The 2 by 4

Just over a week ago two women we knew were killed in a car accident. Like all accidents it was a waste of human life. In this case the women happened to be experts in their fields of nursing, teachers, mentors, friends, sisters, a mother, on and on. As I said, it was a huge waste of all the things they brought to this world.

I knew both of them, but not well. I think that was my great loss. I am reminded of the old joke about the farmer using the 2 by 4 to get the mule's attention. These deaths got my attention. They were an all too vivid reminder of my own mortality and that our days are few. They reminded me that most of the squabbles and disagreements we have are petty. That we should be about mending fences and finding points of agreement, not allowing differences to come between us. To say words of encouragement, to tell our loved ones and friends that we value and love them. To not let the sun set on an argument.

I know these sentiments are trite. I know I will forget what I am feeling now. I hope that it won't take such a horrific event to get my attention when I do.

Crunch Time

Tomorrow at 5:07 AM, I'll rouse G. who said she wanted to greet the solstice by going outside and dancing naked in the snow. She won’t rouse. She’ll just roll over and stay in the warm bed. So, the solstice may go ungreeted, but it won’t arrive unnoticed. The temperature is supposed to be below zero in the morning. The wind is going to drop wind chills to -30 or -40 or -50. It may snow. Winter, which has been here for weeks, will officially arrive. The cold and snow will be around for four or five more months. The only difference is that as days lenghten, we’ll be able to see the weather longer each day.

During the long Wyoming winters rather than sit inside and glower out the window, it’s helpful to find things you like about the season. One of the things we noticed when we moved here from Kansas, where winter is generally cursed and looked upon as something to endure, is that many people look forward to winter. Hunters are eager for snow in hunting season. Snow makes game easier to track. Skiers and boarders of all persuasions can hardly wait for there to be enough snow to get out and play. There are many snow mobiles sold in this area to those who shun using their own power to get out in the mountain snow.

I found there are lots of things I like about winter. I like to snow shoe and cross country ski. Winter sunrises last longer and seem more colorful than those of the other seasons. Sitting in the hot tub while flakes drift down and melt on your face and shoulders is delightful. The fluff we get here is so beautiful when freshly fallen. When there is a full moon and the ground is covered with snow, the light’s almost enough to read outside in the middle of the night. But, one of my favorite things is the sound of snow crunching beneath my boots when it is really cold. I’d noticed the crunching for years, but never thought about just how cold it needed to be to make the right conditions for crunching. It turns out that the temperature has to be 14 degrees or less. The snow should be very crunchy all weekend.

Easy come, easy go

On Wednesday it started to snow. It snowed on and off all day. The fluff mounted up on every flat surface. The wind didn't blow. Temperatures were the lowest of the season. Perfection. The snow gods had smiled and answered the skiers' prayers with the first "Yes" of the season. Friday the winds picked up. The Interstate was closed, then open, then closed, then open. Temperatures shot up into the 40's.
By Saturday the sun had come out. It warmed into the upper 40's and the snow in the valley was 80% gone by sundown.

A report from Happy Jack indicated that there was still good snow up there. The forecast is for warm weather today and snow tomorrow. Maybe it will survive.

The System

They fired Joe Glenn,the UW football coach, this week. It wasn't unexpected. He had four straight losing seasons. The final blow came last Saturday when the Cowboys lost at home to archrival Colorado State.

Joe being fired wasn't unexpected, but it was a shame. Joe Glenn by most accounts is a good man. As a coach, he treated his players well and encourageed them to be good men. He is an affable guy who played the piano and led the singing of "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" for students, alums, fans and players. It was his trademark at UW. It was a winning one.

I don't know why he wasn't successful at producing teams that won football games here. He was very successful at a number of smaller programs. Laramie is a difficult place to recruit players to. My thought is that UW would be better off as a big fish in a small pond rather than trying to compete in the Mountain West Conference. UW is just to small and located in a place where few people want to come.

Winning is the bottom line in NCAA sports. Coaches have to win in order to stay in a place and do the other things which may be the real value of sports. Whichever school hires Joe Glenn next will get those real values.

I believe.

About ten days ago I was in Washington, DC doing some sightseeing. I took the opportunity to visit the National Archives to see the copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that are on display there.
As I stood in the serpentine line in front of the chamber where they are in special, climate controlled cases, I could see that the light in the chamber is dim and has a yellowish cast to protect the documents. No flash photography is allow. When it was my group's turn to view, I went to the Constitution and Bill of Rights first. The writing on the old documents was faint. It was hard to read the words through the tinted glass and dim light for the ink was quite faded. There seemed to be erasures here and there. Those marks were probably copiest's corrections, but as I stood there I had a nearly irrepressable urge to try bring the words on the parchment, and the rights they bestow, back to full vigor by clapping my hands and loudly chanting, "I believe. I believe. I believe."

In the early morning rain...

This morning I saw something new. I was driving back into town from Brooklyn Lake where Gail and I had spent the night at altitude. While driving toward home, I had watched the cloudy sky shift colors as the sun made its way up toward the eastern horizon. As I was coming into town from the west, I passed through a light rain shower. When I pulled up to a stop sign and looked for approaching traffic, what I saw instead, high in the sky, was a rainbow made by the rays of the not yet risen sun.

In the cool, cool, cool of the morning

Weekday mornings, hot and sweaty from my morning workout, I leave the overheated gym. After buckling my helmet and zipping up my jacket, I fumble with the combination lock that is usually upside down. When my bike is free at last, I hop on and peddle toward home. It’s then that the cool, clear morning air hits me. Crisp and refreshing it washes over me as I gather speed. I suck in lungs’ full of the clean, mountain air and rejoice in this small thing that feels so good.