spring..the sassy season

Front yard as I arrived home yesterday

Ain’t spring grand?  I tell you, yesterday it was in all its glory here, that’s for sure! Sassy little season, if you ask me.  Yesterday, we woke up to a beautiful day with a rather strong but warm wind.  Ginnie and I were headed to Sheridan in the afternoon to do a little shopping.  The weather forecasters had said it might snow later in the evening so we figured we’d have no problem getting back and forth before the precipitation started. I posted on Facebook that we were headed off and one of my friends even posted back that it was warmer in Sheridan.

In the morning I went for my massage with Carmen, bless her soul! That girl has magic in her hands, let me tell you.  I have had a big old knot in my right shoulder that has been giving me a fit from walking with that darn crutch for months and she worked her magic and got it all ironed out.  She even had time to work on my legs which were all bunged up from the strain of the surgery.  By the time I left, an hour and half later, I was feeling like I could conquer the world again!

Well, we got in the car for Sheridan and took off around 1 p.m. and the weather was just fine, like I said, just a bit windy up on I-90. Well, it was a lot windy and I am thankful that I have such a heavy, low car these days as it was pushing us around quite a bit.  The mountains looked ominous, but that was to be expected with the forecast. Well, as we got closer to the Story exit, about 12 miles from Buffalo, thinks started to change quick!  By the time we hit the ridge between Johnson and Sheridan County, it was a mixture of snow and rain and the further we got, the more it turned to snow.  By the time we could see Sheridan in the distance, we had snow snakes slithering wildly across the interstate and the wind was whipping us around like a brand new, untested bull!

It was an all out snowstorm by the time we hit Wally World.  I called Rob to let him know we were in Sheridan (he‘s so sweet, he always wants me to let him know we arrive safely) and asked if there was anything going on back in Buffalo and he said no, it was still a nice, sunny day there. I told him about our odyssey and got the usual warnings to be careful and quick in Sheridan. So, Gin and I split up to do our shopping to make things go as fast as we could.  Being a vegetarian for the most part, I always have gobs of veggies to buy and we were out of all kinds of essentials so I had a haul to purchase yesterday.  It didn’t take me long, though, as I have become disciplined to only purchase what I have written down on my list.  You know, you can spend a lot of money if you don’t stick to your list! I always joke with the cashiers there that they have a perfume they spray to make you spend your money.

Anyway, we hit the checkout by 2:30, which is pretty fast for me. By the time we got out to the car it was coming down fast and furious.  Gin asked me to take the old highway home as she has a little problem with riding in bad weather on the highway.  So, we took the back way to Story, which is a beautiful drive any day and was even more so with the swirling snow. Story is tucked tight up against the mountain in a canyon and really gets the bulk of any snow that’s coming in.  The snow apparently decided to follow us back to Buffalo because I called Rob again just as we were getting on Old 87 and told him we were headed back that way and he once again told me there was nothing in town and was rather surprised by my Sheridan weather report. (Sheridan is only 35 miles away).

The snow seemed to stay right over top of us the whole way home!  Like I said, we just brought it with us to Buffalo. People were giving me odd looks as I drove by with a snow covered car as it had just barely started here.  Mr. Snow liked it so much, he decided to stay all afternoon and evening and give us a big old dump, too!  As I look out my window this morning, we have another nice pile out there.  I’m guessing it’s at least three inches but it’s hard to tell exactly how much we got with all the blowing wind that came with it.  I think we are only supposed to get into the 30’s today but the forecast for tomorrow is back into the 50’s so this will all melt away in short order.

Like I said, I just love this time of year!  Good thing I remembered to put on a heavy jacket before we left yesterday or I would have been a popsicle! As it was, I just had on a tank top under the heavy jacket and when we were walking into Walmart, the snow was pretty darn cold on my exposed skin!

I have a pretty easy day today planned.  Yesterday I did that Leslie Sansone walking tape and it felt pretty darn good on my knee so I’m gonna up the ante today and bring out the big guns.  I have this tape that I usually do twice a week called Jari Love’s 1000 cal workout. This gal just rocks!  She’s gotta be at least 60 years old but she puts out a tape that would make 30 yr old men cry.  This particular tape is a sequence of weight lifting and cardio in which you do 60 seconds of cardio and then 60 seconds of weights and this continues for an hour.  I’ve had girlfriends walk out on me on this one!  I love it because as soon as you are sick of one exercise and think you can’t do another repetition, she switches.  I’m gonna see how far I can get today with that.  I may be walking like a turtle tomorrow….

After exercise, I have to put the finishing touches on our tax workbook and call the accountants to go for our meeting.  I think my friend, Sherry is stopping by at some point, too. I have to track down Breean and see if she wants to go meet some more people in town. Oh, speaking of which, her daughter thoroughly enjoyed her first day at elementary school! She was so excited, she got up at 5 am and was all ready for the first day at her new school, the precious thing! She was even more excited when she got there and found out she had Mr. Ferris as a teacher as she has never had a male teacher. I find that funny as she is only in first grade and already talking like she’s had experience in such things.  Children are so adorable, aren’t they?

Tonight, we are going out to the Lake Stop at Lake DeSmet for a Comedy Club show at the Elbow Room.  There’s supposed to be two comedians from Comedy Central performing out there and Ginnie has reserved a table for ten of us. I haven’t seen a comedy routine since I left MD, so this will be a real treat.  It will be even more fun because we have a big table of friends going!

See, living in Wyoming is not boring by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s so funny when I talk to relatives back east.  I’m not sure exactly where they think we live but since most of them have never bothered to visit, I think they have a strange view of what it’s like out here. They are just sure that we have nothing to do here but huddle by our fireplaces and watch the snow fall in winter.  When we were moving out here 14 years ago, we were down at the American Legion post we belonged to in Hampstead and people kept coming up to me and Rob and asking “why the heck are you moving to God forsaken Wyoming, there’s nothing out there?”  I would reply “If you have to ask the question, you won’t understand the answer”.  You see, to me, Buffalo and Wyoming are the way the whole country was maybe 40-50 years ago. We still smile at each other, we still like each other…we are courteous and generous and help each other in times of need. When someone gets ill here, everyone brings food.  When someone moves into the neighborhood, we all go meet them!  There’s just no strangers here, only friends we haven’t met yet! This is not a place to hide out from the world, more it’s a place to shine among others, to be a member of a real “community”, where you are valued and accepted.  Because we aren’t tripping all over each other, we feel more inclined to be nice!  Oh sure, we have our assholes, everyone does, but they are OUR assholes and we know who they are and how to deal with them, they aren’t just random jerks screwing up random things. Oh, I could go on and on about why I love it here and that’s just the people.  I don’t think I even need to mention the nature.  Pretty cool when you live in a state that has more wildlife than people, if you ask me.

One of the tourist ads WY puts out, says it all!

I just know that I’ve found my “home”. I have more friends here than I’ve ever know in my life. And they aren’t fair weather friends, they would all drop everything, if I asked them for help. I so wish some of Rob’s family would come out and visit and see what we have out here.  My folks have been out here numerous times and they’d move here in a heartbeat but for the fact that my dad is still practicing law back east and won’t attempt to pass another bar exam at this stage of his career (he’s made Of Counsel at a big law firm in Westminster, MD, quite a feather in the cap).  Unfortunately, Rob’s family is wrapped up in their own lives and haven’t made the trip. It pains him that they aren’t willing to come see what he’s decided is his forever home.  But, it’s understandable that their own grandchildren are the ones they decide to visit when they do vacation and they are all in TN and VA.  Alas, I just don’t think they know what they are missing.  We do have one of his cousins, Courtney, who has been out and she plans to come out again soon with her husband and son. We had a blast when she was here, even took her on a big horseback ride in the mountains.

Well, I see as usual, I’ve gone off in all directions this morning.  Hope I haven’t bored you too much. I get a little carried away when I start talking about my beloved Buffalo, don’t I?  I hope you find something or some place you are just as passionate about that becomes as important to you. It really makes life worth living, doesn’t it? Now get out there on this fine Wednesday and show them what you’re made of.  Smile at the world folk and show them you are happy to be here.  We live in an amazing place, in an amazing time and I for one am truly grateful each morning that I rise and have a chance to experience another day.

These Cedar Waxwings should be arriving any day now!!

As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily.  The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.  ~Terri Guillemets