I eat eggs, so why do I care?

Last week a visitor noticed a bird nest just under the gutter on our front porch.  

We don’t typically use the front door, unless we have guests, so I hadn’t noticed it. 

I began to observe that nest and arrived at the assumption that it was abandoned since I didn’t notice any activity or hear and peeping or chirping.

I asked the Legal Dude to remove it, since I remember reading about abandoned nests and the possibility of bird mites migrating into one’s home once the birds are gone.

He said he’d get around to it.

I’m glad he delayed. 

It was raining and windy this morning.

At one point I heard a cacophony of distressing bird calls that caused me to rush to the front windows.

Apparently harsh winds and rain shredded that little nest, leaving bits and pieces strewn across the front porch and lawn. 

Sadly, the nest was not abandoned and four little bitty eggs were also strewn across the front porch. 

I went out with gloves to try and gently pick them up, hoping their parents could somehow... do…something. 

 Alas, each and every egg was smashed. 

I would have felt terrible if the Legal Dude had removed the nest with the eggs inside.    

When I heard the distressing calls, I was in the process of baking bread (a delicious walnut and rosemary bread and my first solo bread baking experience since moving here).

Much later, after rising--quite a wonder to be hold up here at 7,200

Later, as I cracked and smashed eggs for the recipe, I stopped and stared...

I got to wondering: why does my heart weep for those little eggs and their momma, when I willy-nilly crack and smash eggs nearly every day?

It’s given me food for thought (and no, no pun is intended).

Brain Freeze

Had classes today.

I leave the car parked at 9 am and climb back in around 3 pm.

Despite the sun, it was Frigid.

Walking back to my car, I got a brain freeze—literally.

First time it’s happened here. 

Sure it won’t be the last. 

Flicks versus chocolate…

The Legal Dude is out of town. He left two days ago for D.C.

I’ve been fighting a cold, the first severe one since moving here.

Other than going to classes, doing coursework and taking care of the teenager (which meant getting him out of the house at 5:45 am yesterday morning for basketball practice and a 9 am game this morning) I’ve stayed put—mostly on the couch, in front of the fireplace.

The teenager had a bit of a hard morning (maybe more on that later), which left both the Legal Dude and I feeling at a loss.

With the Legal Dude gone, feeling under the weather and the teenager feeling the way he was, I teetered an eensy-weensy bit emotionally.

When feeling this way I either turn to chocolate or to movies.

Certain flicks make me smile, shed some goofy tears and just leave me feeling all over Hallmark warm and fuzzy.

Admittedly, these movies are chick flicks but, hey, they do the trick.

One of the most recent additions to my repertoire is “New in Town,” starring Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr.

Renee’s first scene in Minnesota—stepping out into the frigid windy temps—makes me hoot, as does a whole lot about this movie.

I find I can relate—to the concept of moving to an environment so totally new and foreign and yet so great one  is surprised to discover they actually like living there.

In some small way, I feel this movie was made for those who willingly made some significant change in their living environment.

If you somehow missed the movie, check it out.

Even the Legal Dude enjoyed it, and it’s a much better flick than “Did you Hear About the Morgan’s,” which supposedly took place in Wyoming.

So here’s to fun movies on a cold and windy night, ‘cause it’s snowing and blowing again.

Thankful...

The UDUB Heating Plant is hard at work…

and probably working overtime...

FRIGID—Redux

I did NOT sign up for this.
 

Photo of my TV (Doesn't take wind chill into account!)

Cold, snow and (even) wind—okay.

Negative 35 degrees—okay, as long as the mercury begins to inch upwards after a few days.

But THIS!

One of the teachers over at the ECEC (where I was observing this morning) told me it was -65 when she woke up at 5 am! 

Geeze….

Again, I did not sign on for this!

Did you?

Say What? It's HOW cold?

The temp this morning when we awoke was -27º with a wind chill of -47º.

The high for today will be -8, if the mercury actually reaches that high.

I believe this a first for us—the -47, not the -8.

The frigid air freezes, not only, the nose hairs, but then glues them together (sorry!) a mere second after stepping outside.

I didn’t see any kids walking to school today.

Of course I drove the teenager—he who refuses overcoat, hat or gloves—to school this morning. 

Actually, he stuffed a pair of gloves in his backpack.

Hallelujah!

One tiny step forward for motherhood…

It’s off to class I go. 

Please stay safe out there…

Survival Gift

Recently I jokingly mused whether the Legal Dude was becoming a Wyomingite.

While the Legal Dude and I have certainly embraced aspects of the Wyoming mindset—a more relaxed and slower “stop and smell the roses” attitude—we may have lived too long on the East Coast (EC) for a true metamorphosis to occur.

Or perhaps we’re just too uptight—in our own idiosyncratic ways.

He:  Occasionally still drives like an EC impatient type A commuter and desperately misses Whole Foods and some of those big box stores. 

Me:  Still afeard of bears—or anything with four legs and teeth—and (sometimes) the beautiful and open, but oh so empty, spaces with nary another soul in sight.

(What, I ask, happens if one becomes lost, or breaks a leg and/or encounters a four-legged critter with big teeth?  And what if this occurs during inclement weather—like now?)  

Well my coz, Big J, who hails from Denver and all things Outward Bound, sent us a little holiday gift to help soothe the worries.

Big cousin J came to visit a month or so ago and told us everything we need to have in the car—a big empty coffee can with a candle; matches; plenty of water and snacks; extra socks, gloves, and hats; and blankets—as a precaution against the Wyoming winds and blowing snow while traveling. 

I guess he wasn’t convinced the EC city cousins had listened with quite the attentive ear and so sent these much welcomed gifts…

Everyone needs a little red Swiss Army knife--so he sent three!

Thanks to Big cousin J, we now travel with most—if not the coffee can and candle—of his suggested items and I don't have to worry about getting lost when exploring the many empty off-off roads that are Wyoming (in July and August, that is).

Just another small step forward to becoming a true Wyoming family—hardly!  

For all you academic types out there: Hope your reentry back into work week isn’t too harsh.

It happens, I guess...

Though not often.

Yesterday UDub closed at 1 pm due to inclement weather.   

First time since we’ve been here and who knows when it last happened—if ever

With below freezing temps—again, nothing unusual—and snow falling all day long, UDub shuttered its doors and let everyone go home.

I guess even the “hardy state” has it breaking point.

Not for the faint of heart…

or for those who keep Kosher or who are vegetarians.

We went to the Butcher Shop this afternoon to purchase this smoker…

which unfortunately is not working.

It's a pellet smoker but the thingamajig, which is supposed to turn and add pellets ain't turning and the shop is now closed.  Bummer! 

While we were there, these are some of the things I spied…

The butcher's shoes...he was out at a ranch
doing some cutting

Usually I see these things filled with pastries and bread

Notice a resemblance?

Now that's what I call a hog!

Kind of makes one want to become a vegan...

Wyoming Worm Jerky...

Need I say more about the hot and intense Wyoming sun?

This poor little guy/gal--I believe worms are hermaphroditic--obviously ran out of time before the sun rose to a new day.

Actually, we're always finding these little guys all over the patio and I just now realized it's all our fault!

The underground sprinkler system is set to start at 3:30 in the morning. 

These guys must come out and then never make it across the patio before the sun rises to it's full glory. 

Oh my gosh!

We're annihilating the worm population around our house...

They don’t know—hot!

I had to laugh, as I walked through the union this afternoon and overheard variations on these comments—“It’s sooo hot today!" "Can you believe the temperature?” "I’m roasting—it’s boiling today!”

It was 78 degrees—a nice moderate temperature by most standards.

Granted, the hot Wyoming sun raises the heat index anywhere between 5 to 15 degrees.

Then again, there is the never-ceasing Wyoming wind, which reverses that heat index, so that it actually feels like—75 degrees.

Factor in zero humidity, and I find it all so amusing.

I’ll take a “little breeze” over humidity any day of the week.

They really don’t know "hot" in these parts.

On another topic: I'm bummed.

Just finished watching the Suns lose to the Lakers in OT.

The Legal Dude thought it was over in the 3rd quarter, when the Suns were down by 18 points.

Geez—no faith, that dude.

Now we have to wait till game 6 on Saturday, to see how it all plays out.

Tomorrow it’s back to the Celtics and the Magic

Go Magic!

Turquoise and Fry Bread

The Legal Dude and I stopped in at the Powwow.

It was raining steadily and there were several other functions going on yesterday afternoon so attendance was small, which was disappointing.

I forgot my camera, which was a real bummer.

The dancers and their outfits were something I really wanted to get on camera.

There weren’t as many vendors as I had hoped, but I found a nice belt buckle, which the Legal Dude bought for me as an anniversary present.

We didn't haggle, which we probably should have. Oh well.

I've had my eye on a sweet pair of boots downtown that I thought I might "hint" about—but there is my birthday coming up in a few months...

In addition to the belt buckle, we bought mugs, ate an Indian Taco on fry bread and brought home a piece of plain fry bread for the teenager, who promptly poured honey on it and said, “mine!”


The fry bread is kind of like mom’s buñuelos—only thicker and just as unhealthy—and just as de-lish.

Idiosyncrasies…

I wrote about this high altitude phenomenon sometime back in February.



Last weekend we bought pre-made, packaged pasta at Whole Foods.

When we bagged and loaded them into the car in Ft Collins, elevation 5003 feet, they were flat.

They puffed up, however, by the time they reached our kitchen, in Laramie, at an elevation of 7,165 feet.



It ticks the Legal Dude, for some reason.

Little idiosyncrasies—we all have them.

Even the Legal Dude…

Phtt…

I heard from friends back in D.C., that today’s temps reached a high of 96 degrees.

Wow!

In April!

And not even mid- or late April, but April 6.

This morning’s temp---as reported on TWC---was 11 degrees, with the wind-chill.

There’s potential for snow this evening.

But wait!

Come July and August, humidity back in the “swamp,” or what we call the Nation’s Capital, will reach 100+ %, elevating temps to over 100 degrees, in the shade.

All that, while little ‘ole Laramie suffers under clear, sunlit skies and cool temps of 70 to 80 degrees.

Like my good friend Calvin---of Hobbes fame---I say, Phtt!

Too much…

A person can only take so much.

The Cowgirls played hard but lost to BYU this evening with a final score of 64 to 69.

The ladies were up and down this evening, but in the end, BYU out played the lady pokes.

I’m glad we went, though. A record 7,100+ tickets were sold for this evening’s game.

When we got home, I learned another of my final four picks, Syracuse, lost to Butler.

And now Kansas State, yet another final four picks, is struggling in double OT against Xavier.

At least Kentucky, my pick for the championship, seems to be beating Cornell.

Geese…

Spring break…

is over and boy, was it ever a lazy time.

I did get lots of reading done and the teenager and I stayed up way too late and watched tv, read or spent time on the computer.

We missed the Legal Dude, but it was a nice bonding time with the teenager, who was even lazier.

I did get my craft room cleaned, which took a day and then some, and then I got to craft, something I haven’t done since the holidays.

I made these…



I call them Frontier Lace and tomorrow I’ll take them to Ms. Etta’s, the shop that sells handcrafted items made by local Wyoming woman.



Tomorrow, it’s back to reality…

March Madness…

NCAA men's tournament

Washington Post

I love March and the NCAA Tournament.

I love seeing which of my picks keep going and going and going.

My big mistake, thus far, has been the Hoyas, but I wasn’t silly enough to have them going all the way.

I did, however, have them going two more rounds, losing to Kansas in the elite 8.

There's going to be a lot of boob tube watching the next few weeks.

My biggest kick, though, is kicking the Legal Dude's b-tt when it comes to picks.

Believe me, it's happened before, and not just once!

[He'll deny it though, of course.]

Huh?

Found this…



on our front lawn where this...


huge pile of snow has been for the past three months but after today, looks like this...


thanks to the near 60 temps we had today and all those weeks of me diligently chipping away at it every day.

I think I know what spent cartridges feel and look like, and this one is heavy and closed on both ends and feels like it still has ammo in it.

It has "Winchester" etched on the metal side.

I took a quick look-see on the Internet and I’m thinking, because it has a number "8" on it, that it either might be bird shot or for skeet shooting, which makes this very interesting…


lots of feathers and a carcass strewn across our front lawn. There was more of it yesterday, before the wind blew it away.

I initially thought one of the neighborhood foxes got to a bird, but now I’m re-thinking that.

Several sites on the Internet suggest calling the local police to dispose of ammo, advice I think I’ll follow.

High Altitude Adjustments…

I’ve made five cakes since moving from sea level (or “1” as elevation at the Potomac River is designated) to over 7,000 feet.

All five recipes were from the “Cake Doctor” cookbook, in which all of her recipes begin with a boxed cake mix as the base.

The first four cakes, which I’ve documented in previous posts, turned out beautifully, as did this recent coffee cake...



from Ina Garten’s Parties cookbook.

I made it for my new gal pals who stopped in for morning coffee last week.

I’ve yet to make a cake from scratch.

This week I’ll be making Passover rolls, from Matzo meal, and I have no idea how they will turn out.

I’ll be using my father-in-law’s recipe, which in some respects reminds me of Pâte à choux.

Also, at some point (and clearly after Passover), I’d like to try a yeast bread recipe, but I’ve heard tell that bread and rolls can be difficult at high altitudes.

Recently I saw these bags of “High Altitude” flour at the Safeway and not knowing better, thought…hmm.


[Walmart Website]

I have since found this comment on several of the high altitude baking sites…

“The name confuses everyone. Many people living in Gunnison, CO (where I assume the writer is from) at an altitude of 7,700 feet (2,346 meters) above sea level, think the flour is good to use at high altitudes. Actually, it's no better than any other flour at high altitudes.

The "Hungarian" part of the name comes from the process used to mill the flour, which was developed in Hungary in the 1800's. The process was brought to Colorado by J.K. Mullen in 1875 and is still used today. The flour is milled from hard wheat from Colorado, the Dakotas, and Montana, so the "high altitude" refers to where the grain is grown."

Oh well. Onward and forward in my reading about high altitude baking…

Remember this…

Last week I had some new friends come by for coffee and to visit.

One of my guests was distraught upon seeing the little headstones.

She thought we had lost some pets.

I had to explain that I haven’t been able to pull the Halloween stakes from the frozen ground.

At least I was able to wrestle the skull from the frozen earth.



I can chuckle about it now, but at the time she was truly concerned.