Winter Carnival Begins

Every year residents and visitors alike look forward to the Steamboat Springs annual mid-winter Winter Carnival celebration. With its beginnings in the early 20th century, ski events have always taken center stage. Carl Howelsen, a Norwegian, organized the first Winter Carnival with a ski jumping competition.

In later years, a variety of ski events and games were added. Included in those are the exciting skijoring events which take place on Lincoln Avenue, Steamboat's main thoroughfare. Each weekend morning, snow is imported from stashes the city collects during the winter. After the events take place, it is removed. This year, due to the drought, man-made snow is being prepared to lay down for the events.

For an interesting look into skijoring, go to: http://www.equisearch.com/trail_riding/slide-into-skijoring/

For more information on the Steamboat Winter Carnival, go to: http://www.steamboat-chamber.com/info/events/sbcccalendarevent.winter.carnival.item.asp

Listening to Winter's Rhythmic Refrain

With a deep winter drought in northwestern Colorado in full swing, I realize how much I love and now miss the rhythm and movement of the normal winter season. That very well may be the reason for the following poem I wrote recently. Perhaps I should have titled it, "Longing for Winter's Rhythmic Refrain."

Listening for winter’s rhythmic refrain
I hear, on lovely snow laden bough,
A magpie flutter, dust, and preen
And with delicate delight beneath a crystalline sky,
A finch flits from aspen perch to bare lilac bush

I look again and see what I cannot hear
Listening for winter’s rhythmic refrain
The sun’s slide to a low horizon
An evening’s soothing, silent adagio
And in the still and dark, I wonder, “Is it sprite, commuter or mime?”

Off the path, an aspen branch, an orchestral baton
Gathers creatures of wood and land
Listening for winter’s rhythmic refrain
Knowing a still peace turns with a breeze,
And tempests trumpet, leaving denizens to burrow and cocoon.

In deep retreat, I long for notes
Of an inner score, in keys of major and minor,
With beats of lento, presto, and allegretto
Listening for winter’s rhythmic refrain
I await a melody of soulful spirit and song.

How I love winter’s solstice sweet sound
The coming, the going, the quiet and the storm
Fluttering, flitting, and singing with delight
The sound and stir of trumpets brings me to life
Listening for winter’s rhythmic refrain

Gruden's Professorial Pigskin-ese

In the months of December and January, when winter chores are done, Pete and I have always enjoyed an afternoon of football. I developed a love of football early by playing childhood pick-up games, then viewing early professional games in the 60s on a black and white television, and then as the sport grew, on to Monday Night, Thursday Night, and Sunday Night NFL games.

In recent years, when I do watch, I'm most interested in the story line of the game and listening to competent, entertaining commentators. I'll ask my husband, "Who's favored? Who's injured? Who's about ready to be fired?" and so on. And I consistently make it a point to watch when Jon Gruden, the feisty former coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is in the booth.

While watching one of his last Monday Night Football games, I began writing down the many phrases Jon uses to colorfully describe the game and the play, thinking it might make for some poetic fun. The following is what transpired after I put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard.

Gruden's Professorial Pigskin-ese

Jon paints the play with a sure and rapid fire:

You see, “The quarterback checks it down with rhythm
Looks to go vertical with a quick release
The offensive line, a road grader, moves the pile
So out of the shotgun with pocket awareness
The quarterback looks to go to the house
With his go-to-guy and a bullet on the money

But the defense reads the enemy’s mail
Loads the box, blitzes the line, and drops a house
Linebackers encroach, penetrate, and seal the edges
Safeties interrupt their routes and spear man to man
They finish through the whistle, flip the field
And then into space with an outside hitch they go all the way home

While Jon Gruden won't be in the booth on this Superbowl Sunday, I will be watching and hoping the game is a game: that whomever wins, earned it and that whomever loses, loses after playing with all their heart.

Emma's New Outlook

Two weeks after cataract surgery, Emma seems to have a new outlook. She's obviously happier when she meets and greets, and uncharacteristically relishes a back scratch and words of praise. I told my daughter, "She really seems to be happy again." Cassidy replied, "Maybe it's about her new (clear) quality of life."

On Monday, Dr. Chavkin, a veterinarian ophthalmologist with the VRCC in Denver, examined her left eye and was pleased to find very little inflammation, the incision site healed, eye pressure within normal limits, and a clear, healthy view of the optic nerve. I told him, "I think both you and Emma are champs."

This successful cataract surgery on a Boston Terrier and good post-surgery recovery was a wonderful achievement in my mind. Dr. Chavkin felt Emma's chances for a successful outcome were good even though the risks are a little higher in some Boston Terriers. Knowing Emma, I also believed she was a good candidate: young, physically healthy, and with a record of successful orthopedic surgeries and recoveries.

So, off she and I go. Emma may re-enter the world of dog ability this summer; and I won't worry so much about her running into equipment, trees, and other things on the ranch now that her site has been renewed.

Thank you, Dr. Chavkin, for the gifts of sight and newly found comfort and joy.

For more information on the VRCC, go to: www.vrcc.com

Andy Heads to the Cow Camp Cutting Circuit

After recently relocating to Tioga, Texas, our son, Andy, took advantage of the many opportunities for cutting competitions in the area by heading out this weekend for the Cow Camp Cutting Circuit in Sulphur Springs, Texas. Riding, Demi, a red roan mare he purchased and trained for owner, Dawn Joyce, Andy was pleased to win the first round of the 4 year old open class on Thursday. Congratulations, Andy!

Storm's A Brewin'

An acquaintance recently posted the weather forecast for our part of the world on Facebook: “They are calling for 16'' of snow and gusts up to 90 mph... wow... and more coming on the weekend... yahoo... love a good storm.”

I immediately thought, “I understand her feelings.” There’s nothing like a storm to make the comforts of a fire and a hot meal stand out in relief at the end of the daily routine. Then I thought, “I suppose there are others who could do just as well without, those who prefer warm and dry weather climes; or Pete, like other livestock owners, who worry about their stock surviving a 'good storm'.” But, I believe there is a certain draw to winter’s weather drama: the atmospheric world sounding off, blowing in and blowing out, leaving earth bound creatures the gift of powder for recreation and moisture to sustain life as we know it. This winter we are indeed thirsting for that moisture. We are in the midst of record winter drought in northwestern Colorado with snow pack at 43% of a normal winter year.

As sentient creatures of the physical world, I imagine we may long for interaction with weather’s heartbeat, its wildness, its potential to both destroy and nurture the landscape we inhabit. After this winter’s unusual quiet and meager snowfall, perhaps we’re anxious for the next passage, not unlike the audience awaiting the a change in pace and mood of an orchestral symphony. I feel as though the adagio movement of this winter's symphony has overstayed its welcome. I thirst for a new rhythm to inhabit our landscape, perhaps an allegretto or with the hurricane force winds forecasted, a prestissimo, the most rapid of symphonic movements.

So, if the "good storm" arrives and we storm lovers can hole up in front of a fire with a throw and a book, I will, as I always do, look forward to both the excitement of a new movement in winter's symphony as well as the reassurance of the nest - swaddled in creature comforts, warmed by the fire.

Emma Has Cataract Surgery

As I write, Emma's resting quietly on the bed next to me in a hotel in Denver. She had cataracts removed and a lens implant placed in her left eye this morning with Dr. Chavkin of the Veterinary Referral Clinic of Colorado (VRCC). According to Dr. Chavkin, "The surgery went well. It was as close to textbook as it could have been. The lens implant fit perfectly: just like it was meant for her."

I breathed a sigh of relief. While I was optimistic about the procedure and Emma's ability to withstand the surgery, I know there is a greater risk with cataract surgery in Boston Terriers. There is a 90% success rate with most dog breeds and a 70% success rate in Bostons. As Dr. Chavkin explained, the surgery itself may be highly successful, but there seem to be more post-surgery complications. Emma's eye looks terrific this afternoon and I'll hope with good aftercare, hers will be a success story.

We will see Dr. Chavkin very early in the morning for a brief follow-up and then we'll come back for additional follow-ups at one, two, and four weeks. In the days ahead, Emma will be on numerous medications to reduce inflammation and fight possible infection. She also sports an Elizabethan collar to prevent her from scratching at her eye.

Now the impossible must be accomplished: keeping Emma quiet for two weeks. When I came to pick up Emma, the vet tech, Ann, smiled and said, "Emma's doing very well. She's back there (in recovery) acting as though there's nothing wrong. Like, 'What surgery?' " From my experience with Emma after her luxating patella surgeries, she's so sturdy she does act as though the surgery were a breeze. So, the next two weeks will be a challenge to keep her relatively quiet and her eye safe and trauma-free.

I marvel at what state of the art technology and well-trained fine motor skills can do in such a small space. Emma and I are grateful to Dr. Chavkin for, not only his tremendous expertise, but his thoughtful care. We're pretty excited about Emma's new gift of sight which will gradually become clearer and clearer over the next month.

For those interested in seeing first-hand a cataract removal and lens implant surgery, go to the following You Tube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JFmPU50kZY&feature=related

For more information on the Veterinary Referral Clinic of Colorado, go to: www.vrcc.com

Morning Chores

After one last sip of coffee, I donned my full Carhart winter gear, Muck boots, hat, gloves, and pulled my fleece quarter-zip up to my chin. The thermometer said nine below zero. Today I followed along as Pete did his morning chores. Whenever he leaves to go out of town, this is our drill. I'm reminded each time how many pounds of grain and, or hay each group of horses and steers get each day. I told Pete, "I've got it covered. You know how good cheap help is." He quipped, "As good as it costs."

The routine today and tomorrow is relatively simple. Grain to the performance horses, brood mares, our stallion, Riggs, and the babies plus Hercules the goat. Every few days Pete does quite a bit more, filling the feeders with round bales for all twenty-five horses, and when needed, snow blowing the ranch driveway, barnyard, and in the deep of winter, feed trails.

So, I get to push the "Easy" button tomorrow morning. That is with one caveat: the roping steers went down river the other day and ended up at the neighbors. I told Pete, "The only thing I worry a little bit about is the roping steers heading out." Reassuringly he said, "Don't worry. Now that it's so cold, I don't think they'll go anywhere."

As I write I like to think he's right. But on a rather consistent basis, when Pete leaves town, something happens at the ranch, whether I'm on watch or not. So, I'll be watching and hoping this still and frigid day remains a quiet one. If there's excitement, I'll keep readers posted.

Hachiko

If you haven't heard the story about Hachi, a supremely loyal Akita, I'd encourage you to check out the movie this weekend and grab your Kleenex. This poignant drama is based on a true story of the relationship between Hachi and his master, played by Richard Gere. After his master's premature death, Hachi waits unfailingly for more than a decade for his master to return to the train station.

While watching Hachi: A Dog's Tale, I found myself wondering about the emotional connections dogs have to their owners. Would Emma, my Boston Terrier, wait for me at the train station for more than ten years? If lost at a great distance, would she find her way back to me? I looked at both Emma and Griz last night differently--perhaps their emotional attachment is much greater than I ever imagined.

A Champion for Local Writers

I'd like to thank Sue Leonard for her support of local Steamboat authors. She is consistently cheering on those of us who write through her consulting business, Cornerstone Fullfillment Service, her local work with CIPA (Colorado Independent Publishers), and through the creation of our local Steamboat SHeWrites independent publishers group.

Sue recently offered to write a column about the local writing community for our local newspaper. Her most recent column was written after Karen Gilroy, author of Discovering the Healer Within, and I presented readings of our work to the public at our local library. To read the full column, where she writes about living a fulfilling life, please go to:

http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2011/dec/23/steamboat-authors-explore-fulfilled-living/

Happy New Year, Everyone!

May 2012 prove to be a fulfilling year for each of you.