FamGuyToday by Aunty Fox

Basically the same view, just a few months apart. Each has it's own beauty, but I'm starting to get a little tired of the snow. Mostly because of "no golf". Skiing is fun, though, although there's a reason I've promised myself several times, "I'm never going back to Eldora!" 16" of new snow made it better, and I did get a chauferred trip, (thanks, Matt), but I just don't like that place, compared to Keystone and Summit County. Had a bunch of good parties and tonight is New Years Eve. The new year dryout is gonna be tough......

Just a quick Sophie update. She has her good times and bad times, but basically, other than getting a little bonier, while her stomach is getting bigger, is about the same. Lethargic, but snugly. She does love the rotisserie chicken, so she gets all she wants, which isn't alot, but at least she's still eating. A good sign....

by Irving Stone. The biography of Charles Darwin. It wasn't easy, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else, but I am glad I read it. After reading, and thoroughly enjoying, "The Agony and the Ecstacy", also by Stone, I thought I would try another of his books. It started out a little dry, as Charles grew up in a priveleged family during the first part of the 1800's, outside of London. After studying to be a doctor, in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he left medical school after he was unable to watch, or do, surgery on children who were unanaesthetised (sp?). Through a series related events, he wound up as a 'naturalist' on the H.M.S. Beagle. The scheduled two year trip took five long years, and the rest, as they say, is history. To read how he came to his conclusions, yet fought them for years, and how he was villified by the church, makes for (somewhat) interesting reading. The actual journey was amazing. To see his documentat...

Thank you SO much for all the comments. It is heartwarming to hear such good advice from my loved ones. I think y' all pretty much hit the nail on the head. Concentrate on the good, NOT the bad. And I have a LOT of good in my life. Probably way more than I deserve. For example, today is our 35th wedding anniversary, so I posted a pic of my lovely, (and very patient) wife, taken from our balcony at Cordillera. Not counting all my other blessings (including many wonderful friends), my family is enough to make me one of the most fortunate souls anywhere. So, love to all, and thanks for helping to make my life what it is. And if I ever fail to appreciate it/you, feel free to give me a swift kick where it will do the most good.

Am looking for a special organization/place/family for a Christmas donation. The Salvation Army/Red Cross, etc are great organizations, but would like to do something a little more personal. If you know of a specific need or family or situation that could use some help this Christmas, please let me know. Would like that warm, fuzzy feeling of actually sharing with someone who truly needs and appreciates it. Thanks. (It took a while for this to post, and in the interim I found Seasontoshare.com, thru the Denver Post and RMNews. They will match 50% of your donation, and 100% goes to local charities, a great list that I would not have been able to make up my mind which to give to. (Convoluted sentence, but you know what I mean.) Anyway, Merry Christmas, and remember those less fortunate....

Am gonna bare a little soul here, so be kind, but if you ever felt a desire to 'comment', I would appreciate some input now. All bloggers, I believe, labor under the false sense that other people actually read, and care, about what they write. That may or may not be, but I am realizing, more each day, as the Christmas season is upon us, that I don't have that same sense of wonder, and magical feeling I used to have this time of year. I'm not gonna do the long version, but the condensed story is,,,,, as I see the GOP, the party of God, consistently screw up all the important issues, I don't want any part of it/them. I mean, how can you be so consistently wrong about everything? Continued war in Iraq/ the mideast, hate toward gays, (who were created that way), opposition to a woman's right to choose, denying global warming (come on, now), fighting stem cell research, worshipping Bush, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. Please help me get past this feeling, and a...

What can I say. Sophie is hangin' in there. She isn't getting better, but doesn't seem to be worse either. Just sort of in limbo, while we wait for a Christmas miracle. She does seem more vocal than ever, but we don't know what she's saying. If she gets to the point where it seems like she's in pain, we know what we have to do, but she's not there yet. Pray for her, 'tis the miracle season....

After just a couple of days of snow and cold, I am thinking of beaches, again, and it's hard to beat the playas of Playa del Carmen. Don't know if I can wait 'til May 5th (the wedding). That white sand and turquoise water is calling me. Time to start looking for a "deal" to an 'all inclusive.'

There's a rumor that there are 2 red Hondas somewhere on the driveway, but I'm not sure where...

We got hammered by the gnarliest snowstorm I've seen in years. It started snowing yesterday morning about 8 and didn't stop 'til about 9 this morning. The whole area is shut down. No newspaper, no mail, no airport and no malls. The Boulder Turnpike is a giant parking lot, with four lanes of bumper to bumper traffic, stretching for miles. Supposedly, the people got out of the cars and into shelters. Gonna be a mess for quite awhile. Boulder officially got 30-33 inches, but we have a little less. Glad we don't HAVE to go out today, 'cause it's gonna be some time before the roads are open. Looks like a movie/game day, with occaisional shoveling/exercise. Could be worse. Ted made it up, after a 4+ hour drive and brought Bella, so we got that going for us. Sophie continues to get weaker, but no less cute....

In an effort to elevate the mood around here, I was looking for a good memory and came across this one. While we were staying near the marina in Amalfi, this beautiful sailing ship docked near our hotel room one day/night. It is a classic wooden, double masted home on the sea. A couple days later we took a ferry to Positano, and there she was again. What a life, sailing the Mediterranean, and beyond, living on board your own private schooner. I have no idea how much a ship like that would cost, but I'm gonna research it. I need more adventure in my life, and I can't think of a better one at the moment. By the way, Sophie, is no better, but no worse, either. Just kinda hangin' in there. If there is a "one percenter", who can beat this thing, it would be her. She's a feisty little thing....

back when she had the energy to stand up. Yesterday seemed like the most painful day I can remember, but today is worse. I need to take her to the vet one last time, but don't know how I'm gonna make that decision, knowing I'll never see her again. In reading about her disease, I found that it strikes about 1 in 5000 cats, usually kittens at about 4 months. There is a common virus (corona) that is pretty much all over the place, but most animals, including humans and kitties, have a natural defense against it, so it is not a problem. In rare cases, that internal defense is not there, a missing or defective gene, that doesn't allow them to fight it off, and it just gradually takes over. There is no treatment or cure for it. If tears were a cure, she would have been healed many times over. I had no idea I could become so emotionally attached to such a feisty little ball of fur. It would help if she weren't so darn CUTE...

Just got back from the vet, and she confirmed that Sophie has "feline infectious peritonitous" and has less than 1 % chance of surviving. She could last from 2 days to a month. Can't tell you how bad this hurts. We REALLY love this little kitty, and to hear this just make other things seem very unimportant....

About an hour before Kari left, to live in Italy for awhile, I took this picture, after asking her to smile, and saw her try so hard to be brave. She WAS going to travel with Erin, again, but Erin's mother got cancer, and Erin stayed home with her. Kari could have chosen not to travel alone, but she showed a real "brave side" and booked off to Italy, all alone... I was/am so proud of her, for that courage. Luv ya.

Should have got my gun first, instead of the camera. Could have had goose for Christmas dinner, but all I got was a picture. I'm gettin' pretty slow in my old age...

At what point do you admit you/W are wrong? How many people (US and Iraqi) have to die and have limbs shot off? How many families must sink into the despair of personal loss? How many hundreds of billions of dollars have to be wasted? How low does the US have to sink in world opinion? How many years must this go on? Four seems like a lot to me, with no end in sight. How far "out of control" does Iraq have get? Anyone with a capacity for logical/rational thought can see this ending is preordained, and it ain't good. Do you think we're gonna "Win"? There was never a chance of victory in this fiasco, unless you happen to be in big oil or a defense supplier. And they won BIG. If you are so in favor of this Godawful mistake, send your kids and your money to this hellhole and let the rest of us off the hook. Get past your religious/right wing roots and get a glimpse of reality....

This is my kitty, back when she was feeling better. Come to think of it, I looked better then, too. Anyway, the vet prescribed some antibiotics, but couldn't tell me what was wrong. VERY high fever and lethargic, even more lethargic than me. Hope she gets better, cause I'd sure miss her....

Whenever I ask Carol if she read my blog, she always says, "I'm too busy" Well, this will be a good way to find out if/when she reads it. I figure I'll get an immediate response to this pic of her at Cordillera. Might not be good, but it'll be quick. Then we'll see if she ever reads me.....

I was in this small Italian town of Pisa, taking a picture of a local tower, when this large, bird-shaped object came out of nowhere and hit this tower, causing it to lean precariously. They were going to tear it down, but I think I convinced them to leave it there. It could become a tourist attraction.

We were having our picture taken at the top of Beaver Creek, when this THING came out of the mountain and tried to grab Carol. I was able to stab it in the eye with my ski pole and wrestle her away from it's talons with only a few superficial injuries to myself. Other than the attack we had a mahvelous time. The snow was FANTASTIC and the weather couldn't have been better. Met Nate and Laura at Cordillera, an absolutely fantastic place, and had a great time skiing and spa-ing. Gotta do it again next year if the special comes up on travelzoo. Bad thing is, though, Cordillera will spoil you for the ol' Motel 6.

Anyone who's paying attention, which excludes many of you, can see that a BIPARTISAN group admits that Bush's Iraq policy is a total disaster. Who could have seen this coming? Anyone with a brain, that's who. Again, a major exclusion. Will this cowboy idiot admit his policy, which is basically a financial opportunity for his supporters, including big oil, Haliburton, Bechtel, General Dynamics, and many others, supported by the conservative right wing, who look upon this as a "Holy War", admit he is totally wrong? I doubt it. His spin meisters will find some new slogan, to replace "stay the course" and blame it on Bill Clinton. What will it take for his hard core supporters to admit they were wrong? Prob'ly won't happen. We've seen it all before. There are those out there with severe anal/cranial inversions, who have their heads so firmly implanted up their asses, that no amount of truth/ facts will cause them to attempt an extrication. Just r...

I have no other agenda than to share a picture of a beautiful butterfly I shot on the south side of our house. Pretty neat, huh?

This is a special picture for me. I named him/her Evinrude, and he/she was a very special dragonfly during my time in the swamps of Louisiana. For several evenings, I would take a break and step outside my trailer to collect my thoughts after a long day of doing hurricane claims. I couldn't help but notice that a dragonfly would seem to come out of nowhere and hover near me. It would then land on my knee or somewhere close, and even allow me to PET it. VERY strange, but it happened. I have always said that if reincarnation was real, I would like to come back as a dragonfly, because they can can fly and make love at the same time. Seems pretty cool to me. If you notice our home decor, you may see "of what I speak".Anyway, during a very stressful time of my life, I had this dragonfly making an appearance nearly every evening for a while. Was pretty cosmic. I'm sure you had to be there to appreciate it, but it was very real at the time. Whatever, it's a ...

Been looking at houses with Ted and Kari. Didn't expect to find a whole lot the first day, but looked at ten or so, and actually really liked two of them. One in Morrison and one in Golden. The Golden house actually needs some work to make it liveable and I think I would be the worker, but it has a fantastic mountain view and an amazing back yard. The other house has a better interior, but the rest of it is pretty plain. Stay tuned....

For those of you suffering from "too much cuteness", I offer this 'boatload o' 'gators', from Bob's Bayou Black Marina last year. I was there during aligator season, when there was a buyer at the dock every Sat and Sun, to purchase these nasties by the foot. They later became boots, belts and dinners. Yum....

In keeping with my intentions to post "cuteness" yet keep you informed, I am including these puppies along with today's news. As most of you know, my buddy Matt had a little trouble with a bookkeeper he didn't "check out" before giving her access to the company checking account. Seems she had/has a desire for the finer things in life, but not the patience to work for them. Anyway, sentencing was today, and since this was her THIRD offense, (still on parole from the last one) the judge didn't believe she was truly repentant, and, after hearing Matt's impassioned plea (hang her!), she was sentenced to 26 years in the Big House. That's right, TWENTY SIX YEARS! Guess she won't be rippin' anyone off again, for awhile, anyway....