You never know ...

... it can all be gone in an instant.

Taking some time off ... too many competing demands right now ... and these things, once you quit, it's hard to get started again. So this might be the last post, at least under this moniker.

So until our paths cross again, cheers.

Cookie Time

The boy wanted to make some cookies to take to the folks at his day care center, so he fired up the mixer and went to work.

Now, I'm sure a lot of folks probably don't consider an electric mixer to be a power tool. But in the mind of a 16 month old, apparently it sounds just like a train, a bulldozer, or a motorcycle. He spent the next couple of hours running around making circular motions with his arms and going "vrrrrmmmm, vrrrrroooommmm" like he was still mixing cookie dough. Same sound he makes when he pushes a tractor or rides his scooter.

Anyway, we usually use the recipe from the New York Time's ultimate cookie project.

But we were out of pastry flour. So we mixed it up like this:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1.25 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp kosher salt
2.5 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup baker's sugar
2 Tbs molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
half a bag of chocolate chips, plus a couple more shakes
about a cup of walnuts, finely chopped
sea salt


Follow the directions in the link above.
Two keys:
1) Let the dough rest for a full day before baking the cookies. That lets the liquid ingredients soak into the flour and sugar.
2) Add the tiniest pinch of sea salt to the balled dough right before you put it in the oven.

Grey Skies

The first clap of thunder sounded in the distance, and Z. looked at me with a concern on his face, concern that has no business on a 16 month old's face, and said "Uh, oh ..." When he heard the next boom, he ran to me and said "Up, up," and then grabbed me around the neck.

And then I took him to the window and we watched the rain come down, more like an east coast hurricane than a mid-west thunderstorm. Driving sheets that you can see moving across the field, wind blowing it this way and that. Dull roars punctuated with loud slaps as the rain shifts, hitting the roof, then the east windows, then the front door on the west side of house. But after a few minutes, his fear subsided and he was pointing at what he saw, trying to figure out the words to ask me what was going on.

It's been the fourth wetting summer in Colorado history, which is a good thing for the sweet Olathe corn but not so good for clearing the cobwebs from ones head. Especially when there's a lot weighing ones head down.

So Mr Sun, if you're listening, how about a return engagement sometime soon?

Bumper Chile Crop This Year

Good news from Hatch, New Mexico:

Green chile harvest expected to be strong.

(Hat tip to Mad Dog Media Arf Force and Whirled Hindquarters.)

Colorado's only indiginous sport

When you think "Colorado" and "sports," what comes to mind?

Skiing? Climbing? Bike racing?

Skiing? Sure, everyone knows we have mountains.

Climbing? Of course. Bagging a 14'er is on everyone's to do list here.

Cycling? We have road racing, mountain biking, cyclocross, and everything in between.

But if you want a taste of something that you can't find anywhere else, head on over to Fairplay for the first leg of the Pack Burro Racing Triple Crown.

According to Hal Walter, who has been running the mountain trails tied to maybe the most recalcitrant of training partners for over thirty years now, pack burro racing is Colorado's only indigenous sport. It's not what the tourist bureau folks highlight when they put out their brochures, but you don't get any more Colorado-y, connecting the state's mining and prospecting history to its current love of the extreme: endurance, adventure, epic, and outdoors.

For more on this uniquely Coloradan event, check out the Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation's website here.

Showing folks around

Been awol lately. Lots of stuff going on. No excuse, will try harder to keep folks up to date and informed.


(Left: TVAPO rafting Clear Creak)



Forgot to mention my brother's visit last month. Clan TVAPO came out for a few days. Like all vacations, it wasn't nearly long enough, but given everyone's busy schedules, we'll take what we can get.

We've only lived here for two years, but I believe it's as good for the host to have to show folks around his surroundings as it is for the visitors to explore the new area. I got to think about this place I call home from a different perspective, and to notice the details that can get lost in the daily shuffle. Details such as the gorgeous sunsets we've had this summer, which are never the same two days in a row, and how the heavy spring rainfall has made the wild flowers really pop.

(left: hiking in El Dorado Canyon)

The trip also reminded me that while I just love it out here, there's a lot to miss about not being closer to the rest of the family. For one thing, their kids are about the world's greatest baby-sitters, and while I can afford their hourly rate, I can't afford to put them on a plane every time I need them.

But such is life. It's good to know that they're just a phone call or email away, even if they can't come over for dinner on a regular basis. And DIA's not going to shut down any time soon, so they'll be back.


(left: getting ready for the DC United — Colorado Rapids soccer match.)


More pix here.

Cut, Cut, Cut, Happy Harvest!

Spent last weekend in Nebraska, showing the Z'ster how to cut wheat. The boy got to eat Grandma's fried chicken and ride along with Uncle Jeff in a combine. Doesn't get any better than that.

Forgot to take any pictures, but harvest basically looks like this:

Happy Fourth!

233 years of putting up Ws on the scoreboard for Democracy.

Z's Word Wall

Need some help with my novel. The catch is, it may only contain the words that the Z-ster can say right now. Verbs seem to be few and far between, which doesn't bode well for the plot. I'm not sure how to address that, but maybe a good night's sleep will help me figure it out.

Dog Ball
Mom Kitty Eat
Dad Clock Bye-bye
Hi Hello
Night-night Baby
Balloon Steve Down
Shoe Cracker
More All done
Thank you



And the following sound effects:
Mmmmmm
Uh-oh Moo
Meow Quack
Ribbitt
Swish-swish (goes with a swimming fish from one of his books)
Peek (all of "peek-a-boo" that he can get out)


There has to be a Seussian tale in there somewhere, yeah?

Ready for the 2020 Olympics

Z'ster started walking about around 10.5 months, and started running about two days later. I have some theories on the quick transition, which I'll write about at some point. (It's part of the same theory about teaching a kid hockey so he'll learn to hit a baseball more effectively.) But for now, here's the latest development: he's teaching himself to jump.

I'm not sure where he got the idea that jumping was next on his developmental milestones, but he's putting a lot of effort into it, and appears to be self-taught. He crouches down low, like a baseball catcher or a power-lifter about to do the clean and jerk. Then he holds the pose for a second and looks around. And then he springs into action, catapulting himself a whole millimeter or two off the ground.

Nine times out of ten, he then goes crashing to the ground, but if by some twist of luck he stays on his feet, he cracks himself up laughing so hard that he falls down anyway.

So now I'm thinking, NBA slam-dunk winner in maybe 2019, then high jump or decathlon at the 2020 Olympics.