouldn't dream of sending the kids out without helmets and most of the adults wear them as well. Snowboarders once seemed a little out there. We now have 2 boarders in the group. We are bigger and louder, but still having a great time.

Cowboys

One of the greatest blessing of my life is that I am married to a modern day cowboy. What better way could I explain the man that had me branding and vaccinating cattle before we were even engaged. He looks a little different than the fictional image. Except for "fancy" events he doesn't wear a cowboy hat or boots, but instead has on coveralls and red wings. (He keeps a pair of Crocs under his desk for when he works inside.) As the business has grown, he spends more times in meetings and his phone is always at his side. He hasn't lost his drawl or his do what needs doing no matter how dirty or disgusting philosophy, but he is always on the cutting edge. He is looking for ways to capture methane from deceased cattle to be able to produce electricity. He is a first choice of pharmaceutical companies to run tests on drugs because he does such an amazing job. He can ride a four wheeler through mud and muck to capture lost calves and just a few short hours later be in discussions with college professors and consultants.

He is also a renaissance man. One of my greatest frustrations are people that some how or another believe living on a farm means we don't know about or appreciate culture beyond our back door. Brian has escorted me to CATS and the Russian ballet as well as a few George Strait concerts. He has a more developed palate than I do and I have the culinary experience.

But perhaps my favorite blending of old and new cowboy is the genre of cowboy poetry. We were first introduced to this art form a few years ago when Brian attended a reading by Baxter Black. Inspired and delighted by his writings, Brian came home with a book that he read from after supper for many nights. Listening to him dramatically read the carefully crafted pieces that so mimicked our own life, I fell in love all over again. This year I was unable to attend the NCBA with him, but Brian brought me home a wonderful gift- a collection of poems written not by a cowboy or a rancher, but a farm wife. Oh, how I have savored this prose whenever I have a few minutes to snatch. I am not sure this lives up to Emily Dickinson or Robert Frost, both of whom I enjoy, but for this moment in my life reading cowboy poetry feels a little like having a good friend to tea and for a moment I am not so alone, and my cowboy is a prince.

Outside Circle

by Audrey Hankins

In my youth I envied my cowboy

Riding out, decisive at dawn,

While my fetters of babies and bottles

And cooking and cleaning dragged on.

I wished for a careless, ready laugh

For loops that sped straight and fit.

I could have picked replacement heifers

And done a good job of it.

I longed for that outside circle

And sharing at end of day

As I told my tales of triumph

Over cattle that didn't get away

I was a misfit female wallflower

Watching an all male dance.

Long, long I poised on the sidelines

Waiting, hoping for my chance.

I wasn't invited to his party.

I tagged along against advice

Like an unwanted pup who follows

After you've rocked her homeward twice.

But even a pup who's being ignored

Can pick up quite a bit

And eventually time rolls around

To where the man depends on it.

I'll never make a top hand

Or tie wild cow to gentle tree,

But now as he takes the outside circle

Cowboy calls my name and whistles to me.

Catching Up

No, I have not fallen off the map during the last month as some of you may have suspected. We have been overwhelmed by events and activities, both happy and sad, that have kept us barely coming up for air.


We said good bye to my grandmother and Brian's within a week of each other. Two weeks of funerals is enough to put anyone over, but it was particularly hard on J and L. They did not make the trip to Mississippi, but the separation was a challenge. Everyone deals with grief differently and emotions tend to run high at these times.


We have also dealt with several L issues. She is pulling out hair and harming herself so we had to begin discussions on altering or adding medicine as we continue to look for ways to diffuse some of her frustration. She will be evaluated and measured etc for a wheelchair on Thursday. L is a 3yo stuck interacting with the world from a flat instead of upright level. She needs a consistent form of mobility. Having become fully entrenched in the world of pediatric drugs; those parents questioning the appropriateness of medicating a child don't have a child truly in need of medication. When you child is driven to biting themselves and looks like they have recently begun chemo you are open to almost anything.

On happier notes, Brian and B are both involved with the inaugural season of Upwards basketball at our church. It has gone extremely well. Brian has overseen referees and I think it has a proved a much more difficult job than he imagined. Of course the Upwards season has run concurrent with a crazy cheer competition schedule, so we have often had to "divide and conquer", a parenting plan we both detest.

We finally were able to celebrate Christmas with the Bush family last weekend and held a surprise 60th birthday party for my dad on the Sunday. Good food, friends, family and memories. Lots of blessings for all involved.

Add in stomach flu, sinus infections, H's 8yo birthday slumber party, National Cattlemen's Meeting and a few snow/ice days and it seems the last 6 weeks or so have simply flown by. Here's to a slightly slower spring.