Pandemic frustrations

I took R to the doctor today for a check up. The red sign in the corner of the receptionist’s window says:

”Please keep your mask on at all times. Thank you for your cooperation.”

I guess that refers to everyone except the receptionist. 😩 (That is not a solid window between the receptionist desk and the waiting room, just a piece of plexiglass suspended from the ceiling… plenty of air can flow around it.)

This comes just one day after Cody’s vet visit, during which our (now former) vet refused to mask, or let his assistant mask, despite my asking and despite his clinic being considered a “medical setting” in which masks are required (per the CDC). He even told me “Masks don’t work anyway.” 

I’m sorry, that’s just scary stupid coming from a physician.

Needless to say I took my dog, my kids, and my money and left. 

Strangest Saturday ever…

This morning the kids worked an RCC service project. They (we) worked a table at an outdoor “non-profit showcase” talking to others about what their Rotary club does, and collecting donations. This showcase was held in conjunction with something called a Santa Reunion. Apparently, old men who like to dress up as Santa and spend the Christmas season at mall holiday displays holding an endless stream of children on their laps, have nothing to do in September so they all came to Parker where the rest of us were supposed to figure out which one was the “real” Santa. I believe voting was involved, but we didn’t look too hard at the details of what seemed to me to be a kind of bizarre event anyway… especially in September (although I think it would have been equally weird in December!) 

Here are a few photos from the morning…

This guy told M he was “jazz Santa” 🤷‍♀️

I believe this guy said he was “golfing Santa” …

…but I might be remembering wrong. 

M especially liked golfing Santa.

There were guys dressed like Santa everywhere…and many of the people who came just for fun dressed up too.

…which was kind of a weird disconnect since it was sunny and in the 70’s and it still looks like summer here. 

This guy puzzled me… he was kind of a “scarecrow Santa” (?!) and I waved at him as he walked by, knowing he’d come over to our table, and knowing that R would be mortified to have her picture taken with him. 

Which I did, of course. 

This is my favorite picture. As we were leaving, I saw that many of the Santas were eating at the restaurant on the corner. I got as many in the picture as I could (but this is only about half of them)

 

Teeny, tiny little potato harvest…

 

Pasture Walk

 I took my first pasture walk since early summer this morning. During the busyness of the growing season with the early morning time needed for garden watering, weeding, and just generally getting outside things done before it gets too hot, there just wasn’t much time left for pasture walks. I’ve missed them and was happy to walk the pasture on this cold crisp morning. 

The fading almost-full moon was just visible over the big ponderosas to the east as I headed across the pasture and down the hill…

I loved how the barn looked with the sky just starting to lighten behind it.

I surprised some deer who were still bedded down, they didn’t hang around long…

I checked on the “waddle” fence I built last spring to use up some of the branches that had been left down there over the years. (This is the furthest corner of the property, and often gets used to dump branches that have fallen.) 

I always feel a little sad when the pasture grasses start to die in the fall, but there is beauty in the dried, golden grass too. 

I finished my walk at the chicken coop where I peeked in and found Sadie awake (ever the queen of the coop, protector of the flock) with Shirley… still asleep with her head tucked under her wing… beside her. It took just a moment for Shirley to wake up too, and I fed them and scattered their scratch and headed inside to start my day. 

Task Force

 We worked at the Task Force this morning. We’ve been there about 4.5 years, except for the 9 months we didn’t work during the early part of the pandemic. We always work in the store or in the sorting room (there are others who work in the offices helping to screen and counsel clients), and some days are super busy, others are slow, but by the end of our shift we always feel good…There is a community among the volunteers that is really special, I feel fortunate that we are able to be part of it.

A few pictures I took this morning…

As donations come in, they are date checked and sorted here ^^, into boxes that are dated and stored here…

We also get donations of fresh produce (during the summer) from the master gardeners in our community. These donations are washed and sorted at this outside sink before being brought directly into the store  (R frequently does this job😉).

The store is set up just like a small grocery store, and the clients are able to ”purchase” their groceries using points they are given. The number of points they can spend is based on the number of people in their household. 

That cart just coming into the picture above is loaded with donations from Panera Bread. Various stores and restaurants donate to the Task Force.. 

We worked mostly in the store this morning. Stocking shelves, checking dates, etc.

Here is Rhianna, hard at work stocking…

M loves going to Task Force but honestly, doesn’t get much work done. He visits with the clients and other volunteers, and usually works only when we are working together and I can keep him focused… Luckily, he is a popular guy there are they don’t mind that he’s not the hardest worker! 😂

Harvest moon -

 …it was so beautiful. 

So sharp and clear as it lay low on the horizon shining brightly through a gap in the clouds. I felt like I could reach out and touch it… see every detail of its surface. 

Unfortunately my phone isn’t up to taking a photo of it.  This will have to do though, and will be enough to remind me of the real beauty of tonight’s harvest moon.

Climber’s Trail hike

 We headed back to Castlewood Canyon today to hike the trail we heard about last time we were there.  Another hiker had told us about a trail that leads up to the top of the canyon to a narrow (slot?) cave. Needless to say it sounded like a very cool place to visit so we headed out this morning to try and find the trail. 

The trail was easy to find but pretty challenging to hike…

We ran into rock climbers at one point, and a cool “teepee” someone had made from downed branches.

It was a perfect morning for hiking, and the canyon was gorgeous as usual.

We made it up to the cave and R and I climbed over the jumble of huge stones to go inside. I didn’t stay inside as long as I wanted to because M had gotten freaked out over the last bit of steep trail leading to the cave and was waiting for us further back on the trail. I’d love to go back and spend more time there…

R coming out of the cave…. It’s bigger than it looks! 

 

Inside the cave…I didn’t get a chance to investigate the light coming through an opening in the rear of the cave…next time. 

Early birthday morning walk…

 

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S

 E and the two little girls stopped by for ice cream after school. 

Emily got her hold her favorite chicken. She has loved and cuddled this hen, Shirley, since she was a tiny chick. I’m so glad Shirley is still tame enough to let Em hold her…

Summer is winding down…

 …the robins won’t be here much longer.

We love watching them raise their babies each year, and seeing the first robin of the spring always makes for a special day. 

The birds take turns at the birdbath, with the robins always giving way to the jays (and the sparrows sneaking in when they can!). I caught one of the almost grown robin babies having his bath this evening…  they do seem to enjoy splashing around! 

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Peace Eagle…

 …aka turkey vulture we saw while hiking at Castlewood.

Sunday Hike

 The day started off rough… Joe wasn't doing well, M was unsettled and out of sorts, and R just wanted to sit around and complain. If I could have I would have found someplace else to be for the day… but that wasn’t an option…so I decided we needed a hike. 

We haven’t hiked as much lately because it’s been so hot, and we’ve had things going on keeping us closer to home. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Castlewood until we got there. 

It felt good to hike its trails again…

We hiked up to the ruins of the dam again, stopping a couple of times to wade in Cherry Creek. It was a perfect mix of get hot hiking/cool off in the creek. 

Doesn’t it look like this stone has letters carved in it?

I always marvel at the stones balanced here and there in the canyon… Like this huge triangle one!

We saw the first bit of fall color in the leaves as well…

We talked to another hiker who told us about a trail we’ve never tried… one with a very cool cave near the top. We’ll hike that one next.

By the time we got home Joe was feeling better, and both kids were happy and settled. 

I love it when the day turns around…