It's Better in Wyoming.

Geez.  It's been a long time since last posting--longer than I'd realized by about four months.  A new year seems like a good time for an update, though, especially since there's a good bit to say.  The short and incomplete list of fun stuff since May involves these events: After picking up Walter the Wonder Dog in May, we took off for a week-long trip to southern Utah.  We stayed a night in Glenwood Springs on the way down, then hung out in a yert south of Moab.  Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Canyon of the Ancients: check, check, check, and check. The biggest summer project was a new fence, to keep in the beast.  I put up cedar pickets along the west and north sides of the back yard.  So far, they're straight.  We'll see what a season of frozen ground and frost does to my work. A relatively successful effort to make something grow in the front yard, despite a crazy hailstorm that flooded out a bunch of my planting and seeding work.  Ended up with mostly gras

On Sunday, Maggie and I drove down to Parker, CO, and adopted a puppy.  We worked through Mountain Pet Rescue (out of Winter Park), but the puppy was being fostered at a home east of Parker.  Before that, he'd been in Oklahoma, with a foster family there.  Whoever's had him before us has already done some great training with him--so far, he's been amazing.  Walter the Wonder Dog.

I just got an email from UW Extension, with links to strategies for lengthening the growing season here in the high country.  This information comes hot on the heels of an offer, at a party on Saturday, for some storm windows. So, it looks like I might be making some cold frames this summer. And, yesterday, the neighbor offered some free raspberry bushes, which he'd dug up at a friend's place in Cheyenne. It's great to be in a place with access to good people, useful knowledge, and the resources to make change possible.  I don't always hold up my end of the bargain as well as I might--in terms of fully taking advantage of this generosity and wisdom--but even then it rubs off on me.  Slowly, I feel a little new growth taking place.  It must be spring. "The deep roots never doubt that spring will come." - Marty Rubin

Don't know why I haven't discovered these guys before. Nice sounds!  The Barr Brothers!

Sunday Maggie and I were out with her friend Mike, snow-shoeing up at the Little Laramie trails. Today I took advantage of spring-y weather and took the bicycle out for a ride, a twelve-mile cruise on dry roads south on Soldier Springs and then back along the cement-plant road.  Like this: All in all, the weather was about perfect.  A tiny bit of wind out by the scrap heap, but otherwise calm and awesome. The forecast for this weekend predicts a good bit of snow, which means my chances of a few more ski adventures is still looking pretty good.

Sarah says it's time for another Avetts concert, so I'm gonna start listening to the opening act.  I'm not sure it's the kind of music I'd listen to at home, but I think they'll be fun under the sky at Red Rocks.  Here's a track from Portugal. The Man: Yeah.

the lack of snow.  it worries me. in other news, maggie and i got plane tickets for arizona for march.  hopefully it will be a chance to see my grandparents, my friends peter and david, maggie's friend nick, and the grand canyon.  and get a tan. in still other news, i meant to post a while ago about a place in fort collins we discovered, a restaurant named 415.  chickin and waffles?  with maple-bacon syrup?  why, yes. in more, unrelated news, i was in casper last weekend for a wyoming writing project gathering.  it was refreshing, and more evidence that i need to push out into new experiences.  the group was a fun one, teachers from all levels who love what they do and continue to do good work, in the face of the frustrations that go with being a public-school/community-college/state-funded-university teacher.  i hope i may get to work with them this summer. and yet more news: i've committed myself to working through aristotle this spring.  despite holding a masters deg

My friend Shannon reminds me that 2012 also included two more events that I didn't include in my year end recap: A trip to Casper in July, for a wedding reception for my high school friend Luke and to catch up with Shannon and Craig and their awesome kids.  This trip also included a mini-trip to Casper Falls, too, and we played some volleyball at Ayers Natural Bridge by Douglas.   And Craig and Shannon were down to Laramie in October for UW's homecoming, along with our other high school friends, too: Ross (and his wife Jess), Travis, Theresa, Willa, and Brian.  Ross was long overdue for a return to Laramie, so it was great to see them.  Also, it was great to have six of the 200 or so outdoor seats at the game that weren't soaked with wet snow by halftime. And, indirectly, thinking back to the trip to Casper also reminds me that 2012 was an Olympics year!  Yeah, mutherfucker, Olympics!  I love the Olympics and I don't know how I could've forgotten that awesomene

All in all, 2012 was a pretty good year.  I thought it'd be worthwhile to assemble a quick list of the highlights, before the year gets too far past.  I think most of these are mentioned in previous posts, but it seems a good time to aggregate the experiences of the past year: Grad class.  For yet another year, I enlisted in a grad class, this time about qualitative research methods.  I recruited Maggie to join the class too, and we ended up developing a curriculum for the class she taught this fall. AZ trip for grandpa's birthday.  In April, I flew to AZ for a quick weekend trip to join the family in wishing my grandpa a happy 90th birthday.  He has always felt a desire to outlive his own parents, and this birthday means he's achieved that goal.  It's no small feat, and I admire his commitment to a lifestyle--over the past 65+ years--that has allowed him to make it to 90 in such good shape. TWW.  This year I took the role of coordinator for a statewide conference,