Fireworks? We don't need no stinkin' fireworks...

...I'll be the entertainment this 4th of July.


Here's something I'm expecting to see any time now:  I'll be walking around outside and just explode...BOOM!!...like a kernel of corn explodes suddenly to make popcorn.  I wonder at what temperature that might happen?  We're probably pretty close right now.


Seems momentum is building to cancel several large fireworks shows around here due to the drought and extreme fire danger.  Most of Texas' 254 counties have fireworks bans already in place, with exceptions for controlled municipal shows.   Now those are in jeopardy, too.


I was offered tickets to a Sunday baseball game with fireworks afterwards, but turned them down because of the heat.  I love fireworks, but I hate to sweat.  In this case fireworks lost.


I really need a summer home elsewhere.  Maybe back in Colorado, or Chile.  I've seen pics of Chile in July.  It looks refreshing.


Stay cool...


S

Colorado High

We're back from Colorado, and I still can't wipe this silly grin off my face.  It was SO cool, both literally and figuratively.  We flew from Dallas to Aspen via Denver with no hitches (United), arriving there about 1 pm.  Since our hotel check-in wasn't until 4, we decided to make the drive to Independence Pass, along the way passing snowdrifts on the side of the road still 12' high:

There was a photo spot a few hundred yards from the parking lot and I made a beeline for it....and discovered the thin mountain air.  Within 50 yards I began to feel dizzy, and recognizing what it was, stopped in my tracks and regained my balance, then slowed my pace.  I (K too) had a mild headache the rest of the day, but after that we were sufficiently acclimated.  Isn't this view breathtaking?....

All along the drive up we kept passing snow runoff headed towards the Roaring Fork River:

We eventually found a turnoff where we could check out a small tributary up close and personal.  That's where K dipped her foot in the river and pronounced it freezing cold.  Umm....Lover....it's snowmelt!  This was of interest to us as 2 days later we had reservations on a whitewater rafting trip down the Upper Roaring Fork.

Yes Sweetie, you...in there!

Later that day we checked in to our room at the Viceroy at Snowmass (more on that in another post), then went out for a nice meal and at 9 pm, a walking Ghost Tour of Aspen.  It was fun, and the only time all weekend that we had to wear our jackets.  The rest of the time it was cool, but sunny and calm.  (Pixel Peeper...nightimes, low 50's; daytime, upper 70's.)

The next day we drove to Aspen Highlands, then took the shuttle to Maroon Bells, probably the single most-photographed mountain(s) in all of Colorado:

We hiked around the lake towards the mountain, seeing deer and a beaver dam along the way, finally turning back as the last bus of the day left at 5 pm and we didn't dare miss it.

That's enough for now.  I'll share more later.  :)

S

Countin' down the days....

....until vacation.  What it lacks in quantity (4 days, just 3 nights) it more than makes up for in quality (Colorado).  I am SO ready for some cooler weather, even if it's just for a few days.


Today I went with K to her yearly oncology follow-up exam, which turned out to be an all-day affair.  She received an "all clear" which I know is a load off her mind, so now we (she) can go on vacation without any worries.


K is washing our travel clothes tonight and I'm...umm...letting her.  :)


Camera batteries are charged, loose ends at work have been tended to, and the dog sitter is standing by.  Get a few bucks tomorrow from "the machine what spits out the cash", and I'm outta here.


Later everyone.  


S

Colorado bound

I'm sitting here at the computer this morning eating my breakfast (a croissant, 2 small link sausages, and a glass of grape juice) just giddy with excitement and anticipation.  Last night in a totally spontaneous move K and I booked our reservations for a long weekend (next week) in Aspen.  WooHoo!!


Now is a good time for us to sneak away for a short refresher.  The parts that I'm responsible for (structural) on the 2 homes we have under construction right now are wrapping up.  My brother will soon be taking the lead with our customers in choosing paint colors, tile, countertops, etc, and I can coast for a while. And K is setting the world on fire at her new position, even being called out by the boss at a meeting earlier this week, but at a price.  She's tired.


Isn't this exactly why God made mountains, and Colorado?  Two facts are stuck in my mind:  At 6 AM this morning it was 41 degrees in Aspen, with a high expected to be 73 later on.  Sweeeeeeet!  I know this won't impress you "the hotter the better" types, but to this Texas boy "hotter" is not "better".  Maybe this will get me through until autumn.


We have reservations on a puddle-jumper jet to Aspen, a room at a swanky hotel/resort/spa, and even a tiny tin-can rent car.  Now I just have to get through one more sweltering week in Dallas.  *I can do this...I can do this...*


S

I'm 1 in 300,000,000

I think I'm the only person in America, maybe the entire free world, who doesn't love summer.  Right now everyone is just giddy that warm weather has arrived.  Fijufic wrote an entire post about it yesterday.  Not me.  I absolutely HATE walking out the door in the morning, for I know summer will be staring me in the face.  I live for autumn.....cool, dry, and coincidentally, it's football season, too. :)


"Sticky" is one of those touch sensations that drives me nuts.  Is there a name for "sticky phobia"?  If there is then I'm their poster child.  When I eat something sticky I save it for last, eat it, then go wash up.  A simple wipe on a napkin won't work.  


Except for west Texas, this is a humid, sticky state.  That could be our state motto:  "Welcome to Texas, the humid, sticky state."  


I feel so good after I shower, shave, and dress for the day.  Then I open the door and walk out, and before I can get to my car I'm sticky.  I feel like I just jumped into a huge vat of sticky.  I crank up the car A/C as high as it will go and about the time I get to work, I'm fairly comfortable again.  Then I step out of my car and it's sticky time all over again.  Some days, like yesterday and today, I have to spend the majority of my time outdoors.  Homes under construction need supervision, and that's me.  Sure, there are a few good things about summer, like swimming, but I don't swim nearly enough to offset the misery of my daily sticky dip.


For me, summer is a season to be endured, not enjoyed.  I need to find me somewhere to live that's not sticky, someplace high and dry like Colorado.  I'm just sayin'.


S