A Year of Change

I still remember 15 years ago today. I can see the planes crashing into the Twin Towers in New York clear as day. Although we’d experienced a few attacks prior to that day, 9/11 was really the beginning of the war against Christianity by Radical Islam. Hard to believe how now it’s a regular part of our daily lives, Islamic terrorism that is. I’m not going to go into it but they’re much more committed to their cause than we are to ours. Most people don’t even know we have a cause. Do you? Ask yourself, what’s our cause or to help you out, what’s your purpose in life? What do you believe in more than anything else? The majority of us wander around trying to please ourselves by buying things others don’t have.  It’s like a race or contest to see who can have the biggest house or fanciest car. Sadly many think their purpose is to accumulate as much stuff as they can and party as often as possible. People’s values and purposes have for the most part vanished from their way of life. Say what you will about the Islamic terrorists, but they are 100% committed to their cause. They eat, sleep and live it 24 hours a day. In case you don’t know, they hate us for our religion and our way of life. Until we embrace our values or find our identity (of which religion needs to be a central part of) and chose to defend our way of life, we don’t stand a chance. They’re even infiltrating our communities that we live in by imposing their laws, their churches, and their way of life, and thus changing America (through spineless misguided politicians here and abroad) to become a different Country. Not to get political but this is mostly led by Democrats who are being fooled by believing that muslims will eventually assimilate into our way of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. You see, they want to have their own schools, own churches, own communities and even their own system of laws here in America. While not all muslims are terrorists, fewer than 20% of them will denounce Radical Islam, hmmm. What does that tell you? We’d better wake up or we WILL lose the battle, and yes folks, it is a war. If you don’t see that, God help you, as I assure you, they see it as a war, and a long one at that, that they’re willing to take time to win. We worry for our kids and their future and what kind of World and Country they will live in. Enough said.

It’s cool up in the mountains in the mornings. In just the past week, the colors have drastically changed. At soccer yesterday morning we were all wearing coats for the first half until the sun warmed our backs then making it too hot to wear them in the second half. After the game, I loaded up Luke’s elk in the back of my truck and drove to Frisco to meet him as he drove up from Denver. Ty went to Sonny’s and was gone all day and spent the night. Jag was here and then around 8:30 last night went to his friends until who knows when as we were asleep when he came home. Ah to be young again, going out at 8:30!

We didn’t make it to the car show as the day just got away from us. Today I’m cooking beef bourguignon which is beef in red wine with glazed carrots, onions and mushrooms. You then serve it over rice after it cooks for about 10 hours. I’d better get busy so it’s done by 6pm.

Lori and Jag are both sleeping. I guess I’ll have a second cup of coffee and get moving. Hope all’s well, take care and God Bless and take a moment today to reflect and pray for the families that lost loved ones in the senseless tragedy 15 years ago this morning.

Here we go, soccer starts this morning. We need to leave in an hour for Ty’s 9am game.

Yesterday I drove to Craig to pick up two elk. I made it back just before noon and just managed to fit mine in our two freezers but did have to give some away to our neighbor. The other one, which is Luke’s, is in coolers in my garage and he’ll show up in about 3 hours to pick it up.

Lori had a couple of girls come over last night that she works with. Before anyone knew it, it was after 11pm and time to go home. They had fun hanging out talking about work.

After soccer we’re going down to the Eagle Airport where there’s a big car show as our friend Peggy from Aspen is in it. We also know another guy who has a car in it.

Time to run as we need to leave in 52 minutes. Have a great weekend and God Bless.

Just when no one thought we would win, we won! America’s Team, the Denver Bronco’s, with a QB that had never thrown a NFL pass, beat the favored and hated Carolina Panthers. It was just a good old knock down football game. We’re sure tired this morning though as it’s 4;54 am and I texted my brother Tom around midnight when I was finally was getting ready to go to bed.

This morning I’m off about 5:30, (better get moving!) to drive to Craig to pick up my elk. If I have it figured right, I should be home by 10:30 so I can still get in a full day of work.

Jag was sick yesterday but is better today. Ty has four tests today, uggh. I did meet Jag’s Art Teacher yesterday when picking up some homework and found out that Jag won the sketch contest at school a week ago! He was voted the best artist by all his classmates for his sketch. I wish you could see it as it’s really good. His Art Teacher said he’s really talented. When I came home with Ty I told Jag, “I have a bone to pick with you” and he looked at me puzzled” saying “what’s wrong”? I then replied “you won the school art contest and didn’t tell us”??, and he said, “oh, sorry, I thought I did”. I’ll try to post a picture over the weekend if it’s here at home and not still hanging at the school.

Time to run, it’s getting cool up here. Ty has soccer tomorrow morning and Lori and I both sure need a weekend. Take care, God Bless and Go Broncos!

Well I’m home, Lori just told me that she didn’t get a chance to do the blog today, being Wednesday. I’m writing most of this today but some also Thursday am. I can understand her missing a day or so as she’s been a busy busy girl.

It was a great 5 or 6 days. It was tough hunting as the rut (the mating season) was supposed to be in full swing, but really hadn’t hit yet. It all has to do with the lunar cycle and according to the stars, should have been going on. Until this happens, the bulls don’t really respond to calls which makes finding them really really tough.

Anyhow, we arrived last Friday around 1pm. After unloading our gear, we broke out our rifles to make sure they were still sighted in from the ride with a few practice shots. Sure enough, Luke and I, (and I’m not bragging here) are always the best shots in camp, as we’re good out to 400 yards or 4 football fields. However shooting off a rest in a field is a lot different than shooting in the mountains through trees, in low light, at a elk the size of a horse which is 4 football fields away. More on this later.

The other guys in camp were Dave and Chuck from Oklahoma, who were both my age, although they seemed a lot older. Then we had 3 guys from California who were mid to late 40’s who were in commercial real estate brokers in San Francisco. They too were regular guys who were super nice. Two of them were bow hunting for the first three days before switching to rifles.

Our camp cook, Connie, who’s all of about 4’10”, had dinner ready for us and the guides. Luke and I were the only guys who had been there before but when you’re out in the middle of the mountains with no phone service or internet, you all get to know each other pretty quickly. She likes us a lot and was glad to see us. Her husband died years ago and she really has no money. She cooks in hunting camps each Fall for the cash and tips which we always give her at the end of the week. She also sends me home every year with fresh cookies for the boys and gave us both a big hug.

Each morning, we’d get up at 4am which always came early, and after getting ready, we we’d be out the door by 5am. We’d then hunt until about 9 or a couple hours after daylight, and then head back for breakfast. Then we’d rest until 3 or 4pm when we’d have a snack, get ready and leave and hunt until the sun went down around 8pm. Once back in camp, dinner would be waiting for us. This scenario would be repeated every day for the entire 5 days meaning we’d hunt 10 times.

I was with my buddy Chuck who I met last year, who lives in Steamboat when not guiding, for the whole 5 days. Turns out his neighbor is a guy named Mike Hodder who I went to Junior High and High School with, small World. The last night (Tuesday) we took Shamus who is from Montrose, with us. Turns out, for me, it took me until Tuesday night to get my bull. We had one guy bag his on the second day, then a couple the next day and so on. If I didn’t get one that night, I could have, and would have, hunted again Wednesday morning and if necessary, again that night. (Wednesday if you’re reading this Thursday am) I must have walked 30 or more miles again during the 4 days, as we averaged about 6 to 8 miles a day. This doesn’t sound like a whole lot but over half of it is up hill! Chuck did step on a ground hornets nest about 3 days in and of course when they swarmed, they went right after me. I was bit on the left hand and left tricep. My hand still itches really bad and it’s been 3 days or more.

With my bull, we set out at 5pm, drove the pickup truck while towing the 4 wheeler on a trailer, about 20 minutes down the dirt road. I know this road really well as I’ve been up and down it for 2 years in a row now. When we got to where we were going to hunt (there’s 8 or so different named areas on the ranch) we unloaded the wheeler, jumped in and drove as far up in the mountains as we could before we started walking. The three of us jumped out around 5:20 pm and 60 minutes later had hiked and climbed about 3000 feet in elevation to an area called Sue’s pond. We then set up watching a couple of trails waiting for it to get darker. After 20 minutes, Shamus said “let’s go”. I didn’t know what he had in mind but he’s a pretty darn good hunter so off we went. After climbing another 1500 feet or so though some bogs and ferns (which are weird at 9000 feet high) we started moving slowly down towards a few ponds. Seconds later Shamus whispered “stop”! Somehow this kid who must be in his early 40’s, saw 2 bulls and 7 cows (females) about 500 yards down the hill behind some ferns. I set up and tried to find the bulls through my scope. I could barely see them with the naked eye and finally found them in my scope. The problem was the bull had his ass facing me as if to say, well, you know what. It would have been unethical to take that shot plus I would have ruined the meat had I hit him. I held steady waiting for the bull to turn but he wouldn’t. Finally he turned just his neck towards me looking over his shoulder. After focusing my eyes, I squeezed off a shot. “Bam” went my 6.5 Creedmoor hunting rifle. Shamus quickly said, “your high” meaning my shot went over the top of him. I lined up and took another shot and thought I hit him but he didn’t flinch. Now sometimes these big animals don’t flinch and even run off after being hit. 10 seconds later, the second bull who was spooked, turned to run off. Then my bull and the cows, sensing something was up, followed. I didn’t want to take another shot for fear of wounding him and having him run off where I wouldn’t find him, so I let him go.

With 30 minutes of daylight left, we beat it down the hill to look for blood. It was so boggy and full of vegetation, it was hard to see, but we finally concluded I didn’t hit him. (Although I still think I did) So now I was bummed thinking I blew it. It would have been a really incredible long shot as it was through trees and downhill and a long ways away, but I’ve made shots like that before.

Shamus, telling I was bummed, said “shake it off and let’s go, we still have 30 minutes of light”. We soon found another trail and picked it up heading down towards what we call 3 Ponds. You see at night, the elk come out to feed, after being bed down all day, and always look for water. As we eased down the trail, the light was fading fast. Around a bend, we spotted a cow and a calf in a meadow, but no bull. We waited for a minute or so as the bulls usually follow the cows and calves but no one else came out of the woods. We then heard a bugle which is a bull calling cows. We all looked at each other and Shamus said, “he’s at 3 Ponds”. I looked at my watch and knew the sun would set in 7 minutes and I’d be out of shooting light. We literally ran down the trail being as quiet as possible. As we got close, Shamus laid down on his stomach to look through his binoculars and said “there he is”. I looked with my eyes AND through my rifle scope, and could not see him! After he said “look through those crooked Aspens over that dead tree” I somehow spotted him. This was no easy feat and frankly involved a lot of luck as there were 100,000 crooked Aspens and even more dead trees in the forest.

I couldn’t see his rack (antlers) but Shamus could and assured me that this was the bull we had heard. So, trusting his eyes, I lined up my rifle on his chest, with the sun now set and darkness seconds away, and gently squeezed the trigger sending a shot 200 yards or so down range through the trees, into his left shoulder. He instantly went down. Just to make sure he was not suffering, I lined up another shot and sent that down range too, even though we’d later discover he was done on the first shot. Now, for those of you that don’t like hunting, rest assured, I would never take a unethical shot at an animal (chancing wounding him and having him run off), or let him suffer. To me, and all hunters, they are a sacred gift, that is hard earned, and they need to be treated as such. I also don’t hunt for any animal. elk or pheasant or whatever, that I don’t eat. I’m not into the trophy hunting thing meaning killing just to kill.

45 minutes later we were on our way out of the mountains with my bull and would be back at the cabin by a bit after 10pm. Turns out Jim from California had also bagged his bull in another area the same night. In the end, as of Wednesday morning when we left, everyone but one guy, had success.

We found out, Dave from Oklahoma was headed to Montrose to hunt deer and Chuck, his best friend, had no way home. To save Dave a trip to the airport in Denver, I said he should ride with Luke and I to Vail and then Luke agreed to take him to the airport in Denver for his 5:30 pm flight home. Luke decided to take him the the Buckhorn Exchange for lunch as it’s a neat place. You see, after 5 days hunting with guys, you share a sort of a bond. We always went there with my Dad for dinner as a kid. I told my Mom we’d have to get back down there one of these days.

In the end, it was a great time, one I look forward to every year. I have to publically thank my lovely bride as she let’s me go which always means a ton of extra work for her. There’s something to be said though for a bunch of guys in a hunting camp in the Fall. It’s just one of those primeval things all men should do. So until next year (or maybe November for a quick deer hunt to the ranch) that’s all for hunting. Bird season, (pheasant, quail and chukar) starts September 15th! Hope everyone is well, take care, God Bless and Go Broncos as we’ll be at the game tonight meaning Thursday (depending on when you’re reading this)!

The day got away from me…I dropped the boys at school and worked until 5:30 when I picked the boys up.

I have 3 more patients to schedule and Ty wants to watch a movie.

I’ll  fill you all in on today’s happenings in the morning.

love to all!

Millions of Americans will be celebrating Labor Day today a day that marks the unofficial end of summer. It’s celebrated with parades, parties and – of course – barbecues. By the looks of the flora and fauna from the clear vantage point of our deck, I would dare to state it is most definitely the end of summer for the mountains.

Outside the window the foliage is shades of green and gold bursting with pops of orange and red. The colors are rapidly changing daily much to my chagrin. I was hoping for an Indian Summer, however at this rate we may .have snow in September.

Yesterday, I was a taxi for most of the after noon. I took Mojo for two really long hikes, cleaned bathrooms and put away laundry in between my trips to Vail to drop off or pick up kiddos.

Ty and Sonny went in to walk around Vail and enjoy the festivities. They bought a rubber duck for the annual duck races and wandered amongst 5,000 of their closest friends. The Rotary Duck Race has become hugely popular. On race day, up to 16,000 yellow rubber ducks are dumped into Gore Creek near the Covered Bridge and “race” down the river to the finish line underneath the International Bridge. Prizes are given to those holding the adoption papers for the winning racers. This event raises over $50,000 for the club.

Jagger called for me to pick him up and I left my cell phone at home, so I missed his text that said, “Never mind”. I called him from the car phone and he told me he had left voicemail, and texted me not to come to pick him up. Of course I let him stay in town…that round trip drive I neither picked up nor dropped off any cargo.

Fortunately, when Jagger called again for me to pick him up Ty called to have me pick him up as well. I felt like I hit the lottery! We stopped for milk and deodorant and then home for the night where Jagger played online with his friend Harmond and Ty, Mojo and I watched a movie and fell asleep.

Jagger has homework to finish today and Ty has reading to complete. The boys don’t want to BB-Q, as they would prefer to enjoy Odon from their favorite noodle place. That may be a better option for me because I really do not feel like cooking.

Tomorrow will be a challenge, as Doug is still hunting, the boys are finished at 4 and I have clinic until 6. Maybe they can stay at school and finish homework.

Ty just requested his Taxi service, so I am off to drop him in town.  Happy Labor Day and GB.

First, let me apologize to our faithful readers. It slipped my mind that I was supposed to write the blog while Doug is out playing hunter-gatherer with his buddy. Thank you to Uncle Tom for the reminder.

Friday, I was an hour late picking the boys up from soccer and they were none too happy about it. Ty was still pouting because I would not drive him down to Vinny’s Friday-Monday…maybe he’ll understand once he himself drives in Labor Day weekend traffic.

Jagger was trying to explain the perils of driving round trip in traffic two times in four days, and that I would spend about 4 hours each way if I were lucky. A grand total of 16 hours driving on one of the most dangerous driving weekends of the year.  Thankfully, Ty shook off his attitude an hour after we were home.

Yesterday, Jagger went to Zach’s and Ty had Sonny come over. Jagger, Zach, Ethan, Matt, Lexi and Marcella hung out in Vail and then the boys went to Matt’s to stay all night. Ty had Sonny sleep over and they played, and played and finally crashed on the couch.

This morning the sleepover crew woke up at 10:20 and the crew at Matt’s woke up at 10:40, according to Matt’s mom, Alison. Alison just dropped all the boys at Ford Park to play basketball. My guess is the girls will be joining them soon. You see, they group text their location, as well as their plans and then they all join up to hang out.

Fortunately, this seems to be a pretty good group of kiddos. Some are US Ski Team bound…others are in competitive soccer, basketball and cross country. They all seem to strive for good grades and they talk about what Colleges they may want to attend. Jagger explained to me the other day that if he races on the C.C. team he can “Letter” on the Varsity team as a freshman and that will look really good on his college applications.  I really love it that he is thinking this far ahead!

Ty and sonny finished breakfast and now they are lounging on the couch. I’ll round them up and take them to Vail in a little while, as the Jazz festival, Duck races and Farmers Market are all happening today.

Mojo slept on Doug’s side of the bed Friday and Saturday night, but don’t tell the Mister. Mojo and I hiked up the mountain yesterday and his morning. He is doing so well with his training that it is actually a pleasure to walk with him.

I spoke with Doug yesterday and he saw a big Buck, but the hunted out tracked he hunters. This is sad for Doug…but all good with me.

I’m off to take the boys to town. I’ll remember that I have Blog duty this week.

Love to all and GB.

It rained most of the night and is still coming down although not that hard. In about 5 hours Luke and I will head out for our hunting camp at Pyramid Peak. It’s supposed to clear up but it doesn’t really matter except I do like to check my rifle when I get to camp to make sure my zero hasn’t shifted.

Yesterday after school we headed straight to the 4 Seasons to get Jag a haircut as that’s where our friend works. Ty and I sat upstairs in the bar eating wings and pizza and drinking root beer floats waiting for him. Lori showed up eventually around 6pm and we all snacked a bit before heading home.

The three day weekend is much needed around here. A year ago when the hunting trip was booked, I had no idea it would be Labor Day. In any case, I don’t really get to pick as much as say yes or no to the week as the State sets the hunting dates. It’s also good as I miss less work, but it’d be nice to hang out with the family too. Maybe I’ll get lucky and be home by Sunday! You never know.

I have a lot to do and a lot to pack so I’d better get moving. They say the rain will stop soon which would be nice. Have a great weekend, take some time to reflect on how blessed you are and do something nice for someone else. Remember, character is how you treat people who can do nothing for you! God Bless.

Hard to believe it’s September 1st. 2/3rd’s of the year is behind us with only 4 months or about 120 days to go until 2017. Over the next 4 months we have Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, no less than 4 birthdays (in our family) plus a whole bunch of school events, lots of sporting events, hunting a few times, taxes due (October 15th) and snow to deal with. Throw in the election, a bunch of work, 8 football games and some unknown things that will pop up, as they always do, and it’ll be a pretty busy 120 days. Kind of overwhelming if you think about it. All you can do is take it one day at a time.

So today I have a list of things to do before leaving tomorrow. It’s a combination of work and household chores from going to the bank to getting the kids haircuts. Lori was home late again. I was actually at the hospital for over 2 hours yesterday myself as I have a small lump on my left thumb and we couldn’t figure out what it was. After some free x-rays, I hung out until Dr. Viola (the hand specialist) was out of surgery, to have him take a look at it. Turns out it’s just a ganglion cyst which is just fluid that was pushed out of a joint from working out. I’ve had them on my foot before and had them drained but never on my thumb. He said we can leave it alone if it doesn’t bother me or have it cut out at the base. Surgery is free (one of our perks with Lori working at the clinic) but we’d have to pay for the anesthesiologist and the surgery center so looks like I’ll live with it. You can’t really even see it and it doesn’t bother me that much so as long as it’s nothing that’ll hurt me, no big. Good though that I had it checked out.

It’s 5:43 and everyone is still sleeping. Mojo had breakfast and is now taking his morning siesta as well. I need to be in Eagle by 8:30 so Lori will have to drop the boys this morning. That’s about it, have a great day and welcome to September, stay safe and God Bless.

Watching the news, I guess there was a lot of rain down in the city. They’re showing flooding on some streets and hail in other parts of the front range on the tv. Up here we had a few sprinkles but that was it. It looks fine for hunting according to weather.com which is usually pretty reliable.

What’s worse is seeing all the crime on the news. Kidnappings, home invasions, robberies, murders, man, what a mess. People are desperate. More and more of them have run out of options and when you have no money, no job, and basically no hope in life, people tend to do things they normally wouldn’t do. But wait, the Pres says everything is great! Maybe it’s a little less common up here due to less people and the fact that most people have some sort of job. Also lots of people up here, as in most rural communities, are armed, and people know it.

Anyhow I was down and up the hill in a matter of a few hours. I had a meeting in Frisco so I didn’t get a chance to see my Mom as my morning meeting ran about 30 minutes late in Denver. Lots going on at work, which there always is as we get closer to the end of the year. We can see where we’ll end up financially and usually (this year’s no different) have to make a few changes to make sure we end up where we planned on ending up. This morning at 8am PST I have a Senior Management call to review YTD progress and the remainder of the year.

Meanwhile Lori strolled in about 8pm. Jag is doing really well at cross country. He’s really fast and the kid has the stamina of a gazelle. They ran sprints up the mountain yesterday and he was of course, leading the pack. Also by the way, up here when we say “mountain”, it’s really a mountain! Ty had soccer and although we haven’t had a game yet, is playing quite well.

I did manage to get the kitchen and living room cleaned up a bit. Laundry is always a constant battle with some needing to be done every single day. I don’t know how 50 or 100 years ago people would have clean clothes. I guess they wouldn’t! Times sure are different. Lots of people say get ready for a simpler life once again as things are going to eventually change, due to one thing or another. Who knows.

Guess I’ll run, hope all’s well, GB