Teaching

Big smart class learning to install car seats!  It’s been a great week!

A Happy Birthday Family Celebration

Around the table Mike made, we eat and laugh, remember and look ahead under a ceiling that has seen so many Kinzer family meals. What a night to remember!!

Gifts are Not Always Wrapped

Filling up my Starbuck coffee mug - I bought myself the coffee mug that you can fill up for free every day of January - the man behind the counter called me by name.  Now I realize this is kind of a Starbucks thing, but not at this Starbucks.  No one ever remembers names.  They rarely see the same person ever again.  We are, after all, a tourist town.  So I asked him how he knows me (no longer shy am I to admit I have no clue who is talking to me!) and I hear his story.

It is a long life-story.  The essence of which includes a wife and kids, a job with real estate that had no benefits, and two bouts with cancer, one took his kidney.  He told me you can work 20 hours at Starbucks and get full medical, dental, and vision insurance.  Wow.  When I commented that perhaps this was something I should consider, he quickly and firmly stated, "No! You love your job!"

And that was my gift from Jonathon.  A random reminder of how wonderful it is to have a position of power, an opportunity to lead staff members to find their heart-singing skills, to have wondrous flexibility, to command an emergency incident, to know how to reduce risk in this wonderful community, to prevent bad things every day that no one realizes or recognizes.  That's the thing about prevention - if you are looking for a Hero Badge, it ain't comin'!!  But still, the rewards are fulfilling!

So, there are many presents to be opened.  Daily.  They don't come wrapped often, but you might have to look harder than during the holidays.

Which brings up my number one favorite-blog-follower celebrates his birthday tomorrow!  Happy Birthday, Dear Dad!!  May your gifts be abundant!!

The Easy Part, Finished

Mike and I thought the hard part of "building" a barn quilt would be the layout and painting.  As we ponder next steps, clearly, it will be the hanging of the barn quilt which will present the biggest challenges. 

Where to hang it?  It must be visible from the road.  How to hang it?  That means it must hang on the shed.  Which side?  And how it the world does one mount a 200 pound "sign" on the side of a metal shed?  One can imagine the discussions between the quilt-builder and the quilt-hanger....."I don't want any screws going through my quilt!"  "How is it going to hang up there then?" And on an on.....

There will be a green 2"x4" frame mounted vertically on the side of the 8' x 8' barn quilt when it is completed.  Next step, prime and paint edging. 

Happy New Year 2020!

Ah, the page turns to a new year and those of us old enough to ponder, remember thinking years ago that 2020 seemed like a date out of a science fiction movie.  And here we are.  The world has not come to an end - as many of those before us feared.  Many still do, of course.  I have come to realize this may have much more to do with age than it does with party-affiliation.....

Anyway, we are now into a new decade and if you turn off the television and radio, step away from your electronics and breath a bit, you can feel some peace and calm.  Because when one drills right down to the problem of fears of world destruction, it is us!  We fret and fear and create the angst that drives us to lay awake in bed at night, surrounded by blackness and the fear we have brewed up in our minds.  It is so easy to do. 

Make a New Years Resolution to work on those changes you can change.  Can you change what is happening in Washington DC?  Most likely not.  Can you change something in your community.  You bet!  These little organic home-town changes are the ones that matter.  I would offer up that we fret and focus on national-level changes because we don't have the time or commitment to make local change.  Here are just a few ideas: quit using plastic grocery bags, recycle often, give blood, donate an organ (Mom donated her kidney at 69!), find an old single person and offer to help them, cook a meal for a family, drive less and walk more - look for change at a local level.  You can make a difference!!

This is the monthly report I created to share with our organization on what we are doing in the Prevention Bureau.  You might enjoy clicking through the pages Click Here to see Prevention Report

The barn quilt is one coat of paint away from completion.  In this picture, you will see the two 4'x8' boards, opposing each other.  They will be reversed when finished to connect together and become one, giant 8 foot by 8 foot sunflower.  The quilt block is pictured below from the quilt Mom made for me in 1998.  What a fun winter project this has been!  Should I add the stars in the bright yellow petals?  Looking for your vote!

Work

Mike and I jumped right back to work after our really really great Christmas time off.  Christmas Eve was spent in Freedom with old friends eating Jack Knife Beef and a myriad of delicious appetizers.  I tried this out in my Insta Pot Artichoke Dip and was very pleased.   There was also a blue ribbon sour cherry pie to finish off the feast!

Christmas brunch with Todd and Janet, a bottle of wine at (gasp) 1 in the afternoon and a vigorous game of Pitch.  Mike and Janet won, dang it!! 

Christmas Dinner at Spotted Horse where we all have celebrated together for 18 years now (we were absent last year, in the Adirondacks with the Trumbowers).  Mike perfectly fried an amazing turkey (best one yet!), we sliced up the delicious smoke turkey sent every year from the Beckers, a cranberry sour cream salad was enjoyed as well as a hot loaf of rosemary sourdough bread.  Plus what everyone else brought!!  Janet gave us a tray of her amazing homemade cannolis which were half gone by dinner time!! 

Back to eating salads.  Please, please!

Off to Freedom for the weekend.  Cutter Races on Saturday.  Painting the barn quilt.  Entertaining our neighbors on Saturday.

Here is the lemon tart for Saturday dinner.  Dust with powdered sugar, top with whip cream swirls. Want the recipe?  It's kind of fun to make!  Lemon Tart Recipe

Happy New Year Everyone!! 

Holiday Greeting

Our Holiday Greeting to You!

Ten Below Zero

There are very few reasons why one would walk outside naked when it is ten below zero, but Mike and I both did just that this morning.  Thank goodness our hot tub is just out the door!!  Slipping into the 104 degree water, a ring around the moon, and steam freezing to our hair, it was truly delightful!  I love our hot tubs (yes, we have one in Freedom too). 

Today's news below, hot off the press.  This is our town.  It is an amazing and very expensive place to live.  I have been working on 16 radios for our volunteers in Wilson.  Their association bought these radios with fund-raising money; ie, no county tax dollars were spent!  Total bill - $33K.  A local donor has indicated they would like to purchase a wildland fire truck for our organization as a donation.  They are willing to donate $400K for this vehicle.  Another family wants to say thanks and may put up $250K for a new handheld radio for every firefighter.  This is an amazing, generous community.  We have our fingers crossed that these donations will come to fruition.

And this week's awesome story from Prevention - we are delighted Chief Hansen jumped on board for this wonderful award!!

Goodbye Cosmo....

I remember the day at the sale.  A tall, lean cowboy was riding around a tall, lean appaloosa mule.  This mule had a head so ugly, he was handsome!  The auction time came round, and the mule was priced right.  Cosmo joined our herd.

A summer pack trip, not long after Mike added Cosmo to our herd, Ruby - young and willing - was invited to jump up on the saddle and join Mike atop Cosmo.  Now this is not something one does without potential consequences, but Cosmo stood there as Ruby jumped up to the saddle and the three of them rode on.

Miles and miles that mule took care of Mike.  Miles and miles.  One gives their trust to their steeds. 

There have been a couple of incidents.  Once, Cosmo gave up in a gully and Mike ended underneath the saddle horn and the mule.  A giant bruise and thankfully no broken bones.  They both survived the incident.

Then, last summer's swim in the Elk Fork roiling river.  Somewhere in the middle of that flooding torrent of water, Cosmo got his back left leg tangle in rock and down he and Mike went into the cold spring runoff.  The mule survived only because Mike held onto a rein. 

Hunting, this last fall, Cosmo stepped over a log and got that same leg tangled.  Down he went.  The signs of trouble were mounting up.

Today, friend and veterinarian Griggs announced a stifle issue which sent Cosmo to the hole at the Walton Ranch.  Good bye old friend, good bye.  You need suffer no more.

Until you have pulled yourself up onto the back of a mule or a horse, you will never understand the relationship that is built between animal and man.  Losing your riding mule is a tough tough thing and today was not easy for Mike.  Cosmo will be missed.

 

Three Publication Week!

Wow.  Wish I had more time to write!  All three of these articles out in one week.

The one I am happiest with -
International Association of Fire Chiefs Piece

This one came out yesterday; (Yes, I have asked to have "shoot" changed to "chute" - I should have caught that one!!)
Fire Rescue Magazine

And this just out in Wildfire Magazine:

Very Vacation-Like!

Surrounded by family and loved ones, Mike and I celebrated a very festive and wonderful Thanksgiving.  Seth and Alden made the long trip from Cody, Wyoming and stayed until Sunday.  Dani and Evan joined in for the festivities.  For Thanksgiving dinner, neighbors and renters Russell and Lisa brought their farm-raised turkey; aka, Tom, to the table at a whopping 39 pounds!  Alive, Tom registered in at a whopping 50# weight.  Good living over there at the white house!! 

Aerial views of Thanksgiving Dinner! 

We took on a DYI project making environmentally-friendly beeswax wraps. They looked awesome drying.  Our technique might need to be perfected a bit, but we all had fun with the colored fabrics and results.

The other project, our 8' x 8' barn quilt, is coming along.  Three coats of two different colors have been applied.  It's going to be SO cool, this barn quilt!!  Everyone got a hand at painting and signed their names to the back of the boards!  So great to have group participation!

(Yes, there is a mistake on this board...no worries, it will easily be fixed by the next darker yellow paint!!)

It was a really great break and topped off by an impressive winter storm with a whopping foot of snow that needed moved around in both Freedom and Hoback.  We are all plowed out now, waiting for the next winter round of white stuff.  Togowotee Pass is reported to have received 29" of snow in this storm. 

Saturday, we all watched friend Coralia win her Cutter Race.  She raced neck to neck with another woman driver and we all are pretty sure this was the first time ever two women raced side by side. 

Here she is after the race, cooling off the horses.  Always a fun thing to do on Saturday!  We ate a big burger, shared some adult beverages, and stood in the snow, watching the horses run! 

Here's the whole gang on, as Seth observed, the Ultimate Dude Launcher!  Thanks for taking the photo, Neighbor Pam!

New Blog Site Possibility!!

Life leads us right where we are supposed to go!! 

This blog has been a great way to practise other blog opportunities.....ladies and gentlemen, my first International Association of Fire Chiefs' publication!!  Ta dah!!

Read My Piece!

Barn Quilt, Step 2

Once the boards are primed, one must translate the quilt square to the giant board.  Happily, the sunflower quilt square is 8"x 8" and the board is 8' x 8'.  This makes the process a bit easier although I drew one line the wrong direction and made one square 2" too big.  Easily fixed.  Although it is hard to see, if you look close, you will see the giant sunflower pattern! 

Today's mission is to pick the paint colors.  All help on board over Thanksgiving!!  We will start with the light colors and work to the dark.  Three coats for all colors.  It's going to be the biggest sunflower in all of Star Valley!!

I'm already scheming the next barn quilt!! 

Time For Loved Ones

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday which should be celebrated often through the year!  Mike made his holiday visit a few weeks early this year, spending time with his family.  A drive to Pennsylvania made it possible to reconnect with his Dad's sister, Anna Mae, and the rest of that side of the family.  The picture below shows that reunion with Michael in full-pontificating mode!

We all look forward to the week ahead.  A few days less work. A reason to gather, cook and share great food, and pause.  Pause to give thanks.

Someone the other day said a phrase which I am still thinking about.  "The tyranny of living in the United States," and he went on to note we don't spend our days worrying about getting bombed by our neighbors, we don't worry about famine and disease.  We suffer from the tyranny of many wonderful things to have and to do and never enough time to do them!

This year, take stock in these real facts.  Make sure you have your priorities in the right order.  Remember, each day YOU make your life what it is; yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  Things and people will make an impact, no doubt.  But it is up to you to weave these things into the fabric that drapes your very being. 

We live in an amazing time.  A phone can direct you to an address.  How cool is that?!  A link can answer any question you might have about any thing.  Take just five minutes, sit, and be with all these blessings.  It's an amazing life!

Family Visiting.

Superstition

Was it because I wore that old brown sweater with the zipper in the back?  Or that I didn't take my binoculars?  Maybe because our mule Dinah was along.....

Finally got my elk today!  Thanks to the good grace of my boss who covered for me this morning, Mike and I were able to hunt on the very last day of my long-season tag.  I put a big sneak on this herd.  This fat, young elk will be a bonus for some empty shelves in our freezer.

It was a great hunt, the mules did wonderfully, my guide was in a good mood, and I landed back at work by 1pm!!  A fire AND an elk within 24 hours.  Life is good.  Life is good!

Goodbye Rusty Parrot

The Rusty Parrot.  An icon of Jackson Hole.  For years, the only 5 start inn in Wyoming.  Built of sturdy logs, shiny and strong, the fire won the battle.  Jackson loses this iconic hotel, tucked in the corner of the town, a get away for many travelers.  I'm sure they all remember their visit; the helpful staff, the delicious food created in the small but ambitious kitchen, the wall of wonderful wines to choose, the soft bed linens, the quiet restful nights.  Here is how it looked before last night's late night fire.  Pre Fire Rusty Parrot

My heart aches for this loss.  The family built their place of business in 1990.  Their lives are woven into the fabric of this address.  They watch the night through, wrought with loss and uncertain of what will come next.

A neighbor businessman stops by to see the destruction.  His eyes fill with tears when I grab his arm, saying there is only one address that would be an even more terrible loss, his famous Blue Lion Restaurant.  We stand, embraced in Miller Park, tears welling up in our eyes, reminding each other that no lives were lost.  No lives were lost.  Fire marks those who are forever branded by its sear.

Here is one of the many news reports.  I have been quoted saying the word "shit".  At first, I was aghast and then I thought about it.  Shit happens.  It is really shitty this happened.  Mom says shit is not a swear word.  I hope our community will understand my use of this word to describe, well, this shitty fire.

One Of Many News Articles

Casper, Wyoming

The drive to Casper Wyoming from Jackson is 287 miles.  The prettiest part is on the west side of the mountains.  After one pulls up and over Togowotee Pass, the landscape flattens out and stretches for miles and miles.  A break in Dubois and Shoshoni gives one pause, a chance to stretch legs, and look over the shelves in the convenience stores wishing there was food that wasn't chuck full of salt and/or fat.  I picked up a piece of jerky and ready the ingredients.  370 calories.  270 in fat.  Pass.

After the 3pm meeting, networking and drinks ensued.  I learned more at the bar and at dinner than I did at the meetings!!  An early morning meeting with our radio supplier and back on the road.  Here are some pictures from the west side of the mountains, leaving and coming home.  The feathers are from our two wildland fires this year.  Each found at each fire.  Redtail hawks. 

Barn Quilt, Step 1

And so, history accounts, Donna Sue Groves wanted to honor her mother Maxine, by having a painted quilt hung on her barn in Adams County, Ohio.  One presumes Maxine was a quilter, but so far I have nothing that actually says so.

Anyway, Donna worked the idea for awhile and it blossomed into a community event rather than just one barn quilt.  She spawned the idea of a Quilt Trail through the countryside where travelers could drive a "trail" and see all the barn quilts.  There are now over 7000 quilts in the US and Canada registered as a result of Donna's idea sprouted in 2001.

Our Freedom place is in what is called "Star Valley".  This long and wide valley sits between two mountain ranges and runs north/south. 

Mike saw the ad in the local paper.  The Star Valley Quilters Guild have decided to join up on this nation-wide activity and are conducting a Quilt Block Contest.  There are prizes for winners!  First prize is $1500, second $1000 and third at $750.  Quilt block must be installed by July 1, 2020.  Although our address is in Freedom, Idaho (one mile from the Wyoming line), I received verbal confirmation that our Barn Block will be considered.

Our winter project; building a barn quilt to honor Mom, maker of many many quilts.  As sunflowers have been an every-year planting at our place, and one of my favorite quilts Mom has made is a sunflower quilt, it has been determined this will be our barn quilt pattern.  The pattern will be translated from inches to feet, drawn and painted on two boards which will combine to make one giant 8' by 8' square for the side of our shop next to the road. 

Not that anyone here is competitive...but.....I'm thinking we will need to build a pullout along the road and a stand of some sort telling about this barn quilt and the awesome woman it will honor!  Perhaps some sunflower plantings below the quilt....?  Looking for ideas here!! 

And so we begin.  Step one.  Mike bought the 3/4" sign boards.  Two 4'x8' pieces of board.  I found some very good primer and went to work.  The front, backs, and sides have now received three coats of primer. 

My task is to figure out how to take an 8" pattern and turn it into an 8 foot pattern.  Mike has to figure out how to get the 8'x8' block hung on the north side of the shed!!  This will be an adventure, for sure!!

Take a look at some other barn quilts at Barn Quilts

Sunday

The sky was filled with blazing pink clouds, edged with wintery gray.  I probably should have arrived a bit earlier.  Up the hill, a bull elk bugled.  Then another on a nearby ridge answered.  It is exciting to start your hunt out with elk bugling.  I loaded the rifle, grabbed the shooting sticks, heaved on my heavy pack (ever knife I own plus a bunch of other stuff - you never know what you might need), and started walking up the hill.

Although it seems less successful, I really like to hunt afoot.  Carefully placing each step, looking forward, looking sideways.  Today, I walked up on four deer at about 150 yards.  They were clueless of my presence.

The deer would be all I see.  Tracks.  Lots of tracks in the snow.  Elk tracks.  Big dog tracks.  I don't think those were from any other dog than a wolf.  I trudged up to the saddle; always a destination in mind.  The sun had crested the ridge.  The grasses, brown and golden and moving in the morning breeze.  The forest, quiet.  I checked my phone.  No service.  8:39.  I sat, drank water, and took these pictures.

This year, hunting feels like hunting. 

Lists

DONE - 

• Monday work until Officers' Meeting, home by 2100 hours
• Tuesday 0530 Mike to airport, work, go to Alpine/Freedom, come back to Jackson, vote, visit friend in ICU that night
• Wednesday work until 1900 hours; meet Mentor Mary for lunch
• Thursday, work, go to Ready, Set Go presentation; home by 2100 hours
• Friday, all day in Womentum presentations; give Bee Talk at lunch in front of about 100 women (nail it!), join Station 2/6 for Banquet at Mill Iron Ranch.  Eat big T-bone steak
• Saturday, on duty.  Go to 0703 residential alarm.  Get help from caretaker (who has nice bird dog).  No fire, panel reset.  Groceries in town, clean dog poop out of yard (at least 10 pounds of poop!), clean house, make bread-cook butternut-chicken on the grill-frost pumpkin bread and cupcakes made in the morning.  Write blog cause people are tired of looking at the same post day after day after day!

TO DO - 

• Go hunt in the morning
• Go to Freedom.  Relax.

I continue to work toward sourdough perfection.  This one is nice!  You can almost hear that crust crunch in your mouth as the butter drips down your chin!