Earning My "H": Updates & Musings

Previous Quotes:

"That it will never come again / Is what makes life so sweet" - Emily Dickinson

One of the most important contributions science has made to management dialogues around here in the past thirty years is to elevate the admission of uncertainty as a credible management stance." - Paul Shullery

"There are things we can only learn by having the weakest among us" - Gianna Jessen

"American's learn only from catastrophes and not from experience."
- Teddy Roosevelt in his autobiography

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
-Psalms 116:15

"The border should not be an issue in American life, but rather our window on the world. All our foolish beliefs are refuted there." - Charles Bowden in an article in ""High Country News" speaking about Free Trade, the Drug War, and Border Patrol.

"Often, when you open your mind to the impossible, you find the Truth" - Fringe episode

"The water you touch in a river is the last of that which has passed, and the first of that which is coming. Thus it is with time present". - Leonardo DaVinci

"Death is the moment when everything loses value but the truth." - The Red Wolf Conspiracy (a novel)

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” Vivian Greene

The Serenity Prayer: God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." - Joseph Campbell

Give me a face that makes simplicity a grace - Ben Jonson

The brook would lose its song if we removed the rocks.—Wallace Stegner

Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another - Juvenal

"Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy,
which sustained him through temporary periods of joy."
- Butler Yeats

Friday, June 4, 2010

Updates & Musings

Well, lots of updates for the last couple weeks and some more musings on my part...

Julie passed this a.m. at 8:30 ET. Jeff is torn about going back for the memorial or not. It's a bad time to leave the ranch as the owners are leaving for their oldest son's college graduation in CA, and Kelly (the wife) is dealing with her own dad's decline. He is on hospice and not expected to last much longer either. So... we'll see how timing and other factors fit. I said he should go... there are things in life that are important, and things that we just THINK are important. This job will be here if he goes, but he won't get another chance for closure.

It's been raining non-stop here for weeks. We did get a couple hours of nice sunshine yesterday, but it's back to rain today. Our staff is getting somewhat discouraged - it's hard to stay excited about a ranch job when reality hits! They all are enjoying the area, however. Most go for a hike or bike ride nearly every day. Each time I wonder if it's the day one of them will get eaten by a grizzly or stomped by a moose. These kids have NO common sense. One came back the other day & said she'd seen a grizzly up close & personal but that he didn't know she was there. WHAT? A grizzly will ALWAYS know you are there... it may just not deign to notice you! And the next day, TWO of them came back & said they'd ridden / walked (they were separate) right by a cow moose & her calf. YIKES! (as my big sis would say!) We are seeing lots more animal life than earlier this year. Elk & moose w/ their calves, bear, baby rabbits (they are SO cute!) and so on. Of course, the baby rabbits are STUPID and 3 have been killed by dogs.

Here are some pics from several weeks ago when we walked up to the pond on a nice day. And, also some pics from our Memorial Day softball game. We invite 2 other dude ranches located close by to come and we have the game and then a potluck. It was lots of fun. Pretty cool to play the game in such a setting! And it held off rain for the game which was nice. But it was COLD.