A Bit Tough...

It's been a bit of a rough couple of days here in Pueblo West. We've been a community on edge and in mourning. You see, yesterday afternoon a 14-year-old girl went out to the field next to her house to search for rocks...something she did regularly. Her mom was well aware of where she was, what she was doing, and that she'd be back very soon. After 90-minutes passed without the return of Ashley, her mom called the police.

It only took about an hour for the police to find her. She was no longer living. It was revealed that it was a homicide investigation, rumors began to fly, and the community shut down their houses while leaving porch lights on. It was a bit of a long and unsettled night.

Just before 4pm today, just shy of 24-hours after Ashley's body was found, a press conference was held to announce the arrest of a suspect. He is Ashley's 64-year-old neighbor...a man who is married and has 6 grown children of his own. The community has breathed a sigh of relief and has started the task of truly mourning.

I have seen pieces of the arrest affidavit and my heart breaks even harder for Ashley's family. Because of the nature of this horrible crime, I will not provide details, but I will add a couple of links for anyone who wishes to read. In the meantime, I am going back to my random bouts of tears and fervent prayers for the two families most affected by this heinous act....
http://www.koaa.com/aaaa_top_stories/x300750440/Arrest-made-in-murder-of-Pueblo-West-teen
http://www.krdo.com/global/story.asp?s=10098072
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/03/30/news/breaking_news/doc49d1549627610534190047.txt

Post-Blizzard Fun

Winter's Return

Winter's Return...

We knew it was bound to happen for two reasons:

1) March is Colorado's snowiest month
2) It's Spring Break in Pueblo (colleges and grade schools alike).

Nobody is really complaining because we desperately need the moisture. Well, except for the winds...those are worth the complaint. 30 mph sustained with gusts over 60 are complaint worthy no matter the weather!

I promised Luke that we would take our walk this morning, but only as long as the snow hadn't begun falling, yet. We needed the walk, I've been a bit lazy the past couple of days and haven't ventured to the streets (though I did ride 2 lazy ponies yesterday), so I was glad he was begging. I started laughing when we woke up today, though. My comment: "Nice storm!" It was blue skies with a ton of sun. I did check to see what was going on and decided it was safe enough to take a good walk, grabbed the old bread, and loaded Luke into the jogging stroller to head up to the community pond to feed the geese. Trust me, our walks are not leisurely. I work up a sweat and get the heart going.

I underestimated the round-trip distance, but it was a great walk. We arrived to our destination and spent about a half-hour tossing the bread to some happy geese. We weren't the only ones with this idea, though. I was surprised at the amount of people at Cattail Crossing today! Especially since it was cloudy and cooling down quickly by the time we got there. Still, I love being in an area where people always seem to be out and about. When it was time to go I took a quick look around and started to worry that we wouldn't make it home in time. I hoped I was up for a run since it appeared to be a distinct possibility....the snow was within what I know is just over 20 miles away to the West and just over 15 miles to the North. Sounds like a lot, but we already knew this storm was moving in fast. With that in mind, I promptly put the weather shield up on the stroller and started home at a good walking clip. We made it home about 3 minutes before the snow started falling in Pueblo West. Wow! I cut that close!! But, 7 miles round-trip was great, and I still managed to work up a sweat (I blame the layers today, though).

We did need to make a quick run to Pueblo, so I changed pants and we headed out. We were gone about 45 minutes. It was nearly a white-out when we left there....still safe for careful driving since the roads were only wet and visibility was still about 1/8 mile, but fun to see. I guess you get a little goofy when you haven't had measurable precipitation for 3 months. Anyway, I snapped a couple of pictures with my phone. I took a couple of pictures once we got home, too, but didn't get any of the real white-out. We couldn't see the house next door!! But it was difficult to get pictures when the windows were really, really icy since the camera wanted to focus there.
(There are buildings in this picture, you can barely see the outline)
(closer to home...where'd the houses & Safeway go?)

We now hear that Highway 50 is closed between us and where the ponies live. Fun. The snow has picked back up and we expect a decent amount more before morning. A fun tidbit: one of our local news stations has a Facebook page. Dork that I am, I joined. My comment was read on air just a moment ago. Woohoo! Yes, yes, I am leaving my mark on Southern Colorado (you can all groan now).

I can't guarantee pictures. It's getting dark, it's really windy, and the camera doesn't focus so well in those conditions with snow, but I'll do my best. Have a fun spring weekend!

Billy.....

What sad news we received tonight! It's nothing completely unexpected, but still heartbreaking. I'm sort of at a loss of words for the moment, a combination of being heartsore, tired from my 4 1/2 miles, a little sunkissed, and tired of the wind. So, instead of searching for words that just won't do this beast justice, I am posting the "obituary" I wrote on an equine forum, with pictures added here. It's a bit vague, but it's also a forum. There are other family members who are hurting as badly as we are, and I wanted to protect them. In the meantime......

Billy was my husband's absolutely wonderful, wonderful, would take care of a flea roping horse. He was 3/4 BLM Mustang and 1/4 Quarter Horse (in other words, a whoops!). He was not bad to look at, but the most gawd awful thing to ride. He's the only horse I've ever been on who actually had a very uncomfortable walk!! And forget trying to post the trot....it was impossible! You just ended up standing in the stirrups. But talk about a baby sitter!


Billy taught countless people to ride, kids and adults alike. He never complained, he never spooked, he never blinked an eye. It didn't matter if you were clunking around completely scared out of your mind (as in not holding the reins because you were too afraid to let the death grip you held on the horn go for fear you might fall off...yes, we saw that often), or if you were advanced enough to track down and work a cow back to where she was supposed to be. I even saw him pin his ears back to the point they disappeared over one stupid, stupid act that got me screaming at a family member, but Billy just went to work. The very last person to ride him was our now 2 1/2-year-old son...back when he was 17-months-old.


Billy was so great that he experienced two (yes, TWO!!!) trailer wrecks and didn't care an ounce. If he saw the trailer hitched to the truck, he dragged you to climb in.

But the best thing about Billy was that he was 27-years-old and had nobody but my husband own him. Mr. Flory was there when Billy was born, assisted the mare. Mr. Flory did every ounce of work on the horse, including breaking him. Mr. Flory took care of every aspect. He's had Billy since he was 6-years-old (hubby's age, not Billy's obviously) and very heartbroken.

Billy will remain on the very same property he was born and lived each day of his life on. He's buried in his pasture. I'm grateful for that, and I'm grateful we all had the chance to know such an incredible creature.

Godspeed, Billy. You will be very greatly missed, and we will love you forever......

A Little Sad...

I know this is silly, and completely irrational, but maybe other moms can appreciate it. It's been a bit of a rough evening for me. We have some friends who are expecting their first baby in June and still had not found a crib, changing table, and a few other things. Well, considering we will not be having any more babies, we offered Luke's. The only request we had was for them to pay-it-forward once the time comes.

The crib wasn't as difficult because Luke spent most of his infancy in our bed, next to me. Trust me, nursing that way is MUCH easier and we actually got sleep. Luke was a pretty good sleeper, unless he was teething, but he was also a very, very hungry baby. He ate a ton! I'm grateful for that. He did spend some time in his crib, taking naps in there, spending part of the night in there after six months, but the majority was in our bed. Besides, it's been taken apart and downstairs in storage for almost 6 months. I'd already sort of said goodbye.

The changing table was another story. I cleaned the shelves off, then opened the drawer and started there. I was immediate taken back to when we found this crib and table. I had played with the drawer then and almost felt like a little girl begging for something when I smiled at my husband. He sort of sighed playfully, then paid for our treasures. I started sniffing and tearing up thinking about that. Luke often fell asleep on the table, and there was more than once I let him stay there while I enjoyed the time reading in the glider next to him. Luke also loved to climb the thing and hide stuff from in the drawer. It makes me wonder what we'll find in what in what new place now that the table is gone.

Before we could take it out of the house, Luke climbed up and feigned sleep. He was giggling, but we got the point. We took a few pictures, then broke his heart by having him get down. He felt better "helping" us move it, but we could both see he was a little bothered having to give something of his up like this. It's hard to think of that.

So, I am a bit sad tonight. It's not over the stuff, it's over what that stuff represents. My baby isn't a BABY any longer. That's a bit of a tough pill to swallow.....

80 Degrees....

It's a lovely day! After I was finished with classes, Luke and I headed for a day outdoors. Who could miss a warm March day full of sun and, well....warmth! It's approached 80 degrees today, and there was just no way I was going to have us cooped up indoors. Nope, uh-uh....that would be a total waste! So we headed off to the Pueblo Zoo.

One great thing about wonderfully nice and warm days in the spring, especially during the week, is that there is almost nobody else enjoying the animals at the zoo. We basically had the place to ourselves! Very nice. All of the animals were seemed pleased to have company because they all came right up to the fences of their enclosures. Luke loved that! Though this is the first time he actually showed real fear of an animal.

The Pueblo Zoo has an alligator snapping turtle that's very, very old. I'm not sure the age, but guessing by the size of this guy, he's got to be at least 50. He's massive! Today was the first time I've ever seen him relate to people and not just sit at the bottom of his tank. He spotted us and swam right up to the glass. Poor Luke about burned a hole in the carpet backing up! I did manage to get him right back over to me and promptly fell over as he tried to crawl on top of my head. He thought that was funny, but wasn't so keen on the idea of putting his hand on the glass. Once he did, though, he realized the turtle wasn't going to hurt him and there was nothing to fear. I admit, I laughed. He peeled backward so quickly that one could have sworn he'd be stung by a bee!!

It wasn't too much longer and we had to come on home. It was getting late, and Luke was tired. Besides, it was time for me to get dinner started. He's conked out cold on the couch right now, but he'll be waking soon....even if he doesn't want to. What a great way to spend a beautiful day.....

Here We Go Again....

....only earlier. Yes, it is prime fire season in Colorado again. If you'll remember, I wrote about the fire on Fort Carson last April and the refugee horses that ended up being kept company by the ponies. That one was close to 10,000 acres, took a number of days to battle, and remained on Army property. Not too long after that was a fire in the mountains behind Pikes Peak that was around 6000 acres. That was the one that woke me up because we were able to sleep with windows open then and the smoke filled the Upper Arkansas River Valley. It's a strange feeling to wake at 2am and realize the reason is because of the strong scent of smoke, but I did a quick run around and figured out pretty fast where it was coming from. After that it was pretty quiet.

This season has started early, and with a bang. There's been a number of little fires (500 acres, or less), and a few large ones. It was just 2 weeks ago that the plant was threatened by a 6500 acre fire, again on Fort Carson, but that one left the property. It came within about a half mile of both the Ray Nixon and Front Range power plants. That was fun! I got a few pictures, but they didn't turn out to well.
(Nixon shrouded in smoke..the trees in the foreground are part of what burned last April)

Let us not forget about the other parts of the state. The Denver Metro area has had a few fires that have threatened homes, the mountains have had some small blazes, and 900 acre fire occurred about 30 miles East of Pueblo last weekend. It's a little frightening because we are in a "moderate" drought. One millisecond of someone not paying attention and a whole bunch of property is up in smoke.

And now today we have another fire in a residential area in the suburbs of Colorado Springs. Apparently a number of homes and a (large) high school are threatened. The stupid thing is the pictures on the news. We can see the smoke here at the house, so we know it's burning pretty well, but idiot people are standing at what looks like about 5-10 feet away from the flames just watching what's going on! I mean BUNCHES of people! With little kids! What the heck??

Our little community is one that is constantly being told to be prepared, and to mitigate the easements and empty properties near the homes. The reason being we live in what is called a desert grassland, and the wind is always prevalent. One little spark and we could have a whole heap of homes gone. So we mitigate our easement and the empty lot next to us in a rather fun way. Who needs a lawn mower when you have 4-wheeler?? Crunch down the big weeds and keep the grasses close to the ground. Very fun! I don't really know how effective it is, but I hope to never find out.

(pretty crunched down already)
(running over a bigger plant)

(FUN!!!)

(starting the lot across the street)

The whole point of this particular topic is to let everyone know to expect more from us this summer. It is so dry, and the wind has even come earlier this year, it's an expected thing to see and smell a lot of smoke this summer. Don't forget that fires are extremely good for the land and most of the native plants, but when it's so close to homes....yeah, it's a bit scary. Stay safe, everyone!

Midterms....

I am almost done with midterms. One test left to go, and that's right before Spring Break at the end of the month. I'm not terribly worried about it, though. I am, however, extremely proud of how well I did on my Sociology test! Who would have thought I'd receive a 97 when I missed half of two chapters, had trouble staying awake after my little hospital visit, and somehow managed to not study as much as I should have? Wowza! I am also preparing to register for both the Summer and Fall semesters. Yes, I am going to attend school over the summer. It's a short 8-week semester, and it'll help me gain my goal actually graduating. Going half-time takes long enough! I'll start my emphasis on history by fall, considering that is the Pre-Law avenue I have chosen to take. And how is this for a loop: I need at least 2 semesters of college level language classes. Anyone care to take a guess at what language I am going to attempt?

I have decided that I am very glad I did not attempt college immediately after high school. There is absolutely no way I would have made it. Not that it's extremely difficult, but it is a bit time consuming. When I was 18, I didn't want to do anything that resembled work when it came to learning. I wasn't even sure what I wanted to do with my life. I am thankful I had patient parents who let me hang out at the house for a couple of years after high school! They knew I wasn't ready, and they let me discover what I needed. It made a huge difference.

I cannot discount the military schools, though. Somehow the way we're taught there really cranked it up for me. Now I can sit down in a lecture and pull out what I need...mostly. If I'm lost, I am no longer afraid to ask questions. My tech schools all made a huge difference.

So, that's the short of what I've been up to. Luke and I finally made it back out to the ponies this week. I can't even begin to explain what a wonderful relief and release that was! We started walking again last week, which has been great, but to be around those beasties I love so much....it's so fantastic!

I have pictures on the camera I need to share here. Some goofy things, like our version of fire mitigation. I just have to get off my butt and charge the batteries. It's been so spring-like that we've just been enjoying the yard. Being that March is the snowiest month in Colorado, we are beginning to experience the on again-off again weather. We're actually expecting a little snow overnight! Amazing! We've already experienced a number of decent-sized fires...and they're early this year. Any wet on the ground would be good. Besides, my lawn would probably be very happy receiving water from something other than the tap. But for now, I am going to join the snoring brood and give my poor brain a break. You can all chew on this:

The answer to the language question is Arabic. Yup, going to be tough, but it's definitely original! Yo habla espanol, but I'd like to expand on that. Yes, yes, I'm a little crazy....

A Slight Break....

I am not hiding, I promise!! I just haven't been terribly inspired to write lately. Between my apparent love of spending time in hospitals, then catching a terrible chest cold right away and having zero energy....the writing has taken a back seat.

I am happy to report that I am feeling much better, though! The writing will resume! I just can't seem to get past how amazed I am that there are actual leaves on trees, bushes, and flowering plants! Not to mention I'd like to share some of my plans for the backyard and garden this year.

So, hang in there. I always have plenty to say!