At Home in Wyoming

Swan Song

 
This is the robin that took over my front porch last year...sitting on her nest.  The nest is still there, I wonder if she will come back?

This, folks, is my swan song.  I decided to end this blog.  I have been working on a book about the the woman described in Proverbs 31, and my old pea brain cannot handle doing both.

Yep, I am easily overwhelmed!

Thanks for putting up with me, and tuning in over the past few years.  You can drop me a line anytime you want at athomeinwyoming@hotmail.com, I'm not going anywhere.

 I have email addresses of all of you that have commented on the blog over the years, so will drop you a line if I start a new blog next year.

Don't be strangers!      DLB

 

 

Thinking It Through

If you are from Cody, then this will be as familiar to you as Rattlesnake Mountain.  If you are not from Cody, the best way I can think to explain Wolfville Hall to you is that a good time will be held by all, but they probably won't remember it!  Happy Birthday Buffalo Bill!

We have had exciting weather the last few days in the Cody country.  Last night the wind blew...sustained wind, not gusts...54 miles an hour.  We had gusts over 60 mph.  

The wind brought the snow with it...and we had a good old fashioned blizzard.

Today the power went out in Cody, and I heard it also went out in Powell and Ralston.  A downed power line south of town.  Since I am on a different substation, my power was back on in a few hours.

Others are still waiting.

Because the weather has become more and more extreme, power outages will probably become more and more frequent.  Which got me to thinking....how am I set for emergencies.

How are you set?

How would you cook, heat your house, light your way without electricity?  Do you at least have matches?

Since I had nothing else to do without electricity, I made a list of what we would need...and I was shocked to see what I didn't have.  

I am going to get cracking on my list...because the time to start thinking this through is NOT when you are smack dab in the middle of an emergency.

How are you set for trouble?                  DLB 

 

What Have You Done For Him Lately?

Traffic control sign between Cody and Meeteetse.  I would have loved to have seen a herd of elk, but spied nary a one when I went past.  I heard over the weekend that a lot of moose near Jackson are getting hit by cars...so we had all better just slow it down a little.

I was reading a devotional the other day by Oswald Chambers...and something that he said stuck with me and I have been turning it over in my mind.  I'll share it with you...

 

"We look for visions from heaven, for earthquakes and thunders of God's power,...and we never dream that all the time God is in the commonplace things and people around us.  If we will do the duty that lies nearest, we shall see Him.  One of the most amazing revelations of God comes when we learn that is in the commonplace things that the Deity of Jesus Christ is realized." (Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest").

 

We may not all be called to be a missionary in a foreign country, or in high visability Christian service.  BUT we are all called to do the commonplace, seemingly insignificant duty that lies nearest...visiting a shut-in, pouring a cup of coffee for someone, taking time to write a letter of encouragement or preparing a meal for someone under a lot of stress.  You know, commonplace things.

But are they really so commonplace?  Jesus said...

 

"For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." (Mark 9:40-42).

 

Just think, Jesus will honor the tiniest thing we do for Him. 

So I ask you, as I have been asking myself...

What commonplace thing have we done for Him lately?  DLB

 

What I Did This Sunday Afternoon

I cannot for the life of me think of anything to blog about today...but I promised I would, so I will simply tell you what I did this afternoon.  We drove the 20 some odd miles over to Meeteetse, to grab a bite to eat at the local bar and grill.  (This is the Main Street of Meeteese...blink and you miss it!).

I love small town bars.  You are not there 15 minutes before you hear what is the lifeblood of tiny towns...the NEWS!

I heard who won the pool tournament, who got foreclosed on, whose bread pudding sucked, and why.  I heard who made great chocolate chip cookies, that it was snowing in Thermopolis, and how the ice fishing derby was going (nothing was biting today). 

I heard that the homemade pizza I was eating had a crust so secret, that even the bar owner's daughter didn't know what was in it.  (She should find out...it was awesome).

Here is a picture of the bar, I think it might be cherrywood.

I think there is some history behind it, but I forgot what it was.  I do know that Butch Cassidy was arrested right outside the bar.

When we were done we walked across the street and bought a chocolate from the cowboy chocolatier (look up Meeteetse Chocolatier on the internet for some interesting reading)...and drove home listening to an old time country music radio station that I found. 

And that, folks, is what I did this sleepy Sunday afternoon!  DLB

 

 

 

 

 

Off White

I do apologize...I have had the winter doldrums and I haven't been blogging. 

I've been reading....riding along with my husband to feed the horses (this is Sunny, who is not a big fan of winter either) and giving in to the wild hair that I had to paint all the furniture upstairs off white. 

Don't ask me why.  Ok, I'll tell you.  It has something to do with winter doldrums.  I want everything inside to be light and cheerful.

Here is the newly painted furniture in the computer room.

The fireplace doesn't work.  I bought it from JC Penneys years ago because I like fireplaces.

I keep my computer hidden in this cabinet.

Don't you think that the white furniture looks more cheerful?

Regardless, I have decided to pull myself out of my winter doldrums, and will start blogging again two or three times a week. 

I am going to make myself walk to the little bakery on Wyoming Avenue everyday to drink coffee and hear the news...no matter how cold it is outside.

I am going to cook something new out of the Pioneer Woman cookbook every week.

I am going to plan my garden.

I am going to do everything I can to keep from painting the whole house off white to survive winter.

Because after all, March is just around the corner!    DLB

 

Taking Back Christmas

Not all Christmas trees have to be green!  Sometimes in December I spray paint bush or tree branches white, and hang some dollar store snowflakes on them.  The best part about snowflake trees is that they don't have to disappear once Christmas is over...they can stay up through January, which is good because the house looks so drab without all the Christmas lights and decorations.

I attend a church that is called a Bible church...basically the doctrine is Baptist.  BUT I was raised a Methodist, and still somewhat follow the Protestant liturgical calendar as a way to order my days and as a tool in my Christian walk.

(You can take the woman out of the Methodist church, but not the Methodist methods out of the woman).

I have been thinking a lot about the 12 days of Christmas, which starts on Christmas Day and ends on Epiphany ( the celebration of the gift of the Magi...or the Three Wise Men) on January 6th.  It seems a bigger deal in the European cultures and the Catholic church, but not so much the Protestant western churches.

Why?  Because our church calendar morphed into the commercial calendar...that says once the Christmas shopping season is over, Christmas is over.

So what's up with that?

During the advent, we prepare our hearts and home for Christmas.  We spend a lot of time getting ready.  But when Christmas Day arrives, it is over so quickly...you are left feeling a little exhausted and a little deflated...which is exactly what rampant and unchecked commercialism will do to you. 

So this year I observed the full 12 days of Christmas.  I took the tree down, but left everything else up.  I still listened to Christmas carols, read Christmas readings (both spiritual and secular) and really pondered what the birth of that child in the manger means to my life, today. 

And for the first time, I felt that I fully experienced Christmas.

Whether you follow the Protestant liturgical calendar or not, consider separating the commercial from the observation of Christmas.  I have tried doing that before Christmas...and in our culture with our traditions it is dang near impossible. 

But if you take the time to fully observe the 12 days of Christmas, STARTING with Christmas day, you will find that the commercial fades away, and the joy will kick in. 

And that, folks, is how you take back Christmas!

 

 

I Report, You Decide

This is the dance floor at Cassie's...a steakhouse, restaurant, bar and dance hall in Cody.  It used to be a whorehouse, and Cassie was the madam of the brothel.

I had an elderly woman (and by elderly I mean near 100...and that was over 20 years ago) tell me that the worst thing that ever happened to the town of Cody was when they closed the whorehouse.  She said that it gave the men something to do!

I just report, you decide!   

But I do know this...the best steaks in town can be had at Cassie's...DLB

356 And Counting...

A western Christmas tree, made out of sagebrush.  Kinda pretty, isn't it?  Just the thing to grace one of the cabins at Old Trail Town...

Have you bought your datebook for 2012 yet?  If you are super organized, you probably bought it in November...and because you are so organized this post will be useless to you.

BUT...if you are poorly organized, absent minded or just plain a mess, you were probably standing in line at Walmart buying one today.  Like me!  If that is the case, I am going to give you some advice that will have you loving me next December.

Flip to December 2012, and jot down what worked and didn't work for you over the holidays, before you forget.  For instance, my sister found that going through her spice cabinets and pantry in November saved her time...she was able to stock up on her holiday baking needs before the rush, and didn't waste time running back and forth to the store. 

BUT her boys gobbled up all her cut out cookies before Christmas (as teenage boys are prone to do), and she ran out of cookies Christmas Eve. She ended up missing Christmas Eve service to roll dough, because Christmas wouldn't have been Christmas without the cut out cookies for one of her sons.  

NOW we now why our mother baked her cookies in quanity in November, and bedded them down in the deep freeze.  Next year she is going to try that...and join a Christmas Club at the bank.

OK, now you get the picture.  What worked, what didn't...and what you will change next year.

While you are at it...what were you out of that you need to buy next year?  Did some of your Christmas lights burn out?  Did you deplete your wrapping paper stash, or need more hooks to hang bulbs?  Whatever it is, jot it down. 

As you are out and about this month, you will find that stuff for 75% off...I know it is hard to have the stomach to buy more red wreath ribbons in January, but come December 2012 you will be happy that you did.

So that's it, that's my advice.  Take it or leave it, but remember...

It is just 356 days till Christmas!

 

 

New Years Eve Snow

At daybreak this morning the bedroom seemed unusually light, so I peeked out this window to see 4 inches of new fallen snow.  Dang!  I was getting used to the 50 degree temperatures.

Yes, I have a Christmas tree next to my bed.  Don't ask me to explain it.

Well, I can explain it actually...I am addicted to Christmas lights!

Here is another glimpse of the snow...

I like to listen to the cars go by in the snow.  It reminds me of spending the night at my grandmother's house...my father's mother.  The guest room that my sister and I stayed in faced the road, which was quite busy.  At Christmas most of the cars had chains on the tires.  I loved the musical sounds of the chains on the road.

Whatever happened to chains, anyway?  Are tires that much better now?

Anyway, it is funny the power that sounds, smell and taste have to pull back old memories. 

Wherever you are tonight, and whatever your weather, I wish you a safe and Happy New Year!

A Creepy Blast From The Past

Every time I go to Old Trail Town, I always look for the 'hearse wagon'.  It is just so deliciously creepy and Victorian looking.  I always try to peek inside but I can't see anything...

Anyway, I thought you might like to see what a hearse looked like out west...before the big, fat black cadillac hearses came alone.

Next time I promise a more cheerful photograph!   DLB

Score At The Junk Store

Major score at the junk shop last week...these cute little holly dessert plates and cups...all for the bargain basement price of 4 bucks. 

This photograph is so dark that you can't see the little holly berries, so I am going to try to lighten it up for you.

There, now you can see the little holly berries on the cup and plate.

Sweet, aren't they?   DLB